Gautisk: Difference between revisions
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== Source materials == | == Source materials == | ||
All that is known about Gautisk comes from a few fragmentary and disconnected sources. Tolkien | All that is known about Gautisk comes from a few fragmentary and disconnected sources. Tolkien wrote in 1955 to [[W.H. Auden]] that his interest on [[Gothic]] (which he discovered around 1910) moved him "to invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language", although he gave that attempt up in favor of his "'own language' (...) heavily [[Finnish|Finnicized]] in phonetic pattern and structure" (i.e. [[Quenya]]), after discovering a Finnish Grammar in the Exeter College Library when he was "supposed to be reading for Honour Mods" (between 1912-1913).<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]; [[Humphrey Carpenter]], [[Christopher Tolkien]] (eds.), ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', [[Letter 163|Letter 211]], (dated [[7 June]] [[1955]])</ref> | ||
Tolkien did not | Tolkien did not give a particular name to that Germanic language in his letter, but this story coincides with the existence of two brief mentions to a tongue called ''Gautisk'' in the notebook that contains the [[Qenyaqetsa]]. | ||
One of those notes is a title in the inside back cover of the notebook | One of those notes is a title in the inside back cover of the notebook: ''Ermanaþiudiska razda eþþau Gautiska tungō'', which in Gothic means 'Language of the Great People, or Gautish tongue'.<ref>{{PE|12}}, p. x</ref> The other is a note struck through in the inside front cover, after an alphabet list, which indicates some particular characteristics of the phonetics of "Gautisk".<ref name=":0">{{PE|12}}, p. iv</ref> | ||
[[Arden R. Smith]] | [[Arden R. Smith]] commented that the contents of those notes are closely related to the Gothic language, but the vocalization of ''Gautisk(a)'' is different from the form that "Goth" or "Gothic" would adopt its own language, and it may reflect the name of the Gauts of Northern Sweden (Swedish ''Götar'', Old Norse ''Gautar'', Old English ''Géatas''), the people whose last king was Beowulf.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">[[Arden R. Smith]] (2006). «Tolkienian Gothic». In: [[Wayne G. Hammond]] & [[Christina Scull]] (ed), ''The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004. Scolarship in Honor of [[Richard E. Blackwelder]]'', pp. 267‒81. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.</ref> | ||
== Characteristics== | == Characteristics== | ||
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* Gautisk ''au’'' for Gothic ''áu'' (from Germanic diphthong) | * Gautisk ''au’'' for Gothic ''áu'' (from Germanic diphthong) | ||
In addition, ''z'' is absent from the | In addition, ''z'' is absent from the alphabet list, which might be the result of voicing to ''s'' or rhotacism to ''r''; and the voiced stops ''b'', ''d'', ''g'' are only told to occur if preceded by nasal, perhaps becoming fricative in all other environments, as usually assumed for Proto-Germanic. | ||
The same struck note contains a barely legible commentary on the declension of Gautisk, transcribed by the editors as: "''the [?historical] [???] its[?] declensional preservation''". This is interpreted by Arden Smith as a commentary meaning that Gautisk was conservative in its declensional system, preserving case-endings that were lost in later Germanic languages.<ref name=":1" /> | The same struck note contains a barely legible commentary on the declension of Gautisk, transcribed by the editors as: "''the [?historical] [???] its[?] declensional preservation''". This is interpreted by Arden Smith as a commentary meaning that Gautisk was conservative in its declensional system, preserving case-endings that were lost in later Germanic languages.<ref name=":1" /> | ||
=== Vocabulary === | === Vocabulary === | ||
The extant evidence on Gautisk does not provide any specific vocabulary of that language, unless the Gothic title in the inside back cover is considered to be in Gautisk itself. | The extant evidence on Gautisk does not provide any specific vocabulary of that language, unless the Gothic title in the inside back cover is considered to be written in Gautisk itself. | ||
[[John Garth]] mentions two sobriquets invented by Tolkien in Gautisk, from unpublished letters: "Mr. Undarhruiménitupp" for Tolkien himself, and "Haughadel" or "Hawaughdall" for [[Geoffrey Bache Smith]], although "deciphering them is also a matter of guesswork".<ref>[[John Garth]], ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]'', p. 17</ref> | [[John Garth]] mentions two sobriquets invented by Tolkien in Gautisk, from unpublished letters: "Mr. Undarhruiménitupp" for Tolkien himself, and "Haughadel" or "Hawaughdall" for [[Geoffrey Bache Smith]], although "deciphering them is also a matter of guesswork".<ref>[[John Garth]], ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]'', p. 17</ref> | ||
[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] suggests that ''aiþei'', a Gothic word for 'mother' that appears in a two-item list Tolkien's "own corpus", among the materials of ''[[A Secret Vice]]'', could also be an element of his Gautisk language.<ref>[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] (2016) "Tolkien’s ''A Secret Vice'' and ‘the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway''’''," [[Journal of Tolkien Research|''Journal of Tolkien Research'']]: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss1/3</ref> | [[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] suggests that ''aiþei'', a Gothic word for 'mother' that appears in a two-item list of Tolkien's "own corpus", among the materials of ''[[A Secret Vice]]'', could also be an element of his Gautisk language.<ref>[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] (2016) "Tolkien’s ''A Secret Vice'' and ‘the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway''’''," [[Journal of Tolkien Research|''Journal of Tolkien Research'']]: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss1/3</ref> | ||
{{references}} | {{references}} | ||
{{languages}} | {{languages}} | ||
[[Category:Languages]] | [[Category:Languages]] | ||
Latest revision as of 10:35, 6 April 2024
Gautisk is a language of Germanic type invented by J.R.R. Tolkien in the early 1910s, which he might have meant to devise as a language for the Gauts of southern Sweden, who are identified as the Geats of Beowulf.
