The Elvish languages of the First Age - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Huinesoron · 03-22-2021, 11:11 AM

While playing around trying to translate some of Finrod-Zong into Sindarin, it occurred to me that while I vaguely know the relationships between the various Elven languages, I've never actually seen a direct comparison of them. I'm not thinking just of Quenya and Sindarin, either - the First Age has at least eight dialects west of the Blue Mountains! Sure, a lot of them are extremely fragmentary, but if I chose my sentence well, I might be able to create a comparative list.

I wanted to balance showing linguistic differences with using words we actually know; the sentence I came up with is The stars are beautiful, and you are my star. Working primarily from Ardalambion and Eldamo, plus David Salo on Telerin, I translated them into all the languages of Beleriand and Valinor at the rising of the Sun - and the Primitive Quendian they all came from.

PRIMITIVE QUENDIAN: Eli banya, ada le êl niō.

Unlike all its descendents, Primitive Quendian doesn't seem to have a definite article.

NOLDORIN QUENYA: I eleni vanye nar, ar nalye elenya.

VANYARIN QUENYA: I eleni vanyai nar, ar nalye elenya.

The two true dialects of Quenya are very similar; you could almost see them as British and American English, with the differences mostly pronunciation rather than grammar.

TELERIN: I ēli vaniai, ada de él nia.

Telerin, meanwhile, is shockingly different. The Noldor called it a dialect of Quenya, but its verb and noun usage is much closer to:

SINDARIN: In gil bain, a nal gil nín.

'Pure' Sindarin, which must be the variety spoken in the area around Nargothrond, is the only one known to have discarded the word 'el' for stars. It's 'gil' all the way!

DORIATHRIN: In elin bain, a nal el na.

Doriathrin Sindarin is an early creation, but persists to the final Silmarillion: Dagnir Glaurunga on the Stone of the Hapless shows a Doriathrin 'of' not used in Sindarin. Another major difference is that Doriathrin forms plurals with -in, not by changing the noun's vowels.

NORTH SINDARIN: In elin bain, a nal el na.

North Sindarin, as spoken in Mithrim, is a sort of mid-point between Sindarin and Doriathrin. It uses Doriathrin endings, but does modify vowels like Sindarin. By coincidence(?), the Sindarin-style plural for archaic 'elen' (star) is 'elin' - identical to the Doriathrin plural of 'el' (star)!
Tolkien discussed a third Sindarin dialect, Falathrin, but there's no evidence of its continued existence.

NANDORIN: I eli bann, ad la el nao.

The language of Ossiriand... I've had to do a lot of guessing here. 'I eli bann' is probably correct, but the latter half is much more tenuous.

hS

03-22-2021, 11:11 AM	#1
Huinesoron Overshadowed Eagle Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: The north-west of the Old World, east of the Sea Posts: 3,787	The Elvish languages of the First Age While playing around trying to translate some of Finrod-Zong into Sindarin, it occurred to me that while I vaguely know the relationships between the various Elven languages, I've never actually seen a direct comparison of them. I'm not thinking just of Quenya and Sindarin, either - the First Age has at least eight dialects west of the Blue Mountains! Sure, a lot of them are extremely fragmentary, but if I chose my sentence well, I might be able to create a comparative list. I wanted to balance showing linguistic differences with using words we actually know; the sentence I came up with is The stars are beautiful, and you are my star. Working primarily from Ardalambion and Eldamo, plus David Salo on Telerin, I translated them into all the languages of Beleriand and Valinor at the rising of the Sun - and the Primitive Quendian they all came from. PRIMITIVE QUENDIAN: Eli banya, ada le êl niō. Unlike all its descendents, Primitive Quendian doesn't seem to have a definite article. NOLDORIN QUENYA: I eleni vanye nar, ar nalye elenya. VANYARIN QUENYA: I eleni vanyai nar, ar nalye elenya. The two true dialects of Quenya are very similar; you could almost see them as British and American English, with the differences mostly pronunciation rather than grammar. TELERIN: I ēli vaniai, ada de él nia. Telerin, meanwhile, is shockingly different. The Noldor called it a dialect of Quenya, but its verb and noun usage is much closer to: SINDARIN: In gil bain, a nal gil nín. 'Pure' Sindarin, which must be the variety spoken in the area around Nargothrond, is the only one known to have discarded the word 'el' for stars. It's 'gil' all the way! DORIATHRIN: In elin bain, a nal el na. Doriathrin Sindarin is an early creation, but persists to the final Silmarillion: Dagnir Glaurunga on the Stone of the Hapless shows a Doriathrin 'of' not used in Sindarin. Another major difference is that Doriathrin forms plurals with -in, not by changing the noun's vowels. NORTH SINDARIN: In elin bain, a nal el na. North Sindarin, as spoken in Mithrim, is a sort of mid-point between Sindarin and Doriathrin. It uses Doriathrin endings, but does modify vowels like Sindarin. By coincidence(?), the Sindarin-style plural for archaic 'elen' (star) is 'elin' - identical to the Doriathrin plural of 'el' (star)! Tolkien discussed a third Sindarin dialect, Falathrin, but there's no evidence of its continued existence. NANDORIN: I eli bann, ad la el nao. The language of Ossiriand... I've had to do a lot of guessing here. 'I eli bann' is probably correct, but the latter half is much more tenuous. hS