Two phonetic “full writing”1 modes

A proposition based on material by J. R. R. Tolkien

by “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2

2. A proposition based on the Treebeard Page ............................................................................ 2

Consonants based on the Treebeard Page .......................................................................... 3

Abbreviations and tehtar based on the Treebeard Page...................................................... 5

Vowels based on the Treebeard Page ................................................................................ 6

3. A proposition based on the Bombadil mode ............................................................................ 8

Consonants based on the Bombadil mode........................................................................... 8

Abbreviations and tehtar based on the Bombadil mode ...................................................... 8

Vowels based on the Bombadil mode................................................................................. 9

4. Some thoughts on how to spell words ................................................................................... 11

Pronunciation differences that should not be represented ................................................. 11

Pronunciation differences that should be represented ....................................................... 12

5. References and other acknowledgements .............................................................................. 13

6. Author .................................................................................................................................. 14

1
‘Full writing’ refers to tengwar modes that represent all vowels by letters, not by tehtar, i.e. not by accents or curls
placed above or below the letters.
Phonetic “full writing” page 2 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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1. Introduction
Unfortunately, no published tengwar text allows an unambiguous reconstruction of an entire mode.
That’s because of two reasons: Most of the published texts, and after all the shorter ones, don’t
suggest any spelling for certain words; and most of the published texts, after all the longer ones,
suggest more than one spelling for certain words. This is precisely the point where research starts. If
a text doesn’t suggest any spelling, we must search for a sufficiently similar text that does so; if a
text suggests more than one spelling, we must search for a reason that explains these different
spellings. I’ve done this, and here I’m presenting what I’ve found. Of course, these results of that
research can be discussed because they don’t simply represent what Tolkien wrote. Especially in
cases where there’s very few evidence, different people might come to different results.

2. A proposition based on the Treebeard Page

This reconstruction is based mainly on a document that dates from mid 1939:2 DTS 24, the
Treebeard Page. Even though this document’s shorter than any of the documents that are written in
the Bombadil mode, it allows a pretty good reconstruction, since it shows every vowel tengwa
distinguished in the Bombadil mode. For the sounds that aren’t attested in DTS 24, I’ve assumed
that they’re represented the same way as in the Bombadil mode.

Note that the red signs in the following charts are the ones that aren’t attested.

2
cf. RS p. 382.
Phonetic “full writing” page 3 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Consonants based on the Treebeard Page

I II III IV

sign 1 q a z
sound /t/ toss /p/ pool /tS/ chase /k/ coat
ex. 1n8 q.Rj a]TB8 zné1

sign 2 w s x
sound /d/ deep /b/ but /dZ/ joy /g/ go
ex. 2`Vq wH1 snTB xné

sign 3 e d c
sound /T/ throne /f/ fellow /S/ shy /x/ loch
ex. 37né5 e]jné dhTB jnc

sign
sound
4 r f
/D/ there /v/ vole /Z/ measure
ex. 4]6 rnéj t]f6

sign
sound
5 t b
/n/ now /m/ meter /N/ hang
ex. 5hé t`V16 9hb

sign 6 (note 1)
y h n
sound /r/ hair /w/ was (vowel) (vowel)
ex. 9]6 ynk

sign
sound
7 (note 1)
j 8 k
/r/ rainy /b/ lead /s/ said /z/ is
ex. 7]Õ5`B j`V2 8]2 `Bk

sign 9 o (note 3)
l (note 2, 4)
.
sound /h/ house /„/ what /j/ young (vowel)
ex. 9hÍ8 on1 lHb

sign
sound
] ` H
(vowel) (vowel) (vowel)
ex.
Phonetic “full writing” page 4 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Notes to the consonant letters:

note 1: Rómen 7 is used for r if there’s a following vowel, óre 6 if there’s a preceding vowel. If
the r is between two vowels, two cases must be distinguished: (a) words like merry
t]7`B, sorry 8h7`B where rómen 7 alone is used because the preceding vowel isn’t
affected by the r (it’s the cases where Traditional Spelling usually has two rr); (b) words
like weary y`B67`B, touring 1.67`Bb where a combination of óre 6 and rómen 7 is
used because the preceding vowel is affected by the r (the vowels that are affected by a
following r are given below in the chart on p. 6 in the lines with “+ óre”).3

