Pronunciation Guide

I assumed that you would like to be able to pronounce Elvish words that you read that don't say how to pronounce them, so I found these. I didn't write either of them, but they have been very helpful to me. I hope they will help you, as well! And so galu!

CONSONANTS:

C- always has the value of K, even before E and I, so Celeborn should pronounced Keleborn; likewise Cirith Ungol should be pronounced Kirith Ungol.

CH- always sounds like the CH in German "bach" NOT like in English "church.”

DH- represents the voiced (soft) TH in English "these" and "clothes".

F- Sounds just like F except at the end of words where it sounds like V (like in English "of.”

G- Has only the sound as in English "give" and "get.”

H- When standing alone with no other consonant has the sound of H in English "house" or "behold".

L- Represents the sound of English initial L as in "let". LH represents the voiced L.

NG- has the sound of NG in English "finger", and only at the end of words does it sound like NG in "sing".

PH- has the same sound as F.

R- Represents a trilled R in all positions. The sound was not lost before consonants. RH represents a voiced R.

S- is always voiceless as in English "so" or "geese", never like that in "use". The sound of Z did not occur in Sindarin.

TH- represents the voiceless TH of English "thin" or "cloth", never as the TH in "though".

TY- Represents the sound similar to the T in English "tune".

V- Has the sound of English V but is not used finally.

W- Has the sound of English W. HW is voiceless W.

VOWELS:

E- like E in "were" or "wet". The combination ER sounds like the English word "air".

I- like I in "machine", not like the ‘I’ in "lick". The combination IR sounds like the English word "ear".

A- like the A in "father".

O- Is like the O in "for" or "so", not that of "fog".

U- Is like the U in "brute" or "flute", not that of "gut". The combination UR sounds like OOR.

Y- Pronounced more or less like the U in French "lune".

DIPHTHONGS:
AE- should be pronounced like the vowels in English "rye" or "lie".

AI- is pronounced just like AE above.

EI- is pronounced like the vowels in English "gray" or "hay".

OE- is pronounced like the vowels in English "boy" or "joy"

UI- is pronounced like the vowels in English "ruin".

AU- is pronounced like the vowels in English "loud" or "how", not like in "laud" or "haw".

AW- is pronounced just like AU oboe.

STRESS:

In words of two syllables the stress almost always falls on the first syllable. Examples: hAldir; Amon.

In longer words it falls on the second syllable when the second to last syllable contains a long vowel, a diphthong, or a vowel followed by two or more consonants. Examples: galAdriel, periAnnath, CarAdhras.

When the second to last syllable contains a short vowel followed by only one (or no) consonant, the stress falls on the syllable before it. Examples: lEgolas, cEleborn, dEnethor ("th" is considered one sound in Sindarin).

The acute accent mark is used in Sindarin to signify vowel length, and not to mark stress. So just because there is an acute accent does not mean that the stress will always fall upon it!

And then:

• Periods indicate divisions between syllable boundaries.
• Letters in CAPSLOCK indicate syllables with stress on them, that is, said slightly louder than the surrounding syllables.
• Multiple vowels (like this: AA or AAA) stand for the length of time the vowel is said. More vowels, the longer it takes to say.
• (A) is always pronounced like the A in "father".
• (E) is always pronounced like the E in "bet".
• (I) is always pronounced like the I in "machine".
• (O) is pronounced like the AW in "awesome" (in a New Yorker's accent).
• (U) is always pronounced like the U in "flute".
• (Y) is always pronounced like the French U (lune) or the German Ü (fünf). To make this sound, say an Elvish I with the pursed lips of a U. Click this link to hear it.
• (J) is used for the consonant Y in "yellow". I did this to avoid confusion with the Sindarin vowel Y.
• (AI) and (AE) are pronounced like the I in "like". The diference between them is that in (AI) you glide from an A to I, and in (AE) you glide from an A to an E.
• (AU) and (AW) are pronounced like the OW in "cow".
• (EI) is pronounced like the EI in "ray".
• (OE) is pronounced like the OY in "boy".
• (UI) is pronounced like the WEE in "sweet".
• (Ñ) is pronounced like the NG in "sing".
• (R) is always a rolled R.
• (KH) is pronounced like the CH in "loch" or in the name "Bach" click this link to hear it.
• (LH) is pronounced like the Welsh LL click this link to hear it.
• (RH) is a whispered rolled R. It sounds like a trilled H. Click this link to hear it
• (WH) is a whispered W. In English, it used to be in words with WH in them, like "white" or "when".
• (TH) and (DH) are pronounced like the English TH. The difference between them is that DH is pronounced like the TH in "father", and TH is pronouned like the TH in "nothing".

And in case you were wondering (I myself was confused about it for a while) the Y in Elvish makes the sound like the Os in soon. Therefore the Elven word 'hyn' should be  pronounced like 'hune'.

And then for the third one, go here:
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/elvish/pronunciation.html

Also, here is a list of really helpful sites for Sindarin Elvish:

http://happyinmyhobbithole.weebly.com/elvish.html

ttp://www.jrrvf.com/cgi-bin/hisweloke/sindarin.cgi?cognate=boy&phon=ipa

http://www.realelvish.net/101_sindarin.html

http://tara.istad.org/sind-phrases.htm

http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/elvish.html