Spelling
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IPA
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Notes
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Short Vowels
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A, a, ä |
[a]
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E, e, ë |
[e]
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I, i |
[i]
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O, o, ö |
[o]
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U, u |
[u]
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Long Vowels
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Á, á |
[aː]
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É, é |
[eː]
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Í, í |
[iː]
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Ó, ó |
[oː]
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Ú, ú |
[uː]
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Diphthongs
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Ai, ai |
[a͡ɪ]
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Au, au |
[a͡ʊ]
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Eu, eu |
[ɛ͡ʊ]
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Iu, iu |
[ɪ͡ʊ] |
Middle-earth in the Third Age pronounces this [juː].
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Oi, oi |
[ɔ͡ɪ]
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Ui, ui |
[ʊ͡ɪ]
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Initial Consonants
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C, c, K, k |
[k]
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F, f |
[ɸ~f] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [ɸ]. The Ñoldor and Middle-earth pronounce this [f].
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Ȝ, ȝ |
[ɣ] |
Extinct phoneme which still existed in the written Quenya of Rúmil's sarati.
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H, h |
[x~h] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [x]. The Ñoldor and Middle-earth pronounce this [h].
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Hl, hl |
[ɬ~l] |
Traditionally [ɬ]. By the Third Age in Middle-earth, it is pronounced [l]. This phoneme cannot occur medially, where ll is used instead.
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Hr, hr |
[r̥] |
This phoneme cannot occur medially, where rr is used instead.
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Hw, hw |
[ʍ]
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Hy, hy |
[ç~ʃ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [ç]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [ʃ].
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L, l |
[l]
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M, m |
[m]
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N, n |
[n]
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Ñ, ñ, Ng, ng |
[ŋ] |
This phoneme cannot occur medially, where medial ng is used instead.
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Nw, nw |
[nˠʷ] |
Initial ñw becomes nw in Middle-earth in the Third Age. They are not separate phonemes when initial.
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Ñw, ñw, Ngw, ngw |
[ŋʷ] |
This phoneme cannot occur medially, where medial ngw is used instead.
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Ny, ny |
[ɲ~nʲ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [ɲ]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [nʲ].
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P, p |
[p]
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Qu, qu |
[kʷ]
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R, r |
[r]
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S, s |
[s]
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T, t |
[t]
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Ty, ty |
[c~ʧ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [c]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [ʧ].
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V, v |
[β~v] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [β]. The Ñoldor and Middle-earth pronounce this [v].
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W, w |
[w] |
As an initial consonant, this mostly merges with v outside Aman in the Second Age.
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Y, y |
[j]
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Þ, þ, Th, th |
[θ] |
The Vanyar retain this phoneme, but most (though not all) of the Ñoldor replace it with s, which becomes the more common pronunciation outside Aman.
|
Medial Single Consonants
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c, k |
[k]
|
d |
|
As a medial single consonant, this poorly-understood phoneme is only known to occur in the Vanyarin word Aldudénië.
|
f |
[ɸ~f] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [ɸ]. The Ñoldor and Middle-earth pronounce this [f].
|
ȝ |
[ɣ] |
Extinct phoneme which still existed in the written Quenya of Rúmil's sarati.
|
h |
[x~h] |
The Vanyar and the Ñoldor pronounce this [x]. Middle-earth in the Third Age pronounces this [h] in all locations.
|
l |
[l]
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m |
[m]
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n |
[n]
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p |
[p]
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r |
[r]
|
s |
[s] |
The Vanyar do not use this single consonant medially, where either z or þ are used instead.
|
t |
[t]
|
v |
[β~v] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [β]. The Ñoldor and Middle-earth pronounce this [v].
|
w |
[w] |
As a single medial consonant, this mostly merges with v outside Aman in the Second Age.
|
y |
[j]
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þ, th |
[θ] |
The Vanyar retain this phoneme, but most (though not all) of the Ñoldor replace it with s, which becomes the more common pronunciation outside Aman.
|
z |
[z] |
Only the Vanyar retain this phoneme. Among the Ñoldor it becomes r, and they pronounce z as s when reading Vanyarin texts.
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Medial Consonant Clusters
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cc, kk |
[kʰː]
|
ff |
[ɸː~fː] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [ɸː]. The Ñoldor and Middle-earth pronounce this [fː].
|
ht |
[xt, çt~ʃt] |
Pronounced [xt] after one of a o u, but [çt~ʃt] after one of e i. For the latter, [çt] is traditional among the Ñoldor, but the Vanyar and Gondor pronounce it [ʃt].
