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The Evenstar
04-02-2003, 12:37 PM
I know there are two kinds of Elvish - Sindarin and Quenya. But would these types of Elvish be spoken in different Elven regions? e.g. Quenya in spoken Mirkwood, Sindarin spoken in Lothlorien. Please reply

Hanna_Gamgee
04-02-2003, 02:15 PM
I believe Sindarin is spoken in most elvish areas of Middle Earth. Quenya is mostly only spoken by the Eldar in Valinor and used as a language of lore in Middle Earth.

Scott
04-02-2003, 10:19 PM
Correct Hanna. Quenya was the language the elves used in Valannor and that Feanor brought to Beleriand when he left. In Beleriand he came across Sindarin, the Grey-Elven or Noble tongue spoken mainly by the people of Thingol and Melian. From then on Sindarin was the language of choice in common speech. Quenya was reerved for formal farewells, such as Namarie; special occasions, such as coronations; and spells and records, such as Saruman's weather spell spoken atop Orthanc. The people of Numenor as well as the Dunedain and Gondorians also kept Quenya in reserve for special ceremonies and occasions. There are also a few other elven languages such as Telerin, but these two are the main ones.

As for a separation of language due to region, I know that two different forms of Sindarin were spoken in Middle Earth, basically one for the Western half and one for the Eastern half, but if I'm correct the main differences lie in the stresses, pronunciation, and spelling.

For more Tolkien Language help, visit: www.ardalambion.com (http://www.ardalambion.com)
Or, thumb through the Silmarillion and etymologies.

~Scott