PARMA ELDALAMBERON 18
Tengwesta Qenderinwa
and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2
by J. R. R. TOLKIEN
Parma Eldalamberon 'The Book of Elven-tongues' is a journal of
the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship, a special interest group of the
Mythopoeic
Society. The current
issue presents previously unpublished writings by J. R. R. Tolkien
concerning his
Elvish languages and early versions of his invented scripts.
These have been edited
and annotated by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith and Patrick H.
Wynne, under the guidance of Christopher Tolkien and with the
permission of the
Tolkien Estate.
The Tengwesta
Qenderinwa is a grammar of the Primitive Quendian
language, which Tolkien imagined to be the common ancestor of the
various Elven-tongues spoken in Middle-earth, such as Quenya, Noldorin,
Lemberin and Pereldarin (the last two later called Sindarin and
Nandorin). The earliest version of the Tengwesta
Qenderinwa was composed in the late 1930s around the
same time as the Etymologies, which is
a collection of Primitive Quendian bases with examples of Elvish words
derived from them. The Tengwesta Qenderinwa describes the
grammatical rules for the structure of these bases and the derivation of primitive
stems and words from
them. The grammar gives an "Account
of the Simple Component Sounds"; and has sections
on "Base-structure"; "Combination of Sounds in Word-formation";
"Suffixion"; and "Accentuation." There is
also an introductory section on the "Descent of Tongues"
that outlines the historical divisions of the various
Elven-kindreds and the languages they spoke, all descended from
Primitive Quendian.
Tolkien revised the Tengwesta Qenderinwa extensively in the early 1950s after completing the composition of The Lord of the Rings, incorporating new conceptions of the linguistic history which had emerged by then or those that arose during revisions to the Quenta Silmarillion and associated writings in Tolkien's legendarium. The earliest and latest versions of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa are presented in this issue of Parma Eldalamberon, along with an editorial analysis of the stages of revision that the text underwent between the 1930s and 1950s, and notes on the relation of the linguistic data in the text to that found in the Etymologies.
The Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets is an edition of Tolkien's charts and notes from about 1924 to 1929 dealing with the scripts that conceptually precede the Fëanorian Tengwar that would eventually be included in The Lord of the Rings. This issue of Parma Eldalamberon contains "Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part II," with the alphabets called Qenyatic, Andyoqenya and Angloquenya, in modes which were designed for writing English. Tolkien's examples of the scripts are reproduced in fascimile. These include charts of the sounds represented by the letters, and various English words and texts written in the scripts. Transcriptions of the examples and editorial commentary on the dating and historical background are provided.
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Tolkien revised the Tengwesta Qenderinwa extensively in the early 1950s after completing the composition of The Lord of the Rings, incorporating new conceptions of the linguistic history which had emerged by then or those that arose during revisions to the Quenta Silmarillion and associated writings in Tolkien's legendarium. The earliest and latest versions of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa are presented in this issue of Parma Eldalamberon, along with an editorial analysis of the stages of revision that the text underwent between the 1930s and 1950s, and notes on the relation of the linguistic data in the text to that found in the Etymologies.
The Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets is an edition of Tolkien's charts and notes from about 1924 to 1929 dealing with the scripts that conceptually precede the Fëanorian Tengwar that would eventually be included in The Lord of the Rings. This issue of Parma Eldalamberon contains "Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part II," with the alphabets called Qenyatic, Andyoqenya and Angloquenya, in modes which were designed for writing English. Tolkien's examples of the scripts are reproduced in fascimile. These include charts of the sounds represented by the letters, and various English words and texts written in the scripts. Transcriptions of the examples and editorial commentary on the dating and historical background are provided.
