J.R.R. Tolkien based Quenya chiefly on Finnish. Quenya is one of the major Elvish languages in his legendarium and is associated especially with the High Elves.
Tolkien admired the sound and structure of Finnish, and its influence can be seen in aspects of Quenya’s grammar and vocabulary. He also drew on Latin and Greek, among other languages, while creating a language with its own fictional history.
Quenya is not simply Finnish with altered words. Tolkien developed it as part of a family of related languages, with historical stages and changes inside the mythology of Middle-earth. Sindarin, another major Elvish language, was influenced chiefly by Welsh.
In The Lord of the Rings, Quenya often appears in formal, poetic, or ceremonial contexts. The name “Quenya” is commonly translated as “speech” or “language,” depending on the grammatical context and translation used.