Tengwar Handbook

{{Tengwar}}
{{Handbo'o'k}}

By Arno Gourdol  

Make a donation to support Tecendil and receive a PDF of this handbook, including expanded content:

($3.99 suggested)

Note

Corrections and feedback on this handbook and on Tecendil in general are welcomed and encouraged.

Introduction

The Tengwar is a writing system created by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is also known as the Fëanorian system, from the name of its (fictional) inventor.

It’s important to understand that Tengwar is not a language.

Tolkien created many languages to flavor the world of Middle-Earth, including Quenya, the ancient speech of the Noldor Elves, and Sindarin, the language derived from Quenya spoken by the Grey Elves. Those languages can be written with the Tengwar script, but so can the Mannish (human) languages, including English and many more.

In this handbook we will focus on the Tengwar writing system itself. You can find elsewhere information about the grammar and vocabulary of Sindarin, Quenya and other Elvish languages.

Modes

A Tengwar mode is a set of conventions used to transcribe a specific language. There are modes for Quenya, Sindarin, English and many other languages. Some languages even have multiple modes.

See http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_modes.htm

Tengwar is a flexible system and a given inscription can be represented in several ways even when using a specific mode: for stylistic reasons a transcriber may prefer to use one form over another.

We will begin by discussing the tengwar letters in general, followed by the English mode, the Sindarin mode (Gondor), the mode of Beleriand (Sindarin) and the Quenya mode.

Here is the same sentence transcribed using different modes:

English orthographic mode

{{Not all those who wander are lost}}

Not all those who wander are lost

English phonemic mode

{{english-phonemic: Not all those who wander are lost}}

/nˈɑt/ /ˈɔːɫ/ /ðˈoʊz/ /hˈuː/ /wˈɑndɚ/ /ˈɑr/ /ɫˈɔːst/

not ool dhouz huu wondər ar lost

Sindarin mode (Gondor)

{{sindarin: Law ill idh reniar gwenwin }}

Law ill idh reniar gwenwin

Tengwar Letters

A Tengwar glyph is called a tengwa which means letter in Quenya. The plural is tengwar (letters).

The Tengwar modes can be divided into two categories: Full Modes represent vowels with distinct tengwar and Ómatehtar Modes represent vowels with diacritical marks called tehtar (Quenya for signs or markings).

The shape of the tengwa corresponds to the distinctive feature of the sound it represents. The place of articulation is represented by glyphs grouped in column series (témar) as follow:

• Tincotéma: dental sounds such as /t/, /d/, /n/
• Parmatéma: labial sounds such as /p/, /b/, /m/, /f/
• Calmatéma: velar sounds such as /k/, /g/
• Quessetéma: labiovelar sounds such as /k^w/, g^w/, /ñ^w/
• Tyelpetéma: palatal sounds such as /sh/, /j/

In addition, the six manner of articulation are represented in six rows (tyeller) as follow:

• Series 1: voiceless plosives such as /p/, /t/, /k/
• Series 2: voiced plosives such as /b/, /d/, /g/
• Series 3: voiceless fricatives such as /f/, /sh/
• Series 4: voiced fricatives /v/, /ð/, /ɣ/
• Series 5: nasals such as /n/, /m/
• Series 6: approximants

There are a few tengwar that do not fall in the previous categories.

Some tengwar have an extended form (with the tail extending above and below the baseline), but they are less common and may not be used at all in some modes, or used as a shorthand. For example in the English mode, "extended ando" {{ {extended-ando} }} is used as an abbreviation for "the".

The diacritics are called tehtar (Quenya “marking”). They represent vowels, consonant doubling and nasal sounds.

The tehtar are usually drawn on top of the tengwa following them.

In this example with the word "cat", the tehta `C /a/ is drawn above the tengwa 1 /t/.

For languages whose words frequently end in a vowel, such as Quenya or Spanish, the vowels are drawn on top of the consonant preceding them.

If there is no suitable tengwa available, a “carrier” is used. For example short carrier, telco {{ {telco} }} {{ {telco}[triple-dot-above] }} (short [a]) or long carrier, ára {{ {aara} }} {{ {aara}[triple-dot-above] }} (long [aː]).

Punctuation

The following marks are used for punctuation:

Capitalization

Capital letters, also called majuscule or uppercase letters, do not exist in Tengwar.

However, it is possible to highlight some tengwar. Typically, this would be used with the first tengwa of personal names.

