Westron

Setting
Spoken in Arda, Tolkien's land of humans and elves. Originally unfinished and translated into English by Tolkien, this reconstructs what we know of the languages of Man with new words derived from roots and such, creating a full and speakable language.

Phonology
Vowels: Westron has 5 vowels: a, e, i, o, u.

They are pronounced in the German or Spanish fashion, i.e.:


 * a = [ʌ] (like "uh")
 * e = [ɛ] (like the e in bet)
 * i = [ɪ] (like the i in fit)
 * o = [ɔ] (like the o in for)
 * u = [ʊ] (like the u in put)

Each of these vowels has a long version, that is denoted by an acute accent mark: á, é, í, ó, ú

(pronounced as [a:], [e:], [i:], [o:], [u:]).

Consonants: single consonants

These are: t, p, k, s, f, h, n, m, r, v, y, w, l, th, dh, sh, zh, kh.

The pronunciation of most of these is easy as they correspond to the standard pronunciation of these consonants. But let's have a look at them one by one:


 * t = [t]
 * p = [p]
 * k = [k]
 * s = [s]
 * f = [f]
 * h = [h]: but the pronunciation can be different when it is part of a consonant group
 * n = [n]
 * m = [m]
 * r = [r]: it should always be a 'trilled'-r
 * v = [v]
 * y = [j]: consequently this letter always denotes a consonant
 * l = [l]
 * th = [θ]
 * dh = [ð]
 * sh = [ʃ]
 * zh = [ʒ]
 * ( kh = [x] )

Phonotactics
lg, lk, lm, lp, lz, lt, lv, lw, mn, mp, my, nc, nkw, ngw, nt, nsh, nw, ps, pt, rk, rm, rn, rkw, rt, rsh, rs, rw, sk, skw, st, ssh, sw, ts, tw.

Basic Grammar
Westron is a combination of types of languages blended together. The Adûnaic in the language has a distinctly Semitic flavor to it, while possessing many of the words of Quenya and Sindarin, giving it a softened aspect of Welsh, Finnish, and even latin. It is also somewhat Indo-European in nature, possessing the traditional consonants and vowels.

To begin, we shall start with the noun. :)

ARTICLE

The definite article is a suffix upon the noun, like in the Scandinavian languages. -(a)t = singular definite article (i.e.: venna - mortal, vennaT - THE mortal) {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="5" | Plural of "Venna - Mortal" ! || Singular || Plural
 * Nom. || venna(t) || venna(t)in
 * Nom. || venna(t) || venna(t)in

PLURALS The plural of words is always -(i)n. :)

{| class="wikitable" ! colspan="5" | Plural of "Venna - Mortal" ! || Singular || Plural
 * Nom. || venna || vennain
 * Nom. || venna || vennain

Dictionary
Will be finished later.

Example text
Will be finished later.