Thursday, October 28, 2010

Parma Eldalamberon 19

Welcome news from Chris Gilson last night: the latest issue of Parma Eldalamberon (“The Book of Elven-tongues”) has gone to the printer! Interested parties can order their copies now by following this link.

Issue #19 is 108 pages, comprising “Comparative Tables”, representing the phonological relationships between Valarin, Quenya, Lindarin, Telerin, Noldorin, Ilkorin, Danian, and Lemberin, plus the Mannish language, Taliskan; an “Outline of Phonetic Development”, written in the late 1930s or 1940s, which relates the sounds of Quenya to those of Primitive Eldarin, inter alia; and an “Outline of Phonology”, a 1950s revision of the preceding.

This material promises to be quite juicy! I find that many fans of Tolkien’s languages seem to be interested in little more than vocabulary — “what can I learn to say in Elvish?” — but I find theoretical essays and tables like these to be just as fascinating as the lexis. Sometimes more. They really bring home, more than a mere catalog of words could do, the magnitude of Tolkien’s accomplishments in recreating an entire historical linguistics, ranging across a full spectrum of interrelated languages.

9 comments:

  1. Wow! Great news! I've already translated it into Polish and posted to Elendilion :-)

    http://www.elendilion.pl/2010/10/29/parma-eldalamberon-nr-19/

    Jason, as usually I cannot open the PE website (in Europe it doesn't want to open sometimes). Can you provide me with the PayPal link to PE #19?

    Have a good day!

    Richard Derdzinski

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  2. Those who are thinking about purchasing PE 19 should do so sooner rather than later. Last November, I put off ordering PE 18, thinking I could buy it at the next Mythcon as I had done with PE 17. But the editor, and thus the issue, was not at this year's Mythcon, and I see that it is already out of print -- less than a year after its publication was announced. Grr.

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  3. Richard, I don’t think I can. The link on the PE 19 page is part of a web form, not a simple, direct link which would pass sufficient information to PayPal. Then, when I click it, the URL in the address bar sems to carry session information, which I’m sure wouldn’t work if I posted that here. My recommendation is to contact Chris Gilson via email and inquire with him (I’m willing to include his email address here because he has shared it himself on public listservs).

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  4. Thanks for that warning, N.E. Brigand. Let’s hope PE 18 will be reprinted (as PE 14 just has been).

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  5. Thanks, Jason. I've managed it without entering the PE website. My fee is already sent and confirmed by Chris. Great news about the PE! I'm waiting with impatience (I'm the proud owner of all the issues since PE #11).

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  6. Thanks for the news, Jason! Is it true that the website is accessible in the US but not in other parts of the world (e.g., Europe)? Myself (from Sweden) - I haven't been able to access the website, although having tried many times the last days...

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  7. Glad to hear you made it work, Richard. Did you contact Chris, or did you find another solution? If the latter, perhaps you could offer some guidance here to others having trouble.

    Morgan, it sounds like it, yes, but as I’m in the U.S., it has always worked for me. Since you’re having difficulties, I would suggest you contact Chris Gilson directly (at the email address I gave in a previous comment, above).

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  8. Hmm, I am in Finland and I don't think I have ever had any problems accessing it, or Paypal through it.

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  9. The issue of not being able to connect to the PE website showed up again, on the Lambengolmor mailing list.

    Hopefully I can throw a little light on the issue, as I've found a work-around.

    When PE 19 was announced, I was at work and followed the link to the PE website. I could access the website, but decided to wait with ordering the issue until I got home.

    At home I tried to access the PE website every day during a whole week, but I couldn't connect. I sent Mr. Gilson an email, and he kindly replied that my Internet Service Provider (ISP) might be the cause of the problem.

    I therefore tried again at work (which uses a different ISP) - and it worked! I could connect to the PE website and order the new issue via Paypal, as usual.

    However, I did call my ISP to enquire if they are blocking the website, but I got the answer that they weren't. They think the problem is related to a setting in my software. (But since I tried both in IE and Chrome, I'm suspecting there's another problem causing the issue...)

    So, in short, if you have trouble accessing the PE website (I've heard from various people having this problem), try with a different computer, with a different ISP or other internet settings.

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