Quenya was the Tolkien language primarily inspired by Finnish.
Tolkien began developing Quenya during the 1910s, drawing on his interest in the structure and sound of Finnish. He also used influences from Latin and Greek, but Finnish was especially important to the language’s grammar and overall aesthetic.
In Tolkien’s mythology, Quenya is an ancient language associated particularly with the Elves of Valinor. It remained a prestigious literary and ceremonial language in Middle-earth, rather than being the everyday speech of all Elves.
Quenya is often confused with Sindarin, another major Elvish language. Sindarin was more widely spoken in much of Middle-earth and drew strongly on Welsh. Neither language should be confused with Tengwar, which is a writing system rather than a spoken language.