The Fourth International Conference on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Invented
Languages, Omentielva Cantea, takes place in Valencia, Spain, on
11 - 14 August 2011.
     For this conference we call for scholarly papers on all aspects
of any or all of Tolkien's invented languages, in any or all of
their conceptual stages.
     The proceedings of the conference will be published in the fourth
volume of Arda Philology, to appear in 2012. (The third volume is
in progress and will appear in 2010.)

     To propose a paper, send an abstract to Beregond, Anders Stenström,
the Omentielva Secretary. Do not make the abstract too short; a couple
of hundred words will normally be needed (but it of course depends on
the complexity of your subject). You do not need to have your
conclusions all worked out in the proposal, but delineate how you
intend to reach them. Append a short presentation of yourself (four
lines or less). Specify which sources you will rely on, and whether
you will discuss any previous studies.
     We expect the presentation of a paper to take 40 minutes. But we aim
at a single-thread programme, and so can accommodate papers of varying
length. Please specify how long you expect to speak, and any technical
equipment you need. Be prepared for questions and discussion at the end
of your presentation.
     Copyright or similar considerations may apply. For publication, you
have to provide a copy of your paper in which all quotation is
highlighted and the source given.
     Append a short presentation of yourself (four lines or less).

     If you wish to submit a paper but can not attend the conference, you
may send a paper to be read and discussed. In the latter case, state
any directions or preferences you may have for the presentation.

========================================================
Information about Omentielva Nelya: <www.omentielva.com>

Send paper proposals, and related enquiries, to:
<beregond@...>.

For quite some time, I-lam Arth was down, and I acutely felt this loss...

Now, thanks to Aaron Shaw, I-lam Arth has been brought back online. But you'll
need to update your links and browser bookmarks:

http://www.tolkiendil.com/langues/english/I-lam_Arth

I-lam Arth is now hosted by the Association Tolkiendil
(http://www.tolkiendil.com/tolkiendil), which is a society dedicated to promote
Tolkien's works in France, as you may be aware.

All articles have been proofread again, and we hope you'll enjoy reading them
once more! Speaking of which, I would like to thank all the authors who allowed
us to republish their articles.

Of course, we do hope people will submit even more essays to I-lam Arth: we
would like to have a living website, not just a repository for old articles.

Elendil / Damien
Responsible for the Linguistic section,
Association Tolkiendil


--- In lambengolmor@yahoogroups.com, "Aaron Shaw" <lemnas@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings everyone :)
>
> I would like to announce the publication of a new essay regarding
> the syntax of Sindarin on my website I-Lam Arth.  Being a co-author
> of the paper I am very interested in the knowledgeable oppinions of
> the members of this excellent list. To give a brief synopsis of said
> article:
>
> Main Intent
>
> The general intent was to analyze the syntax of the late Noldorin
> and Sindarin corpus in hope of uncovering hidden, but plausible
> information.  We do not attempt to predict any certain forms, nor
> prescribe a grammar.  The article is entirely descriptive in nature.
>
> Some of the topics covered(some briefly):
>
> ·Syntactic relationships that seem to cause lenition
> ·Abnormal word order and its possible implications for _guren
> bêd enni_
> ·An analysis of basic word orders and their derivatives
> ·Determiners and their consequences syntactically and semantically
>
> This is only a basic listing, though there is not much else.  We do
> not delve into some of the topics as deeply as I would have liked,
> but that will remedid with further articles. This article assumes
> the basic syntactic x-bar structure, though later articles will
> utilize OT theory, Directions towards the Minimalist program, and
> perhaps HDPG.
>
> I am specifically looking for feedback regarding this article.  It
> is my hope that it will spur discussion - good or bad :).
>
> You can find the article here - http://sindarin.weet.us/syntax.html
>
> Thanks!
>
> Aaron Shaw
>

An article of note:

<http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2010/07/18/from-cult-texts-to-autho\
red-languages-fan-discourse-and-the-performances-of-authorship-karolina-agata-ka\
zimierczak/>

-- Carl Hostetter

The BBC have posted the 1968 video "Tolkien in Oxford" on their website at:

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/writers/12237.shtml>

Most of the parts actually featuring Tolkien speaking have been excerpted
before, so the linguistic content of the video is mostly well known already; but
here is my transcription of the linguistic bits:

17:47 - "I first began seriously to invent languages about when I was 13 or 14.
I've never stopped really.  Languages have a flavor to me which I never
understand people saying for instance, it's awfully dry or dull because a new
language to me is just like getting a new wine or some new sweetmeat or
something."

17:54 - Tolkien is shown writing a _tengwar_ inscription (Gildor's Quenya
greeting, "_Elen síla_..."), comments on making a mistake in it, and recites the
greeting.

18:58 - Regarding speaking Elvish, Tolkien says: "No. No. No. I wouldn't mind
other people knowing it, and enjoying it, but I didn't really want to, like some
people who have been equally inventive in languages [? desiring ?] to sort of
make cults and have people speaking it all together, no, I don't desire to go
and have an afternoon talking Elvish to chaps. For one thing of course Elvish is
too complicated. I've never finished making it."

20:54 - Tolkien recites the Ring inscription. Notable here is his pronunciation
of final _-g_ in _nazg_ as "guh", and of _-gh_ in _agh_ as "-kh".

