#newleafrobin

[anorie-blog]

newleafrobin reblogged your post: Am I the only one who thinks that Haldir looks chronically pissed off at the world? block I think it’s the arched black eyebrows that make him look permanently pissed off.

Uh... -goes to look- 

Yeah, maybe it is. 

But even so, when was the last time you saw him smile? It was like, once in the Two Towers, and it looked forced. And also in Fellowship, but it could have been the angle, too. He just isn't a happy person.

[toralinda]

newleafrobin replied to your post: newleafrobin replied to...

kastîʾēl = “God is my cover.” Hebrew nerding: All the named angels in the Bible end with ʾēl (“God”). Gabriel = “warrior of God,” Uriel = “God is my light,” Rapha’el = “God heals,” Michael = “Who is like God?”

I knew that ('ʾēl' being 'God', and all the Angels' names ending as such) from the Bible Studies class I took in college! ^-^

*feels sorta smart*

[peregrint]

newleafrobin reblogged your photo: firefly42: Some of these I like… Some kind of...

Wow… and I thought I was inclined to overthink everything…! O_o

Dang, me too. This person went deep into it!

I mean...they're just valentines. XD

[boxjaranon-blog]

newleafrobin replied to your post: While talking to my father last night, I learned that my youngest male sibling idolizes me and often tells our parents that he one day hopes to be as smart as I am.

That’s so lovely. It makes me wish I had a sibling, either younger or older. When the relationship is good, there’s nothing like it.

That is most definitely the case. So many of my acquaintances despise their siblings and berate them, and I feel so lucky to have siblings of my own that I can truly connect with. This especially goes for my relationship with my youngest sibling, who is so much like me in every way that it's frightening to a degree.

[good-king-moggle-mog]

newleafrobin ha contestado a tu publicación: Worst idea ever!

LOL, I should come watch horror movies with you. I only get scared by them if there are others around who get scared first. I have to see them in the theater b/c I’m useless when I rent them. I’m very good to have around if you’re easily creeped out.

I watched it with a friend and the whole time she was trying to be funny to calm us down. And now she left to go to sleep and I'm afraid! xP

[tengwar-tutor]

So, when writing with Tengwar, one should transcribe the sound of the word rather than spelling. How far does this extend? I.e., if I wanted to write "through" in Tengwar, would I denote the "-ough" with a "u" ómatehta over a long carrier, disregarding the English consonant cluster? Another question: If the Tengwar do transcribe sounds rather than spelling, do you know if this means that Tolkien understood Elvish to be originally an oral language rather than a written one?

To answer your first question, we again must look at our definition of the English 'mode' (here with the preceding lines as well, to better illustrate its use):

"There was of course no 'mode' for the representation of English. One adequate phonetically could be devised from the Fëanorian system. The brief example on the title-page [of The Lord of the Rings] does not attempt to exhibit this. It is rather an example of what a man of Gondor might have produced, hesitating between the values of the letters familiar in his 'mode' and the traditional spelling of English." (RotK, Appendix E, II-i, 'Note', §4)

Here, we see that Tolkien is describing two ways of producing an English 'mode' for the use of tengwar - a phonetic mode, and an orthographic mode. Therefore, there is a two-fold answer to your question.

When writing with the tengwar, one can choose to transcribe words by using tengwar that match their pronunciation on a purely phonetic level. This would produce a much more standardized mode, although it requires extensive knowledge of the sounds of the language being transcribed, as well as the sounds represented by each tengwar. It is much less common in usage, and even Tolkien himself did not take the trouble to use this method.

One can also choose to transcribe words using a combination of the tengwar's phonetic values and its English letter 'equivalents'. While this is a less standardized way of using the tengwar, it is also much easier to understand when read by a native English speaker. This is the method Tolkien himself used to write English with the tengwar.

So, if you were using a phonetic English 'mode' to write the tengwar, then yes, you would use a 'u' tehta over a long carrier, and forget the consonant cluster and second vowel.

However, if you plan to use the more widely found orthographic 'mode', you would use separate tehtar and tengwar for the units 'o', 'u', and 'gh', opting to more closely follow the English spelling and retain understandability for the native English speaker. Note however that we will still use the tengwa for 'gh' rather than the separate tengwar for 'g' and 'h' - since it is pronounced as one single unit.

Unfortunately, cases like these are where the use of the tengwar for writing English gets a bit complicated. =/ In these situations, we are really reminded that the tengwar were not originally created to write English, and therefore cannot always represent its sounds accurately while also staying true to the traditional spelling. It's like writing English using Japanese characters - it can be done, but it won't always be perfect. Basically, we must make a decision as to what is going to be the most understandable to our readers, while still following the basic rules of the system.

