Folios 8 recto and 8 verso are part of the mini-booklet in which the ‘Essay on Phonetic Symbolism’ is written (see p. 3). They contain hasty notes for preceding parts of the essay written in pencil, which is very faint in places. Tolkien followed some of these notes very closely in the essay.
But only as a way
But I think it cannot be denied. This faculty exists and existed stronger once – Barfield.
It is still operative as a disturbing factor in both the course of semantic and phonetic inheritance.
here are perhaps notes from Paget. The word may be a loan or inheritance its adoption or persistence due to a feeling of fitness.
refraction of inheritance – if the only tradition{?} in choosing variants. mickle -muckle
Shift of meaning with phonetic shift. (again often only taking form if choosing from variants. as doom -gloom, loom, boom but bloom plume influence of l) This is sometimes not present din (but this is different in one usage{?} to duni although inherited contexts are still too strong for its natural association with tinckle, tin, ring. d is heavy).
Preservation of onomatopoeia. Probably false does not occur when the word has become a real word (bleat!) rook >hrāg
Preservation is due really{?} to refraction, or belongs to the quite special group of lall-worten1 atta2, baba, mama.
Abstracts, joy. Most inheriting is where we are most remote from onomatopoeia. Are such cases already connected mentally with sound. (merry gay) light. The pleasure of L (some languages haven’t got it) But same pleasure, light, jolly, delight, love, lovely, lesson, lists, belong, evil.
Sound preferences or play run on ‘words’ and independent of ‘significance’ – (yes.)
The individual ‘phonetic constitution’ or preference.
What makes Greek Greek?
No grammar of Gothic is complete without an attempt to analyse or at least point to some salient features which show (a) what makes Gothic Gothic as compared with the nearest relatives (Old High German) (b) what is ‘Germanic’ in it. This is particularly important in a language having a very clear and artistic phonetic individuality. It is one of the reasons why people like old Germanic languages. {illeg} as recognized it lies behind the pathetic fallacy of ‘pure English’ see Sweet
It is in the palate in every line of Homer. It gives Esperanto a value far exceeding other technically clearer and simpler inventions.
e.g. rare, substituting r for l containing the whole English system which is here {illeg} is met in English child.
The individual not as {illeg} as the community as lies a disturbing element. Sound laws are probably in one respect {illeg} of individual language which differ from those of a preceding generation. Those that are not shared perish. (But so strong is inheritance that to come to expression even conjoined or shared ‘divergences’ usually have to have secure foothold in the inheritance. ā > p But some violent changes do take place. {illeg} discussed l r + Hop. Others have built his work up (l d is Spanish) Old English ræs > æs
Folios 25 recto and 25 verso: Notes on Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Written in pencil on one leaf of ‘Oxford paper’ folded in two.
Gulliver 1726
Swift
Lilliputian3. tolgo phonac (fire arrows)4 Hurgo a great lord; hekinah degul (cry of joy), borach mivola (look out down there)5 peplom selan (loosening cords)6, Quinbus Flestrin the said Flestrin Man Mountain, drurr 1/14 inch nardac7;
Names Lilliput, Belfaborac (French)8 Mildendo9 Clefrin Frelock, Marsi10 –, Reldresal11 Flimnap (Treasurer); Golbasto, Momaren, Evlame, Gurdilo, Shefin, Mully, Ully Gue (Emperor – satiric); Blefuscu12 Skyresh, Bolgolam (Admiral)13 Tramecksan & Slamecksan High and Low Heels14 Limtoc (general) Lalcon (Chamberlain) Balmuff (grand justiciary {sic})
Blefuscu sprugs gold coin
Brob gl gr lg15
Grildrig very little man16 splacnuck (small animal)17 glumgluffs (54 miles)
Brobdingrag
Glumdalclitch18 Lorbrulgrud (Pride of the Universe)19
Laputa20
clear smooth dialect not unlike in sound to Italian21
Folios 37 recto and 37 verso: Miscellaneous notes. Written in pencil on a page of ‘Oxford paper’ torn in two.
syntax
word form and machinery attractive without necessarily profound novelty in syntax
hand-pleasure – writing for pleasure of hand & eye: this not really more rational than word making.
When it is not so engaging22
menel23
kemen24
Pagetism25
not only fitness but mere newness of relation. This pleasure exists{?} for change of vowel or sense.
Novial26 dreary mass-produced. But it may come.
ah seh vowel
fitness
Personal make-up It would require a good deal of research to disentangle in any given person
(a) the congenital or personal
(b) the national or local sound
(c) the accidental: the product of learning of languages27
But it must be sometimes that (a) is operative through{?} (b) and (c) as above.
Some people “take” to remote languages
I think every one as it were has their ‘own potential’ language.
But 1 language as we know it is not bespoke but ready-made.
