Quote:
Originally Posted by R.R.J Tolkien
I am not a student of Latin, but is there any similarity to the "common tongue" used in LOTR and Latin in the medieval west?
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Actually, no. Westron is more of a lingua Franca, a bridge language used in commerce, or as
Galadriel55 inferred, the modern use of English as a second language that is pervasive in many areas of the world. Latin, as it was employed, was the language of the learned, in which ecclesiastical works, scientific treatises, poetry and ambassadorial/governmental edicts were written. Latin was not meant for the masses, as Westron was used.
One doesn't see a literary work of Westron until the Hobbits employed it in writing the Redbook of Westmarch. Previous to that, all the great epics were written in Elvish, with Quenyan perhaps the more direct link to Latin.