21:18 - Speaking apparently of the Ring inscription and/or the Black Speech,
Tolkien states: "I invented that in the bath, I remember. Yes, I remember
inventing that in one of the baths, inventing it when I was having a bath, in 20
Northmoor Road. I still remember kicking the sponge out of the bath when I got
[? the last and] all right that will do and jumped out." Tolkien lived at 20
Northmoor Road from 1930 to 1947.


--
=============================================
Carl F. Hostetter   Aelfwine@...   http://www.elvish.org

            ho bios brachys, he de techne makre.
                    Ars longa, vita brevis.
             The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.
"I wish life was not so short," he thought.  "Languages take such
     a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about."

I'm attempting to collect data for cross-referencing Elvish words with
citations that involve explanations of those words, in conjunction
with my project to construct an online reference map.  I've started
with the names from the maps, and comprehensive citations from the
Silmarillion's Index of Names and the Parts of Elvish Words.  I then
broke compound words and attempted to correlate their meanings like a
Sudoku puzzle, mostly for my own edification, but also to attempt to
"reverse-engineer" some of the under-explained names.  I imagine this
project has been undertaken before.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0An5phhxDkYDPdGdHbjZPUHk5RGViOWlUMUpFN19\
ES0E&hl=en

Postfix asterisk implies that cell contains conjecture presently.  A
postfix plus implies that the cell is filled with a value acquired
from another row that has either a corresponding word or meaning
explained elsewhere.  Rows without citations are conjecture or I'm
still in search for an appropriate citation; these mostly come from
the map or secondary sources that I haven't connected back to the
primary texts.  I plan to write automation to generate pages for each
word component, to give a complete background of its various meanings,
attested contexts, and usage.  The plan is to use this data to provide
background for the articles on each location on my map,
http://3rin.gs.

I imagine that this would be useful for other projects.  I would
eventually like to connect this data with the etymologies in Lost Road
and cross-check against secondary sources like the Hisweloke
dictionary, for which I've been kindly provided some data files.

Kris Kowal

PARMA ELDALAMBERON 19

Quenya Phonology:
    Comparative Tables
    Outline of Phonetic Development
    Outline of Phonology

By J. R. R. TOLKIEN

http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma19.html

This issue of _Parma Eldalamberon_ to which we have given the title
"Quenya Phonology" presents three linguistic texts dealing with the
internal history of the sounds of Quenya in relation to the cognate
Elvish languages and their descent from a common source.

The "Comparative Tables" are a series of charts laying out the regular
correspondences among the sounds of the various languages Tolkien
had invented by the late 1930s or conceived of as part of his history
of the Elves, including Valarin, Quenya, Lindarin, Telerin, Noldorin,
Ilkorin, Danian and Lemberin, as well as the Mannish language Taliskan.
There are charts for word-initial and medial consonants and consonant
groups, and for long vowels and diphthongs. These are accompanied
by Tolkien's notes on the general phonetic characteristics of the
historical development of the languages, and on their phonological
types in terms of the "real" languages on which they were modelled.

The "Outline of Phonetic Development" is a detailed description of
the historical changes that produced of the sounds of Quenya from
the sounds of Primitive Eldarin, including the regular developments
in word-initial and medial positions and the distinctive changes of
sounds in contact.  Phonetic variations among the historical dialects
of Quenya are described, as well as those divergent developments
occurring in the closely related languages of Lindarin, Telerin and
Noldorin, and the influences of these on the dialects of Quenya.
The text appears to be from the late 1930s or 1940s.

The "Outline of Phonology" is a revised and expanded version of this
text, dating from the 1950s.  It describes the phonology of Quenya
as primarily the speech of the Noldor in Valinor; but it is similarly
arranged, giving variations within the historical dialects of Quenya
and divergent developments in the related Vanyarin and Telerin.

We expect _Parma Eldalamberon_ no. 19 to be available for shipping:
November 15, 2010

The cost is $35 per copy including postage and handling world-wide.

To order now, please use the PayPal button at the webpage given below,
or send check or money-order (U.S. funds only) to:

Christopher Gilson
1240 Dale Avenue, No. 40
Mountain View, CA 94040
U. S. A.

http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma19.html

>
> http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma19.html
>

This link doesn't work for me. Is that just a local problem?

All the best,
Peter


[Unfortunately, I've noticed this behavior in the past. For some reason, the
server that the eldalamberon.com site is on is at least at times unreachable in
at least some European countries. I suggest contacting Christopher Gilson
directly at harpwire at ifn dot net. I should also note that Chris has had a
family matter arise that may delay Parma and/or his correspondence for a bit.
CFH]

Hello, I am new to the Lambengolmor and to the study of Tolkien's languages. 
The discovery of all the scholars dedicated to this study is exciting. The
journals that collect your scholarship will be treasured for many years.

The Vinyar Tengwar's collected volumes 1-5b are a fantastic resource. I eagerly
await #50.

The Parma Eldalamberon is also wonderful. I have found that 1-7, 11, 14-17, &
19 are available. Does anyone know of a resource for purchasing out-of-print
issues of the Parma Eldalamberon? Or do these out-of-print issues get reprinted
periodically?


Thank you,
Sean


[Yes, editor Christopher Gilson does occasionally reprint back-issues of PE.

