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appendix e 1463
before consonants (as in English part). The Orcs, and
some Dwarves, are said to have used a back or uvular r, a
sound which the Eldar found distasteful. RH represents a
voiceless r (usually derived from older initial sr-). It was
written hr in Quenya. Cf. L.
S is always voiceless, as in English so, geese; the z-sound
did not occur in contemporary Quenya or Sindarin. SH,
occurring in Westron, Dwarvish and Orkish, represents
sounds similar to sh in English.
TH represents the voiceless th of English in thin cloth. This had
become s in spoken Quenya, though still written with a
different letter; as in Q. Isil, S.Ithil, ‘Moon’.
TY represents a sound probably similar to the t in English
tune. It was derived mainly from c or t+y. The sound of
English ch, which was frequent in Westron, was usually
substituted for it by speakers of that language. Cf. HY
under Y.
V has the sound of English v, but is not used finally. See F.
W has the sound of English w. HW is a voiceless w, asin
English white (in northern pronunciation). It was not an
uncommon initial sound in Quenya, though examples
seem not to occur in this book. Both v and w are used in
the transcription of Quenya, in spite of the assimilation of
its spelling to Latin, since the two sounds, distinct in origin,
both occurred in the language.
Y is used in Quenya for the consonant y, as in English you.
In Sindarin y is a vowel (see below). HY has the same
relation to y as HW to w, and represents a sound like that
often heard in English hew, huge; h in Quenya eht, iht
had the same sound. The sound of English sh, which was
common in Westron, was often substituted by speakers of
that language. Cf. TY above. HY was usually derived from
sy- and khy-; in both cases related Sindarin words show
initial h, asinQ.Hyarmen ‘south’, S. Harad.
Note that consonants written twice, as tt, ll, ss, nn, represent
long, ‘double’ consonants. At the end of words of more than one
syllable these were usually shortened: as in Rohan from Rochann
(archaic Rochand).