Elvish Pronunciation Guide

[Wilwarin]

Hello everyone! I thought it would be a good idea to post an Elvish pronunciation guide here on the forum, so that people can learn how to pronounce Elvish properly. I have posted the Sindarin version and the post after that is Ohtarien's Quenya version.
This thread is also a good place to ask any questions you may have about Elvish pronunciation. OK, all that said, the following post contains the Sindarin pronunciation guide. Scroll down further for the Quenya version.

[Wilwarin]

Sindarin Pronunciation



CONSONANTS

C- always has the value of K, even before E and I, so Celeborn should pronounced Keleborn; likewise Cirith Ungol should be pronounced Kirith Ungol.

CH- always sounds like the CH in German "bach" NOT like in English "church". (Note: you may have seen some Sindarin pronunciation guides say that CH is pronounced like CH in "church" only at the end of words. This however is not true. Tolkien himself said that it never sounds like CH in "church".)

DH- represents the voiced (soft) TH in English "these" and "clothes".

F- Sounds just like F except at the end of words where it sounds like V (like in English "of"), so Nindalf would be pronounced Nindalv.

G- has only the sound as in English "give" and "get", therefore Gildor begins like English "gild".

H- When standing alone with no other consonant has the sound of H in English "house" or "behold".

L- represents the sound of English initial L as in "let". LH represents the voiced L.

NG- has the sound of NG in English "finger", and only at the end of words does it sound like NG in "sing".

PH- has the same sound as F.

R- represents a trilled R in all positions. The sound was not lost before consonants. RH represents a voiced R.

S- is always voiceless as in English "so" or "geese", never like that in "use". The sound of Z did not occur in Sindarin.

TH- represents the voiceless TH of English "thin" or "cloth", never as the TH in "though".

TY- Represents the sound similar to the T in English "tune".

V- has the sound of English V but is not used finally.

W- has the sound of English W. HW is voiceless W.



VOWELS


E- like E in "were" or "wet". The combination ER sounds like the English word "air".

I- like I in "machine", not like the I in "lick". The combination IR sounds like the English word "ear".

A- like the A in "father".

O- like the O in "for" or "so", not that of "fog".

U- like the U in "brute" or "flute", not that of "gut". The combination UR sounds like OOR.

Y- prounounced more or less like the U in French "lune".


DIPHTHONGS


AE- should be pronounced like the vowels in English "rye" or "lie".

AI- is pronounced just like AE above.

EI- is pronounced like the vowels in English "gray" or "hay".

OE- is pronounced like the vowels in English "boy" or "joy"

UI- is pronounced like the vowels in English "ruin".

AU- is pronounced like the vowels in English "loud" or "how", not like in "laud" or "haw".

AW- is pronounced just like AU obove.



STRESS


In words of two syllables the stress almost always falls on the first syllable. Examples: (stressed vowels are red) Haldir, Amon, Aeglos.

In longer words it falls on the second syllable when the second to last syllable contains a long vowel, a diphthong, or a vowel followed by two or more consonants. Examples: Galadriel, Periannath, Caradhras.

When the second to last syllable contains a short vowel followed by only one (or no) consonant, the stress falls on the syllable before it. Examples: Legolas, Celeborn, Denethor ("th" is considered one sound in Sindarin).

NOTE: The acute accent mark is used in Sindarin to signify vowel length, and not to mark stress. So just because there is an acute accent does not mean that the stress will always fall upon it.


That is all for Sindarin pronunciation. If you have any questions please ask them here. But please do not post here until Isiltári has a chance to post the Quenya pronunciation, that way we can keep the first part of this thread easy to read, thanks! (If you must ask a question or make a comment before Isiltári posts then please do so in one of the other existing threads, thanks!)

[Ohtarien]

QUENYA PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

The information for this pronunciation guide was taken from a variety of sources; the main ones being www.Ardalambion.com, Lord of the Rings Appendix E, and from myself. A huge thank-you goes out to Helge Fauskanger for all the work and effort he has put into his wonderful Quenya course! (Can be found at Ardalambion.) It is much appreciated!

A STARTING NOTE
The difference between "voiced" and "unvoiced" sounds:
A voiced sound means that your vocal chords vibrate as you say the sound. An unvoiced sound means that there is no vibration, or buzzing of the vocal chords as you say it. Try this: Put your hand to your adam's apple, and make an F sound, "fffffffffff". Then suddenly change the F to a V and say "vvvvvvvvv". You should be able to hear a distinct difference and feel a vibration in your throat. This is an example of "unvoiced" vs. "voiced".

