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WRITING AND SPELLING

I PRONUNCIATION OF WORDS AND NAMES

The Westron or Colish equivalents An Hobbit naly: for exae, andthe ancient scripts I have tried to represent the original sounds (so far as they can be determined) with fair accuracy, and at the same time to produce words and nah-elven Quenya has been spelt as much like Latin as its sounds allowed For this reason c has been preferred to k in both Eldarin languages

The following points may be observed by those who are interested in such details

CONSONANTS

C

has always the value of k even before e and i: celeb &039;silver&039; should be pronounced as keleb

CH

is only used to represent the sound heard in bach (in Gerlish church Except at the end of words and before t this sound, eakened to h in the speech of Gondor, and that change has been recognized in a few names, such as Rohan, Rohirrim (Imrahil is a NUmenorean name)

DH

represents the voiced (soft) th of English these clothes It is usually related to d, as in S galadh &039;tree&039; compared with Q alda; but is sometimes derived from n+r, as in Caradhras &039;Redhorn&039; from caran-rass

F

represents f, except at the end of words, where it is used to represent the sound of v as in English of: Nindalf, Fladrif

G

has only the sound of g in give, get: gil &039;star&039;, in Gildor, Gilraen, Osgiliath, begins as in English gild

H

standing alone with no other consonant has the sound of h in house, behold The Quenya combination ht has the sound of cht, as in Ger in the name Telumehtar &039;Orion&039;68 See also CH, DH, L, R, TH, W, Y

I

initially before another vowel has the consonantal sound of y in you, yore in Sindarin only: as in Ioreth, Iarwain See Y

K

is used in naes, with the same value as c; kh thus represents the same sound as ch in Orkish Grishnakh, or Adûnaic (NUmenorean) Adûnakhôr On Dwarvish (Khuzdul) see p492

L

represents lish initial l, as in let It was, however, to soree "palatalized" between e, i and a consonant, or finally after e, i (The Eldar would probably have transcribed English bell, fill as beolfiol) LH represents this sound when voiceless (usually derived from initial sl-) In (archaic) Quenya this is written hl, but was in the Third Age usually pronounced as l

NG

represents ng in finger, except finally where it was sounded as in English sing The latter sound also occurred initially in Quenya, but has been transcribed n (as in Noldo), according to the pronunciation of the Third Age

PH

has the same sound as f It is used (a) where the f-sound occurs at the end of a word, as in alph &039;swan&039;; (b) where the f-sound is related to or derived fros&039; (perian); (c) in theff (from pp) as in Ephel &039;outer fence&039;; and (d) in Adûnaic, as in Ar-Pharazôn (pharaz &039;gold&039;)

QU

has been used for cw, a coh it did not occur in Sindarin

R