Germanic linguistic influence on the invented languages of J. R. R. Tolkien

Language plays a key role in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien. Examples of actual Germanic languages and languages of Tolkien's own invention appear throughout his works. In fact, Tolkien himself stated that he created his Middle-earth mythology in order to provide a setting for his invented languages.;As a preliminary to the investigation of Germanic elements that are to be found in Tolkien's invented languages, the opening chapters of this dissertation give background material to explain the linguistic system to which those languages belong. Chapter 2 chronicles Tolkien's linguistic biography, from the languages learned and invented by him in his childhood to his changing conceptions of the linguistic geography of his fictional world. Chapter 3 discusses the avowed influences on Tolkien's invented languages and the reasons to expect Germanic to be among them. Chapter 4 covers Tolkien's overt use of old Germanic languages in the tales of Middle-earth.;Analysis of the invented languages and the isolation of elements with Germanic analogues are treated in the next five chapters. Chapter 5 is devoted to the two main writing systems of Middle-earth. Chapter 6 discusses the synchronic phonology of the Proto-Quendian language and six dialects derived from it, as well as the synchronic phonology of three non-Quendian languages. The examination of diachronic phonology in Chapter 7 covers the phonological development of the six Quendian dialects presented in Chapter 6, as well as Adunaic, which is the only non-Quendian language with a considerable amount of historical data in the published corpus. Chapter 8 deals with morphological elements from the more fully attested Quenya, Noldorin/Sindarin, and Adunaic, as well as from the poorly attested Danian, which shows a very strong Old English influence. In each of these chapters, the presentation of the grammar of the invented languages is followed by the examination of elements that have analogues in the Germanic languages. The lexical correspondences between real-world languages and the languages of Middle-earth are the subject of Chapter 9. General conclusions are presented in the final chapter.