The following note is intended to clarify a few main featured in the pronunciation of names.
Consonants
C always has the value of
k, never
s, thus
Celebros will be
Kelebros, not
Selebros.
CH always has the value of
ch in Scots
loch or German
Buch, never that of the
ch in English
church; examples are
Anach, Narn i Chîn Húrin.
DH is always used to represent the sound of a voiced (soft)
th in English, that is the
th in
then, not the
th in
thin. Examples are
Glóredhel, Eledhwen, and Maedhros.
G always has the sound of English
G in
get; thus
Region is not pronounced like English
region; and the first syllable of
Ginglith is as in English
begin, not as in
gin.
Vowels
AI has the sound of English
eye; thus the second syllable of
Edain is like English
dine, not
dane.
AU has the value of English
ow in
town, thus the first vowel of
Sauron is like English
sour, not
sore.
EI as in
Teiglin has the sound of English
grey.
IE should not be pronounced as English
piece, but with both vowels
i and
e sounded, and run together, thus
Ni-enor, not "
Neenor".
AE as in
Aegnor, Nirnaeth, is a combination of the individual vowels,
a-e, but may be pronounced in the same way as AI.
EA and EO are not run together, but constitute two syllables; these combinations are written
ëa and
ëo, and in
Bëor, or at the beginning of the names
Eä, Eö, as in
Eärendil.
Ú in names like
Húrin, Túrin, should be pronounced
oo, thus
'Toorin' not
'Tyoorin'.
IR, UR before a consonant (as in
Cirdan, Gurthang) should not be pronounced as in English
fir or fur, but as in English,
eer, oor.
E at the end of words is always pronounced as a distinct vowel, and is in this position is written as
ë. It is always pronounced in the middle of words like
Celebros, Menegroth.
