I’d definitely vote Sindarin. I’ve read through the Elements in (Quenya and) Sindarin Names section of The Silmarillion but this would be a great place to expand my knowledge. If we get past that then learning to write Tengwar would be great. Whilst I understand the whole idea of an abugida, the assignment of consonants and letters still eludes me. I feel I should learn some more IPA terminology and re-read the section in The Appendices
On another note, here’s another language I’ve begun construction. As Tolkien didn’t expand the Khuzdul concept, I took the liberty of making one:
#The Dwarvish Language:
Spoken Language:
The tongues known to all dwarves are Khuzhud and The Common Tongue. Khuzud is the standard language of the dwarves and everyone knows it. The Common Tongue (English) is not a first language, though almost all dwarves know it as it is learnt from a young age
Written language:
Runes are used for all dialects of dwarvish, as well as for the common tongue. Before being written in Dwarvish, however, the text being transcribed is changed to Dwarvish spelling rules.
Runes’ History
Dwarf-runes were originally created during the time of The Dawn of the Goblins. It was developed a way of telling dwarves the location of their stashed-away goodies. When the goblins first came, the dwarves were ill-prepared and had to evacuate their hallowed halls. To know where they’d stored away all their treasure, the dwarves carved runes into the floor that goblins could not understand but the dwarves knew that they would lead them to their treasure. The dwarves never returned to their ancient halls, though the legacy of their evacuation lives on
A guide to Rægäk spelling.
Vowels
Note: a bar above a vowel (like ō) implies that the vowel be spoken as it would be in singular form, thus goat is gōt, and sheep is shēp
The Letter A
A is a ‘neutral A’ and takes the form of the A in ‘bash’.
Ä is a ‘deep A’ and is the sound of the a in ‘bar’.
Å is the ‘long-deep A’ and is simply a longer version of ä.
 represents a ‘long-neutral A’ and is used for longer versions of a, though it adds more voice.
Á is an ‘ascending A’, meaning that the tone goes upwards. Furthermore, it is used to mark where the stress is.
À, the ‘descending A’ is rarely used, and it’s most common usage is in the recording of spoken word- if someone says a word with a in it harshly, this mark is often used.
Æ is the ‘AE’ and holds a similar sound to ë, thus the sound in ‘bay’. Whilst ë is used most commonly used at the end of a word, æ is preferable for the middle.
A guide to Rægäk spelling II
Vowels
The Letter E
E is a ‘neutral E’ and takes the form of the E in ‘Then’.
Ë is a ‘modified E’ and is used mainly at the beginning or end of a word. It is the e in ‘Hey’
Ê is the ‘voiced E’ and is a neutral E but ending with a sound created from the back/roof of the mouth- a further voiced ehh sound.
É represents a 'Rising E ’ meaning the tone rises .It is also used to add stress to the syllable it is in, but also when combined with o to separate diphthongs. In this instance it means ey-oh or ey-uh.
È is a 'falling E’, meaning that the tone goes downwards. Furthermore, if É is used for stress, or to separate a diphthong, the falling E can be used fro stress
A guide to Rægäk spelling III
Vowels
The Letter I
I is a ‘neutral I’ and takes the form of the I in ‘Tin’.
Î is the 'Modified I’ and is the I in Malawi, though it is “tighter”
Í represents a 'Rising I ’ meaning the tone rises. It also has a similar tone to the ‘Modified I’, but can also denote stress.
Ì, the ‘descending I’ is rarely used, and it’s most common usage is in the recording of spoken word- if someone says a word with a in it harshly, this mark is often used.
A guide to Rægäk spelling IV
Vowels
The Letter O
O is a ‘neutral O’ and takes the form of the O in ‘Hog’.
Ö is a ‘deep O’ and is the sound in ‘hoot’
Ô is the ‘voiced O’ and is a neutral O but ending with a sound created from the back/roof of the mouth- a further voiced ohh sound.
Ó represents a 'Rising O ’ meaning the tone rises .It is also used to add stress to the syllable it is in. It is also somewhat similar to the ‘voiced O’
Ò is a 'falling O’, meaning that the tone goes downwards. Furthermore, if O is used for stress, or to separate a diphthong, the falling O can be used for stress
Ø is the ‘long-deep O’ and is simply a longer version of ö.
