Avarin

Avarin Tribes in Endor

⚠️ Editorial Note: This article is currently incomplete or in a preliminary state. It does not yet reflect full archival standards or comprehensive editorial development. Further expansion, sourcing, or restructuring is required.

The Avarin (Av.) languages were a collection of dialects spoken by the Avari, or East-elves.

see:

• Lendarin

Description

The Avarin languages descended from Primitive Quendian ("Kwenyā") and were classically divided into "West Avarin", "North Avarin", and "East Avarin" (J. R. R. Tolkien noted that these divisions sounded roughly like "Goidelic", "Baltic", and "Finnish") respectively.

West Avarin

West Avarin developed closest to the western Eldarin languages. Ilkorin and Lemberin were its oldest recorded examples, favoring palatalization, lenition, and conservative labiovelar reflexes. The western branch contained Pennia, Winya, Kinn‑ya, and Cuina and yielded reflexes that preserved or softly modified Primitive Kwendīan labiovelars and clusters.

North Avarin

North Avarin was a highly divergent branch characterized by systematic loss of initial consonants and consonant clusters.

The north form "'en'ia" (phonetic "ʔenya") exemplified the North filter: initial onsets deleted, a leading glottal marker or apostrophe introduced, and compensatory vowel adjustments and fusion occured, producing frequent homophony that required morphosyntactic disambiguation.

East Avarin

East Avarin was sparsely attested and typologically vowel‑rich. "Hisildin" served as the most archaic eastern template, remaining close to Primitive Quendian with conservative kw/nd sequences. The eastern cluster included Kinya, Pêdia, Pendya, Pên-yâ and Kwendwa, and tended toward vocalic differentiation, possible harmony, and agglutinative tendencies.

Compact historical sketch

Primitive Quendian was the common root with Hwendya and Kwindya being the two mayor strains ancestral to most younger forms.

Two archaic examples, Ilkorin or Lemberin ("goidelic sounding") for the west and Hisildin or Kvenïa for the east ("finnish sounding") , generated regionally patterned reflexes through regular phonological templates. A separate North‑variamt ("baltic sounding") operating on those reflexes produced 'en'ia by deleting initial onsets and triggering vowel restructuring.

Short profiles:

• Kvenia (East): Archaic Avarin still very close to Primitive Kwendian
• Penya (West): kw → p; tendency to lenition; palatal medial preserved. *Winya (West): kw → w; approximantization; vowel‑forward prosody.
• Kinn‑ya (West): kw → k; conservative segments; frequent gemination. *Cuindy (West): kw → cw / cu; palatalized labiovelar reflex; Ilkorin/Lemberin coloration.
• 'en'ia (North): complete initial‑onset deletion; leading glottal marker or apostrophe; compensatory vowel fusion.
• Kindya (East): kw → k (de‑labialized); vowel‑rich; Hisildi conservatism. *Hwenya (East): kw → hw; spirantized labiovelar reflex; vocalic differentiation.
• Kwinya (East): kw → kw; conservative labiovelar retention.
• Kwentya (East): kw → kw; conservative with occasional suffixing (‑tya) in some varieties.

Genealogy

• Primitive Quendian or "Kwendya"
  • Archaic Avarin (Kwenyā)
  • Kvenia
    • Ice-elvish ("'en'ïa" or "Uini'et" language of the northernmost Ugni'imi-elves)
    • Tatyarin Avarin or "Atatäiärina Kwendya"
      • Hwenya (language of the Hwendi-Elves))
        • Hwenia (language of the western and central Hwenti-Elves))
        • Winya (language of the western Windan-Elves)
          • Dialect of the Eölrim (Beleriandic Avarin)
            • Dialects of the Mole-kin and Hvettir
          • dialects of the Mountain-Elves
      • Kwinya (language of the eastern Kwindi-Elves))
        • Cuina (language of the southwestern Cuind-Elves)
        • Kinya (language of the central Kindi-Elves))
          • Fasattâlin dialects?
        • Kinn‑ya (language of the southern Kinn-lai-Elves))
          • Cuinnia (dialect of those Avari who served the Court of Aranórë)
    • Nelyarin Avarin or "Neledëiärina Kwendya"
      • Pwenya
        • Pêdia
          • Edainic (Mágol, Taliska, proto-Adûnaic)
        • Pendya (Inner Seas and Southernesse Avarin)
        • Pennia (language of the western Penni-Elves)
        • Pên-yâ
          • Halethian/Daenael/Pre-Númenórean
  • Uncategorized eastern branches (technically East-Avarin, possibly Tatyarin/Nelyarin hybrids)
    • Iylar
      • Dyar
      • Linaeri
      • Lôariki
        • Namârian
    • Erlîn dialects
      • Ilorian
        • Tanâi
      • Muri
        • Vog Murian
      • Yimâni
        • Urûli
    • New Lands-Avarin (peculiar branch, technically archaic East-Avarin)

Notes

• There have been various speculations about Tolkien's ideas about the Avarin languages, for example Cuind, Hwenti, Kindi, Kinn-Lai, Penni, and Windan are thought to be inspired by Old Irish, Gothic, Arabic, Chinese, Gaulish, and Anglo-Saxon. Iron Crown Enterprises often used its own elvish languages (Dyar, Erlin, Iylar, and Muri) or invented Neo-Avarin vocabulary, loosely based on Magyar.

• The Neo-Avarin used on this Wiki usually is based on Tolkien's early or primitive Kwendian, which is in every case modified after the example of the few Avarin terms Tolkien gave us: Penni, Kinn-lai, Hwenti, Kindi, Cuind, Windan and possible proto-Avarin (or Ilkorin) Eol, Tû, Túvo, Nuin, Tareg, Ermon, Elmir, etc.… (plus an additional hypothetical "Northern Avarin" which differed from the other known dialects by its peculiar lack of initial consonants).

• The Elves of Rolemaster and Shadow World were originally tied to early Middle-earth Role Playing and Loremaster (ICE Series). If re-adapted into a middle-earth setting they should be reinterpreted as Avari rather than Eldar, including its High-Elven or Iylari kindreds.

Editorial Note: This entry contains speculative or fan-based material — such as fanon, fanfiction, or theory constructs — that may not be directly supported by canonical texts. Interpretations offered here are part of the NNCA’s speculative corpus and should not be mistaken for primary Tolkien sources.