Sounds of Quenya
Consonants
Quenya has six major places of articulation for consonants: labial, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar, and glottal. Labials are further divided into bilabial and labiodental while alveolar is divided further into alveolar and postalveolar.
The consonants are as follows:
Stops: b [b], p [p], t [t], d [d], g [g], c [k], and q [k].
Fricatives : f [f], v [v], s [s], hy [ç], ch [x], and h [h].
Nasals: m [m], n [n], and ng [ŋ].
Liquids: l [l].
Trills: r [r].
Approximates: w [w], hw [ʍ], and y [j]
Consonant clusters present in Quenya: qu [kw], ty [tj], ly [lj], ny [nj], nw, cc, ht [xt, çt], hty, lc, ld, lf, ll, lm, lp, lqu [lkw], lt, lv, lw, mb, mm, mp, my [mj], nc, nd, ng, ngw, nn, nt nty, ps, pt, rc, rd, rm, rn, rp, rqu [rkw], rr, rs, rt, rty, rw, ry [rj], sc, squ [skw], ss, ts, tt, tw, and x [ks].
The consonants are as follows:
Stops: b [b], p [p], t [t], d [d], g [g], c [k], and q [k].
Fricatives : f [f], v [v], s [s], hy [ç], ch [x], and h [h].
Nasals: m [m], n [n], and ng [ŋ].
Liquids: l [l].
Trills: r [r].
Approximates: w [w], hw [ʍ], and y [j]
Consonant clusters present in Quenya: qu [kw], ty [tj], ly [lj], ny [nj], nw, cc, ht [xt, çt], hty, lc, ld, lf, ll, lm, lp, lqu [lkw], lt, lv, lw, mb, mm, mp, my [mj], nc, nd, ng, ngw, nn, nt nty, ps, pt, rc, rd, rm, rn, rp, rqu [rkw], rr, rs, rt, rty, rw, ry [rj], sc, squ [skw], ss, ts, tt, tw, and x [ks].
Vowels
Quenya has five monopthongal vowels: a [a], e [ɛ], i [i], o [ɔ], and u [u].
These vowels can also be elongated to form á [aː], é [eː], í [iː], ó [oː], and ú [uː]
They can also be made into the following diphthongs: iu [ju], eu [ew], ai [aj], au [aw], oi [oj], ui [uj].
These vowels can also be elongated to form á [aː], é [eː], í [iː], ó [oː], and ú [uː]
They can also be made into the following diphthongs: iu [ju], eu [ew], ai [aj], au [aw], oi [oj], ui [uj].
The Phonology of Quenya
Syllable Structure
Syllable structure in Quenya is very rigid, the basic form is consonant-vowel-consonant vowel, though some consonant clusters are allowed. The use of consonants and consonant clusters in Quenya words and syllables is also very strict. The basic rules for syllable structure in Quenya are as follows:
Before I continue, I must remark that both Sindarin and Quenya contain four different, basic types of syllables: light, heavy, open, and closed. Light syllables takes less time to say and consist of a short vowel either by itself or preceded by one or more consonants. Heavy syllables are syllables that don't meet the criterion for light syllables. Open syllables are vowels that are either not followed by any consonants or only followed by one consonant while closed syllables are followed by more than one consonant and are always also heavy syllables.
The rules for syllabic stress are the same in Quenya as it is in Sindarin:
- A syllable is made up of at least one vowel and attached consonants.
- The number of vowels in a word determines it's number of syllables; the simplest syllables are but one short vowel long.
- Vowels can be preceded by one or two consonants and followed by up to two consonants.
- Syllables can also contain diphthongs with attached consonants.
- The only consonants that are permissible as word/first syllable beginnings are: c, f, h, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, and y.
- The only consonant clusters that are permissible as word/first syllable beginnings are qu [kw], ty [tj], ly [lj], ny [nj], and nw [nw].
- The only consonants that are permissible as word/last syllable endings are: t, s, n, l, and r.