If a word ends with óre 6 and the next begins with a vowel, then a rómen 7 is added
after the óre 6, e.g. wander in yn2P67 `B5, here of need 9`B67 `r 5`V2. If the
first word is unstressed or, are, then óre should be dropped, e.g. for hours en7 hé6+,
are at my call h7 h1 thÕ znRj.

note 2: The letters for /w, j/ aren’t used but initially, since other instances of these sounds are
expressed by tehtar (see below).

note 3: This sign should be used even by these who don’t distinguish which from witch.

note 4: Other full writing modes use the long carrier ~ for this sound. On the Treebeard Page,
however, the long carrier seems to be but a variant of the short carrier `. The use of yanta
l for /j/ is attested in Ilbereth’s Greetings (DTS 22)4 in the word you: l.

3
For some speakers, however, the words weary, touring may be represented more adequately like this: y`V7`B ,
1.R7`Bb.
4
FCL “1937”.
Phonetic “full writing” page 5 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Abbreviations and tehtar based on the Treebeard Page

@ This sign, extended anto, is used for the word the.

W( This sign, extended ampa with a point below, is used for the word of.

W: This sign, extended ampa with a bar below, is used for of the.

2P 5 A bar above indicates that the letter is preceded by a nasal of the same series, e.g.
Seventeen, under:

8]r1pO`V5 , H2P6
5Ô A following consonantal y is expressed by two points above, e.g. in perfumed, news,
rebellious: q6ReÖ.t2 , 5Ô.R+ , 7`Bw]jÕ`8

5è A following w is expressed by a modified left-curl, e.g. in between, quiet:

w`1é`V5 , zéhÕ`1
1+ An ending -s is most of the times expressed by an attached hook. Note that this hook can
be attached to any letter, i.e. also to vowel letters, and even to the short carrier `. It’s only
used where the s is a proper ending, not where it belongs to the stem of the word, this
means it’s not used in words such as his, house, but only in words such as knows, pools,
Tom’s.

5( A point below marks the syllabicity of the consonant. Syllabic r, however, is expressed by
óre 6 alone. Examples: littlE, woodEn, draggEled, welcOme, momEnt:

j`B1jL , y.25( , 27hxjL2 , y]jzt( , tnét1p O

5
As the tehtar need to accompany another letter, I’ve chosen any letter and marked it blue.
Phonetic “full writing” page 6 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Vowels based on the Treebeard Page

I’ve not indicated the vowel values, but only given an example word. Most of these words are the
vowel “key words” used by Charles W. Kreidler (Kreidler 1997, pp. 70 – 79).

` ] h n . 6

simple sign `B (note 1, 2) ] h (note 3) n . (note 4) 6

sound chick step bat lock foot better
ex. a`Bz 81]q wh1 jnz e.1 w]16

andaith sign `V hR nR .R 6R
sound tree* spa* law* true fur
ex. 17`V 8qhR jnR 17.R e6R

+y sign ]Õ hÕ nÕ
sound day tie toy*
ex. 2]Õ 1hÕ 1nÕ

+w sign hé né
sound now toe
ex. 5hé 1né

+ óre sign `B6 ]6 h6 n6 .6

sound ear chair star war tour
ex. `B6 a]6 81h6 yn6 1.6

+y sign hÕ6
+ óre sound fire
ex. ehÕ6

+w sign hé6 né6

+ óre sound sour door*
ex. 8hé6 2né6

short sign `V` ]`

carrier sound real jazz*
ex. 7`V`j s]`k
Phonetic “full writing” page 7 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Vowel signs that don’t fit in the chart:

sign H (note 3) ` (note 2, 5)

sound nut* sofa

ex. 5H1 8née`

Notes to the vowels:

note 1: The same sign is also used for final weak -i, as in heavy, pretty: 9]r`B , q7`B1`B
note 2: Make sure to distinguish ` from `B.

note 3: Make sure to distinguish h from H. As in the Bombadil mode, h might be transcribed
with a point above hG, in order to guarantee the distinction.

note 4: The same sign is also used for final weak -u, as in value, issue: rhjÕ. , `Bd.
note 5: This sign ` is also used word-initially. It’s forms a part of the word even if Traditional
Spelling would require a separation as in a sign, a moment: `8hÕ5 , `tnét1pO

* Some general remarks to the vowels:

I recommend to transcribe only the vowels that you actually distinguish in speech. See also below
“Some Thoughts on How to Spell Words”. This means e.g.:6

nR If you rhyme father with bother, you shouldn’t use nR but only ..

