New interview with Christopher Tolkien

[jallanite]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

For what it's worth, I don't think the pronunciations given in the online Bosworth and Toller are all that reliable. Note the little asterisk that, when hovered over, says that the pronunciation is an experimental feature. I expect it is generated automatically by a computer program for each word.

Thanks for pointing that out. Then the electronic version of the dictionary gives no evidence for the correctness of J. R. R. Tolkien’s pronunciation of Thengel.

I note that both the online and printed Peter S. Baker Introduction to Old English gives the word þengel with a soft g (þenġel). See http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/resour...E/postyle.html . I have come to the conclusion that Christopher Tolkien’s pronunciation The[ndʒ]el is the commonly accepted pronunciation of the word.

Why J. R. R. Tolkien’s pronunciation differs I do not know. Possibly it was the standard pronunciation in an earlier era. Possibly J. R. R. Tolkien had a different theory. Possibly even today the pronunciation the[ndʒ]el over the[ŋɡ]el is still not really proved. Perhaps some day I will stumble across the article which explains the deduction.