Old Common¶
A precursor language to the common tongue (or, Modern Common), which used a slighly modified alphabet and was in use from the Second Age and eventually transformed into Modern Common in the first few centuries of the Third Age.
While no longer in use today, it can still occasionally be found in old inscriptions, ancient scrolls, and certain names.
Many names of places and deities have multiple written forms. For example, Bhreia can also be written as ΞΞ·ΟΡια.
The Old Common Alphabet uses the following letters:
Upper Case | Lower Case | Name | Modern Equivalent |
---|---|---|---|
Ξ | Ξ± | Alpha | A, a |
Ξ | Ξ² | Beta | B, b |
Ξ | Ξ³ | Gamma | G, g |
Ξ | Ξ΄ | Delta | D, d |
Ξ | Ξ΅ | Epsilon | E, e |
Ξ | ΞΆ | Zeta | Z, z |
Ξ | Ξ· | Eta | H, h |
Ξ | ΞΈ | Theta | th (as in this, that) |
Ξ | ΞΉ | Iota | I, i |
Ξ | ΞΊ | Kappa | K, k |
Ξ | Ξ» | Lambda | L, l |
Ξ | ΞΌ | Mu | M, m |
Ξ | Ξ½ | Nu | N, n |
Ξ | ΞΎ | Xi | X, x |
Ξ | ΞΏ | Omicron | O, o |
Ξ | Ο | Pi | P, p |
Ξ‘ | Ο | Rho | rolled R |
Ξ£ | Ο/Ο | Sigma | S, s |
Ξ€ | Ο | Tau | T, t |
Ξ₯ | Ο | Upsilon | U as in luna, lute |
Ξ¦ | Ο | Phi | ph as in phenom |
Ξ§ | Ο | Chi | ch as in loch or a Dutch guttural G |
Ξ¨ | Ο | Psi | ps as in lapse |
Ξ© | Ο | Omega | a long O as in omen |
Also see this Wikipedia page for further pronunciation.