Let's learn Quenya on the Downs

[Eryn_Lasgalen]

Occupation: Student; High School

Location: California, US

Pace: Fairly slow, as I don't have a lot of time to work with, plus I'm a slow learner. Maybe two to three hours a week.

Prior Knowledge: Er... none in Quenya, a little vocabulary in Sindarin, though.

Medium: PMing, but I'd be willing to try something else if it would be easier.

I tried to learn Sindarin a few months ago but I just couldn't keep myself motivated to continue and sort of died out once I encountered confusing grammar! Buddying up for encouragement and help sounds just right for me, though I'm not sure if this thread is still active; the last post was about three months ago... but if anyone else would like to buddy up with me I'd be happy!

[Alassë Estel]

Is there anyone still here who wants to learn? I have been using the Quenya workbook on CoE (The Council of Elrond; it is a sort of library/forum similar to The Downs) https://www.councilofelrond.com/read...enya-workbook/, but whoever is in charge of grading the lessons is gone, and I have no way of knowing if I am accurately translating to and from Quenya. Also elfdict.com is very useful. I am getting along rather slowly, but steadily I think. So far, I cannot really make sentences off the top of my head. But I know many words. I could try pairing up with someone, but I am not sure I can properly commit to that on a daily basis. Perhaps a weekly, or even monthly schedule. But mostly, I am just inquiring to know whether or not anyone here knows, or is interested in learning Quenya.

[Galadriel55]

I could try to decipher some words if you throw them at me. That's probably the extent to which I intend to learn Quenya in the next while, I am not feeling up to actual studying of it. If you want company, maybe you could try to make some sentences, and I could guess what you're trying to say?

[Huinesoron]

I actually worked through the Ardalambion course years... um, decades back (yikes). Istan quete i vanya lambë, sorta.

These days I mostly use Eldamo for reference; it neatly identifies which period a word comes from, provides referenced examples from Tolkien of how it was used (often every example), and the grammar section and semantic dictionary are a lot easier to search usefully than the Ardalambion page.

If you take G55 up on her offer to translate your sentences, I'll happily join in; and I could probably put some together if you want to have a go translating back yourself.

hS

[Alassë Estel]

Thank you both for replying. I wasn't sure if anyone would. I started with Helge Fauskanger's course. I made it through many lessons, but the farther I went, the less I was understanding. The CoE course is a lttle easier for me to understand. I think that after I finish it, I will give Ardalambion another try. And as to translating sentences, we could just keep it simple to star with and go back and forth for a bit. Whoever gives the right answer first gives the next sentence.

I'll start: Mo lalertë aspata minna Mordor

Hopefully that is grammatically correct. I think it is not too hard, even if there are any mistakes.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Alassë Estel

I'll start: Mo lalertë aspata minna Mordor.

Well, Mo = one, someone, so with that and Mordor I have a guess straight off.

Let's see... la-lerte is not+to be free to, though I can't pin down the tense on lerta-. As-pata a very nice "easily to walk", I think it's an infinitive. Minna is "into" in an older version of the language, but should hold up as mi-nna, in-towards. And Mordor is Mordor. So yes, one cannot simply walk into Mordor; Sauron has insomnia.

I wasn't sure if Mo was used like that, but Tolkien's uses say yes. I'm not sure I'd use lerta- here; "not free to" suggests it's forbidden, whereas *lapole "not able to" makes it clear that it's impossible. That said, an elf would like the sound of lalerta a lot more, so yours might be more historically accurate.

hS

[Alassë Estel]

Yes! That's right!

Your turn.