Yeah, but ... it's fake

[Lalwendë]

It seems there are two ways of looking at whether Quenya is 'fake'.

Firstly, was the language artificially created? Yes, it was. Just the same as Esperanto was created. But also in the same way that Binary code or Maths are created laguages, necessary ways of either explaining complex theories or enabling computers to work. Then again, Tolkien developed his languages from a basis of other languages and liguistic play. English is full of created words, do we say that it is artificial just because the OED has new words we have made up in its pages?

Secondly, we might say it's 'fake' because its not widely used and cannot deal with the practicalities of everyday life. Thinking about that, there are not many speakers of Cornish, but tell a Cornish nationalist that their language is 'fake' because it is not widely used and they'd probably have a few strong words of Anglo-saxon to use to tell you where to get off. Likewise, the French language has adopted a lot of English terms (e.g. Le Weekend) as French does not always have the right words to convey new ideas. I'm sure a French person would also tell you where to get off if you said their modern day French was 'fake'!

As for everyday use, I seriously doubt Quenya would ever enter everyday use, though it might become more popular with online communities, which themseves are becoming just as important to us as traditional communities. But it would be centred around hardcore Quenya fans only, just as Klingon is around certain Trekkies but not all by any means. I'm a hardcore Tolkien fan but I know I'll never learn Quenya, even if it is to meet Anguirel's challenge below.

Originally Posted by Anguirel

We physically cannot construct Feanor pinching Nerdanel with a lewd joke, or some irritating courtier recalling Elrond belching.