Primitive Quendian


Primitive Quendian is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is one of the many fictional languages set in his fictional universe, often called Middle-earth. It was the proto-language of the Elves, which they invented after the Awakening at Cuiviénen.

Origin

According to the Elvish tale, Cuivienyarna :
The stars were the first thing seen by the three Elves as they awoke. The first spoken word was ele, according to Elvish legend and originally it was an exclamation "lo! behold!" in Quenderin. It gave rise to the first Elvish root ever invented, EL-, from which the Common Eldarin word ēl "star" is derived.
In The Silmarillion, chapter 3, it is told that the Elves devised a language while living in Cuiviénen: " began to make speech and give names to all things that they perceived. Themselves they named the Quendi, signifying those that speak with voices; for as yet they had met no other living things that spoke or sang."
An important Primitive Quendian word was *kwende. It was made from PQ *kwene "person" by primitive fortification of the medial n to nd. It was used in PQ only in the plural, *kwendī, with the sense "the people as a whole", sc. embracing all the three Elven clans.
Over time, the Elves modified their language, adding words and grammatical rules to their liking. Later still, the Vala Oromë came to them and invited them to come with him to Valinor, his marvelous land in the West.

The first division

The first division of the Elvish tongues befell when a large group of Elves left their first abode and followed Oromë westward. Thus Primitive Quendian split into Common Eldarin and the many Avari languages of the Elves who refused to follow Oromë.