CONSONANTS

C - always has the value of K even before E and I. For example, "celumë" (stream) and "cirya" (ship) are pronounced "kelumë" and "kirya".

D - same as English D

F - same as English F

G - has only the sound of G in "give" and "get". Note that G in Quenya is never soft, as in English "change".

H - standing alone with no other consonant has the sound H, as in "house", or "behold".

HT - This is a very tricky combination in Quenya! When you have the combination AHT, OHT, and UHT, it is pronounced as in German "ach" or Scottish "loch". This is a really hard concept to explain - to hear a sound file of this (represented as [x] in phonetic writing), go to this link. (http://www.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/pronounce/)
>Click on "Sounds: ch, chs, ck" >Click on the speaker icon >Listen to the first and second word. The "ht" sound in Quenya sounds like the throat-clearing sound you hear in the sound file.
Second Link. (http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/pronlo/sounds/quenya-vless-frics.wav)
>Listen to the sixth word, which is "mahtan".

*When HT is part of the combination EHT or IHT, it is rather pronounced as in German "ich-Laut". To hear a sound file of this, go to this link: (http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/pronlo/sounds/quenya-vless-frics.wav)
>Listen to the seventh word, which is "tehta". Notice the "sh" quality of the sound.

I could not find a sound file for German "ich-laut", so if anyone knows of a link, please PM me and let me know and I will add it.
So, "Telumehtar" is pronounced "tell-oo-MESH-tahr".

HW - this represents a voiceless W. Go to this link (http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/pronlo/sounds/quenya-vless-frics.wav) for an example.
>Listen to the last word (the ninth), which is "hwesta".

HY - represents a voiceless H, much like in English "hew" and "huge". Go to this link (http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/pronlo/sounds/quenya-vless-frics.wav) for an example.
>Listen to the second-last word (the eighth), which is "hyarmen".

L - represents more or less the sound of English initial L, as in let. (It's safe to pronounce a Quenya l the same you would an English one.)

M - same as English M

N - same as English N

P - same as English P

QU - this is an aesthetic way of writing CW. Pronounced like English QU, as in "quick" or "quiet".

R - represents a trilled R in all positions.

S - is always voiceless; as in English "so" or "geese". The "Z-sound" did not occur in contemporary Quenya; so S is never pronounced like in English "easy" or "please", where they sound more like "eazy" and "pleaze".

T - same as English T

V - same as English V

W - same as English W. See also HW.

X - much like QU, X is a aesthetic way of spelling CS. Pronounced like English X. This letter is quite rare in modern Quenya.

Y - in Quenya, Y is only a consonant. Pronounced like in English "you". See also HY.

VOWELS
Note that all short vowels are precisely that - short. Be careful not to make them too long. For Quenya long vowels (vowels that are accented, like á), should be twice as long as short vowels. Note however, that it can be difficult to tell if a vowel sound is twice as long or not, as they are so short, so just be sure that your long vowels are noticeably longer than your short vowels. :)

SHORT VOWELS

A - pronounced as in English "father" ("AWE" sound; much like when doctors tell you to open your mouth and "say aw…", although very short and quick.)

E - pronounced as in "end". Please Note - As speakers of English, it may be tempting at first to forget to pronounce Quenya E's, especially at the end of words. Final E is never mute or a mere sign of length as in English. The groups ER, IR, and UR are not intended to be pronounced as in English fern, fir, fur, but rather as English air, eer, oor.

I - pronounced as in English "machine". ("EE" sound)

O - pronounced as in English "for". (sounds very close to Quenya A) Note that often times I catch myself pronouncing O's as in English "low" or "mow". This is not the correct pronunciation, however I have found that it is very hard for me to keep all the Quenya O's sounding like "for", so you could be forgiven if you pronounce them incorrectly - why don't we just say we speak Quenya with an English accent? lol

*Note - when typing out pronunciation guides, I often use "oh" to signify a short O. Be aware that this does not represent an "O that says it's name", as in "hose", but rather as in "for".

U - pronounced as in English "put", but not "cut". Notice that there is a difference. Remember: Correct = "put" (I put the book down) Incorrect = "putt" (In golf you putt). Short U is a shorter version of ú, which is described below.

LONG VOWELS

Á - as in English "father".

É - sounds like the eh of German Mehr.
Note that although it is not perfect Quenya pronunciation, é can be pronounced as in English "air", and be twice as long as short E.