We all wear ready-made dress we misfit to some degree.28
This one of the generators of change
Similar misfit in people of similar place blood & tongue habit.
Here greater importance of single language.29
Folios 43 recto and 43 verso: Qenya poem ‘Oilima Markirya’, a version of which is included in ‘A Secret Vice’. Written in black ink on a loose page of ‘Oxford paper’.
Oilima Markirya
‘The Last Ark’ first version
pinilya wilwarindon
veasse lúnelinqe
talainen tinwelindon.
Vean falastanére
lólefalmarínen,
kirya kalliére
kulukalmalínen.
Súru laustanéro
taurelasselindan;
ondolin30 ninqanéron
Silmeráno tindon.
Kaivo i sapsanta
Rána númetar,
mandulómi anta
móri Ambalar;
tellumen tollanta
naiko lunganar.
Kaire laiqa’ andoisen
kirya; kamevaite
úri kilde hísen
níe nienaite,
ailissen oilimaisen
ala fuin oilimaite,
alkarissen oilimain;
ala fuin oilimaite
ailinisse alkarain.
A white ship one saw, small like a butterfly,
upon the blue streams of the sea with
wings like stars.
The sea was loud with surf, with waves
crowned with flowers. The ship shone with
golden lights.
The wind rushed with noise like leaves of forests.
The rocks lay white shining in the silver moon.
As a corpse into the grave the moon went down
in the west; the East raised black shadows out of
Hell. The vault of heaven sagged upon the
tops of the hills.
The white ship lay upon the rocks; amid red
skies the Sun with wet eyes dropped tears of
mist, upon the last beaches after the last night
in the last rays of light. – after the last night
upon the shining shore.
Folios 44 and 45: Miscellaneous notes. Written in black ink on a page of ‘Oxford paper’ torn in two. On the verso of both there are two tables of consonants for six different Elvish languages (see pp. 93–4 below).
own corpus
Fonway
aiþei31
Anna Livia Plurabelle32.
Stream of consciousness33.
A mere pattern visualized (without interpretation) – even from a point of view of normalities of visible word disjointed or artificial or ‘monstrous’. Not possible with ‘meaning’.
‘Random thought’ – is satanic and anarchic.
The three elements34 should cohere and be in a coherent relationship one to another: but this does not of course suggest any one of them (least of all the ‘meaning’) is necessarily the most important in a given performance.
Merry Messenger
Normally ‘meaning’ – and/or at visual pictures are so strong that it needs as much training to listen independently or appreciated the independent contribution of the sound part, as to listen to certain subordinated parts of the distinctive music.
You can only listen to the sound with undisturbed clarity
Merry messenger35
Here the ‘meaning’ while coherent & having a little slender life of its own (which we may call if you like “atmosphere”) – and coherently related to form – is so clearly subordinate to sound, that one necessarily pays chief attention to the latter36.
But unfair to call it a mere ‘metrical’ experiment. One might call music a mere ‘accompaniment’.
But with a traditional language ‘pure sound’ is impossible. All the “sound-groups” have senses (more or less definite) attached to them – their juxtaposition necessarily awakens the ‘meaning’-sound seeking faculty. And a pattern of those clashing woven meanings is necessarily made – even if it be bizarre or dream like.
We can pass to ‘pure sound’ only by writing ‘articulate sounds’ in measure – but sounds which have no ‘meaning’. The music is their ‘voice’ – like a little tune on a flute whistle without accompaniment of voice or other instrument, some would say (though actually it is a great deal more subtle and intricate, even if attenuated than that). It needs an ear and training to appreciate it.
And even here the best results are achieved, because so tastes coherence and character in the sounds and their combinations achieved, by making a ‘language’ in which the sounds do ‘mean’ something (though only perhaps to the author)
Folio 46: Narqelion39. Qenya poem written in one leaf of loose ‘Oxford paper’ in black ink, with emendations and alternative lines in pencil.
Narqelion
(Popláqelesta Lasselanta)
N . alalmino/eo lalantila ne súme lasser pínear
Ve sangar voro úmear oïhta rámavòite malinar.
Ai lintuilinder Lasselanta!
Piliningwes súyer nalla gantar
Kuruvar ya Karnevalinar
v’ematte sinqi Eldamar40!
San rotsi simpetalla pinqe,
Sulimarya silda,41 hiswa timpe
San sirilla ter in . aldar;
Lilta lie noldorinwa,
Ómalingwe lír’amaldar,
Sinqitalla laiqaninwa.
