The Lord of the Rings

for
rd
and
ld.
29 represented
s,
and 31 (with doubled curl)
z
in those languages that required it. The inverted forms, 30 and 32, though available for use as separate signs, were mostly used as mere variants of 29 and 31, according to the convenience of writing, e.g. they were much used when accompanied by superimposed
tehtar.
    No. 33 was in origin a variation representing some (weaker) variety of 11; its most frequent use in the Third Age was
h.
34 was mostly used (if at all) for voiceless
w (hw).
35 and 36 were, when used as consonants, mostly applied to
y
and
w
respectively.
    The vowels
were in many modes represented by
tehtar,
usually set above a consonantal letter. In languages such as Quenya, in which most words ended in a vowel, the
tehta
was placed above the preceding consonant; in those such as Sindarin, in which most words ended in a consonant, it was placed above the following consonant. When there was no consonant present in the required position, the
tehta
was placed above the ‘short carrier’, of which a common form was like an undotted i. The actual
tehtar
used in different languages for vowel-signs were numerous. The commonest, usually applied to (varieties of)
e, i, a, o, u
, are exhibited in the examples given. The three dots, most usual in formal writing for
a,
were variously written in quicker styles, a form like a circumflex being often employed. 1 The single dot and the ‘acute accent’ were frequently used for
i
and
e
(but in some modes for
e
and
i
). The curls were used for
o
and
u
. In the Ring-inscription the curl open to the right is used for
u
; but on the title-page this stands for
o,
and the curl open to the left for
u
. The curl to the right was favoured, and theapplication depended on the language concerned: in the Black Speech
o
was rare.
    Long vowels were usually represented by placing the
tehta
on the ‘long carrier’, of which a common form was like an undotted
j
. But for the same purpose the
tehtar
could be doubled. This was, however, only frequently done with the curls, and sometimes with the ‘accent’. Two dots was more often used as a sign for following
y.
    The West-gate inscription illustrates a mode of ‘full writing’ with the vowels represented by separate letters. All the vocalic letters used in Sindarin are shown. The use of No. 30 as a sign for vocalic
y
may be noted; also the expression of diphthongs by placing the
tehta
for following
y
above the vowel-letter. The sign for following
w
(required for the expression of
au, aw)
was in this mode the
u
-curl or a modification of it ˜. But the diphthongs were often written out in full, as in the transcription. In this mode length of vowel was usually indicated by the ‘acute accent’, called in that case
andaith
‘long mark’.
    There were beside the
tehtar
already mentioned a number of others, chiefly used to abbreviate the writing, especially by expressing frequent consonant combinations without writing them out in full. Among these, a bar (or a sign like a Spanish
tilde)
placed above a consonant was often used to indicate that it was preceded by the nasal of the same series (as in
nt, mp,
or
nk);
a similar sign placed below was, however, mainly used to show that the consonant was long or doubled. A downward hook attached to the bow (as in
hobbits,
the last word on the title-page) was used to indicate a following
s,
especially in the combinations
ts
,
ps, ks (x),
that were favoured in Quenya.
    There was of course no ‘mode’ for the representation of English. One adequate phonetically could be devised from the Feanorian system. The brief example on the title-page 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. It may be noted that a dot below (one of the uses of which was to represent weak obscured vowels) is here employed in the representation of unstressed
and,
but is also used in
here
for silent final
e; the, of,
and
of the
are expressed by abbreviations (extended
dh,
extended
v,
and the latter with an under-stroke).
    The names of the letters. In all modes each letter and sign had a name; but these names were devised to fit or describe the phonetic uses in each particular mode. It was, however, often felt desirable, especially in describing the uses of the letters in other modes, to have a name for each letter in itself as a shape. For