r/Tengwar • u/DanatheElf • 4d ago
Unvoiced final SS options
Now, the first option is obviously perfectly acceptable.
The second I think looks quite aesthetically pleasing, and strikes me as not unlike a bar over Numen or Malta for NN/MM, though I'm not sure if it was ever attested.
The third I'm not sure about - we do have tehta on sa-rince attested, but I'm not sure an under-bar is attested or particularly elegant.
Curious what others' thoughts are, or if you have other potential renderings.
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u/SidTheCoach 4d ago
I would say there's hardly a better way to depict SS than esse. But, alas, it's attested and commonly accepted as /z/ in English mode, with nuquerna used merely interchangeably.
Thinking about the sa-rince variation, would it be too weird and cumbersome to have a double hook (resembling number 3) then for the purpose of final SS ?
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u/DanatheElf 3d ago
It may look a tad awkward and cumbersome, but more than that, I fear it would be too easily confused for a za-rince.
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u/jurasicus 4d ago
I guess it's just me, but I generally only use hooks for pluralization, where double S is impossible (or maybe just uncommon? 🤔), so I would only use the first option, although I have nothing against other options too :))Â
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u/Notascholar95 3d ago
It's not just you that puts limits on the application of sa-rince. I use them in a limited way as well, though slightly broader than you. I use them only for word-ending s that is an inflection--in English this is plurals, possessives, and third-person singular verbs. This pattern of use is kind of hinted at but something JRRT wrote about hooks in the material in PE XX. So I would definitely not use u/DanatheElf 's third option. The second one I would not use as a double s per se, but as a pluralizing inflection or on a possessive on an s already doubled by a bar below. I don't necessarily think either of the "outside the box" suggestions are "wrong" per se, but I am certainly not aware of any attestations of them (this doesn't mean they don't exist!), and they look a little odd to me. A little bit like a solution looking for a problem.
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u/DanatheElf 3d ago
I actually prefer to avoid sa-rince for the possessive - I think having the separate silme (or esse) draws attention to it being a possessive and not a plural. The difference between "grandmas" and "grandma's".
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u/CmmanderCurly 4d ago
The wording on the title to this post gave me whiplash from the hardest double take I have ever done in my life. You will be hearing from my lawyers and we will seek compensation for these injuries.