.R If you rhyme caught with cot, you shouldn’t use .R but only ..

` TB If you rhyme peak with pick, you shouldn’t use ` TB but only `B.

.Õ If you rhyme toy with tie, you shouldn’t use .Õ but only nÕ.

.é6 If you rhyme hoarse with horse, you shouldn’t use .é6 but only .6, except for words
like lower ‘make low’ (only if your lower doesn’t rhyme with lore or lower ‘threaten’).

]` If you rhyme can ‘to put into cans’ with can ‘to be able to do something’, you shouldn’t
use ]` but only h, except for words like yeah (only if your yeah doesn’t rhyme with
spa).

6
Note that this isn’t a complete list of all possible vowel mergers. I just hope that the most important differences
between American and British English are covered.
Phonetic “full writing” page 8 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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H If you rhyme luck with look, you shouldn’t use H but only y.

3. A proposition based on the Bombadil mode

This reconstruction is based on four documents that most probably date from the early Thirties:7
DTS 16, 17, 18, and 23.8 I’ve chosen the name according to the longest of these (and of all known
tengwar texts), DTS 18, which transcribes the beginning of the poem The Adventures of Tom
Bombadil. The vast material provided by these four documents allows a fair reconstruction of that
mode, after all since they exemplify almost every sound of Received Pronunciation, a dialect that
exemplifies almost every sound distinguished in any English dialect.

This mode is better attested as the mode exemplified in the Treebeard Page, but the Treebeard
Page mode is later and closer to the description of the tengwar in Appendix E of The Lord of the
Rings. That’s why I’ve chosen to give more prominence to the Treebeard Page mode.

Consonants based on the Bombadil mode

The Bombadil mode uses the same consonant letters as the Treebeard Page mode, with the two
following exceptions:

/w/ .k was

¿ /„/ ¿.1 what

Abbreviations and tehtar based on the Bombadil mode

The Bombadil mode uses the same abbreviations and tehtar as the Treebeard Page mode, except for
the two abbreviations for of W( and of the W: that aren’t used in the Bombadil mode.

7
cf. LB p. 151; L 133; RS V Note on Tom Bombadil.
8
cf. P 48; LB p. 299.
Phonetic “full writing” page 9 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Vowels based on the Bombadil mode

I’ve not indicated the vowel values, but only given an example word. Most of these words are the
vowel “key words” used by Charles W. Kreidler (Kreidler 1997, pp. 70 – 79).

` ] n . y

simple sign `B (note 1) ] nG (note 2) . y (note 3)

sound chick step bat lock look

ex. a`Bz 81]q wnG1 j.z jyz

andaith sign nR .R
sound spa* law*
ex. 8qnR j.R

following y sign ` TB ]Õ nÕ .Õ
sound tree* day tie toy*
ex. 17`TB 2]Õ 1nÕ 1.Õ

following w sign né .é yé
sound now toe true
ex. tné 1.é q7yé

+ óre sign `B6 ]6 n6 .6 y6

sound ear chair star war tour
ex. `B6 a]6 81n6 .6 1y6

following y sign nÕ6

+ óre sound fire
ex. enÕ6

following w sign né6 .é6

+ óre sound sour door*
ex. 8né6 w.é6

short carrier sign `V` ]`

sound real jazz*
ex. 7`V`j s]`k
Phonetic “full writing” page 10 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Vowel letters that don’t fit in the chart:

sign H (note 4) ` (note 5, 6) `6 (note 6)

sound nut* upon /´/ quiet fur

ex. 5H1 q.5 zénÕ`1 e`6

Notes to the vowels:

note 1: The same sign is also used for final weak -i, as in heavy, pretty: 9]r`B , q7`B1`B
note 2: Without a point n, this sign might represent the sound of Elvish a (or of French, Spanish,
Italian, German, etc. a).

note 3: The same sign is also used for final weak -u, as in value, issue: rnTjÕy , `Bdy
note 4: This sign Ò isn’t used but word-initially. It’s always connected to the next sign, even if
Traditional Spelling would require a separation as in a sign, a moment.