I'd like to take this occasion to update folks on _Vinyar Tengwar_. First, I
must apologize for the very long delay in producing issue 50. I had hoped to
have finished it (much) earlier this year, but my (bill-paying) work schedule
has been intense for many months now as my two software development projects
race critical and tight release deadlines. However, that should come to an end
soon, and I will in any event be taking the last half of December off, so should
be able to finish the issue by year's end, and publish it shortly after that.
Second, many have noted the disappearance _The Collected Vinyar Tengwar_ Vol. 5b
from availability on Lulu.com; this was due to Lulu.com's automated
PDF-validity-checking tools deciding that there was at least one error in at
least one of the PDF files that vol. 5b comprises: but they couldn't tell me
what or where the errors were. And rather than trying to track that down, I
decided just to wait until the volume is completed with VT 50 and generate a
whole new set of PDFs then. So again, hopefully around the beginning of the new
year, the completed vol. 5 will be available.

This is also a good occasion to make a periodic reference to the guidelines for
this group:
<http://www.elvish.org/LambengolmorList/>. CFH]

Hopefully I can throw a little light on the issue, as I've
experienced the problem myself. (I live in Sweden.)

	 When PE 19 was announced, I was at work and followed the link to
the PE website. I could access the website, but decided to wait with
ordering the issue until I got home.

	 At home I tried to access the PE website every day during a whole
week, but I couldn't connect. I sent Mr. Gilson an email, and he
kindly replied that my Internet Service Provider (ISP) might be
the cause of the problem.

	 I therefore tried again at work (which uses a different ISP) - and
it worked! I could connect to the PE website and order the new issue
via Paypal, as usual.

	 However, I did call my ISP to enquire if they are blocking the
website, but I got the answer that they weren't. They think the
problem is related to a setting in my software. (But since I tried
both in IE and Chrome, I'm suspecting there's another problem causing
the issue...)

	 So, in short, if you have trouble accessing the PE website (I've
heard from various people having this problem), try with a different
computer, with a different ISP or other internet settings.

	 Cheers,

	 Morgan

Mellyn!

     The webpages about Omentielva Cantea have just been updated
with news about programme and participants. Look at
<http://www.omentielva.com/next.htm>.
     Thanks to a grant from Sociedad Tolkien Española we have been
able to invite Arden Smith as guest of honour, and two of the
talks will be by him.

     The conference is in Valencia, Spain, 11 - 14 August. You can
register online at <http://www.omentielva.com/register.htm>.

	 A lelya Valencianna!

		 Beregond

Mellyn!

     It is still possible to register for Omentielva Cantea, the
conference on Tolkien's invented languages that will take place
in Valencia, Spain, on 11 - 14 August 2011. But we have now set
17 July as the deadline for full registration.
     The full fee is 110 EUR (roughly 140 USD, 92 GBP), which includes
attendance, accomodation, all meals, and eventually the volume of
published proceedings.
     For a smaller fee, 25 EUR, you may register as a non-attending
participant. In this way you support the conference and you will get
a copy of the published proceedings.

     All information is on the website, which is continually updated;
keep an eye at <www.omentielva.com>.

	 A lelya Valencianna!

		 Beregond, Anders Stenström

I just wanted to draw the attention to what I believe could be a minor
error in Parma Eldalamberon 17: on page 26 is given the reference
"_OYO-_ 'ever eternal'". The correct form would be "OY- 'ever,
eternal'" (as appearing in _The Lost Road_, p. 379). From what I can
find, the The Parma Eldalamberon errata document (updated 20 December
2008) does not include this note. (I also double-checked with the
corrigenda provided in Vinyar Tengwar 46, which also has "OY-".)
Cheers,
Morgan Thomsen


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In http://www.elvish.org/errata/VT-Errata.pdf it's written the following

Issue 45:
VT45:35, under MIZD-: for "Dor. mêd 'moisture'" read "Dor. mīd 'Moisture'".
(Reported by
Helios De Rosario Martínez, see Lambengolmor message 654).

Is capital "M" in the word "Moisture" really intended? It looks like it should
be small "m", not capital "M".

              Thaliorne

PARMA ELDALAMBERON 12

_Qenyaqetsa_
"The Sounds of Qenya" and
"Qenya Dictionary"

By J. R. R. TOLKIEN

<http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma12.html>

This issue contains Tolkien's brief sketch of the internal history of Qenya
contemporary with  the Lost Tales; a very detailed (though unfinished)
historical phonology of the language; and the "Qenya Dictionary" -- more
commonly known as the Qenya Lexicon -- Tolkien's earliest and most comprehensive
treatment of the vocabulary of this favorite of his Elvish languages.

In this reprint of _Parma 12_ we have corrected all of the errors that were
noticed in the previous printings.  We have also improved the typography of the
phonetic symbols and diacritics used in the text where unicode versions are now
available.  As with _Parma 14_ (which was reprinted last year) we have improved
the quality of _Parma 12_ by printing directly from electronic files instead of
the photocopying method used in the past.

We expect _Parma Eldalamberon 12_ will be ready to ship early next month.  You
can reserve a copy by ordering it now via PayPal at the link given above, or by
sending a check to the address below.  The cost is $35.00 US per copy, including
postage and handling world-wide.

Christopher Gilson
1240 Dale Ave. #40
Mountain View, CA 94040
U.S.A.

In our discussions about the tengwar at Omentielva Cantea this past
weekend, some questions about the shapes of certain Feanorian
characters arose. I'd like to address a couple of those questions.

The Feanorian zero:  In the manuscripts upon which the presentations
in _Quettar_ 13 and 14 were based, the zero clearly has the shape of a
backwards c. It should not look like the right half of a heart, as
Christopher Tolkien has generally written it.