- Consonant clusters that are permissible in the middle of a word: cc, ht, hty, lc, ld, lf, ll, lm, lp, lqu, lt, lv, lw, ly, mb, mm, mp, my, nc, nd, ng, ngw, nn, nt nty, nw, ny, ps, pt, qu, rc, rd, rm, rn, rp, rqu, rr, rs, rt, rty, rw, ry, sc, squ, ss, ts, tt, tw, ty, and x [ks].
Before I continue, I must remark that both Sindarin and Quenya contain four different, basic types of syllables: light, heavy, open, and closed. Light syllables takes less time to say and consist of a short vowel either by itself or preceded by one or more consonants. Heavy syllables are syllables that don't meet the criterion for light syllables. Open syllables are vowels that are either not followed by any consonants or only followed by one consonant while closed syllables are followed by more than one consonant and are always also heavy syllables.
The rules for syllabic stress are the same in Quenya as it is in Sindarin:
- Monosyllabic words, with few exceptions, are placed under heavy stress.
- In disyllabic words, the first syllable is stressed.
- In words with three or more syllables, either the penultimate or the third from the last syllable is stressed depending upon whether or not the penultimate syllable is a heavy syllable.
- If the penultimate syllable in a word with three or more syllables is a heavy syllable, then stress is placed on it.
- If the penultimate syllable in a word with three or more syllables is a light syllable, then stress is placed on the syllable directly before it.
Consonant Shifts
In the language of Quenya, there are consonant clusters that are not permissible at all, however, when compound words are formed, when prefixes are attached to words, and when suffixes are attached to words, some of these "forbidden" consonant clusters can occur permissibly. However, most speakers of Quenya tend to change these consonant clusters into clusters that are permissible within the language. This is a process known as consonant shifts. The rules for consonant shifts are as follows:
1. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix that is being compounded is -l:
2. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -n:
3. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -r:
4. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -s:
5. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -t:
1. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix that is being compounded is -l:
- lf remains lf
- ln becomes ld
- lr becomes ll
- ls remains ls
2. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -n:
- nl becomes ll
- ns becomes ss
- nr becomes rr
- nm becomes mm
- np becomes mp
- nv remains nv
3. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -r:
- rp remains rp
- rl beomes ll
- rs remains rs
- rr remains rr
4. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -s:
- sn becomes ss
- sp remains sp
- sm becomes mm
- sr becomes rr
- sl becomes ll
- sv becomes rv
- sf becomes ff
- sh becomes h
5. When the final consonant of the left-most word or prefix is -t:
- tn becomes nt
- tl becomes lt
- tr becomes rt
- tc becomes cc
- tf becomes ff
- th becomes h
Miscellaneous Quenya Phonology Facts
As I mentioned before, Quenya is very strict about which consonants you can use and where. Another example of this is that voiced stops are not allowed to be used on their own, they must be used in consonant clusters in order to be used in any word. Because of this absence of individual voiced stops, quite a few linguists theorize that voiceless stops must be always unaspirated, having no need to distinguish them from voiced stops.
Another rule Quenya has about consonant clusters is that, the only consonants that may have more than two consonants are those containing "q" or "y." Also regarding consonant clusters, when two identical consonants are written together in a cluster, that consonant is elongated in pronunciation.
Another interesting aspect of Quenya's phonology is that of vowel shortening. If two vowels follow each other in a compound, prefixed, or suffixed word, it is permissible to leave the first one out, even if it would create a usually forbidden consonant cluster at the end of the first word. This is especially permissible if the two vowels are identical, however, they do not have to be in order for vowel shortening to occur. For example: "ao" is shortened to "o."
Another rule Quenya has about consonant clusters is that, the only consonants that may have more than two consonants are those containing "q" or "y." Also regarding consonant clusters, when two identical consonants are written together in a cluster, that consonant is elongated in pronunciation.
Another interesting aspect of Quenya's phonology is that of vowel shortening. If two vowels follow each other in a compound, prefixed, or suffixed word, it is permissible to leave the first one out, even if it would create a usually forbidden consonant cluster at the end of the first word. This is especially permissible if the two vowels are identical, however, they do not have to be in order for vowel shortening to occur. For example: "ao" is shortened to "o."