Westron

E218720

Westron is the common tongue of Middle-earth in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium, serving as the primary language of most peoples in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

All labels observed (9)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf constructed language
fictional language
language of Middle-earth
alsoKnownAs Adûni
Common Speech
Common Tongue (Westeros)
surface form: Common Tongue

Sôval Phârë
creator J. R. R. Tolkien
exampleWord Banazîr (translated as Samwise)
Kalimac (translated as Meriadoc)
Labin-nec (translated as Lobelia)
Maura (translated as Frodo)
functionInLegendarium serves as the lingua franca of Middle-earth
hasFeature contains loanwords from Elvish
has regional dialects such as Shire-talk
influencedBy Adûnaic
Elvish languages
languages of Middle-earth Men
metaStatus partially documented with limited vocabulary by Tolkien
narrativeRole primary language of most characters in The Hobbit
primary language of narration in The Lord of the Rings
origin Westron self-linksurface differs
surface form: developed from Adûnaic of Númenor
region Harad
surface form: Bree-land

Eriador
Gondor
Rohan
The Shire
parts of Rhovanion
setting Middle-earth
spokenBy Dwarves of Erebor
surface form: Dwarves of Durin’s Folk

Dúnedain of the North
Hobbits
Dúnedain of Gondor
surface form: Men of Gondor

Men of Rohan (with their own tongue as well)
Orcs
surface form: Orcs (in debased forms)

many Men of Middle-earth
some Elves for communication with Men and Hobbits
timePeriod Third Age of Middle-earth
early Fourth Age of Middle-earth
translationConvention represented as modern English in Tolkien’s published texts
usedInWork The History of Middle-earth
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
surface form: The Silmarillion (appendices and notes)

Unfinished Tales
writingSystem Cirth (occasionally)
Tengwar

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (75)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Goldilocks Gardner language Westron
Hamfast Gardner language Westron
Third Age languageContext Westron
this entity surface form: Westron widely spoken
Frodo Gardner language Westron
Peregrin Took languageSpoken Westron
Bilbo Gardner language Westron
The Red Book of Westmarch (in-universe) language Westron
subject surface form: The Red Book of Westmarch
this entity surface form: Westron (in-universe)
Belladonna Took language Westron
The Took family language Westron
subject surface form: Took family
There and Back Again (in-universe) language Westron
subject surface form: There and Back Again
this entity surface form: Westron (in-universe)
Balin language Westron
Spiders of Mirkwood language Westron
this entity surface form: Westron (some understanding)
Bilbo's birthday speech in The Fellowship of the Ring language Westron
this entity surface form: Westron (in-universe)
Dwalin language Westron
Oakenshield languageOfName Westron
this entity surface form: Westron (Common Speech)
Thráin II language Westron
Ravenhill languageOfName Westron
Thrór languageSpoken Westron
Fíli languageSpoken Westron
Dale languageSpoken Westron
Kíli languageSpoken Westron
Beorn languageSpoken Westron