There are several techniques for this highlighting:

• size: the highlighted tengwa can be drawn larger
• color: the highlighted tengwa can be draw with a contrasting color (often red)
• shape: the vertical stroke of the tengwa can be doubled

Numbers

Numbers can be written in base-10 (decimal) or, more commonly, base-12 (duodecimal). Decimal numbers are indicated by a dot or bar above the digits. Duodecimal numbers may be indicated by a dot or bar below the digits. If no dots or bars are present, base-12 should be assumed.

Numbers are written with the least significant digit first. That is, twelve would be written as 21 in base-10 or 01 in base-12. An open dot (ring) is placed under the least significant digit if there are two digits or more.

The mark extended tinco {{ {extended-tinco} }} is used to indicate an ordinal number, such as 1st {{ 1st }}, 2nd {{ 2nd }}, etc...

See Writing Numbers with Tengwar

See Grammar of Elvish Numerals

The English Mode

Several modes have been devised by J.R.R. Tolkien and his son Christopher to transcribe English with the Tengwar writing system. They were not always consistent, sometimes using different conventions within a single document! You will find that even today people will use slightly different conventions to write Tengwar. It’s not necesarily that there is a “right” and “wrong” way. Sometimes, it’s just a stylistic difference. Think of the difference between the spelling of “color” and “colour”.

The English orthographic mode preservers the peculiarities of English orthography, for example, ph or gh for a /f/ sound in "phone" or "cough".

The English phonemic mode transcribes the sounds of English rather than the spelling of English. For example, the word "courage" would be transcribed as "keredj". The phonemic mode requires a very good understanding of English phonology and will vary based on dialectal differences. Therefore, a fully phonemic mode for English is less commonly used.

Tolkien used both phonemic and orthographic modes in various materials, and sometimes a hybrid of both. Furthermore, he also used both Full Modes and Ómatehtar Modes.

There was of course no “mode” for the representation of English. One adequate phonetically could be devised from the Fëanorian system. The brief example on the title-page does not attempt to exhibit this. It is rather an example of what a man of Gondor might have produced, hesitating between the values of the letters familiar in his “mode” and the traditional spelling of English.

In this handbook, we follow an orthographic mode, with a phonemic representation for some common English words. It’s a very subjective and personal interpretation, of course, and you could choose a different and equally valid transcription.

For example, a purely orthographic transcription of:

Though she has those things there.

could be:

3y^v dÉ 9iD 3iHË 3b%+ 36RÉ -

We find this more pleasant:

{{ Though she has those things there }}

The Consonants

The table below indicate how the Tengwar are used in the English mode.

See http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_general_english.htm

halla {{ {halla} }} may be used for a silent H archaic? use 9 instead? Or used for silent-h instead of aspirated-h?

(2) thuule {{ {thuule} }} ⟨th⟩ as a voiceless dental fricative, as in "thing" {{ thing }}

(3) The digraph ⟨ch⟩ /k/ (as in echo {{ {hwesta}[acute]o }}) can be transcribed with this tengwa, or with extended quessë {{ {extended-quesse} }}: {{ {extended-quesse}[acute]o }}). Very rarely, for the digraph ⟨ck⟩ in "black".

(4) anto {{ {anto} }} ⟨th⟩ as a voiced dental fricative, as in this {{ this }}

(5) ⟨g⟩ as in "mirage" {{ mirage }}, ⟨si⟩ as in "illusion" {{ illusion }} or ⟨su⟩ as in "treasure" {{ treasure }}

(6) unque {{ {unque} }} ⟨gh⟩ pronounced /g/ + /h/ as in "ghost" {{ ghost }} or "aghast" {{ aghhast }}.

(7) ñwalmë {{ {nwalme} }} is used for the ⟨ng⟩ /ŋ/ sound, such as in "ring". When ⟨ng⟩ doesn't have that sound, {ungwe}[tilde-above] {{ {ungwe}[tilde-above] }} is used.

(8) Used for final ⟨r⟩ or when preceding a consonant

(9) Used for ⟨r⟩ preceding a vowel.

(10) Sometimes used for consonantal Y when h is used for final or vowel Y. Mostly used for i-glide diphthongs such as "their".

(11) ⟨th⟩ pronounced as /t/ sound, for example as in "Thomas" {{Thomas}}

(12) /k/ sound, also ⟨ck⟩ as in "black" {{ black }}, ⟨ch⟩ as in "chaos" {{ chaos }}, ⟨qu⟩ as in "technique" {{ technique }}

(13) ⟨gh⟩ when silent, as in "Hugh" {{Hugh}}

(14) See Variants section below

Need to confirm /y/ consonantal vs. not. Conflicting info.

Consonant Modifications

Doubled Consonants

Doubled (geminated) consonants are indicated by placing a horizontal line (straight bar or tilde) below the tengwa, or inside it for lambe {{ {lambe}[bar-inside] }}.