Source materials[edit | edit source]
All that is known about Gautisk comes from a few fragmentary and disconnected sources. Tolkien wrote in 1955 to W.H. Auden that his interest on Gothic (which he discovered around 1910) moved him "to invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language", although he gave that attempt up in favor of his "'own language' (...) heavily Finnicized in phonetic pattern and structure" (i.e. Quenya), after discovering a Finnish Grammar in the Exeter College Library when he was "supposed to be reading for Honour Mods" (between 1912-1913).[1]
Tolkien did not give a particular name to that Germanic language in his letter, but this story coincides with the existence of two brief mentions to a tongue called Gautisk in the notebook that contains the Qenyaqetsa.
One of those notes is a title in the inside back cover of the notebook: Ermanaþiudiska razda eþþau Gautiska tungō, which in Gothic means 'Language of the Great People, or Gautish tongue'.[2] The other is a note struck through in the inside front cover, after an alphabet list, which indicates some particular characteristics of the phonetics of "Gautisk".[3]
Arden R. Smith commented that the contents of those notes are closely related to the Gothic language, but the vocalization of Gautisk(a) is different from the form that "Goth" or "Gothic" would adopt its own language, and it may reflect the name of the Gauts of Northern Sweden (Swedish Götar, Old Norse Gautar, Old English Géatas), the people whose last king was Beowulf.[3][4]
Characteristics[edit | edit source]
Phonology and grammar[edit | edit source]
According to the extant evidence, the sounds of Gautisk might have been very much like those of Gothic. The alphabet list that precedes the struck note on the phonology of Gautisk was reused for Qenya, but originally it seems to have been associated to Gautisk as well, and it contains most of the sounds used in Gothic. Let aside orthographic conventions, the following correspondences between Gautisk and Gothic sounds can be proposed:[4]
- Gautisk ǽ (ǣ)’ for Gothic ē
- Gautisk ǫ́ (ō)’ for Gothic ō
- Gautisk e’ for Gothic aí (product of breaking)
- Gautisk o’ for Gothic aú (product of breaking)
- Gautisk *ai’ for Gothic ái (from Germanic diphthong)
- Gautisk au’ for Gothic áu (from Germanic diphthong)
In addition, z is absent from the alphabet list, which might be the result of voicing to s or rhotacism to r; and the voiced stops b, d, g are only told to occur if preceded by nasal, perhaps becoming fricative in all other environments, as usually assumed for Proto-Germanic.
The same struck note contains a barely legible commentary on the declension of Gautisk, transcribed by the editors as: "the [?historical] [???] its[?] declensional preservation". This is interpreted by Arden Smith as a commentary meaning that Gautisk was conservative in its declensional system, preserving case-endings that were lost in later Germanic languages.[4]
Vocabulary[edit | edit source]
The extant evidence on Gautisk does not provide any specific vocabulary of that language, unless the Gothic title in the inside back cover is considered to be written in Gautisk itself.
John Garth mentions two sobriquets invented by Tolkien in Gautisk, from unpublished letters: "Mr. Undarhruiménitupp" for Tolkien himself, and "Haughadel" or "Hawaughdall" for Geoffrey Bache Smith, although "deciphering them is also a matter of guesswork".[5]
Andrew S. Higgins suggests that aiþei, a Gothic word for 'mother' that appears in a two-item list of Tolkien's "own corpus", among the materials of A Secret Vice, could also be an element of his Gautisk language.[6]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 211, (dated 7 June 1955)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in Parma Eldalamberon XII (edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), p. x
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in Parma Eldalamberon XII (edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), p. iv
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Arden R. Smith (2006). «Tolkienian Gothic». In: Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull (ed), The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004. Scolarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder, pp. 267‒81. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.
- ↑ John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War, p. 17
- ↑ Andrew S. Higgins (2016) "Tolkien’s A Secret Vice and ‘the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway’," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss1/3
