Daniel S. Smith / dsmith@mc.com

Tengwar / Sindarin Language

(Mode of Beleriand)

Tengwar Chart for consonants:

Primary Letters:

Additional Letters:

Tehtar Chart for Sindarin diphthongs (Mode of Beleriand)

Tengwar letters are used to represent the five most common vowels sounds, but some tehtar symbols are used along with these letters to represent complex vowel sounds, or diphthongs. The single over-dot seems to be used only with the "i" tengwar letters. Double over-dots represent an "i" or the semi-vowel "y", for example:

The over-bar/tilde represents the semi-vowel "w" and can be used to represent the following sounds:

Writing Sindarin with Tengwar (Mode of Beleriand):

The second mode of writing Sindarin is called the "Mode of Beleriand". The best known example of this mode of writing is the West Gate of Moria inscription. This mode's most unique characteristic is that it doesn't solely use Tehtar to represent vowel sounds. Instead, the Tengwar letters are used to represent both consonant and vowel sounds. From the example given in the book "The Fellowship of the Ring", it appears that the over-dot Tehta is occasionally used to emphasize the "i" Tengwar or to modify other vowel Tengwar letters to create complex vowel sounds. Also note the use of the over-bar/tilde to represent a preceding nasal sound.

For example the Sindarin Inscription on the West Gate of Moria:

first line:

second line:

Could be transcribed (using the Mode of Beleriand for writing Sindarin):

first line:

second line:

Sources:
The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, Appendix E
Arden Smith / arden@uclink2.berkeley.edu

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Last Modified: 15 August 1995