For /n/ númen {{ {nuumen} }} or /m/ malta {{ {malta} }} the line may be placed above the tengwa, as per the nasalized consonant rule.

Nasalized Consonants

Nasalized consonants, e.g. nt, mp or nk, are indicated by a horizontal line (straight bar or tilde) above the tengwa.

Labialized Consonants

Labialized consonants are indicated by a wavy-curl placed above the tengwa.

The Vowels

In this mode vowels are indicated by diacritics on the tengwa following the consonant.

The vowels are represented by the following tehtar:

See also: http://www.skymind.com/~ocrow/tengwar/tehtar.html, http://www.starchamber.com/paracelsus/elvish/tengwar-textbook.pdf, p32

Silent ⟨e⟩ is transcribed with a dot under the preceding consonant.

Double vowels may be placed on their own vowel carrier or as a double tehta.

Vowel diphthongs can be represented as two consecutive short-carriers with the appropriate tehtar or by the following tengwa/tehta combinations. These special combinations should only be used when they are pronounced as one. For example ⟨ai⟩ as in main {{ main }}, rather than ⟨ai⟩ as in archaic {{ archa'ic }}.

The letter ⟨y⟩

When the letter ⟨y⟩ is a consonant or part of a diphthong the tengwar anna {{ {anna} }} is used.

When ⟨y⟩ is a vowel, the omatetha {{ [breve] }} is used.

⟨s⟩ pronounced /z/ and ⟨ch⟩ pronounced /k/

When using this mode each tengwa corresponds to a specific letter or sequence of letters. However, some adjustments are frequently made to account for different pronunciations, in which case a given letter will be represented by different tengwar.

That’s the case for the letter ⟨s⟩: when pronounced as a soft-S /s/ it is transcribed with silme {{ {silme} }} or silme nuquerna {{ {silme-nuquerna} }}, but when pronounced as a hard-S /z/, it is transcribed with esse {{ {esse} }} or esse nuquerna {{ {esse-nuquerna} }}

However, a final ⟨s⟩, for example to indicate plural, is usually transcribed with a hook {{ {upward-hook} }} regardless of its proncunciation. If you prefer to us a silme {{ {silme} }} instead, add a ⟨*⟩ after the ⟨s⟩

Another example would be the digraph ⟨ch⟩: it is transcribed with a calma {{ {calma} }} when it is pronounced /tʃ/, but with a quessë {{ {quesse} }} or extended quessë {{ {extended-quesse} }} when it is pronounced /k/.

The letter ⟨x⟩

The letter ⟨x⟩ is usually transcribed as a quessë {{ {quesse} }} for a /k/ sound or ungwë {{ {ungwe} }} for a /g/ sound, with a hook below.

Soft and hard ⟨th⟩

In English the digraph ⟨th⟩ can represent either a soft, voiceless /θ/ sound ("think, thing") or a hard, voiced /ð/ sound ("this, that, these, those, then, than, they, them, their, theirs, themselves, though, there, than, thus, together, smooth, soothe"). Note that aside from the words in the preceding list, most initial ⟨th⟩ are soft, most medial ⟨th⟩ are hard with a few exceptions ("earthy, healthy, pithy, wealthy") and loan words ("atheist, anthem, cathedral, author" etc...). Nouns ending in ⟨th⟩ are usually soft.

Even when using this orthographic mode, the tengwa anto {{ {anto} }} is used to represent hard ⟨th⟩ and thúlë {{ {thuule} }} for soft ⟨th⟩. By default, ⟨th⟩ is transcribed with thúlë {{ {thuule} }}. To override this and use anto {{ {anto} }} representing a hard /ð/, replace the ⟨th⟩ with ⟨dh⟩. For example:

The R-rule

To represent the /r/ sound, two tengwar can be used, rómen {{ {roomen} }} and óre {{ {oore} }}

Rómen {{ {roomen} }} is used before vowels except before a final silent-e

Óre {{ {oore} }} is used before consonants and at the end of words.

Shorthand

A few English words are transcribed with a shorthand tengwa.

• [1] The Book of Marzabul
• [2] The King’s Letter, used in full mode only

Variants

Although JRR Tolkien left extensive material using the English mode, his son Christopher Tolkien also contributed writings in Tengwar. In some cases, he used slightly different conventions than his father. Some of it could be considered personal preferences or perhaps regional variations, much like the words "color" and "colour".

Here are some of these differences:

Source for this section: /u/machsna.

Full Mode for English

English can be transcribed using a Full Mode where each vowel is represented by a distinct tengwa. This mode is available as the Westron Orthographic in Tecendil.

See this analysis.

