| | |  | Useful Elvish Phrases | |
Here are some handy sentences in Quenya, the language of the High Elves in JRR Tolkien's Middle-Earth. They are useful if you want to impress your friends or are just interested in Tolkien's fascinating invented languages. Pronunciation The matter of Quenya pronunciation can be extensively discussed. All that can be mentioned here is that it is similar to that of Italian, but the h is fully pronounced, and c and g are pronounced hard (as in car and garden). An acute accent mark on a vowel (eg á, é) is not used to mark the stressed syllable, but indicates a long vowel. If a word ends on e, usually it is written as ë to indicate that it is not silent.1 There is a set of rules on stress, which are too long to discuss here. For now, it will be enough to say that the stressed syllable is either the second-to-last or the third-to-last one. Márë Quenyannar quenteli| English | Quenya | | hello | mára aurë2 | | goodbye | mára mesta | | I'm an Elf | ni ná3 Elda | | A star shines upon the hour of our meeting!4 | Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo! | | how are you | manen nalyë | | What's up, Doc? | Man marta, envinyatar5? | | I love you | tye-méla | | may Balrogs eat you | nai Valaraukar tye-mátar | | I will kill you | tye-mancuva | | Keep off the grass! | Áva vanta i salquessë | | I'm drowning | ni quorya | | How can I get to ...? | Manen lélië ...? | | What's your name? | Man ná esselya? | | Oh! More! Go on! Yes! Oooh! | A! Yonta! Vorya!6 Nai!7Ó! | | Stand aside, mortals! | Heca, fírimar! | | Honey, I'm home. | Melda, ná máresse. | | The Elves invented the art of love. | Eldar autar i Carmë melmeo. | | What goes up must come down. | Ya línna ambanna tulinuva nan. 8 | | I think Elvis is still alive | intya Elvis er ná cuina. | | Do not disturb! | Áva nuhta sérenya! 9 | | Get a life. | Hira10 cuilë |
1 However, the e is pronounced even if it's not marked.
2 Not attested in Tolkien's works; literally 'good day'
3 The verb ná (to be) has only been used in the third person; here it is assumed that its first person form is the same
4 The famous greeting of Frodo to Gildor
5 Here envinyatar is the closest possible translation of 'Doc'. Literally it means 'renewer', but is also used with the meaning of 'healer'.
6 Not attested; deduced from vorima - repeated, continual
7 Literally 'be it so'; a word for yes has not been seen in any Quenya text
8 Literally: 'What goes upwards shall come back'
9 Literally: 'Do not interrupt my rest!'
10 Literally 'find'.
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Entry ID:
A723430
Edited by:
Petkan
Date: 06
April
2002
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