N . alalmino hyá lanta lasse,
torwa pior má tarasse;
tukalla sangar úmear
Oïhta rámavoite karneambarar
Ai le lindórea Lasselanta
Nierme mintya náre qanta
San rot42
San pinqerotsin simpetallen
hwímer
súrimanen hiswa timpe
ter inoldoli sir
sí huín
San rotsin pirper simpetallen
Kirimaina – hesera timpe
{illeg} timpe Súrimo
San ter aldalin sar hwíne
pinque, lilta, lie noldorin
Ómalingwe lir’amalde
Sinqetne
laïquninqva sinqeta
N . alalmeo lalantar43
Lalantar sí n . alalmeo me súme lassin píneën
Ve sanga voro úmea oihta rámavoite maloiwion rámaision
Ai! Lasselanta lintuilinda pilinínen súsin nar sí qant qanten súsin nar pilinka
kuruvainen kormalainen
ve sinqi yáva yáva sinqi Eldamar
Folios 48–9: Miscellaneous notes. Written in pencil and black ink on one leaf of loose ‘Oxford paper’.
A.
(2) individuals are more ingenious than the ‘folk’ – they could invent a better ‘language’. But the ‘folk’ wins on wider experience. (+) And an individual creation comes up against others’ ‘phonematism’
(3) A language could be far better constructed in all technical points (phonetic grammatical morphological idiom) than it is by one man. Only others wouldn’t accept it. Also one man (even with modern books) could hardly finish it – others would have to & the destructive process begin {sic}. He cannot foresee and provide for all words and combinations of words. He can present only a small part of experience – just as each language in a sense only presents one aspect of the external words – and the world would be poorer by the loss of each. Paradox. An artificial language could be richer, more beautiful than a natural, but world poorer by its acceptance. Let’s have lots of beautiful artificial languages – garden flowers go wild. No need to be complete (Old English verse Old Norse)
Language is not entirely practical – playful, personal (as far as possible); indulges in an excess; incorporates mood with fact (though often though it is forgotten often to communicate mood is as practical, often more so, than to communicate fact.
[full fruition in verse – one must construct also a verse and a mythology or one’s ‘masterpiece’ is incomplete]
(4) ‘Poetry’ is only constructable in a medium (1) you know well, exceedingly well, (2) which you cannot alter at will – the residuum of alterations of individuals is small & must even so correspond with exterior tendencies or knowledge or will simply seem harsh and strange. (can’t change heaven into hooven) eida selda44
(+) Each individual probably has a ‘phonematic form’ or character but independent ultimately of his ‘native’ language45 – languages influenced by it, and by learnt languages. The same is seen in languages themselves. This is expressed chiefly by predilections for certain sounds or by combinations, and qualification rather than actual phonetic individuality. A great deal of it survives ‘transfiguration’
What makes Greek sound Greek46 ({illeg})
in construction – one comes across phenomenon of “fixation” ma, ca, vru47
Gothic Novial. Philological background.
Spelling.
B (1) Whence and why does beauty come in selection.
Hence the divided art of phonematic pleasure + semantic with their endless interactions – poetry
Simplest form of game / decide on the sounds and combinations / invent words according to the rules.
Others could enjoy these inventions as it is possible to enjoy and appreciate a foreign language – in the process of learning.
Our predilections for other languages, Spanish, Finnish, Greek, Gothic – in other moods Latin (Old English only because I know it so well) Distaste for French.
(1) One would discover people belonging to different phonematic classes to speaking same native dialect – one of the roots of change.
Self handling
Tell me a man’s language (in any sense) and I will tell you much else
Speech sounds are productive of “pleasure” which juxtaposes a total effect of sequences – similar probably (if different) to musical pleasure – air, melody. Not pleasurable merely or at all because of musical tone; but because of individual beauty (l r) or merely of contrast – yet total of human phonemes limited.
an art of making pretty noises (non musical) hardly impossible. Yet if one says a beautiful name bereft of association (Lostwithiel48). But these noises used for symbolising ideas. The form is there to give significance. It is now swung{?} round that non-significant sounds move us vaguely with a “significance”.49
Points I would make are these –
There is what may be called a ‘linguistic faculty’ behind language – as one behind drawing: – though language is more often used with ‘practical purpose’ (so also but less drawing in writing, in maps plans etc.) it could be use{d} purely for ‘amusement’. Divided art B (1)
The ‘amusement’ however
If one invented languages (in sketches or fragments of them) for the exercise of the faculty – the part that makes one choose right words word orders rhythms – the results would have more than one interest.
Scientific – ‘phonematic’ predilections and associations. Which is the limit in so called ‘sound-symbolism’
Each individual a ‘phonematic form’ A (1)
an inventor would play with here A (2)
Individuals cleverer than ‘folk’ A (3)
Poetry A (4)
The Gertrude Stein50
Art word should mean something intelligible, but should have a p Sound form. Correspondence between the two. The meaning not necessarily “profound” – but more deeply felt. The sound does it. Like reading something when music is going on (one or other are deeply coloured). Abracadabra.51
Folios 50–2 recto: Versions of the Noldorin poem (beginning with ‘Dir avosaith’) and of the two Qenya poems (‘Nieninqe’ and ‘Oilima Markirya’) included in ‘A Secret Vice’. Written in black ink on loose pages of ‘Oxford paper’.
