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Mixing Quenya/Sindarin?
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=22118		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Andúril [ April 8th, 2012, 11:59 am ]
Post subject:  Mixing Quenya/Sindarin?
Well, I recently bought a book by Ruth Noel about all the languages in Tolkien's Middle Earth, and with that I am trying to learn Sindarin (though i realized i need some other sources too to learn.... x)) . What I realize is that there are some words in Quenya, which can't be found in Sindarin, and the other way around, which isn't strange because the languages aren't complete. But in some cases, in names for example, Tolkien has mixed Quenya and Sindarin. For example "Boromir" is such a combination (at least according to this book... :innocent: ). But I guess that it isn't recommended to take a word from Quenya, a word that can't be found in Sindarin, in a Sindarin sentence??

Thanks ^^
Author:  Sírelindë [ April 8th, 2012, 4:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mixing Quenya/Sindarin?
Yes you're right, it isn't recommended to take a Quenya word and directly put it into a Sindarin sentence, and it's the same for the other way round.
This is especially true since there are distinct clusters in the words of one language that may be illegitimate in the other language, and besides, to have one word from another language suddenly appearing in your sentence doesn't really make sense, now does it? :)
But I have seen people transcribe a word from Sindarin into Quenya to fit into their Quenya sentence. Basically what they do is either they take the root of the Sindarin word and build it up again into a Quenya form, or they directly change the word into "Quenya" by replacing the illegitimate clusters with their complementary forms in Quenya.
I'm guessing this can be done for Quenya --> Sindarin too, though I haven't seen it for myself cos I'm more of a Quenya learner.
Author:  Andúril [ April 8th, 2012, 5:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mixing Quenya/Sindarin?
I thought so, it would be a bit strange for the one who reads x) But I figured it is good to ask ^^ But like you say, it is possible to take the root and make it fit more. I know I saw a list with words on Quenya and Sindarin with the same meaning, that showed the differences. So maybe it is possible to make a word fit.
But still, it's to much trouble I think x) It's probably better to try to walk around it somehow :P

By the way, you have any good tips on sources you use to learn the language?

Thanks for your time :)
Author:  Sírelindë [ April 8th, 2012, 5:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mixing Quenya/Sindarin?
Yeah, I usually try to avoid using words that aren't in the vocabulary list :P

I use the wordlists on a website called Ardalambion (just google it). They're reliable and very extensive. There're English-Quenya, Quenya-English, as well as English-Sindarin wordlists on the site. I find having a good wordlist very helpful in learning the language, Quenya in my case, but I'm sure it's the same for any language :)
Oh, and reading what other people write is very helpful too, like famous texts (eg. The Lord's Prayer) that Tolkien translated himself into Elvish. Reading the Elvish and English versions side by side is basically how I learned the language.
And lastly, writing something in Elvish by youself and getting someone more experienced to check it for you can further help your learning :)
Author:  Andúril [ April 9th, 2012, 2:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Mixing Quenya/Sindarin?
Ah, that was exactly what I needed. And if I need someone more experience to check something up I guess I can ask here on AU. Thanks! :D
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