Date: Thu May 27, 20046:16 pm
Subject: Reprint of Parma Eldalamberon #11<\/p>\n
I Lam na Ngoldathon
The Grammar and Lexicon of the GNOMISH TONGUE.
By J. R. R. Tolkien.
Edited by Christopher Gilson, Carl F. Hostetter, Patrick Wynne, and
Arden R. Smith.<\/p>\n
Parma Eldalamberon No.11 presents the Gnomish Lexicon (selections from which were published in the Appendices to The Book of Lost Tales<\/i>) in its entirety. This is the dictionary of the language called Goldogrin, or I-Lam na-Ngoldathon, which Tolkien eventually transformed into the Noldorin of The Etymologies and later into the Sindarin of The Lord of the Rings<\/i>. This issue also includes Tolkien’s own partial grammar of Gnomish, contemporary with the lexicon, which covers the inflections and syntax of the article, noun, and adjective. The lexicon itself also contains much grammatical information, frequently citing verbs in both their present and past tenses, and nouns in both singular and plural. Other parts of speech are also well-represented in what is a quite comprehensive dictionary, and there are a number of sample sentences in Gnomish.<\/p>\n
The original lexicon fills a 150-page notebook and consists of about 3000 entries. Compiled in 1917, this remarkable document reveals the well-spring of Tolkien’s linguistic genius in its ‘Celtic’ mode. It also displays the basic phonological nature of the historical relation between Noldorin and Quenya at its inception, with numerous etymological annotations and the citation of many cognates, some of which are Quenya words that occur nowhere else.<\/p>\n
A reprint of Parma Eldalamberon No. 11 is currently in preparation. We expect copies to be available for shipping on June 7, 2004.<\/p>\n