Dir avosaith a gwaew hinar52
éngluid ery eryd argenaid
Dir tûmledin hui Nebrachar
yrch melhail maethon magradaid magradhaid
D Damrod dir hanach dalath benn
ven Sirion gar meilien
Gail Lúthien heb Eglavar53
Dir avosaith han argenaid Nebrachar
Lang Like a wind dark through gloomy places
the ‘Stonefaces’ (Orcs) searched the mountains
over Tumlad. from Nebrachar (a place of goblins)
Orcs snuffling scented footsteps. Damrod (the
hunter) through the vale down the mountain slopes
to her awaited Sirion whent smiling. Luthien he
saw as a Fay from Fayland shining over the places above
Nebrachar
| Norolinde pirukendea55 | ||
| elle tande Nielikkilis, | ||
| tanya wende nieninqea | ||
| older vilyar54 | yari i vilya ti56 anta miqilis | vilisen (nom plur)57 |
| older – i older elle r | ‘N∙ oromandin in eller tande, | |
| older wilwarindear | ar wingildin wilwarindeën | |
| older qant’i lic | losselie telerinwa, | |
| - older i/e -ar | tálin paptalasselindeën |
Lightly tripping whirling lightly thither come little
Niéle, that maiden like a snowdrop, to whom the air
gives kisses. The wood-spirits (too) came thither,
and the foam-fays like butterflies, the white people
of the shores of Elfland, (with) felt like the music of
falling leaves.
Prose
Oilima Markirya58
Man kiluva kirya ninqe
oilima ailinello lúte,
níve qímari ringa ambar
ve maiwin qaine?
Man tiruva kirya ninqe
valka ne wilwarindon
vear lúnelinqe vear
tinwelindon talalínen,
vea falastam ne
falma pustane
kalma histane?
Man tenuva súru laustane
taurelasselindon,
ondoli ninqe losse karkane
ránar silda-ránar
minga-ránar
lanta-ránar
ve kaivo-kalma;
húro ulmula,
mandu túma?
Man kiluva lómi sangane,
telume lungane
tollalinta ruste,
vea qalume
mandu yape yáme/a
aira móre ala tinwi
lante no lanta-mindon?
Man tiruva rusta kirya
laiqa ondolissen
nu karne vaiya
úri nienaite híse
píke assari silde
oilima óresse oilima
Man kiluva oilima
hui oilima man kiluva
hui oilimante?59
Man Kiluva60
Peltakse61
Man kiluva kirya
ninqe oilima ailinello
lúte, nive qímari
ringa ambar
Man kiluva kir
Man kiluva Kirya
ninqe oilima ailinello
lúte níve qímari ringa
ambar
Rustom Pasha62
A A A ARTUR63
DÁIL EIREANN64
ÉIREANN65
ARTU66
TA ANLÁ
FATA
Folio 52: Draft of the epilogue of ‘A Secret Vice’. Written in pencil on one loose page of ‘Oxford paper’.
Mer hefir Sigurðr
selda eiða
eiða selda
alla logna67
euphony coherence not pretty – prettiness
poetry produces beautiful effects with harsher medium
Enkä lähe Inkerelle Penkerelle pänkerelle . Kal xi. 55
Ihveniä ahvenia Tuimenia taimenia xlviii.10.
As an epilogue one may say this is not intended as a plea that such inventions satisfy all the instincts that go to make up poetry but that it abstracts certain of the pleasures of poetic composition (as far as I understand it) and sharpen them by making them more conscious. It is an attenuated emotion, but might be very piercing – this construction of sounds to give pleasure. The human phonetic system is a small ranged instrument compared with music (as it now is); yet it is an instrument and a delicate one.
But, of course, in so far as you construct your language on chosen principles – in so far as you fix it, and courageously abide by your own rules despite all the temptation to alter them for the assistance of this or that technical or expressional object or any given occasion – so far you write poet or may write poetry of a sort. Of a sort I maintain no further remove or very little further removed from your appreciation of ancient poetry (especially by a fragment recorded in Old Norse or Old English) or of your writing of it in a such a foreign idiom.
The subtleties of connotation cannot be there – your words have not had a real experience of the world sufficient to acquire this. In such In such cases as I have quoted above (Old Norse Old English) they are however at least equally absent. And in Latin and Greek to a certain extent. But the vague less subtle tricks played by verse (or language-play of my hand) are possible as soon as you have even a vague sense general sense.
green sun
dead life
or repetition
These are common
language has both strengthened {the} imagination and been strengthened freed by it. Marvel of invention of the free adjective.