8nÕ5 , t.ét1pO
note 5: This sign ` represents the same sound like but not initially.

note 6: Pay attention to distinguish ` from `B and `6 from `B6.

* Some general remarks:

I recommend to transcribe only the vowels that you actually distinguish in speech. See also on the
next page “Some Thoughts on How to Spell Words”. This means e.g.:9

nR If you rhyme father with bother, you shouldn’t use nR but only ..

.R If you rhyme caught with cot, you shouldn’t use .R but only ..

` TB If you rhyme peak with pick, you shouldn’t use ` TB but only `B.

.Õ If you rhyme toy with tie, you shouldn’t use .Õ but only nÕ.

.é6 If you rhyme hoarse with horse, you shouldn’t use .é6 but only .6, except for words
like lower ‘make low’ (only if your lower doesn’t rhyme with lore or lower ‘threaten’).

9
Note that this doesn’t claim to be complete list of all possible vowel mergers, though I think that the most important
differences between American and British English are covered.
Phonetic “full writing” page 11 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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]` If you rhyme can ‘to put into cans’ with can ‘to be able to do something’, you shouldn’t
use ]` but only nG, except for words like yeah (only if your yeah doesn’t rhyme with
spa).

H If you rhyme luck with look, you shouldn’t use H but only y.

4. Some thoughts on how to spell words

The phonetic English modes I’m proposing here have two aims: They should be consistent with the
attested samples of phonetic modes by J.R.R. Tolkien, and their use (in both writing and reading)
should be as easy as possible for anybody who speaks English.

English pronunciation varies from region to region and from speaker to speaker. In order to allow
any variety of English to be written in this mode, most of the differences in pronunciation aren’t
represented but for a few very specific exceptions. For those who know about the difference
between phonology (phonemics) and phonetics: Grosso modo, this mode represents the English
phonemes.

Pronunciation differences that should not be represented

Most of the variation in English pronunciation is of the following kind: A specific vowel sound is
pronounced one way by some people but another way by others. Take as an example for this second
kind of variation the different pronunciations of the vowel sound found in the word bite: For most
speakers, it has a composed vowel, but in the southern part of the United States, it has a pure vowel
similar to the one of the word spa, but more forwarded towards the vowel of the word bad. Among
those that have a compound vowel in bite there are many who pronounce its first element with a
vowel halfway between the vowel of spa and the vowel of bad; but in Canadian English, the first
element rather corresponds to the vowel of bird; in the north of England, to the vowel of bad; in
Cockney and in New York City, to the vowel of spa.10

Do these different representations have to be represented with different signs? No they don’t,
because all these different pronunciations can be referred to in one and the same sign with the
meaning ‘any pronunciation the vowel of bite can have’. For the transcription into the mode based
on the Treebeard Page as proposed here, this sign is anna with two points above hTB.

10
According to Johnson/Roca (1999), p. 196.
Phonetic “full writing” page 12 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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Now someone who pronounces the word bite with a pure vowel might consider this sign hTB not to
be adequate because it’s composed by a sign for a h and a sign for the following y ¨. So the sign hTB
supposed to represent any pronunciation of the vowel in bite points to a specific pronunciation.
That’s something we have to accept if we want to use the attested sign hTB and if we don’t want to
multiply the spellings.

After all, what would be the benefit of having different spellings of say the vowel in bite?
Dialectological research could benefit (but who would need tengwar for that purpose?), and spelling
might fit better with intuition for certain speakers, but every particular dialect of English would
require a particular tengwar mode and since most vowel sounds have different pronunciations, the
spelling of most words would be affected. So the mutual understanding would be complicated a lot.
However, I’m trying to propose a mode that any speaker of English can use and understand, so I’ve
chosen to represent any pronunciation of the vowel in bite with the same sign hTB.

