Article Title

The Enigmatic Loss of Proto-Hobbitic

Authors

Thomas Honegger, Department of English, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, GermanyFollow

Abstract

This paper investigates two questions. First, why did Tolkien assign the Hobbits “a Mannish language of the upper Anduin, akin to that of the Rohirrim” (LotR, Appendix F 1130) as the first language of which we have some knowledge? Second, why does Tolkien deny the Hobbits a distinct linguistic identity and turn them into linguistic chameleons?