The Lord of the Rings (191 page)

In languages like the Westron, which made much use of consonants such as our
ch
,
j
,
sh.
Series III was usually applied to these; in which case Series IV was applied to the normal
k
-series (
calmatéma
). In Quenya, which possessed besides the
calmatéma
both a palatal series (
tyelpetéma
) and labialised series (
quessetéma
), the palatals were represented by a Fëanorian diacritic denoting ‘following
y
‘ (usually two underposed dots), while Series IV was a
kw
-series.

Within these general applications the following relations were also commonly observed. The normal letters, Grade 1, were applied to the ‘voiceless stops’:
t, p, k,
etc. The doubling of the bow indicated the addition of ‘voice’: thus if 1, 2, 3, 4 =
t, p, ch, k
(or
t
,
p, k, kw),
then 5, 6, 7, 8 =
d, b, j, g
(or
d, b, g, gw).
The raising of the stem indicated the opening of the consonants to a ‘spirant’: thus assuming the above values for Grade 1, Grade 3 (9-12) =
th, f, sh, ch
(or
th, f, kh, khw/hw),
and Grade 4 (13-16) =
dh, v, zh, gh
(or
dh, v, gh, ghw/w
)
.

The original Fëanorian system also possessed a grade with extended stems, both above and below the line. These usually represented aspirated consonants (e.g.
t+h, p+h, k+h),
but might represent other consonantal variations required. They were not needed in the languages of the Third Age that used this script; but the extended forms were much used as variants (more clearly distinguished from Grade 1) of Grades 3 and 4.

Grade 5 (17-20) was usually applied to the nasal consonants: thus 17 and 18 were the most common signs for
n
and
m.
According to the principle observed above, Grade 6 should then have represented the voiceless nasals; but since such sounds (exemplified by Welsh
nh
or ancient English
hn)
were of very rare occurrence in the languages concerned, Grade 6 (21-24) was most often used for the weakest or ‘semi-vocalic’ consonants of each series. It consisted of the smallest and simplest shapes among the primary letters. Thus 21 was often used for a weak (untrilled)
r
, originally occurring in Quenya and regarded in the system of that language as the weakest consonant of the
tincotéma
; 22 was widely used for
w
; where Series III was used as a palatal series 23 was commonly used as consonantal
y
.

Since some of the consonants of Grade 4 tended to become weaker in pronunciation, and to approach or to merge with those of Grade 6 (as described above), many of the latter ceased to have a clear function in the Eldarin languages; and it was from these letters that the letters expressing vowels were largely derived.

NOTE

The standard spelling of Quenya diverged from the applications of the letters above described. Grade 2 was used for
nd, mb, ng, ngw
, all of which were frequent, since
b
,
g
,
gw
only appeared in these combinations, while for
rd
,
ld
the special letters 26, 28 were used. (For
lv,
not for
lw
; many speakers, especially Elves, used
lb
: this was written with 27+6, since
lmb
could not occur.) Similarly, Grade 4 was used for the extremely frequent combinations
nt
,
mp
,
nk
,
nqu
, since Quenya did not possess
dh
,
gh, ghw,
and for
v
used letter 22. See the Quenya letter-names pp.507-8.

The additional letters.
No. 27 was universally used for
l
. No. 25 (in origin a modification of 21) was used for ‘full’ trilled
r
. Nos. 26, 28 were modifications of these. They were frequently used for voiceless
r (rh)
and
l
(lh)
respectively. But in Quenya they were used for
rd
and
ld.
29 represented
s,
and 31 (with doubled curl)
z
in those languages that required it The inverted forms 30 and 32, though available for use as separate signs, were mostly used as mere variants of 29 and 31, according to the convenience of writing, e.g. they were much used when accompanied by superimposed
tehtar.

No. 33 was in origin a variation representing some (weaker) variety of 11; its most frequent use in the Third Age was
h.
34 was mostly used (if at all) for voiceless
w (hw).
35 and 36 were, when used as consonants, mostly applied to
ó
and
w
respectively.

The vowels
were in many modes represented by
tehtar,
usually set above a consonantal letter. In languages such as Quenya, in which most words ended in a vowel, the
tehta
was placed above the preceding consonant; in those such as Sindarin, in which most words ended in a consonant, it was placed above the following consonant. When there was no consonant present in the required position, the
tehta
was placed above the ‘short carrier’, of which a common form was like an undotted i. The actual
tehtar
used in different languages for vowel-signs were numerous. The commonest, usually applied to (varieties of)
e, i, à, î, è,
are exhibited in the examples given. The three dots, most usual in forming writing for
a,
were variously written in quicker styles, a form like a circumflex being often employed. The single dot and the ‘acute accent’ were frequently used for
i
and
e
(but in some modes for
e
and
i
)
.
The curls were used for
î
and
u.
In the Ring-inscription the curl open to the right is used for
u
; but on the title-page this stands for
o,
and the curl open to the left for
u.
The curl to the right was favoured, and the application depended on the language concerned: in the Black Speech
î
was rare.

Long vowels were usually represented by placing the
tehta
on the ‘long carrier’, of which a common form was like an undotted
j
. But for the same purpose the
tehtar
could be doubled. This was, however, only frequently done with the curls, and sometimes with the ‘accent’. Two dots was more often used as a sign for following
y
.

