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Note
The standard spelling of Quenya diverged from the applications of the letters above described. Grade 2 was used for nd,mb, ng, ngw , all of which were frequent, sinceb ,g,gw only appeared in these combinations, while forrd ,ld the special letters 26, 28 were used. (Forlv not forlw ; many speakers, especially Elves, usedlb : this was written with 27+6, sincelmb could not occur.) Similarly, Grade 4 was used for the extremely frequent combinationsnt, mp, nk, nqu , since Quenya did not possessdh, gh, ghw , and for v used letter 22. See the Quenya letter-names pp.507-8.
The additional letters. No. 27 was universally used forl . No. 25 (in origin a modification of 21) was used for 'full' trilledr . Nos. 26, 28 were modifications of these. They were frequently used for voicelessr (rh) andl (lh) respectively. But in Quenya they were used forrd andld . 29 representeds , and 31 (with doubled curl)z in those languages that required it The inverted forms 30 and 32, though available for use as separate signs, were mostly used as mere variants of 29 and 31, according to the convenience of writing, e.g. they were much used when accompanied by superimposedtehtar . No. 33 was in origin a variation representing some (weaker) variety of 11; its most frequent use in the Third Age wash . 34 was mostly used (if at all) for voicelessw (hw). 35 and 36 were, when used as consonants, mostly applied too andw respectively.
The vowelswere in many modes represented bytehtar , usually set above a consonantal letter. In languages such as Qunya, in which most words ended in a vowel, thetehta was placed above the preceding consonant; in those such as Sindarin, in which most words ended in a consonant, it was placed above the following consonant. When there was no consonant present in the required position, thetehta was placed above the 'short carrier', of which a common form was like an undotted i. The actualtehtar used in different languages for vowel-signs were numerous. The commonest, usually applied to (varieties of)e, i, a, o, u , are exhibited in the examples given. The three dots, most usual in forming writing fora , were variously written in quicker styles, a form like a circumflex being often employed. The single dot and the 'acute accent' were frequently used fori ande (but in some modes fore andi ). The curls were used fori andu . In the Ring-inscription the curl open to the right is used foru ; but on the title-page this stands foro , and the curl open to the left foru . The curl to the right was favoured, and the application depended on the language concerned: in the Black Speechi was rare. Long vowels were usually represented by placing thetehta on the 'long carrier', of which a common form was like an undottedj . But for the same purpose thetehtar could be doubled. This was, however, only frequently done with the curls, and sometimes with the 'accent'. Two dots was more often used as a sign for followingy . The West-gate inscription illustrates a mode of 'full writing' with the vowels represented by separate letters. All the vocalic letters used in Sindarin are shown. The use of No. 30 as a sign for vocalico may be noted; also the expression of diphthongs by placing thetehta for followingo above the vowel-letter. The sign for followingw (required for the expression ofau, aw ) was in this mode theu -curl or a modification of it ~. But the diphthongs were often written out in full, as in the transcription. In this mode length of vowel was usually indicated by the 'acute accent', called in that caseandaith 'long mark'. There were beside thetehtar already mentioned a number of others, chiefly used to abbreviate the writing, especially by expressing frequent consonant combinations without writing them out in full. Among these, a bar (or a sign like a Spanishtilde ) placed above a consonant was often used to indicate that it was preceded by the nasal of the same series (as i
The names of the letters. In all modes each letter and sign had a name; but these names were devised to fit or describe the phonetic uses in each particular mode. It was, however, often felt desirable, especially in describing the uses of the letters in other modes, to have a name for each letter in itself as a shape. For this purpose the Quenya 'full names' were commonly employed, even where they referred to uses peculiar to Quenya. Each 'full name' was an actual word in Quenya that contained the letter in question. Where possible it was the first sound of the word; but where the sound or the combination expressed did not occur initially it followed immediately after an initial vowel. The names of the letters in the table were (1)tinco metal,parma book,calma lamp,quesse feather; (2)ando gate,umbar fate,anga iron,ungwe spider's web; (3)thule (sule) spirit,formen north,harma treasure (oraha rage),hwesta breeze; (4)anto mouth,ampa hook,anca jaws,unque a hollow; (5)numen west,malta gold,noldo (olderngoldo ) one of the kindred of the Noldor,nwalme (olderngwalme ) torment; (6)ore heart (i
The Cirth
TheCerthas Daeron was originally devised to represent the sounds of Sindarin only. The oldestcirth were Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6; 8, 9, 12; 18, 19, 22; 29, 31; 35, 36; 39, 42, 46, 50; and acerth varying between 13 and 15. The assignment of values was unsystematic. Nos. 39, 42, 46, 50 were vowels and remained so in all later developments. Nos. 13, 15 were used forh ors , according as 35 was used fors orh . This tendency to hesitate in the assignment of values fors andh continued in later arrangements. In those characters that consisted of a 'stem' and a 'branch', 1-31, the attachment of the branch was, if on one side only, usually made on the right side. The reverse was not infrequent, but had no phonetic significance. The extension and elaboration of thiscerthas was called in its older form theAngerthas Daeron , since the additions to the oldcirth and their reorganization was attributed to Daeron. The principal additions, however, the introductions of two new series, 13-17, and 23-28, were actually most probably inventions of the Noldor of Eregion, since they were used for the representation of sounds not found in Sindarin.