Quenya101 — You’re saying you can’t call the languages of the elves “Elvish”, because they’re really Quenya, Sindarin, etc. I understand that by using the term Elvish, you aren’t specifying a language, it’s just naming anything Elvish in general. So for example, if I saw a word in Quenya but I didn’t know it was in Quenya, just in a language used by the elves, would I say that it was in Elvish, like if you said something in Cantonese but you didn’t know what dialect it was, so you said it was Chinese?

Answer

You're saying you can't call the languages of the elves "Elvish", because they're really Quenya, Sindarin, etc. I understand that by using the term Elvish, you aren't specifying a language, it's just naming anything Elvish in general. So for example, if I saw a word in Quenya but I didn't know it was in Quenya, just in a language used by the elves, would I say that it was in Elvish, like if you said something in Cantonese but you didn't know what dialect it was, so you said it was Chinese?

fattybolger asked

Is there a language called Human?

So….there is not a language called Elvish. That is just an adjective.

It’s inaccurate to use this kind of term. Tolkien created Quenya, Sindarin, Telerin, Vanyarin, Common Eldarin, Primitive Quendian….so how can one say “Elvish”? It’s nonsense and inaccurate.

Obviously, it’s a term fit for lay people, but as one starts to study the elvish languages (See? An adjective!), one will clearly see why the correct names should be used, which are namely to avoid confusion and make it precisely accurate (like the nature of their creator was).

To conclude, if you can answer me the question below, Elvish is good to go and I shall use it henceforth!

How can I say the word “dog” in Human?