Pronunciation differences that should be represented

There’s only two specific kinds of variation that I suggest to be represented. The first isn’t worth
much talking: It’s where certain words are pronounced one way by some people but another way by
others. These cases are few and many of them are well-known, e.g. the words either, can’t that are
not pronounced the same way in England and in the United States.

The second case is more important: It’s where some speakers distinguish two vowels that are not
distinguished by others. If you make the distinction, you should represent it in tengwar; if you
don’t, you shouldn’t. This idea is from the book “Describing Spoken English” by Charles W.
Kreidler.11 Two attested examples: In J. R. R. Tolkien’s pronunciation,12 the vowels that occur in the
words horse, torment weren’t distinguished from those in hoarse, door. In tengwar, this distinction
isn’t found either, cf. torment in DTS 23 and door in DTS 25. However, he distinguished the
vowels occuring in the words cot, what from those in caught, water as well in his pronunciation as
in tengwar, cf. what, caught, water in DTS 18.

Now why do I recommend to represent this kind of variation but not the other kind described
above? On one hand, it’s because of practical reasons of writing: Who among these that don’t
distinguish between the first vowels of father - bother (a well-attested distinction in J. R. R.
Tolkien’s phonetic English tengwar texts) would be able to distinguish these vowels in a tengwar
transcription? Even if some could, they’d be very likely to make mistakes. On the other hand, this

11
cf. Kreidler (1997), chapter 5.
12
Assuming that he used Received Pronunciation, cf. Krieg (1978), p. 156, and consider that he was professor in
Oxford.
Phonetic “full writing” page 13 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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doesn’t affect many sounds. So even if a reader is expecting some distinctions that aren’t made in
the text he’s reading, it’s quite unlikely that he’ll misunderstand that text because most of the word
will be written the way he’d write them. (If you know possible reasonable misunderstandings,
please tell me, I’d love to know such examples! Perhaps there could be one when the words luck,
look aren’t distinguished, but I couldn’t find any.)

Be aware that only the variation in vowel pronunciation should be transcribed, not the variation in
consonant pronunciation. Thus where some speakers don’t distinguish two consonants in their
pronunciation, they should distinguish them in tengwar nonetheless. This can be done quite easily
because consonant distinctions are reflected in the Traditional English Spelling, while vowel
distinctions often aren’t. Again examples from Tolkien: In his pronunciation, he didn’t distinguish
the initial consonant in the words which, whither from the one in witch, weather, but nonetheless,
he distinguished them in whither, weather in DTS 18. He didn’t pronounce any /r/ in the words such
as spar, art so that the ar in these words couldn’t be distinguished by pronunciation from the a in
spa, path, but nonetheless, he made that distinction by writing the word arts with the r-tengwa óre
6 but path without (both in DTS 23).
In order to show what distinctions should be represented, I’ve made notes like the following on hR:
“If you rhyme father with bother, you shouldn’t use hR but only n”.

5. References and other acknowledgements

Many thanks to Chris McKay.

The tengwar fonts I’ve used are TengwarSindarin.ttf and TengwarSindarinAlt.ttf (version 1.9e)
from Dan Smith.

FCL: Baillie Tolkien (ed.) (1976): The Father Christmas Letters. London: George Allen & Unwin.

Johnson, Wyn/Roca, Iggy (1999): A Course in Phonology. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kreidler, Charles W. (1997): Describing Spoken English. An introduction. London/New York:

Routledge.

Krieg, Laurence J. (1978): Tolkien’s Pronunciation: Some Observations. In: Jim Allan: An
Introduction to Elvish. Frome, Somerset: Bran’s Head; pp. 152 – 159.

L: Humphrey Carpenter (ed.): Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: A Selection. London: Allen & Unwin,
1981.
Phonetic “full writing” page 14 “Mach” J. Wust, December 6th 2003
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LB: Christopher Tolkien (ed.): J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lays of Beleriand. London: Allen & Unwin,
1985.

P: Christopher Tolkien (ed.): Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin, 1979.

RS: Christopher Tolkien (ed.): The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings,
Part One. London: Unwin Hyman, 1988.

6. Author
This document has been written by “Mach Hezan” J. Wust in December 2003. Its only intention is
to spread the knowledge on tengwar. If you have comments, you may contact me at:

machhezan (at) gmx net