The tengwa /y/ in the Mode of Beleriand:  All the unpublished tables
of that mode agree that the loop of the letter should in fact be
*closed*. This being the case, it should not be regarded as an
alternative usage of _silme nuquerna_, but rather as an entirely
different tengwa.


***************************************************
Arden R. Smith 		 erilaz@...

Perilme metto aimaktur perperienta.
						 --Elvish proverb

***************************************************





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello,

here are some possible errors in PE17 :

PE17:5
both published and in the >> both published in the

PE17:18
distinguised >> distinguished

PE17:23
Etymogies >> Etymologies

PE17:25
a Qenya word  [could it be "Quenya" instead ?]

PE17:34
The sheet sheet >> The sheet

PE17:146
Etym. AM- 'up' >> Etym. AM²- 'up'

PE17:164
and older variant of Eldamar >> an older variant of Eldamar

PE17:166
_ataquanta-_, refall, fall second time, double fall [could it be "refill" and
"fill" instead, cf. _entaquanta- 'refill' next page and  roots KWAT- in Etym. or
QNTN or QATA in PE12]

DG

--- In lambengolmor@yahoogroups.com, "David Giraudeau" <davidkiks@...> wrote:

> here are some possible errors in PE17 :
>
> PE17:5
> both published and in the >> both published in the

No, the allusion is to examples that were published at that time and also to
examples
written at that time in the "Silmarillion" materials but not yet published then.

>
[...]
>
> PE17:25
> a Qenya word  [could it be "Quenya" instead ?]

Yes, this should certainly be "a Quenya word."  This is actually a silent
expansion of
Tolkien's "a Q. word" but he would have spelled it with the "u" if he had
written it in
full at this time.

>
[...]
> PE17:146
> Etym. AM- 'up' >> Etym. AM²- 'up'

My feeling is that the superscripted number is superfluous in this context: it
is not
an essential component of the linguistic form; the reference is unambiguous
since the
gloss of the base is included; and the number would not mean anything to readers
not already very familiar with _The Etymologies_ or having it before them as
they
were reading PE 17.

>
[...]
> PE17:166
> _ataquanta-_, refall, fall second time, double fall [could it be "refill" and
"fill" instead, cf. _entaquanta- 'refill' next page and  roots KWAT- in Etym. or
QNTN or QATA in PE12]

At the time I published PE 17 it seemed clear that either "refall" was a slip
for
"refill" or else _ataquanta_ was a slip for _atalanta_ and I intended (but in
the
event neglected) to point out the alternative possibilities in the annotation. 
The
other two glosses are more hasty and could be interpreted either way.  The
reading
of the "a" in the first gloss seemed clear at the time; but I see on reëxamining
my
copy of the ms. page that this gloss is written over something else in
ball-point,
which is too obscured to interpret, but may be contributing to an actual "i" in
the
gloss (written without a dot) looking like an "a."  Given that "refall" is an
unusual construction in English anyway, I think it is indeed much more likely
that Tolkien
wrote "_ataquanta_, refill, fill second time, double fill."

Christopher Gilson

If this is correct - sorry for an elfling rather than lambengolmor statement -
any scandinavian members will be happy to know that Tolkien knew of the Swedish
coffee house custom of _påtår_ and made _ataquanta_ to represent it in Quenya.
Or does _refill_ occur often in English customs?







 Given that "refall" is an unusual construction in English anyway, I think it is
indeed much more likely that Tolkien
wrote "_ataquanta_, refill, fill second time, double fill."


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I received today copies of two new books of Tolkien scholarship containing new
primary material that will be of special interest to this list:

=================

1) _The Art of the Hobbit_ by J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina
Scull
(London, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2011)
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Hobbit-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0007440812/>

p. 51 offers the largest and clearest reproduction yet of the version of
"Thror's Map" that has the Noldorin inscription:

		   brann i-
	 Lheben teil annon
	 ar neledh [?neledie >>] neledhi gar
	 {gold >> ?goelend}
	 godrebh

and the Old English inscription:

	 fif fóta heah is se duru a{nd}
		     [?mæg]
	 þrie mæg samod þurhgang[?en]d

(The last letters of "and" are rubbed, and above "duru and" two words, or
possibly one long word, of perhaps 8 to 10 letters, have been erased, possibly
containing "gh" as the 3/4 or 4/5 letters.)

p. 56 reproduces, from the verso of the same version of "Thror's Map", Tolkien's
sketches for the moon-runes ("Stand by the grey stone..."), accompanied by the
start of a Noldorin translation:

	 har na ond i mid

With _har_ cp. QL HARA- 'cleave, remain', har(e) 'near' (PE12:39); GL hast
'waiting. a wait. a pause, a rest. stop'. hasta- 'to tarry, wait. pause, stay.
stop' (PE11:48).

(There is also a full translation of the moon-runes into Old Norse and a partial
translation in Old English.)

p. 114 reproduces, from the verso of Tolkien's sketch of "The Death of Smaug", a
number of _tengwar_ transcriptions of English phrases.

=================

2) _The History of the Hobbit_, revised and expanded one-volume edition, J.R.R.
Tolkien, ed. John Rateliff
(London, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2011)
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Hobbit-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0007440820/>

p. 895 reproduces Tolkien's runic (futhorc-style) banners (in the event not
used) for the Longmans Green and co. 1966 school edition of _The Hobbit_.

pp. 902-11 provide:

	 i. Tolkien's table and discussion of the "Runes used by Thorin & Co." (i.e.,
his modified version of the _futhorc_ adapted to Modern English),

	 ii. Two further versions of Tolkien's _tengwar_ transcription of Thorin's
letter of contract with Bilbo ("Thorin and company to burglar Bilbo
greetings....").

	 iii. Tolkien's table and discussion of an "Adaptation of the Feanorian Alphabet
as used by Dwarves (and others) for the common or ordinary language", including
punctuation and two systems of numerals.

	 iv. Tolkien's table and discussion of "Feanorian applied to English", including
punctuation and _tehtar_.


