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The Angerthas
1 P 2 B 3 F 4 V 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 ?
31
46
In the rearrangement of theAngerthas the following principles are observable (evidently inspired by the Feanorian system): (1) adding a stroke to a branch added 'voice'; (2) reversing thecerth indicated opening to a 'spirant'; (3) placing the branch on both sides of the stem added voice and nasality. These principles were regularly carried out, except in one point. For (archaic) Sindarin a sign for a spirantm (or nasalv ) was required, and since this could best be provided by a reversal of the sign form , the reversible No. 6 was given the valuem , but No. 5 was given the valuehw . No. 36, the theoretic value of which wasz, was used, in spelling Sindarin or Quenya, forss : cf. Feanorian 31. No. 39 was used for eitheri oro (consonant); 34, 35 were used indifferently fors ; and 38 was used for the frequent sequencend , though it was not clearly related in shape to the dentals. In the Table of Values those on the left are, when separated by -, the values of the olderAngerthas . Those on the right are the values of the DwarvishAngerthas Moria . The Dwarves of Moria, as can be seen, introduced a number of unsystematic changes in value, as well as certain newcirth : 37, 40, 41, 53, 55, 56. The dislocation in values was due mainly to two causes: (1) the alteration in the values of 34, 35, 54 respectively toh(the clear or glottal begi
Appendix F: The languages and Peoples of the Third Age
I The languages and Peoples of the Third Age
The language represented in this history by English was theWestron or 'Common Speech' of the West-lands of Middle-earth in the Third Age. In the course of that age it had become the native language of nearly all the speaking-peoples (save the Elves) who dwelt within the bounds of the old kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor; that is along all the coasts from Umbar northwards to the Bay of Forochel, and inland as far as the Misty Mountains and the Ephel Duath. It had also spread north up the Anduin, occupying the lands west of the River and east of the mountains as far as the Gladden Fields. At the time of the War of the Ring at the end of the age these were still its bounds as a native tongue, though large parts of Eriador were now deserted, and few Men dwelt on the shore of the Anduin between the Gladden and Rauros. A few of the ancient Wild Men still lurked in the Druadan Forest in Anorien; and in the hills of Dunland a remnant lingered of an old people, the former inhabitants of much of Gondor. These clung to their own languages; while in the plains of Rohan there dwelt now a Northern people, the Rohirrim, who had come into that land some five hundred years earlier. But the Westron was used as a second language of intercourse by all those who still retained a speech of their own, even by the Elves, not only in Arnor and Gondor but throughout the vales of Anduin, and eastward to the further eaves of Mirkwood. Even among the Wild Men and the Dunlendings who shu
Of The Elves
The Elves far back in the Elder Days became divided into two main branches: the West-elves (theEldar ) and the East-elves. Of the latter kind were most of the elven-folk of Mirkwood and Lorien; but their languages do not appear in this history, in which all the Elvish names and words are ofEldarin form. Of theEldarin tongues two are found in this book: the High-elven orQuenya , the Grey-elven orSindarin . The High-elven was an ancient tongue of Eldamar beyond the Sea, the first to be recorded in writing. It was no longer a birth-tongue but had become, as it were, an 'Elven-latin', still used for ceremony, and for high matters of lore and song, by the High Elves, who had returned in exile to Middle-earth at the end of the First Age. The Grey-elven was in origin akin toQuenya : for it was the language of those Eldar who, coming to the shores of Middle-earth, had not passed over the Sea but had lingered on the coasts in the country of Beleriand. There Thingol Greycloak of Doriath was their king, and in the long twilight their tongue had changed with the changefulness of mortal lands and had become far estranged from the speech of the Eldar from beyond the Sea. The Exiles, dwelling among the more numerous Grey-elves, had adopted theSindarin for daily use; and hence it was the tongue of all those Elves and Elf-lords that appear in this history. For these were all of Eldarin race, even where the folk that they ruled were of the lesser kindreds. Noblest of all was the Lady Galadriel of the royal house of Finarfin and sister of Finrod Felagund, King of Nargothrond. In the hearts of the Exiles the yearning for the Sea was an unquiet never to be stilled; in the hearts of the Grey-elves it slumbered, but once awakened it could not be appeased.
Of Men
TheWestron was a Ma