Editing Westron (section)

== Language ==

Westron (also called Adûni) supposedly developed from [[Adûnaic]], the ancient language of [[Númenor]].<ref name="Sauron Defeated" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1992|pp=241, 247–250, 413–440}}</ref> It became the [[lingua franca]] for all the peoples of [[Middle-earth]]:{{sfn|Solopova|2009|pp=70, 84}} Tolkien gives some examples of Westron words in Appendix F to ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he summarizes Westron's origin and role as ''[[lingua franca]]'' in Middle-earth:<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/>

{{blockquote|The language represented in this history by English was the Westron or 'Common Speech' of the West-lands of Middle-earth in the Third Age. In the course of that age it had become the native language of nearly all the speaking-peoples (save the Elves) who dwelt within the bounds of the old kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor ... At the time of the War of the Ring at the end of the age these were still its bounds as a native tongue.<ref name="Appendix F" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix F</ref>}}

He explains further that:

{{blockquote|the Númenóreans had maintained ... havens upon the western coasts of Middle-earth for the help of their ships; and one of the chief of these was at Pelargir near the Mouths of Anduin. There Adûnaic was spoken, and mingled with many words of the languages of lesser men it became a Common Speech that spread thence along the coasts among all that had dealings with Westernesse.<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/>}}

Tolkien gives a few names in Westron, saying that ''Karningul'' was the translation of Elvish ''Imladris'', [[Rivendell]], while ''Sûza'' was Westron for [[the Shire]]. Hobbit surnames Took and Boffin were "anglicize[d]" from Westron ''Tûk'' and ''Bophîn''. The original form of Brandybuck was ''Zaragamba'', "Oldbuck", from Westron ''zara'', "old", and ''gamba'', "buck".<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/> He explains, too, that [[Samwise Gamgee|Sam[wise]]] and Ham[fast] "were really called ''Ban'' and ''Ran''", shortened from Westron ''Banazîr'' and ''Ranugad''.<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/> Tolkien states that these had been nicknames, meaning "halfwise, simple" and "stay-at-home", which he had chosen to render by English names, from Old English ''samwís'' and ''hámfoest'' with equivalent meanings.<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/> [[Nick Groom]] states that  ''Sûza'', ''Banazîr'', and the Westron for Sam's surname "Gamgee", ''Galbasi'', are all derived from [[Gothic language|Gothic]], a precursor of [[Old English]], adding a further layer of linguistic complexity to the pseudotranslation<!--, with the Gothic names representing survivals from Adûnaic-->.{{sfn|Groom|2022|p=101}}

The word ''[[Hobbit]]'', which [[Editorial framing of The Lord of the Rings|Tolkien's fictional persona]], the narrator of the appendices, admits "is an invention", could, he explains, easily be a much-worn form of the Old English ''holbytla'', "hole-dweller". This corresponds to the Westron dialect form ''kuduk'', used in [[Bree (Middle-earth)|Bree]] and the Shire, which the narrator supposes was probably a worn form of the word ''kûd-dûkan'', of the same meaning, stating that Merry had heard King [[Théoden]] of Rohan use this name for ''Hobbit''.<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/>