If anyone spots any new material that I overlooked, please let the list know.

-- Carl Hostetter

Dear Carl,

Thank you very much for this interesting information.
I have a question and an addition.

On 15.11.2011, at 23:23, Carl F. Hostetter wrote:

> and the Old English inscription:
>
> fif fóta heah is se duru a{nd}
> [?mæg]
> flrie mæg samod flurhgang[?en]d

I'd venture to guess that the initial consonant of _flrie_ and _flurhgang_ is
thorn, hence þrie (= OE 'three', i.e. þrí­e, thrí­e) and þurhgang[...] (probably
OE þurhgangan, thurhgangan 'go through, enter').

Is this just a technical problem of representing thorn or does the print edition
perhaps intend to write f+l ?

[The fl ligature is indeed a thorn. This and other manglings you may see in your
email are due to Yahoo groups' encoding. See the post on the web at
<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lambengolmor/message/1116> for an accurate
rendering. CFH]

> har na ond i mid
>
> With _har_ cp. QL HARA- 'cleave, remain', har(e) 'near' (PE12:39); GL hast
'waiting. a wait. a pause, a rest. stop'. hasta- 'to tarry, wait. pause, stay.
stop' (PE11:48).

While not an exact semantic match, cf. also _hára_ 'to be sitting' as in _i
hárar mahalmassen_ "those who sit upon the thrones" (UT:305).

-David Kiltz

Bay East Auctions' Art & Book Sale, 27 Nov. 2011:

<http://bayeastauctions.com.au/auctions_catalogues.php?auction=384>

contains the following Tolkien lot of particular interest to this list:

===========

Lot 389: <http://bayeastauctions.com.au/lot_details.php?lot=177950#>

Signed set of _The Lord of the Rings_ with (Nov. 1954?)

1) _Tengwar_ transliteration of English inscription:

"With the very best wishes of <J.R.R. Tolkien> I wish that you need not go back
"across so wide a sea"."

2) Tipped-in analysis (1955?) of the _tengwar_ inscription, not in Tolkien's
hand, nor apparently by him -- note the misinterpretation of the flourish of the
final "s"-_tengwa_ of "wishes" as the "u"-_tengwa_.


--
=============================================
Carl F. Hostetter   Aelfwine@...   http://www.elvish.org

            ho bios brachys, he de techne makre.
                    Ars longa, vita brevis.
             The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.
"I wish life was not so short," he thought.  "Languages take such
     a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about."

Hello,

here is a list of PE12 changes between 2nd printing (2003) and revised 3rd
printing (2011) :

http://lambenore.free.fr/downloads/PE12_changes.pdf

Cordially,

David

PARMA ELDALAMBERON 20

The Qenya Alphabet

Documents by J. R. R. TOLKIEN

<http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma20.html>

This forthcoming issue presents previously unpublished writings about an early
version of one of J. R. R. Tolkien's invented scripts, edited and annotated by
Arden R. Smith, under the guidance of Christopher Tolkien and with the
permission of the Tolkien Estate.

_The Qenya Alphabet_ is an edition of Tolkien's charts and notes from circa 1931
dealing with the earliest version of the type of writing later called "Fëanorian
Tengwar."   This issue of _Parma Eldalamberon_ contains 40 documents in which
Tolkien's examples of the scripts are reproduced using electonic scans of
black-and-white photocopies of the original manuscripts.

The documents include different versions of a detailed explanation of the use of
the script for representing English, both phonetically and also according to
English spelling.  These have charts of the theoretical values of the sounds
represented by the letters, and various English words and texts written in the
scripts.  

There are also various specimen texts written by Tolkien in the Qenya Alphabet.
 These exemplify some conceptual changes in mode, and there is a great variety
of different styles, ranging from formal "book-hand" to rapidly written cursive.
 Most of these examples are in English, but there are also texts in Latin, Old
English and Old High German.  The editor has provided transcriptions of the
example texts along with commentary on their dating and historical background. 

_Parma Eldalamberon_ Issue Number 20 is a 160-page journal.

Publication Date: 3 August 2012

The cost is $35 per copy including postage and handling world-wide. You can
reserve a copy by ordering it now via PayPal at the web-page link given above,
or by sending a check to:

Christopher Gilson
1240 Dale Avenue, No. 40
Mountain View, CA 94040
U. S. A.
*
cgilson75@...

I posted this on Elfling and got a partial answer from David Salo, but
it wasn't quite what I was looking for. So:

Does anyone know of a list that shows which forms in David Salo's
_Gateway to Sindarin_ are derived by Salo and are not attested in
Tolkien's own writings? I know that it was Salo's intention to mark all
the forms accordingly, but (not surprisingly) there's actually some
inconsistency in the marking. For my own purposes, I would like to
know which forms Salo derived as opposed to those which actually
come from Tolkien. I haven't been able to find a comprehensive list,
however.

