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- "Man kiluva lómi sangane,
aira móre ala tinwi
lante no lanta-mindon?"
- ― Early version of Oilima Markirya
In the earliest versions of the legendarium Qenya (as every Elvish language) belonged to the Oromean phylum, derived from the language Orome taught the Quendi. It was the language of the First Tribe of the Elves, the Lindar (Vanyar in the later legendarium) and for this it was also called Lindarin.
Qenya was started by Tolkien who wished to emulate the phonoesthetics of the Finnish language. Early Qenya has been reported to have much more Finnish influences, compared to the later stages.
During that time, Tolkien used to write the sound [kʷ] simply as a single q. Therefore both spellings Qenya and Quenya are always supposed to be pronounced the same ([ˈkʷeɲa]). While writing the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien decided to adopt the romanized spelling qu and replace k with c. These changes were mainly aesthetic in order to accentuate the role of Quenya as an "Elf-latin". This does not alter the pronounciation.
Difference between Qenya and Quenya
Since the High-Elven language changed throughout Tolkien's lifetime from its conception until late in his life, some Tolkienists and linguists deliberately use the spelling "Qenya" (without "u") to differentiate the early version of this language from the later.
Such Tolkien linguists note "a dramatic change" after which the language somehow stabilized after 1940. One of such changes was that later Quenya does not display the "number of borrowings and obvious influences of real-world languages" that Qenya did.
The differentiation between Qenya and Quenya has been criticized as artificial, since it neglects the continuity and gradual evolution of the language; although Tolkien replaced old ideas with newer ones, there is no indication that he divided his conception into stages, and no definite point which separates Qenya from Quenya can be traced. Also, the term "immature" was considered controversial and derogatory.
- ↑ John D. Rateliff, Jason Fisher, Patrick H. Wynne, et al. (mailing list discussion), "a quick question" (#24071 and related messages; dated 29 January 2013), Mytsoc mailing list (accessed 30 January 2012)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, V. The Lhammas"
- ↑ Helge Fauskanger, External history of Quenya from Ardalambion
- ↑ Harri Perala, History of Quenya From Our Point of View
- ↑ David Salo, "Re: Bringlast and mustard (Message #36298)" dated 16 July 2012, Elfling (accessed 16 July 2012)
- ↑ Patrick Wynne, Are Goldogrin and Qenya "primitive"?