PARMA ELDALAMBERON 22
The Feanorian
Alphabet, Part 1
and
Quenya
Verb Structure
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 is a
collection of writings by J. R. R. Tolkien concerning
his invented languages and scripts. These writings
have been edited and annotated by Christopher Gilson and
Arden R. Smith, under the guidance of Christopher
Tolkien and with the permission of the Tolkien
Estate.
“The Feanorian
Alphabet, Part 1”
— This is the earliest and longest version of a detailed
description of this writing system dating from the late
1930s. Four modes of use are described for
representing different invented languages — Lindarin Qenya, Parmaqestarin,
Old Noldorin, and Beleriandic — for the
second of which there is also a revised version of the
text from the 1940s. There are tables for each
mode with the letters used and their names.
Examples are given from the various languages, in
tengwar with transcriptions, to illustrate different
points of usage and certain historical changes that
affected the writing system.
“Qenya Spelling” is the surviving portion of a Qenya Grammar closely contemporary with the early version of “The Feanorian Alphabet.” It describes the spelling of the written language in the Feanorian writing system and the transcription of its sounds in the Latin alphabet according to the usage of Ælfwine. Based on this, and placed with it by Tolkien, are 6 versions of a short text called “On Ælfwine’s Spelling.” The latest of these has emendations that probably date from around 1950.
“Quendian & Common
Eldarin Verb Structure” probably dates from
the 1940s. It describes the etymological
background to the grammatical structure of the Quenya
verb and its prehistoric connections with the verbal
systems of the other Elvish languages. Placed
with it and perhaps originally intended as a
continuation is the “Quenya
Verbal System.” This is part of a Quenya Grammar probably
dating from the 1940s. It describes the
formation of the various tense stems and participles
of the Quenya verb and their inflexions for number and
voice, with some notes on syntax, and a section on
“Irregular Verbs.”
“Common Eldarin: Verb Structure” is a revision and elaboration of the Quendian and Common Eldarin material, dating from approximately 1950. This is a companion piece to “Common Eldarin: Noun Structure” published in Parma Eldalamberon, no. 21, both being parts of a projected comparative grammar of the Eldarin languages. In the late 1960s Tolkien was planning a further revision of these materials. “Late Notes on Verb Structure” is an assortment of texts, dating from 1969, dealing with Tolkien’s revised conceptions of verbal inflexion for tense, verbal substantives and adjectives, conditional expressions, and the negative verb.
Parma Eldalamberon Issue Number 22 is a 170-page journal.
Issue 22 is
Out of Print
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