Thanks,
Kate

On Dec. 12, 2012, Madeline J. Keyser posted on the "TolkienLibrary.com" site  a
report on "Sixteen Philological Books and Notes from the Library of J.R.R.
Tolkien", held in the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A&M
University. Among the images of notes in Tolkien's hand published in the course
of this report, two are of particular interest to students of Tolkien's invented
languages. Both of these are fragmentary, each occupying a single side of a torn
half-sheet of paper. The date (or dates) of this fragments are uncertain, but
from the style of Tolkien's handwriting and from the paper-type they appear to
date from the early- to mid-1930s. They read:

Fragment 1:
----------

.... They may not be used as nouns without change.
The comparative suffixes are -{_ña_ >>} _nya_, compar[ative]; -_nta_
superl[ative].
In a few cases — probably where what now appears as the adjectival stem
really contains an old suffix as _bara_ 'good' = _ba_ + _ra_ — this is
irregular.
Thus _mora_ 'dark' _moranya_ darker _moranta_ darkest.
     _bara_ 'good' {_baranya_ better {baranta best.
                   {_banya_          {banta
-_nta_ is not merely augmentative. For augmentative suffixes see below.
It is strictly comparative and requires no article.

Fragment 2:
----------

... significances being set aside, given a considerably higher ...
syllables following or preceding.
   The main-stress normally occurs on the _vowel_ of the penultimate syllable.
Certain formations (more rarely dissyllabic stems) are, however, 'dactylic'
accenting the antepenult. In this case the position of the accent is always
marked with the stress-mark ´. The same sign is also used where
final _o_, _e_ have been omitted, as occurs colloquially and in some cases
regularly, after single r, s, n, l, t. [Thus _fár_ (= fár' for _faro_ 'bread') :
in this case ´ shows omission of _o_/_e_ and also length of vowel, for the
length of _fa:�ro_ is retained.]

Although the author of the report posits that these note fragments refer to
Germanic languages, in fact they are fragments of a grammar of an invented
Elvish, or Elvish-influenced, language, apparently dating to sometime in the
1930s (judging by the style of handwriting and the type of paper). The surviving
fragments of this grammar appear on a small number of torn half-sheets that are
now found among Tolkien's manuscripts at the Bodleian Library (Tolkien used the
backs of the scraps to write unrelated material), on one of which the (apparent)
name of the language is given as "Nala Lambe" (where _nala_ is untranslated and
of uncertain meaning — though perhaps cf. *ngalámbe 'barbarous speech' <
ÑGAL-/ÑGALAM- 'talk loud or incoherently', V:377; or NALA- 'ring, play', PE12:64
— but _lambe_ plainly relates to Q. _lambe_ 'tongue, language' < LAB-; cf. Q
_parmalambe_ 'book-language', V:380 s.v. PAR-). It is uncertain whether all the
material on the half-sheets at the Bodleian pertains to Nala Lambe, though
several of them indisputably do — for example, four of the half sheets join up
to form the first two pages of a grammar. And it is clear that at least Fragment
2 above describes Nala Lambe, as the discussion of the forms _fár_, _fár'_, and
_faro_ in the Cushing fragment is repeated (with similar wording) on the second
page of the reassembled Bodleian grammar of Nala Lambe. The internal evidence
connecting Cushing's Fragment 1 with this material is less definitive, but the
external evidence (paper, ink, handwriting, etc.) suggests that it very probably
belongs with it. The speakers of Nala Lambe are unidentified in any fragment,
and its precise nature is unclear, beyond the fact that it bears many
similarities to Elvish.

The language as evidenced here might appear at first to be of the Q(u)enya type,
given the adjectival suffixes -_nya_ and -_nta_, which fit well phonologically
with Q(u)enya but would be impermissible in any of the
Goldogrin/Noldorin/Sindarin complex of languages; but on the other hand, initial
_b_ is likewise impermissible in Q(u)enya. Noting that the adjective _bara_
'good' bears a striking resemblance to Q(u). _mára_ 'good' (cf. Etym. MAG- "use,
handle, in *_magra:�_ useful, fit, good (of things): Q _mára_, N _maer_",
V:371), it might appear that this language underwent a change of initial *_m-_ >
_b-_. However, the form _mora_ 'dark', which is transparently related to the
base MOR- (whence Q. _more_ 'black', _móre_ 'blackness, dark, night', V:373)
shows that the normal development of initial *_m-_ would be _m-_, not _b-_. It
might be that _bara_ is intended as a derivative of a variant (though
unattested) form *MBAG- of MAG- (bases with such M-/MB- variants do occur, cf.
Etym. MASAG-, MBAS- 'knead'); and if so, the change of initial *_mb-_ > _b-_
would parallel that which Tolkien indicated for the Danian, East Danian, and
Taliska in the "Comparative Tables" of sound-changes associated with the
_Tengwesta Qenderinwa_ of c. 1937 (PE19:20), all of which Tolkien notes are of
"a Germanic type". This in turn suggests that the language described in this
fragment may be intended to be another such Germanic-type language, or perhaps
is a conceptual precursor to one of these Germanic-type languages.

