Elvish
Languages spoken by the Elves
Elvish (Quenderin) is a word that refers to any of the languages of the Elves, or all of them collectively. All of the Elven languages descend from the Primitive Quendian.
During the Third Age the term "Elvish" usually referred specifically to Sindarin since it was the most common vernacular of the Elves.
The Hobbits referred to the Elvish languages as "languages of the kings" and few of them knew them.
Tree of the Elvish languages
Major splits and variations were a result of the Great Journey of the Elves in the First Age, and the other migrations of the following millennia.
- Primitive Quendian (language of the Elves in Cuiviénen)
- — Avarin
- — — Various Avarin languages (some later merged with Nandorin)
- — Common Eldarin (the early language of all the Eldar)
- — — Quenya (the language of the Ñoldor and the Vanyar)
- — — — Quendya (also Vanyarin Quenya) (daily tongue of the Vanyar: closest to archaic Quenya)
- — — — Ñoldorin Quenya (also Exilic Quenya) (the "Elven Latin" of Middle-earth)
- — — Common Telerin (the early language of all the Lindar)
- — — — Telerin (the language of the Teleri who reached the Undying Lands; considered a dialect of Quenya, although of different branch)
- — — — Nandorin (languages of the Nandor — some were influenced by Avarin)
- — — — — Original language of Greenwood the Great
- — — — — Original language of Lórinand
- — — — Sindarin (language of the Sindar)
- — — — — Doriathrin (dialect of Doriath)
- — — — — Falathrin (dialect of the Falas and Nargothrond)
- — — — — Mithrimin (dialects of Dorthonion and Hithlum)
- — — — — Númenórean Sindarin (dialects of the Númenóreans and later, the Dúnedain)
The Elves made use of the Tengwar and Cirth scripts for their languages.
Pronunciation
Tolkien used the Roman alphabet to write the names and words of Elvish origin in his works. Sindarin and Quenya have in most aspects very much the same rules in his spelling of the names. Tolkien used the Roman letters having in mind "neutral" values, close to their original Latin ones: open, consistent and straightforward pronunciation, without glides.
It's important to remember that, while most samples of the Elvish language are written with the Latin alphabet, within the fiction the languages were written using Tengwar, or occasionally carved in Cirth.
The following table gives pronunciation for each letter or cluster in international phonetic script and examples:
Vowels
| Letter / Digraph | Pronunciation | IPA | Further comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | as in father, just short | never as in cat | |
| á | as in father | / | |
| â | (in Sindarin) as in father, but even longer | / | |
| ae | (in Sindarin) the vowels described for a and e in one syllable. | Similar to ai | |
| ai | a diphthong, similar to that in eye, but with short vowels | never as in rain | |
| au | a and u run together in one syllable. Similar to the sound in house | never as in sauce | |
| aw | (in Sindarin) a common way to write au at the end of the word | / | |
| e | as in pet | / | |
| é | the same vowel lengthened (and in Quenya more closed; as in German) | S: , Q: | Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English rain |
| ê | (in Sindarin) the vowel of pet especially lengthened | Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English rain | |
| ei | as in eight | never as in either (in neither pronunciation) | |
| eu | (in Quenya) e and u run together in one syllable | never as in English or German | |
| i | as in machine, but short | [i] | not opened as in fit |
| í | as in machine | / | |
| î | (in Sindarin) as in machine, but especially lengthened | / | |
| iu | (in Quenya) i and u run together in one syllable | later by men often as in English you | |
| o | open as in British got | / | |
| ó | the same vowel lengthened (and in Quenya more closed; as in German) | S: , Q: | Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of "long" English cold |
| ô | (in Sindarin) the same vowel especially lengthened | Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of "long" English cold | |
| oi | (in Quenya) as in English coin | / | |
| oe | (in Sindarin) the vowels described for o and e in one syllable. | Similar to oi. Cf. œ! | |
| œ | (in Sindarin) as in German Götter | [œ] | in published writing often oe has falsely been used, as in Nírnaeth Arnoediad! |
| u | as in cool, but shorter | [u] | not opened as in book |
| ú | as in cool | / | |
| û | (in Sindarin) the same vowel as above, but especially lengthened | / | |
| y | (in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß, but short | [y] | not found in English |
| ý | (in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß | / | |
| ŷ | (in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß, but even longer | not found in English |
Consonants
(Only those differing from English are mentioned)
- The letter c is always pronounced like the letter k, even before i and e.; for instance, Celeborn is pronounced Keleborn, and Cirth is pronounced Kirth.
- — The letter k, is attested in early, unpublished manuscripts by Tolkien, before he settled on c. It can still be found by exception on some published names such as Ekkaia, although it would be identical with *Eccaia; the difference between the two letters is only aesthetic.
- — Also, note that k is used by tradition to asterisked Primitive Quendian and Old Sindarin words, in order to differentiate them from later forms.
- The letter g is never pronounced in the soft form, as in giant. For instance, Region is pronounced unlike the English word region.
- The letter r is lightly trilled, as in Spanish.
- The digraph dh, as in Caradhras, is pronounced like the th in this.
- The digraph ch, as in Orch, is pronounced as in German ach.
Other versions of the legendarium
Other Elvish languages
After Tolkien's time, others have invented Elvish languages in their own fiction. Some of them borrow elements from Tolkien, or simply retain similar structure and appearance.
- Darnassian and Thalassian, the languages of the Elves in the Warcraft universe.
- Common Elven, the language of the surface Elves and Ssamath of the Dark Elves or Drow of Dungeons & Dragons settings
- Eltharin, the language of the elves of Warhammer
- — Fan-Eltharin, the language of the Wood Elves
- — Tar-Eltharin, the language of the Sea Elves and High Elves
- — Drukh-Eltharin, the language of the Dark Elves
- Elvish language of Andrzej Sapkowski's Hexer saga, based on Welsh and English
- The Ancient Language of the elves in Eragon, also spoken by the riders.
- Raymond E. Feist uses the words Eldar, Caledhel and Moredhel for races of his Elves in Midkemia; the latter two are perfect Sindarin for "light elf" and "black elf" although as such, they haven't appeared in Tolkien's works (calben and morben are the actual Sindarin terms).
Inspiration
J.R.R. Tolkien was always fascinated with words and how languages worked, and by phonoesthetics. Tolkien had experimented with inventing languages during his youth long before creating his legendarium.
Modelling Qenya on Finnish and Goldogrin on Welsh, Tolkien created several languages for the Elves to complement his books set in his fictional mythology. His interest was primarily philological, and he said his stories grew out of his languages. Indeed, the languages were the first thing Tolkien ever created for his mythos.
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 25/05/2026.