And finally, to answer your last question:

In the Elvish languages, the tengwar do transcribe the spelling, as well as the sounds of the languages. Unlike English, the Elvish languages have a relatively shallow orthography, meaning that for almost every phoneme (basic unit of language, such as the sound 't', or the sound 'ch'), there is a single representative tengwa. For example, in the Elvish languages, a 'j' sound is represented by one tengwa, and one tengwa only, and when represented by that tengwa, will only ever make a 'j' sound. In English, a 'j' sound can be represented by the letters 'j', 'dg', 'dge', 'g', and 'ge', but those letters, depending on the word, do not always make a 'j' sound.

In other words, the Elvish languages are spelled exactly as they sound, and sound exactly as they are spelled. Therefore, the writing system could have been developed to represent either the spelling or the sounds.

However, looking at the histories of the Elves and of their languages, we do find that the Elvish languages were spoken before a system of writing was devised for them. So to finally answer your question: yes, Tolkien understood Elvish as primarily an oral language, with a writing system being devised later (by Rúmil, and in turn, Fëanor).

Thanks for asking!

[toralinda]

newleafrobin replied to your post: newleafrobin replied to your post: Oh damn… I...

I’m feeling pretty confident about my guess! I do teach biblical Hebrew, after all! ;-)

Haha well if it's a Hebrew name, then I suppose you do have quite the reason to be confident. ^-^

[boxjaranon-blog]

newleafrobin replied to your post

Well, I think most languages average between about 18 and 30 letters. Beyond that point you start getting into the realm of pictograms, where your sounds are overlapping. Best to save the complexity for the syntax, I think.

Quite right you are, Robin. Syntax is my area of expertise, so I shall save myself the trouble until later.

Oh, and I may actually be able to post several Vydetricsh words by the morrow. My excitement knows no bounds (nor shall I allow it to).

[good-king-moggle-mog]

newleafrobin ha contestado a tu publicación: What is it about a giant mug of hot cocoa that...

I can never decide which is better, a mug of hot cocoa at midnight or a cup of mulled wine at midnight. (The “at midnight” part is important — that’s pretty much when these things always happen to me, it seems.) Tonight was the mulled wine for me.

What's weird is that I made it on whim. When I was finished my mood instantly uplifted. I should make cocoa at midnight more often. But sadly I'm all out of cocoa now xP

[toralinda]

newleafrobin replied to your post: Oh damn...

I don’t know who Castiel is yet, but… given the semantic structure of the name & the context of the show… is he an angel? If so, my guess would be be “kass-tee-ALE.” If he’s just a dude, I’d guess “kass-TEEL.”

Haha well I won't give it away for you (although tumblr may...)

XD

[peregrint]

ravenwriting replied to your post: What am I supposed to do when I finish legend of the seeker?

MERLIN. :D

dveoit replied to your post: What am I supposed to do when I finish legend of the seeker?

The Good Wife!

jaylocked replied to your post: jaylocked replied to your post: What am I supposed...

I actually did that before I saw the rest of the post, I apologise. MERLIN

newleafrobin replied to your post: jaylocked replied to your post: What am I supposed...

Doctor Who is going to happen someday. Shouldn’t you go ahead and give in? David Tennant is waiting to welcome you into the ranks of his devotees. Myla, even _I_ find him delicious. And you know how impossible it is to divert my attention.

...Merlin is winning.

ROBIN. I KNOW DW WILL HAPPEN ONE DAY. It's practically inevitable. But it is not this day!

WHOA. YOU LIKE SOMEONE OTHER THAN ELIJAH? WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO?

[boxjaranon-blog]

newleafrobin replied to your post<span >: <em >newleafrobin replied to your photo<span >: <em >I...

Oh, excellent! I prefer a challenge.

Shall I add another ten or so letters, then? It may very well turn out to be an extensive language to boot, and extensive languages do require hefty alphabets.

[toralinda]

newleafrobin replied to your post: thesherlockedshire replied to your post: Oh good...

*takes notes in order to be prepared* I only have 2 seasons to go, then…

Checklist for you to keep in mind for watching Supernatural at all times from season 1 finale on:

Shock blanket

Chocolate

Tissues

Something (or someone) to squeeze the ever-living fuck out of

More tissues

Salt

Without any of these items, you will most likely not make it through. >.<

I'm sure it only gets worse from where I am, too. v.v

[toralinda]

newleafrobin replied to your post: newleafrobin: toralinda answered you: ...

I used to live in a haunted house. Well, everyone I knew thought it was haunted. I believe about 75% that it was. Weird stuff I still can’t explain happened. But I never SAW a ghost.

See, it's stuff like that that makes it hard to disbelieve, and yet I still can't fully believe without actual testable evidence.

Therefore, I don't believe or disbelieve the existence of ghosts. I believe that, like comprehending the existence of other things that aren't necessarily 'within our realm' and aren't governed by natural laws (e.g. God), it is unknowable with our current technology.