PARMA ELDALAMBERON 18 - Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2 (15.11.09 by Pieter Collier) - Comments

Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2
By J. R. R. TOLKIEN

"Parma Eldalamberon" Issue Number 18 is a 150-page journal and available for shipping from November 23, 2009.

Parma Eldalamberon, The Book of Elven-tongues, is a journal of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship, a special interest group of the Mythopoeic Society. They have just announced the release of issue 18, which presents previously unpublished writings by J. R. R. Tolkien concerning his Elvish languages and early versions of his invented scripts. These have been edited and annotated by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith and Patrick H. Wynne, under the guidance of Christopher Tolkien and with the permission of the Tolkien Estate.

Tengwesta Qenderinwa

The "Tengwesta Qenderinwa" is a grammar of the Primitive Quendian language, which Tolkien imagined to be the common ancestor of the various Elven-tongues spoken in Middle-earth, such as Quenya, Noldorin, Lemberin and Pereldarin (the last two later called Sindarin and Nandorin).

The earliest version of the "Tengwesta Qenderinwa" was composed in the late 1930s around the same time as the Etymologies.
It describes the grammatical rules for the structure of Quendian bases and the derivation of primitive stems and words from them. The grammar gives an "Account of the Simple Component Sounds"; and has sections on "Base-structure"; "Combination of Sounds in Word-formation"; "Suffixion"; and "Accentuation." There is also an introductory section on the "Descent of Tongues" that outlines the historical divisions of the various Elven-kindreds and the languages they spoke.

Tolkien revised the "Tengwesta Qenderinwa" extensively in the early 1950s after completing the composition of "The Lord of the Rings," incorporating new conceptions of the linguistic history which had emerged by then or those that arose during revisions to the "Quenta Silmarillion" and associated writings in tolkien's legendarium. The earliest and latest versions of the "Tengwesta Qenderinwa" are presented in this issue of "Parma Eldalamberon," along with an editorial analysis of the stages of revision that the text underwent between the 1930s and 1950s, and notes on the relation of the linguistic data in the text to that found in the "Etymologies."

Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets

The "Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets" is an edition of tolkien's charts and notes from about 1924 to 1929 dealing with the scripts that conceptually precede the Fëanorian Tengwar which would eventually be included in "The Lord of the Rings." This issue of "Parma Eldalamberon" contains "Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2," with the alphabets called Qenyatic, Andyoqenya and Angloquenya, in modes which were designed for writing English. tolkien's examples of the scripts are reproduced in fascimile. These include charts of the sounds represented by the letters, and various English words and texts written in the scripts.
Transcriptions of the examples and editorial commentary on the dating and historical background are provided.


Parma Eldalamberon 18

Cover art by Adam Victor Christensen.
The pre-publication cost is $30 per copy including postage and handling.

Payment through PayPal can be made at:
http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma18.html



Other issues of Parma Eldalamberon

Other interesting editions of Parma Eldalamberon include the following works by J. R. R. Tolkien (available for purchase at the links given below):

The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue:
http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma11.html

Sí Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings:
http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma15.html

Early Elvish Poetry and Pre-Fîanorian Alphabets, Part 1:

http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma16.html

Words, Phrases and Passages in The Lord of the Rings:

http://www.eldalamberon.com/parma17.html

Enjoyed this post? Click to get the RSS feed.

Spread the news about this J.R.R. Tolkien article: