J.R.R. Tolkien’s Quenya is the Elvish language he based largely on Finnish. Quenya is one of the major constructed languages of Tolkien’s legendarium and is associated especially with the High Elves.
Tolkien studied Finnish while developing his languages and drew inspiration from its sound, grammar, and structure. Quenya was not a simple copy of Finnish: Tolkien transformed his influences into an independent language with its own history, vocabulary, and fictional development within Middle-earth.
Quenya is sometimes confused with Sindarin, another major Elvish language. In Tolkien’s internal history, Quenya was an older, prestigious language, while Sindarin became the commonly spoken Elvish language in much of Middle-earth. Tolkien’s linguistic work extended far beyond isolated names; he created related languages, sound changes, writing systems, and imagined historical relationships between them.