Quenya is the fictional Elvish language whose name is related to the Elvish word for speech and to the Quendi, Tolkien’s name for the Elves. It is one of the best-developed languages in his legendarium.
Tolkien modeled aspects of Quenya’s sound and structure on Finnish, while also drawing on Latin and Greek. In the stories, Quenya became an ancient and formal language associated especially with the High Elves, including the Noldor and Vanyar.
Quenya is often confused with Sindarin, another major Elvish language. Sindarin was the everyday Elvish language of many Elves in Middle-earth during the events of The Lord of the Rings, whereas Quenya had a more elevated, historical status.
Tolkien did not invent only vocabulary: he created grammar, sound patterns, scripts, and historical relationships between languages. His professional work in historical linguistics strongly shaped this approach, making the languages part of the mythology rather than decorative word lists.