7. Elvish is a real language
Yes – it’s true! You can actually learn to speak Elvish if you really want to.
The language spoken by the elves
It has a whole set of grammar and pronunciation rules, and a limited vocabulary. There are even multiple dialects.
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One dialect is based a lot on Finnish, and another on Welsh. This is because author J. R. R. Tolkien could actually read several languages, many Germanic, and he loved to invent languages.
Tolkien loved languages
Much of the Elvish spoken in the films actually isn’t even in the book at all.
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It was derived from Tolkien’s limited vocabulary. The film’s dialect coach – Andrew Jack – listened to recordings of Tolkien speaking it for help with pronunciation.
Many of the actors had Elvish lessons
Clearly Tolkien knew what he was doing, because when the language is spoken in the film it sounds so beautiful that you’d think it was spoken in the real world.
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