The form _faro_ 'bread' of Nala Lambe may similarly — but more problematically —
be intended to be related to Etym. MBAS- 'knead', whence Q. _masta_, N _bast_, S
_-bas_  'bread', with initial *_mb-_ > _f-_; or perhaps to related MASAG-
'knead, make soft by rubbing, kneading', with initial *_m-_ > _f-_; with in
either case rhotacization of medial _-s-_ > _-r-_. Both derivations are
problematic, however, since the form _mora_ 'dark' would seem to rule out a
development of initial *_m-_ > _f-_, while a development of initial *_mb-_ >
_f-_ would be in unconditioned variance with the development *_mb-_ > _b-_
proposed for _bara_ 'good'. So if _faro_ 'bread' is indeed to be related to
MBAS-, it may require that the proximate source was (possibly Noldorin) *_bas-_,
with the subsequent development of initial *_b-_ > _f-_. (It may be significant
in this regard that Danian, East Danian, and Taliska are all indicated by
Tolkien as having a "notable, aberrant development" of initial *_p-_ > _f-_ —
i.e., the same development described by Grimm's Law for the Germanic languages —
in the "Comparative Tables", p. 18; though of course the devoicing would also
have to be accounted for.)

-- Carl F. Hostetter
   Patrick H. Wynne

We thank the Tolkien Estate for permission to publish the transcript of these
fragments and to refer to the other fragments in the Bodleian.

I just noticed that the link to the original post containing the fragments was
edited out by the Yahoo text engine. Hopefully this will work:

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1066-Sixteen-philological-books-notes-librar\
y-of-Tolkien.php

-- Carl F. Hostetter

Note that Carl Hostetter was kind enough to add some remarks of his own to my
post, which are in square brackets [...]. My comments on his remarks will be in
double-square: [[...]]

In message 1122 (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lambengolmor/message/1122),
Carl F. Hostetter and Patrick H. Wynne were kind enough to draw our attention to
two interesting notes of interest to Tolkienian linguistics. For convenience,
the transcriptions by the authors are given here in full, followed by my own
remarks. Note that I fully agree with Hostetter and Wynne that these are notes
on some kind of Elvish language.

In the case of 'fragment 1', the apparent archaicity of the suffixes (although
vowel-length is not indicated) plus the possible retention of original *b- (if
it is not to be derived from *mb-) may point to the actual discussion of some
kind of proto-forms.

> Fragment 1:
> ----------
>
> .... They may not be used as nouns without change.
> The comparative suffixes are -{_ña_ >>} _nya_, compar[ative]; -_nta_
superl[ative].
> In a few cases ˜ probably where what now appears as the adjectival stem
> really contains an old suffix as _bara_ 'good' = _ba_ + _ra_ ˜ this is
irregular.
> Thus _mora_ 'dark' _moranya_ darker _moranta_ darkest.
> _bara_ 'good' {_baranya_ better {baranta best.
> {_banya_ {banta
> -_nta_ is not merely augmentative. For augmentative suffixes see below.
> It is strictly comparative and requires no article.

I think it is of significance that Tolkien notes that _bara_ is to be analysed
as originally containing a suffix, i.e. _-ra_. The root, then, _ba-_ could
perhaps be compared to *bana: with further derivatives _*banya:_, Q _vanya_
'beautiful' and Q _vanima_ 'fair, cf. Etym. BAN- (V:351). Semantically,
derivatives from a root _*ba-_ meaning either 'good' or something like
'agreeable, beautiful, fair' seem quite possible. Cf. also Qenya _vanya_ 'holy,
not evil', comparative _valda_, vanyalda_; also _mara_ 'excellent, useful, not
bad', comparative _malda_ in the English-Qenya Dictionary  s.v. Good (PE15:73)
which point to an original base Q _va-_, CE *_ba-_ 'good' etc.

[NL _bara_ = _ba_ + _ra_ might well be evidence for a base *BA- good. However,
since primitive *_magra:�_ 'useful, fit, good (of things)' < MAG- (V:371)  is
itself formed with a primitive suffix *_-ra:_ the significance of Tolkien's note
pertains to this analysis as well. Furthermore, since primitive medial *_g_ was
regularly lost in Q, I don't think Q. _mara_ at PE15:73 necessarily implies a CE
*_ba-_. That _mara_ might just as well have arisen from *_mag-ra_ as well, and
comp. _malda_ could be explained either as due to syncope of *_maralda_ or as
due to a back-formed root *_ma-_ within Qenya itself. CFH]

[[The entry in the English-Qenya Dictionary  s.v. Good (PE15:73) that I quoted
gives both forms with _v-_ and _m-_. Hence I think we may simple have to
different roots and that, at least at some time, Q(u)enya was conceived as
having derivatives of both original roots with initial _b-_ and _m-_. I agree
that the forms with _m-_ may well derive from root MAG-. I'm skeptical about
_malda_ < *_maralda_ via syncope. That is because Tolkien tells us that it was
indeed the other way round and the parallel in 'real-world' Indo-European. Also,
I'm not aware of other examples for such a syncope. As for the back-formation,
while possible, it may not even be necessary to assume it, since _malda_ and
_mal_ (adverb, loc. cit.) may go directly back to *_mag-lda_ > _ma:lda_ >
_malda_ (the latter with shortening of _a:_ before double consonant.]]



The possible formation of the comparative and the superlative directly from the
root rather than the adjective cum suffix is reminiscent of Indo-European: e.g.
Latin _magnus_ 'big' but _maior_, _maius_ 'bigger' < *_mag-yo:s_, _mag-yos_ or
Sanskrit _yávistha_ 'youngest, youngest-born' from a positive _yúv-an_ 'young,
youthful'. Cf. also, in a cross-comparison between two members of the I.-E.
language family, Proto-Germanic _*batiz-_, _*batist-_ 'better', 'best', 
Sanskrit _bhad-ram_ 'good, agreeable'. (In the Sanskrit (Vedic) word the _s_ and
_th_ are actually retroflex sounds, thus a more precise transcription would be
_yavis.th.a_. Note also, that on the level of Proto-Indo-European, the
comparative and superlative forms may actually have originally contained a
suffix _*-i_; the forms, then, would have been part of what is known as the
'Caland-system' but this is not the place to discuss this inner-I.E. question.)

