Q&A for How to Speak Elvish

Sindarin. Quenya's the ancient language, though people still use it. Galadriel might use Quenya, because she's a really old elf, but she certainly knows both.

It depends on who you're asking. Each person has a different mouth, and thus says words differently from other people. For me, Quenya is easier, but for many of my friends, Sindarin is more simple.

"Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo" (a star shines on the hour of our meeting) is one way to say hello if you want to be fancy.

In Quenya, it's Lótë. In Sindarin, it's Loth. You can see the resemblance in both nouns, which come from a Common Eldarin root. The Quenya is pronounced: (lo-ote) the final 'e' must be pronounced; that is why it's got the two dots above it. It was Tolkien's way to remind people that final 'e' should be pronounced. The Sindarin is pronounced exactly like one would in English, making sure that the 'o' is short.

(/ˈɛ.lɛn ˈsi:.la lu:.ˈmɛn nɔ.mɛn.ti.ˈɛl.vɔ/) EH-len SEE-la loo-MENnn oh-men-tee-EL-voh (the “nn” in “lumenn” sort of bleeds into the “o” of “omentielvo”).

Go to the "Council of Elrond" site that is listed in the article. (It's in Step one under the "Further Study and Practice" section). There are workbooks and other guides to help you learn either Quenya or Sindarin. I found them very helpful.

"Sicanikuto," means "it has been stolen or taken" in Quenya. However, be careful if you say this to one who does not speak your form of elvish. It means "I am not prepared" in Sindarin.

You pronounce them as if the E was not there. If the word ends with a different vowel than E, it is not silent.

Elvish languages are constructed languages used by elves in a fantasy setting.

Arwen_undomiel.com has sections on common phrases in both Sindarin and Quenya (in addition to various other Lord of the Rings-related things).

In Sindarin Elvish, yes. It represents a hard “th” sound. It is treated as a single consonant.

There is an article for that! Check out How to Write in Elvish .

A voiceless 'S' is a softer 'S' in words, as opposed to a harder, Z-like sound. You don’t use your throat to make voiceless consonants.

Legolas was a young elf, so he spoke Sindarin. Quenya was very ancient and not spoken much (like Latin), so the only elves that would have spoken it would have been maybe Galadriel, Celeborn and Elrond.

In Sindarin, "U" is the word for "no". It's pronounced, "uh". Sindarin is the more commonly used elvish language.

In any type of word, words that end with "e", the "e" is silent. In words that end with any other vowel, the remaining vowels are always pronounced.

Try your best. So say "L" instead of rolled r to make it easier. The following word is not Elvish. So roll in an Elvish accent would be "Loll".

Sindarin. Sindarin is more modern, which means it has more slang. In english slang is easier, so in Sindarin it is the same.

In Quenya, it's "Mana are emme doing síra", and in Sindarin it would be "sen are sar doing today".

Not yet, they are still far from complete. Quenya is probably about 2000 words and Sindarin perhaps 1200 words.

Yes, you can but you must be aware that the Elvish languages are far far from complete (Quenya has 2000 words as Sindarin about 1200). This is enough to hold a basic conversation but nothing too complex.

Aerin, Alfreda, Alma, Anna, Aredhel, Aubree, Amanda. These are only a few. You can find more suggestions online.