Rohanese

Rohirric is the language of the Rohirrim of Rohan.

Rohirric is derived from the language of the Éothéod, who were among the Northmen and Rohirric was related to other Northmen languages, such as those of Rhovanion, Esgaroth, and Dale.

The Hobbits before their Wandering Days in the Vales of Anduin had contact with that people and their languages had many in common. For example the Rohirrim had retained the legend of the being known as kûd-dûkan (translated as hol-bytla), a term which became kuduk by the Hobbits, the name they had for themselves.

The only other Rohirric given is the element lô- / loh-, which corresponds to the Old English éo or "horse". The derived names Lôgrad and Lohtûr can be matched with Éomarc ("Horse-mark") and Éothéod ("Horse-people").

All names beginning with Éo- are actually names beginning with Lô- or Loh-, but the real names of Éomer, Éowyn, etc. are not given. Only one proper name is offered, that of Théoden, whose actual name was Tûrac ("King"). His name shows the influence of Elvish languages in Rohirric — the prefix tur- means "master" or "lord" in Sindarin.

Despite its relation to Westron, Rohirric was not intelligible to its speakers. Legolas was unable to understand the songs, however he noted that the language is like the land itself: rich and rolling in part, and else hard and stern as the mountains.

Translation

In the novels Rohirric is always translated through Old English. This is because Tolkien saw the relationship between Rohirric and Common Speech to be the same as that of Old English and modern English, the later being the translation of Common Speech.

Name

Tolkien did not give a known name for the language of the Rohirrim.

Rohirric seems to be an invention of Robert Foster in his Complete Guide to Middle-earth. Perhaps it was modelled on "Rohirrim" and the -ic of "Adûnaic". However the double r has no place here, since it derives from singular Rohir and the plural ending rim.

Tolkien himself used the adjective Rohanese in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor but it is not clear if he refers to the language or the names.

Lisa Star mentions that Rohirian is found in a manuscript labeled Mq15:10 and also in Peoples of Middle-earth p. 55, which is untrue. It has been also suggested that the manuscript actually says Rohirin but it is just a theory.