Parma Eldalamberon 12

Parma Eldalamberon 12 Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon
Author	J.R.R. Tolkien
Editor	Christopher Gilson, Carl F. Hostetter, Patrick H. Wynne, and Arden R. Smith
Illustrator	Adam Christensen (front and back cover)
Publisher	Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
Released	July 1998
Format	Paperback journal
Pages	134

Parma Eldalamberon 12: Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon is the twelfth issue of Parma Eldalamberon, a journal of linguistic studies of the Elvish languages and names in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. This issue was revised in 2011 for the third printing.

The two manuscripts by Tolkien, containing the earliest dictionaries of the Elvish languages, were published as the "Gnomish Lexicon" and "Qenya Lexicon" in Parma 11 and Parma 12 respectively.

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Contents

• Cover: "Qenyaqetsa" — Adam Christensen

• Foreword

• "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon" — J.R.R. Tolkien, eds. Christopher Gilson, Carl F. Hostetter, Patrick H. Wynne, and Arden R. Smith
  • "The Qenya Phonology"
  • "The Qenya Lexicon"
    (contains over 3000 entries)

• List of abbreviations

• Back cover — Adam Christensen

Description

This issue contains the "Qenya Lexicon" in its entirety. This is a dictionary of the language of the Elves of Tol Eressea as created by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is organized by 'roots', related words being grouped together under a designation of the sounds that they share due to their relationship. Thus, for example, the Qenya words alda 'tree', aldea 'tree-shadowed', aldeon 'avenue of trees', alalme 'elm (tree)', and almo, aldamo 'the broad of the back from shoulder to shoulder', are all given under the root ALA 'spread'. Excerpts from the Lexicon were published in the Appendices to The Book of Lost Tales, those items that threw light on the names of people and places in the Lost Tales. This edition includes the whole dictionary, which runs to about 600 roots and over 3000 entries.

In his remarks about the Lexicon, Christopher Tolkien said, "Some early phonological description does exist for Qenya, but this became through later alterations and substitutions such a baffling muddle (while the material is in any case intrinsically extremely complex) that I have been unable to make use of it" (LT1, p. 247). This description, called "The Sounds of Qenya", is also very interesting, as it traces the phonological development of the language from its origins in primitive Eldarin. Because of the light it throws on both the "Qenya Lexicon" and the "Gnomish Lexicon", we have included this Qenya Phonology in this issue of Parma Eldalamberon.

The "Qenya Lexicon" entries are fully cross-referenced to both The Book of Lost Tales and to the "Gnomish Lexicon" (I·Lam na·Ngoldathon, published in Parma Eldalamberon No. 11). Both the Phonology and Lexicon, to which J.R.R. Tolkien gave the overall title of "Qenyaqetsa", are presented with editorial commentary on changes made in the manuscript, and the relation of this linguistic work to Tolkien's other contemporary stories, poems, and drawings.

External links

• Order the issue on Eldalamberon.com (currently out of print)
• Parma Eldalamberon 12 on Archive.org

• Book review by John Garth, Tolkien Studies vol.11
• Book review by Helge Fauskanger
• A New Q(u)enya Lexicon, a PE 12 reading companion