I would like to draw everyone's attention to a significant new

contribution to the linguistic and comparative study of the

phenomenon of vowel affection in Noldorin and Sindarin, made by

Bertrand Bellet (link is to an RTF file):



<http://sindarin.weet.us/affection.rtf>



Bertrand's abstract:

"Vowel affection is a prominent phonological process in the

morphology of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Sindarin and Noldorin. This feature

appeared in the late stages of his Gnomish and remained in his series

of Welsh-inspired languages ever after. Its various kinds and the

terminology used to describe them are first introduced cross-

linguistically, with special reference to Celtic and Germanic

languages. Patterns of vowel alternations in Sindarin and Noldorin

from the Etymologies onwards are then examined synchronically: plural

formation, variation between related morphemes, alternations linked

to affixation and composition are successively considered. From these

data a model is elaborated to explain the diachronic development of

vowel affection, by means of comparison with Quenya and internal

reconstruction, as well as examination of Tolkien’s own indications.

The model includes five stages : lowering of high vowels by A-

metaphony, conditioned lowering of U to O, raising of mid vowels by I-

metaphony, fronting of back vowels by a later I-metaphony, and

finally breaking caused by palatalised consonants. In each case a

brief phonetic explanation is given with a list of relevant examples;

difficult cases and limits of the model are also discussed. Finally,

this reconstructed phonological history is compared to the

development of Welsh and the Germanic languages, in order to

appreciate how far Tolkien used them as models when he built his

languages."