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Forum Home » Languages » Quenya Discussion » Should I learn Quenya or Sindarin?
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Kljunas2
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Post Should I learn Quenya or Sindarin?
on: March 24, 2015 11:17
I just started learning quenya(4 lessons) and I just want to know, if it's better to change to sindarin.
Which is better in terms of amount of language in films, books and people speeking language etc.
Quenya
67% (2)
Sindarin
33% (1)
LareowNorthan
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on: March 25, 2015 12:38
Difficult to answer. I believe the movies have more Sindarin, but Quenya has more vocabulary and is written more frequently by Tolkien (To all, correct me if I am wrong). The choice is really up to you.
Sindarin: No i brestanneth anírach tírad vi amar Enlgish: Be the change you wish to see in the world
Eryniell
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on: March 25, 2015 12:42
It depends on what languages youre already familiar with. Quenya is more Finnish-like, while Sindarin is more Welsh. Quenya is a more structured language with a lot more vocabulary. It is more lyrical and open sounded, and has less consonants. Sindarin is the more common and popular language to learn, and it was the most common language used in the LotR series. In my opinion, I like the sound of Sindarin better, especially since the R's are trilled. (Many people consider Sinadrin to be the more difficult language of the two.) but I would suggest Sindarin, mainly because it is the language that everyone is more familiar with.
It's all up to your own preference, though.
Varyalener
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on: March 28, 2015 09:53
That is not an easy choice. I think it will be helpful to consider some points:

First, the differences in sound between the two languages. Like Eryniell said, Quenya is basically a Finnish-inspired language, while Sindarin is basically Welsh-inspired. In Sindarin (that means "Grey Elvish" ), the consonants are often softer, making it a smoother and more fluid language. On its turn, Quenya (also called High-Elvish) is more vocalic, and therefore is a more melodic language - as in music, where melody is given by instruments like guitar, flute, harp, etc. (which would correspond to the vowel sounds in a language), rather than drums and the like (which would be the consonantal sounds). Regarding the "R" sounds, they are trilled in both languages.

But which language is more beautiful? Quenya or Sindarin? There is no answer to this. Each of them creates beauty in a different, specific way. Many people prefer the sound of Quenya, while many prefer the sound of Sindarin. And there are also those (like me) who simply can't decide which one they like the most, either because they like the sound of both the same, or because in one moment they like the sound of Quenya the better and in another moment they like the sound of Sindarin the better, ever changing their opinion between the two of them.

In the books, Quenya figures much more than Sindarin (but, of course, none of them can be heard...), even though Quenya is spoken mostly in Aman, also called Valinor (the "Land of the Valar" - the Valar are a sort of gods, let's say it). However, the movies have much more Sindarin (which is the elvish language commonly spoken in Middle-Earth), so that it became more popular.

And which one is more difficult to learn? Despite the fact that, inside the fictional universe of LoTR, Quenya is considered harder to learn than Sindarin, I think we cannot tell which one is harder for us to learn in the real life. Sindarin has a complex phonology and the words suffer various kinds of mutations very often (this makes Sindarin look harder at a first impression, for the mutations can be quite scary in the beginning, but once you start to comprehend how they work, you will discover that they are less difficult than they seem). On its turn, Quenya has a more complete grammar, what means a more extensive one, whith more stuff to be learned.

Hope this helps you decide which language to learn. Of course, you can learn both if you want to. I'm doing this, and I'm learning them at the same time, though I think most people would prefer to learn one first, and then the other (and I think it's better this way, indeed).

[Edited on 03/29/2015 by Varyalener]
Lindanen lassis, laurië lassis. Ar tás altaner laurië lassi.
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