With regard to the superlative ending _-nta_, note the strikingly similar
superlative suffix _-onta_ of Goldogrin (PE11:16), and that Tolkien there
remarks that "superlatives are really not so but are forms of 'very'[:]
_gwandronta_ = 'exceedingly fair'". Tolkien's remark here that NL "_-nta_ is not
merely augmentative" stands in contrast to this earlier remark and to an
apparent earlier conceptual preference for augmentative rather than truly
superlative suffixes (a preference noted by Thorsten Renk in message 877 of this
list, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lambengolmor/message/877, in the course
of discussing whether Tom Bombadil's epithet _Iarwain Ben-adar_ 'oldest and
fatherless' contains a superlative suffix). Incidentally, note too that the GL
(PE11:44) seems to contradict the derivation of Q _Vána_ 'fair' one etc. from
_*bana:_ in relating it to Gnomish _gwan-_ etc.

> Fragment 2:
> ----------
>
> ... significances being set aside, given a considerably higher ...
> syllables following or preceding.
> The main-stress normally occurs on the _vowel_ of the penultimate syllable.
> Certain formations (more rarely dissyllabic stems) are, however, 'dactylic'
> accenting the antepenult. In this case the position of the accent is always
> marked with the stress-mark ´. The same sign is also used where
> final _o_, _e_ have been omitted, as occurs colloquially and in some cases
> regularly, after single r, s, n, l, t. [Thus _fár_ (= fár' for _faro_
'bread') :
> in this case ´ shows omission of _o_/_e_ and also length of vowel, for the
> length of _fa:ro_ is retained.]

Question: Could it at all be that _fa:ro_ in the last line is to be read
_fa:so_?

[No, it's very clearly _fa:ro_. CFH]
[[Thank you. As Carl Hostetter himself had rightly pointed out to me, this
doesn't change the possibility of the etymology suggested below, if one assumes
_s_ > _z_ > _r_, i.e. Q(u)enya rhotacism.]]

The author of the report on "Sixteen Philological Books and Notes from the
Library of J.R.R. Tolkien" compares Latin _farina_ "a type of wheat found in the
East". Of course, even if _fár(o)_ were to be some sort of Latin, it wouldn't
derive from _farina_ but rather the other way round. Also, _farina_ means
'flour' in Latin. It derives from _far, farris_ 'spelt'. The word has cognates
in Celtic, Germanic and Slavonic cf. OE _bere_ NE _bar-ley_, Gothic _barizeins_
'of barley_, Russian _bóroshno_ 'rye flour', OldIrish _bairgen_ (< _*bari-_)
'bread'. Old Iceldandic _barr_ probably also belongs here. It not only denotes
cereals and food in general but also the buds of needle-wood. The root
*_bhar-(es)_ means originally 'to prick' and refers especially to plants that
'prick', things like bristles, shaggy hair etc. Indeed, English _beard_ and its
relations belong here too. Typologically, it's not unheard of to relate these
meanings, e.g. in Central Semitic _*´sacr-_ means both 'hair', as well as
'barley'. This suggests that _fa:ro_ could be related to PHAS- (V:381) which
yields e.g. Q _fasse_ 'tangled lock, shaggy hair'.

-David Kiltz

Thanks to a long year-end break and the easing up of professional obligations, I
am pleased to announce that the long-awaited 50th issue of _Vinyar Tengwar_ is
nearing completion. _VT_ 50 contains my presentation and analysis of the "Túrin
Wrapper", featuring a set of three untranslated Sindarin texts from the
(probably early) 1950s pertaining to the "Túrinssaga".

I hope to have the issue completed, printed, and mailed off by March 1.

Please note that henceforth issues of _Vinyar Tengwar_ will be available only
through the online, print-on-demand publisher Lulu.com, which currently also
publishes the various volumes of "The Collected _Vinyar Tengwar_":
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/elf . Once _VT_ 50 has been mailed, I will be
adding it to, and thus completing, volume 5 of "The Collected _Vinyar Tengwar_".

Current subscribers to _VT_ please note: if you have moved in the years since
_VT_ 49 was published, please email me (directly: Aelfwine@...) as soon
as possible with you current mailing address. And thank you very much for your
long patience!


Carl F. Hostetter

May I ask you for a clarification on how to access issue 50 if you are
not a subscriber? I bought (the incomplete) Vol. 5 some years ago and
I'm thus hoping to just add issue 50. Will my only option be to buy a
new Vol. 5, or will the new issue be offered on Lulu.com as a single
print?

Best wishes,

Morgan Thomsen

[Those who are not current subscribers can obtain a copy of _VT_ 50 by sending
$4 to me, preferably via PayPal payment to Aelfwine@... . Be sure to
include your name and postal address.

Please do so quickly, though, as I will have to freeze the print-run size very
soon.

Carl]

Another update:

I have my subscriber database for _VT_ up to date. If you are uncertain whether
your subscription is current, you can check the status as I have it at:

	 http://elvish.org/members.html

Please contact me directly (Aelfwine@...) if you have any questions or
updates.

Thanks,

Carl F. Hostetter



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]