The Languages of Middle-earth
It is not a secret to us, that the first things Professor J.R.R. Tolkien started
creating for his mythology were his languages, or rather: that in fact his
mythology arose through his desire to have a world in which his artificial
languages really could exist, in which they felt realistic and where through
the characteristics of each language the characteristics of the respective speakers
formed and defined themselves.
But some of these languages belong to different periods of Tolkien's ongoing
process of creation and thus did in his mythology never actually coëxist and rather
represent former tries of the professor that had later been changed (sometimes
dramatically).
From his earliest creations - 1920's and earlier - we only know
about Qenya and Goldogrin (inspired by Finnish and Welsh respectively), but
already in the 1930's we find a quite developed language universe, incorporating
no less than 24 languages and several dialects:
Valarin, the languagues of Oromë, Aulë, Melko and the Valarindi, Orkish, Dwarvish,
Primitive Quendian, (Common) Eldarin, Lemberin, Laiquendian, Danian, Taliska,
Hvendi, Mork, Lindarin, Qenya, (Exilic) Noldorin, Telerin, Ilkorin, Doriathrin,
Falathrin, Kornoldorin (Korolambe, Old Noldorin), Ossiriandeb, plus dialects and
various tongues of Men.
(Languages to which there is some vocabulary known are here marked by bold letters.
Tolkien actually wrote vocabulary and grammars of the Mannish tongues of Taliska,
Hvendi] and Mork, which are still unpublished).
In Tolkien's (more or less) final conception that is well known from the Lord of
the Rings and the Silmarillion the internal history of the languages should be
more or less as follows:
Elder Days
The Ainur descend into the World That Is. Being thus Incarnated they do what
Ilúvatar devised for those: they invent a language for themselves. Although they
do not need a spoken language they soon communicate mainly in their Valarin tongue,
which is very rich of consonants and quite long-winded (e.g. Aþaraphelûn Dušamanðân,
Marred World). As Aulë awakens the Dwarves he possibly teaches them a language he
devised for them, Khuzdûl, which will change but little in the ages to come.
The Elves awaken at Kuiviénen and also quickly start developing a language, inventing
words they deem beautiful and fitting for the named things. This is what we call the
Primitive Quendian - not being primitive at all (but in fact very complex!), but just
the first and basic Elvish language (e.g. i ndero kweti, the man speaketh). But there
certainly are some influences already from the Valarin speech, since the Vala Oromë is
often with the Elves in their first years. Most likely the third clan even now speaks a
somewhat varying dialect.
Many of the Elves now start their journey to the West and they are called the Eldar,
their language being the Common Eldarin (e.g. i ndær kweti, the man speaketh).
The dialect of the third clan, the Teleri, is often referred to as a separate
language, Common Telerin, varying from the Common Eldarin mainly through several
sound-changes (e.g. i ndær peti, the man speaketh). The Elves that stayed behind
at the Waters of Awakening, the Avari, are soon divided into various peoples, each
speaking a language of their own, about which almost nothing is known but which
are sometimes collectively referred to as Avarin (Kindi, Cuind, Hwenti, Windan,
Kinn-lai, Penni, being terms for themselves in six of these tongues, all deriving
from Primitive Quendian kwendi(-li) ).
After several split-ups among the Teleri there is then a great split at the west
coast of Middle-earth: The Vanyar and Ñoldor migrate into the West where their
Common Eldarin speech develops into Quendya (with the 'd' still intact), which
changes very little with the Vanyar who borrow a lot from Valarin. In the mouths
of the Ñoldor the change is somewhat quicker and sometimes deliberate (as the
change of 'th' to 's', against which Feänáro rebels heatedly), and they soon call
their own language Quenya (e.g. i nér quete, the man speaketh). Those of the
Teleri that also go into the West soon speak what is referred to as (Amanya)
Telerin (e.g. i dér pete, the man speaketh), with those that stay in Beleriand
the Common Telerin tongue evolves into what is later called Old-Sindarin
(e.g. i ndêr petæ, the man speaketh).