A guide to Rægäk spelling V
Vowels
The Letter U
U is a ‘neutral U’ and takes the form of the U in ‘Hug’.
Ü is a ‘deep U’ and is the sound in ‘shrew’
Û is the 'modified U’ and is either a you or your sound, thus ‘stupid’ has a ‘modified U’, but so does ‘Durin’.
Ú represents a 'Rising U ’ meaning the tone rises .It is also used to add stress to the syllable it is in. It is also somewhat similar to the ‘deep U’, though obviously, the tone rises.
Ù is a 'falling U’, meaning that the tone goes downwards. Furthermore, if Ú is used for stress, or to separate a diphthong, the falling O can be used for stress
A guide to Rægäk spelling VI
NOTES: (I)
Vowel Combinations:
Äu, if said alone, takes the sound of ore (oar or or), or bore (or boar). This vowel combination is most notably found in ‘Näugrim’.
Au is the ‘ow’ sound and is most notably found in the other name for the Smith facet of the undergod: Aulë
Ôi is the sound of the Spanish muy (and voy…and soy). For non-Spanish speakers/learners- ôi is the sound in joy (or coy).
A guide to Rægäk spelling VII
NOTES: (II)
The Apostrophe and the forward slash:
- For words with an -e suffix (i.e. -er, -en, -ed) an apostrophe replaces the e. (Therefore, -'r -'n -'d)
- Letter combinations such as th, sh ,Äu, Au, ôi etc. can sometimes cause a mix-up with pronunciation. Therefore, to differentiate between words such as Nor-grim and Nar-uh-grim, a froward slash would be used for the Nar-uh-grim example- thus: Nä/ugrim. The forward slash acts as a separator of the letter combination.
Further Notes:
- When transcribing into Dwarvish, it should be noted that there are many vowels with the same and similar sounds. When transcribing, it should thus be advised to use the vowel most similar with the vowel being replaced/modified. Therefore, Malawi is transcribed as Muläwí as opposed to Muläwē.
-
Archaic Letters: the letters Å,ø,ð and ß are considered Archaic. The general rule is that Å is a longer Ä and Ø is a longer Ö. However, this rule is only rather loosely followed, and in many instances does not change the length of the vowel. The rule for ð is that it is the TH in then, not thin- however, TH or ð makes very little difference to the reader, only to the writer. All the reader must remember is to pronounce it as a TH. ß is normally used to represent the z-s sound, found in ‘was’ or ‘rose’, therefore, woß and rōß. As with ð, the use of ß is dying out in Dwarvish, though the use of Å and ø is still going strong. This is partly due to a tradition in Dwarvish that a word shouldn’t have two same diacritics one after the other. To this end, Dwarvish has many duplicate sounds- and Å&ø fulfil this purpose.
Elements in Dwarvish.
Sër- Lake
Aüðek- Glory
Üðêr- Holy
Gûth- Tree
Bröth- Doom
Tóroth- Hill
Blîzrë- Gate(s)
Kûthë- Prison, Dungeon
Färoð- Tower
Erêh- Mighty
Gyæth- Gravel
Kîlth- Fang
Lötog- Bow
Máröth- Skill
Jüstå- Shadow
Tárath- Battle
Tól(wë)- Land
Lårüth- Wolf
Ölkh- Dark
Sjåg- Sea
Quälós- Elf
Blîkh- Wall
Ûlå- Star
Jölgå- Gloom
Nókh- Stone
Nad- Cave
Rökh- Sorcery, Witchcraft
-rim- Person
-ríd- People
Wörókh- Cold
Rîghan- Child
Trü- Mist
Zárath- Bridge
Tôroth- Commander
Mókht- Earth, Soil
Wökh- Ice
År(wë)- Plain
Wølmë- Snow
Jálarë- Jewel
Fjårlë- Fire
Näug(rim)- Dwarf
Yílbür- Water
Gin(wë)- Mountain
Köralôth- Fortress
Fåtöth- Goat
Plárnë- Horse
Gjæralë- Rage
Vrög- Blood
Lálk- River
Whilst there’s no grammar, I made a set of words and an IPA-style vowel-placement set of rules
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