The West-gate inscription illustrates a mode of ‘full writing’ with the vowels represented by separate letters. All the vocalic letters used in Sindarin are shown. The use of No. 30 as a sign for vocalic
ó
may be noted; also the expression of diphthongs by placing the
tehta
for following
ó
above the vowel-letter. The sign for following
w
(required for the expression of
au, aw
) was in this mode the
u
-curl or a modification of it ~. But the diphthongs were often written out in full, as in the transcription. In this mode length of vowel was usually indicated by the ‘acute accent’, called in that case
andaith
‘long mark’.

There were beside the
tehtar
already mentioned a number of others, chiefly used to abbreviate the writing, especially by expressing frequent consonant combinations without writing them out in full. Among these, a bar (or a sign like a Spanish
tilde
) placed above a consonant was often used to indicate that it was preceded by the nasal of the same series (as in
nt, mp,
or
nk
); a similar sign placed below was, however, mainly used to show that the consonant was long or doubled. A downward hook attached to the bow (as in
hobbits,
the last word on the title-page) was used to indicate a following
s,
especially in the combinations
ts, ps, ks (x),
that were favoured in Quenya.

There was of course no ‘mode’ for the representation of English. One adequate phonetically could be devised from the Fëanorian system. The brief example on the title-page does not attempt to exhibit this. It is rather an example of what a man of Gondor might have produced, hesitating between the values of the letters familiar in his ‘mode’ and the traditional spelling of English. It may be noted that a dot below (one of the uses of which was to represent weak obscured vowels) is here employed in the representation of unstressed
and,
but is also used in
here
for silent final
e
;
the, of,
and
of the
are expressed by abbreviations (extended
dh,
extended
v,
and the latter with an under-stroke).

The names of the letters.
In all modes each letter and sign had a name; but these names were devised to fit or describe the phonetic uses in each particular mode. It was, however, often felt desirable, especially in describing the uses of the letters in other modes, to have a name for each letter in itself as a shape. For this purpose the Quenya ‘full names’ were commonly employed, even where they referred to uses peculiar to Quenya. Each ‘full name’ was an actual word in Quenya that contained the letter in question. Where possible it was the first sound of the word; but where the sound or the combination expressed did not occur initially it followed immediately after an initial vowel. The names of the letters in the table were (1)
tinco
metal,
parma
book,
calma
lamp,
quesse
feather; (2)
ando
gate,
umbar
fate,
anga
iron,
ungwe
spider’s web; (3)
thúle (súle)
spirit,
formen
north,
harma
treasure (or
aha
rage),
hwesta
breeze; (4)
anto
mouth,
ampa
hook,
anca
jaws,
unque
a hollow; (5)
ďúňĺď
west,
malta
gold,
noldo
(older
ngoldo)
one of the kindred of the Noldor,
nwalme
(older
ngwalme)
torment; (6)
óre
heart (inner mind),
vala
angelic power,
anna
gift,
vilya
air
,
sky (older
wilya); róňĺď
east,
arda
region,
lambe
tongue,
alda
tree;
silme
starlight,
silme nuquerna (s
reversed),
áre
sunlight (or
esse
name),
áre nuquerna; hyarmen
south,
hwesta sindarinwa, yanta
bridge,
úre
heat. Where there are variants this is due to the names being given before certain changes that affected Quenya as spoken by the Exiles. Thus No. 11 was called
harma
when it represented the spirant
ch
in all positions, but when this sound became breath
h
initially (though remaining medially) the name
aha
was devised,
áre
was originally
ázĺ,
but when this
z
became merged with 21, the sign was in Quenya used for the very frequent
ss
of that language, and the name
esse
was given to it.
hwesta sindarinwa
or ‘Grey-elven
hw’
was so called because in Quenya 12 had the sound of
hw,
and distinct signs for
chw
and
hw
were not required. The names of the letters most widely known and used were 17
n,
33
hy, 25 r, 9 f: númen, hyarmen, rómen, formen
= west, south, east, north (cf. Sindarin
dűn
or
annűn, harad, rhűn
or
amrűn, forod).
These letters commonly indicated the points W, S, E, N even in languages that used quite different terms. They were, in the Westlands, named in this order, beginning with and facing west;
hyarmen
and
formen
indeed meant left-hand region and right-hand region (the opposite to the arrangement in many Mannish languages).

THE CIRTH

The
Certhas Daeron
was originally devised to represent the sounds of Sindarin only. The oldest
cirth
were Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6; 8, 9, 12; 18, 19, 22; 29, 31; 35, 36; 39, 42, 46, 50; and a
certh
varying between 13 and 15. The assignment of values was unsystematic. Nos. 39, 42, 46, 50 were vowels and remained so in all later developments. Nos. 13, 15 were used for
h
or
s,
according as 35 was used for
s
or
h.
This tendency to hesitate in the assignment of values for
s
and
h
continued in later arrangements. In those characters that consisted of a ‘stem’ and a ‘branch’, 1-31, the attachment of the branch was, if on one side only, usually made on the right side. The reverse was not infrequent, but had no phonetic significance.

The extension and elaboration of this
certhas
was called in its older form the
Angerthas Daeron,
since the additions to the old
cirth
and their reorganization was attributed to Daeron. The principal additions, however, the introductions of two new series, 13-17, and 23-28, were actually most probably inventions of the Noldor of Eregion, since they were used for the representation of sounds not found in Sindarin.