Í - pronounced "ee", as in English "see", and must be considerably longer than a short I.

Ó - like short O, this vowel is very hard to pronounce correctly. The proper pronunciation is like that of "sore", although I have found that I frequently pronounce ó as in "low".

Ú - sounds like "oo", as in English "brute”, or "fool". Should be twice as long as short U.

DIPHTHONGS (Pronounced "dip-thongs" OR "dif-thongs")

AI - pronounced as in "aisle".

AU - pronounced as in English "cow".

EU - this is another hard diphthong; and fortunately only occurs in a few words. Is pronounced almost like a short E followed by an "oh" sound (as in "mow"). For example, leuca ("snake") sounds like "LEH-OH-cah", except that, of course, the diphthong must be one syllable.

IU - may sounds like the YU in English "yule".

OI - pronounced as in "boy" or "oil"

UI - sounds almost like English "ruin", except that this diphthong should be pronounced as one syllable - not two separate ones as in the example. Think "ooy", as in "too young".



STRESS
Will be added later as time and motivation permits. ;)

[Ohtarien]

Alright - we've finally got the Quenya Pronunciation Guide posted! :hooray:

If anyone sees any mistakes (spelling or otherwise), please contact me via PM or e-mail and I will be sure to fix it. :thumbs:

I also believe that this sticky is now open for posting again, as both the Sindarin and Quenya Guides are up. So if you have any questions and/or comments, feel free to post!

[Wilwarin]

Yay you did it! It looks very nice Ohtarien.

And yes, this thread is now open for posting. So if anyone has any questions about pronunciation, plese fell free to ask them here.

[Alcarohtar]

Well done, Ohtarien & Wilwarin :thumbs:

This is something really useful for the ones who want to learn to speak Quenya & Sindarin.

Thank you very much :grin:

[Wilwarin]

You're very welcome, Alcarohtar. It's about time we finally got one up. This forum has been here for well over a year after all. :p Enjoy!

[Cuiel Rilwen]

Great jobs! And indeed very useful!:thumbs:

I know its possible to go to a printerfriendly version of this thread, but maybe most people would want to print out just the pronounciation guides and not the following posts. Would it be possible to ask Fatty if he could make links to a printable version of those two posts only? Or maybe create a page in the database for them, with printable versions, and links in the nav- bar?

[Wilwarin]

That's an interesting idea. Maybe I'll mention it to him.

By the way, I modified the urls in the Quenya post so they are more tidy-looking.

[Telumehtar]

I could not find a sound file for German "ich-laut", so if anyone knows of a link, please PM me and let me know and I will add it.
So, "Telumehtar" is pronounced "tell-oo-MESH-tahr".

it is?!? oh dear lord, i've been pronouncing my own username wrong. :blush: mecry oh well, i guess that's part of learning quenya...

great job though guys...how long have you known quenya Ohtarien?
~Telu :flamer:

[Ohtarien]

lol That's so funny, Telu... I did the same thing with my name at first. (It should be pronounced something like "O[x]tarien" (with that throaty sound) Actually, I still mispronounce it. I think the [x] sounds too much like clearing your throat, so I say my name "Oh-TAR-ee-en" anyways, and forget following the rules 100%. ;)

Hm, I wouldn't really say "know" so much as "learning". :grin: I find out new stuff every day, it seems. But it's been about a year and a half since me and Mánalinya started studying Quenya. :thumbs:

[Cuiel Rilwen]

To try to explain how to make this sound; the difference between making an sh-sound and an ich-sound is that in the first case you bend the front of your tounge upwards against the front of your palate, a small distance from your teeth while with the latter you arch the back of your tongue upwards to the back of the palate.

I might be able to make sound files in a while if that is interesting. Have to test it out a bit first tho...I'll let you know how the quality is later.

[MBasse]

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!! I am getting married in 14weeks and have been trying to find how to pronounce the Elvish engraving I'm putting on his ring.
He will cry.
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!
MBasse-Marta no elvish name yet :-(

[Mánalinya]

Welcome to WotR! Glad we could help you, MBasse. That's an absolutely beautiful idea, for his ring. Congratulations to you both on your upcoming marriage, and I wish you all the best ;).

P.S. Don't have an elvish name, yet? Be sure to check out the "Find out what your name is in Elvish (http://www.warofthering.net/forums/vbulletin225/upload/showthread.php?t=1409)" thread ;).

[Stormcrow]

Wow! That guide was really helpful! Thanks for posting it Wilwaren and Ohtarien! That was very good of you guys!