First Age
Most of the Ñoldor return to Middle-earth and meet their the Grey-elves, whose
language is evolving into the more modern dialects of Sindarin (e.g. i·ndîr pêd,
the man speaketh). Soon the Green-elves arrive in Beleriand - a Telerin people
that had on the great westward march remained behind at the Misty Mountains -
who speak a dialect of Nandorin (e.g. golda dac yrc, a Ñoldo kills orcs) as do
their relatives that still linger in the lands about Anduin. But just as the
Ñoldor the Green-elves soon learn the Sindarin tongue which is used as a common
language of intercourse. As the Elves meet the ancient people of the Ents they
kindle in them the love for language and they develop an own Entish tongue but
also learn the Elvish languages (especially Quenya), which they often use after
their strange, extraordinarily long-winded fashion.
The Dwarves in these days still have much concourse with the Elves and thus also
speak the Sindarin, but among themselves they still use their Khuzdûl (e.g.
uzbad khazâdu ai-mênu, the Lord of the Dwarves upon you). The Nœgyth-nibin or
Petty Dwarves most likely speak a dialect of the tongue.
With the beginning of the First Age the first Men had awakened in Hildórien and
had developed many languages. As the people of the Three Housed that wandered
into the west now meet the Elves, each of the tribes speaks each a language of
its own (or possibly rather dialects of the same language), that they call Taliska,
Mork and Hvendi, and which show some Dwarvish as well as Elvish (Avarin and/or
Nandorin) influence. They also adopt the Sindarin as Common Tongue.
Already at that time Men also had settled much further in the unknown south and
East of Middle-earth, but nothing of them or their languages of that time is known
to us.
About the evil creates of Morgoth, the orcs, dragons, balrogs etc. their is no
specific record concerning language, but not seldom do we hear about dialogue
with Elf or Man, so it seems they use the Sindarin also.
Second Age
The Men in Númenor continue to use Sindarin until this is forbidden and only
practiced by the Elendili or Elf-friends. From the old Mannish tongues, which
they never have forgotten, arises an own Númenórean speech, Adûnaïc (e.g.
bâ kitabdahê! - Touch me not!). Among the Númenóreans just as among the Elves Quenya
has become but a language of lore and honour, not of daily use; all Elves that
came from Beleriand speak Sindarin.
They now meet the afore mentioned Nandorin speaking woodland Elves of the lands
about Anduin and their Silvan speech (likely having some Avarin influence), but
of this little is borrowed into Sindarin but the Silvan folk rather adopt Sindarin,
strengthening it in its role as Common Tongue and though in their own realms soon
there are spoken strange dialects of Sindarin with heavy Silvan influence the
Sindarin language is now the language of all Elves in north-western Middle-earth.
The Elf-friends that fled from the destruction of Númenor settle in Gondor and
Arnor, where their speech evolves into what is later commonly called Westron,
but Adûni in the language itself and Annúnaid in Sindarin (e.g. Banazîr Galbasi,
Samwise Gamdgee), very likely incorporating much from to us unknown languages of
native Mannish people of that region.
Sauron devises his own language for his minions, the Black Speech of which the
own term for itself is not known. But he fails in this aim because most of his
creatures simply are to ignorant or lazy and they soon use the Common Tongue and
take but a few words from Sauron's creation. Only his highest captains like his
Mouth or the Úlairi (Nazgûl in their own tongue) speak it fluently (e.g. snaga u
bagronk!, the slave into the dung-pit!).
Third Age
With the Fading of the Elves Sindarin also becomes a language which is more and
more forgotten or only preserved in lore. The Westron now becomes the Common
Tongue and is also called Sôval Phâre. More Men that had in the First Age not
come to Beleriand now appear (if they have not already appeared during the Second
Age), all speaking languages or at least dialects of their own of which we know
almost nothing today, safe that they are in origin all related to some degree.
The realm of Rochand (later Rohan) is established in Calenardhon, and there dwells
one of that people of the North, using a language that is closely related to those
languages from which Westron arose: Rohirric. The original neighbours of that people,
the Halflings, likewise use a closely related language (cf. Rohirric kud-dûkan,
hole-builder, with kudûk, hobbit, the Halfling's word for their own race). Though
the Halflings keep certain words and naming conventions of their former speech
they completely adopt the Westron, which is now truly the Common Speech, since it
is spoken and understood by all peoples, even by the orcs and some animals.
A new race appearing during the War of Ring are the great soldier trolls, or
Olog-hai, and they are said to use solely Sauron's Black Speech.
Tree of Languages of Arda
(Not incorporating Entish and the Black Speech because they do not appear to have
evolved from an earlier language or given birth to a later one.)
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