chrisruzin.net :: Tengwar Challenge 2 (August 16, 2003)

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Tengwar Challenge 2

Here is the second Tengwar Challenge.  This is a famous quote.

Tengwar Challenge

Mode: Original (how Tolkien would have written it)

C. McKay's gravatar C. McKay United States August 16, 2003

Tolkien would have used the w-tehta over the ‘t’ in the word ‘twenty’. Tolkien also used the tengwa ‘Anna’ for a consonantal y only. So it would not be used in words like ‘twenty’,away’, etc.
Instead it would be used correctly in ‘years’.

For vowel ‘y’ as in ‘twenty’ he used either a chevron over a short carrier, or an accent mark over a long carrier.

Chris's gravatar Chris United States August 16, 2003

So basically any sound like ‘tw’, ‘kw’, ‘dw’, etc. should have the w-tehta over them? Can you add that in your Guidelines for Writing section in your textbook? Right now, it only mentions using it with ‘Q’.

I looked over more examples of Tolkien’s writing, and you’re right about the long carrier with an optional accent mark for an ending ‘y’. Sometimes he put an i-tehta mark over it. Sometimes nothing. Is one preferred over another?

Thanks again for great comments.

Chris's gravatar Chris United States August 16, 2003

I just found an example of Tolkien using Anna plus two over-dots for ‘ai’, in the word ‘pain’. These were in the Mode of Beleriand(1) though. Would that make a difference?

C. McKay's gravatar C. McKay United States August 17, 2003

Hi,

Yes, any sound can have the w-tehta over it in this mode. For example it would be used in ‘twenty’, ‘queen’, or ‘Duane’. Word examples are given in the charts for the ‘Original Mode’, but in the next revision I’ll add a miscellaneous section in the Guidelines area.

The i-tehta or the e-tehta can be used for this (as well as the chevron over the short carrier). There does not seem to be any preference as to which is used. Personally I would use the chevron, because that is what he used in the best example of this mode, the Hugh Brogan Letter.

I’m not aware of any case where he used nothing. Which sample was this in?

As far as the ‘ai’ in ‘pain’, I’m afraid that’s my fault. I have incorrectly copied that letter from the source document. It should be a Luva with the double dots above. As is shown in the charts for that mode. I’m glad you found that, I’ll make certain that it’s corrected in the next release.

Sorry for the delay in replying, I’ve been away from the computer most of the day.

Chris's gravatar Chris United States August 17, 2003

In ISS-5, the word ‘you’ uses the long carrier with no accent mark for ‘y’. And right after it in the word ‘very’.

C. McKay's gravatar C. McKay United States August 17, 2003

I see, that is a full mode though. They don’t really have any bearing on the tehta modes. There are many differences between the two types.

Chris's gravatar Chris United States August 17, 2003

Ah, I see. That’s good to know.

I have been writing my ‘y’ as Tolkien did in the LOTR cover inscriptions (long carrier with an i-tehta).

C. McKay's gravatar C. McKay United States August 18, 2003

On second thought, I do think that ‘Anna’ makes better sense than ‘Yanta’ as the base. I’ll update that in the next revision.

Chris's gravatar Chris United States August 18, 2003

Are you referring to the ‘ai’ in ‘sail’ or the ‘ay’ in ‘away’?

C. McKay's gravatar C. McKay United States August 18, 2003

In ‘away’ for certain.

Probably also as in ‘sail’ but I’ll need to think over that one some more. It just doesn’t look right somehow. But because of the new inscription, it would seem the best course.

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