The Sindarin Mode

Sindarin is written in one of two modes:

• Mode of Gondor: Omatethar Mode where the vowels are represented with diacritics (tehtar) on the following tengwar, different tengwar are used to represent some sounds (/g/, etc...). This is the mode described in this section.
• Mode of Beleriand: a Full Mode where vowels are represented by separate tengwar. See the following section for details.

Vowels

The vowels are:

A telco {{ {telco} }} (vowel carrier) is used if there is no suitable tengwa, e.g. at the end of a word.

In Roman transcription, long vowels are indicated with a circumflex or acute accent above the vowels. The tehta for long vowels is placed on a aara {{ {aara} }} (long vowel carrier).

Diphthongs

Initial /i/ followed by a vowel is pronounced as a consonantal /y/ and transcribed with yanta {{ {yanta} }} in this mode.

Consonants

(1) Final r.

(2) Non-final r.

See p. 16 of http://www.starchamber.com/paracelsus/elvish/tengwar-textbook.pdf for vowels

Consonant Modifications

The letter /r/ is written with rómen {{ {roomen} }}, except in final position where óre {{ {oore} }} is used.

Nasalized consonants (/nt/, /nd/, /mp/, /mb/, /ŋk/, /ŋg/) are indicated by a bar placed above the tengwa.

An overbar is used to indicate that a /n/ or /m/ preceeds the tengwa that it is placed above.

Doubled (geminated) consonants are written with a bar above for /m/ and /n/, bar inside for /l/ and a bar below for /r/, and with esse {{ {esse} }} for /s/.

When tehtar are placed above /s/ silme {{ {silme} }} and /ss/ esse {{ {esse} }}, silme nuquerna {{ {silme-nuquerna} }} and esse nuquerna {{ {esse-nuquerna} }} can be used instead.

Sindarin has two unvoiced consonants: r and l, transcribed as arda {{ {arda} }} ⟨rh⟩ and alda {{ {alda} }} ⟨lh⟩. These are always initial. An ⟨rh⟩ or ⟨lh⟩ in non-initial position is a coincidence and should be represented by separate tengwar.

The Mode of Beleriand (Sindarin)

The mode of Beleriand is a full mode for Sindarin where vowels are represented by separate Tengwar.

Vowels

The vowels are:

An acute accent (andaith {{ {acute} }}), is placed above the vowel to indicate a long vowel.

Diphthongs

Sindarin has six diphthongs:

Consonants

The shaded cells in the table below indicate the Tengwar that are specific to this mode.

See p. 16 of http://www.starchamber.com/paracelsus/elvish/tengwar-textbook.pdf for vowels

Consonant Modifications

The letter /r/ is always written with rómen {{ {roomen} }}.

Nasalized consonants (/nt/, /nd/, /mp/, /mb/, /ŋk/, /ŋg/) are indicated by a bar placed above the tengwa.

Unlike other modes, the letter /n/ is written with óre {{ {oore} }} and /m/ with vala {{ {vala} }}. Geminated (doubled) /n/ is written with númen {{ {nuumen} }} and geminated /m/ with malta {{ {malta} }}. Other geminated consonants are doubled.

The Quenya Mode

Quenya is transcribed using an ómatehtar mode where the tehtar (diacritics) are on top of the preceding consonant.

Examples

{{quenya:Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen, yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!}}

Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen, yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!

Vowels

Diphthongs

Consonants

(1)When there is no previous consonant the tengwa anna {{ {anna} }} carries a palatal tehta: {{ {anna}[double-dot-below] }}

Samples

JRR Tolkien and his son Christopher produced Tengwar inscriptions in English, Sindarin, Quenya, Latin and Old English. Some were included in their published works, and others have remained unpublished. Some previously unplublished work still surfaces to this day. Below are a few examples.

Namarie — DTS 20

Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind, 
long years numberless as the wings of trees! 
The years have passed like swift draughts 
of the sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the West, 
beneath the blue vaults of Varda 
wherein the stars tremble in the song of her voice, holy and queenly. 

Who now shall refill the cup for me? 

For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars, 
from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds, 
and all paths are drowned deep in shadow; 
and out of a grey country darkness lies on the foaming waves between us,
and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever. 
Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar!

Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar. 
Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!
			
		

The Jacket Namarie — DTS 19

Lord of the Rings Title Page — DTS 5

The Silmarilion

Unfinished Tales

Sources

• The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E., by J.R.R. Tolkien
• DTS: Mellonath Daeron Index of Tengwa Specimina
• Amanye Tenceli, by Måns Björkman
• Writing Sindarin with Tengwar (PDF), by Per Lindberg
• Font Tengwar Annatar by Johan Winge