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hty |
[çc~ʃʧ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [çc]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [ʃʧ], merging with hty.
|
hw |
[ʍː]
|
hy |
[çː~ʃː] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [çː]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [ʃː], which merges with sy.
|
lb |
[lb]
|
lc, lk |
[lk]
|
ld |
[ld]
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lh |
[lx~lh] |
The Vanyar and the Ñoldor pronounce this [lx]. Middle-earth in the Third Age pronounces this [lh] in all locations.
|
lhy |
[ʎç~lʃ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [ʎç]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [lʃ].
|
ll |
[lː]
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lm |
[lm]
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lp |
[lp]
|
lqu |
[lkʷ]
|
lt |
[lt]
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lty |
[ʎc~lʧ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [ʎc]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [lʧ].
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lv |
[lv~lβ] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [lβ]. The Ñoldor pronounce this [lv], if they don't prefer lb instead.
|
lw |
[lw]
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ly |
[ʎj~lj]
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mb |
[mb]
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mm |
[mː]
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mn |
[mn]
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mp |
[mp]
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my |
[mj]
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nc, nk |
[ŋk]
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nd |
[ŋd]
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ndy |
[ɲɟ~nʤ] |
The Vanyar pronounce this [nʤ]. Among Ñoldor and Gondor this has merged with ny.
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ng |
[ŋɡ]
|
ngw |
[ŋʷɡʷ]
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nn |
[nː]
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nqu |
[ŋʷkʷ]
|
nt |
[nt]
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nty |
[ɲc~nʧ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [ɲc]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [nʧ].
|
nw |
[nw]
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ny |
[ɲj~nj] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [ɲj]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [nj].
|
pp |
[pː]
|
ps |
[ps]
|
pt |
[pt]
|
py |
[pç~pʃ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [pç]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [pʃ].
|
qu |
[kʷʍ]
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rc, rk |
[rk]
|
rd |
[rd]
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rh |
[rx~rh] |
The Vanyar and the Ñoldor pronounce this [rx]. Middle-earth in the Third Age pronounces this [rh] in all locations.
|
rhw |
[rʍ]
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rm |
[rm]
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rn |
[rn]
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rp |
[rp]
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rqu |
[rkʷ]
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rr |
[rː]
|
rs |
[rs] |
Not normally known to exist in Quenya. Occurs in Narsil, which is a contraction of Anar-Isil.
|
rt |
[rt]
|
rv |
[rv~rβ] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [rv]. The Vanyar pronounce this [rβ].
|
rw |
[rw]
|
ry |
[rj]
|
sc, sk |
[sk]
|
sp |
[sp]
|
squ |
[skʷ]
|
ss |
[sː]
|
st |
[st]
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sty |
[ɕc] |
Among the Ñoldor, this is distinct from hty. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [ʃʧ], merging with hty.
|
sw |
[sʍ] |
This phoneme is not believed to occur among the Vanyar, who use zw or þw instead.
|
sy |
[ɕç] |
Among the Ñoldor, this is distinct from hy. Gondor pronounces this ʃː, which merges with hy. This phoneme is not believed to occur among the Vanyar, who use zy or þy instead.
|
ts |
[ts]
|
tt |
[tʰː]
|
tw |
[tʍ]
|
ty |
[cʰː~ʧʰː] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [cʰː]. The Vanyar and Gondor pronounce this [ʧʰː].
|
vy |
[vj~βj] |
The Ñoldor pronounce this [vj]. The Vanyar pronounce this [βj].
|
x |
[ks]
|
zw |
[zw] |
Only the Vanyar retain this phoneme. Among the Ñoldor it becomes rw, and they pronounce zw as sw when reading Vanyarin texts.
|
zy |
|
Only the Vanyar retain this phoneme, but their pronunciation of it is not entirely certain. Among the Ñoldor it becomes ry, and they pronounce zy as sy when reading Vanyarin texts.
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þw, thw |
[θʍ]
|
þy, thy |
[θç~θʃ] |
The Ñoldor (at least those Ñoldor who retain þ) pronounce this [θç]. The Vanyar pronounce this [θʃ].
|
þþ, thth |
[θː]
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Final Consonants
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l |
[l]
|
n |
[n]
|
nt |
[nt] |
The only known consonant cluster that may occur at the end of a word.
|
r |
[r]
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s |
[s]
|
t |
[t]
|