• How To Speak Sindarin Elvish
• Learn Sindarin Elvish

Sindarin Lesson 1. Sindarin was inspired by Welsh. It is an inflected language, meaning that verbs take different forms according to who is doing the action. It also has consonant mutation, which means that the first letter(s) of a word sometimes change. When you learn where and how they change, you will find that far. To be able to write in Sindarin, you need to know and learn the rules that govern the pluralisation of nouns. I have split this into two lessons - one for single vowels and the letter S, and one for diphthongs (ae, ai etc.) There are examples for all, and some for you to have a go at yourself at the end of each lesson. Sindarin has 6 vowel sounds (we’ll meet the diphthongs in a later lesson). In the mode of Gondor each of these sounds is denoted by a different symbol called a tehta (plural tehtar): In the mode of Beleriand we write each vowel as a separate letter (like in English): Write these Sindarin tengwar in Latin letters: mode of Gondor: mode of Beleriand.

IMPORTANT LINK YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS PLURAL LESSON:

Most Sindarin plurals are formed by vowel changes. These changes are called “umlaut” in English …. “prestanneth” (‘affection’ of vowels) in Sindarin. Some examples of this in English would be: goose > geese, mouse > mice.

How To Speak Sindarin Elvish

Below is a smaller version of the Mutations Chart showing the plural changes in yellow for NON-FINAL and FINAL (or monosyllabic words) syllables. Keeping the larger form of this chart at your computer will put the information quickly at your fingertips for this plural lesson and all the mutation lessons combined.

NOTE that not all of the vowels and diphthongs in a word change.
The exceptions for NON-final vowels are: E, I, Y, EI, UI, AI, AE.
The exceptions for FINAL vowels are: I, Y, Ý, AE, AI, EI, UI.
With your chart at the computer, there is no pressure to memorize these …. they will become habit with time.

Below are some examples of NON-FINAL syllable vowel changes, shown with capital letters. The final (and monosyllabic) changes are also shown, but not capitalized. They are highlighted in the next set of examples.
a > e … AdAnAdar > EdEnEdair
e > e … Edhel > Edhil
i > i … Ithron > Ithryn
o > e … Onod > Enyd
ó > ó … gÓdhel > gÓdhil
u > y … tUlus > tYlys
y > y … Ylfdan > Ylfdain
au > oe … tAUron > tOEryn
ae > ae … hAEred > hAErid
ai > ai … ————
ei > ei … EIthel > EIthil
ui > ui … cUInar > cUInair

Below are some examples of FINAL vowel or MONOSYLLABIC (word only has one syllable) changes:
a (with 1 consonant following it) > ai … dAm > dAIm
~~ REMEMBER that dh, th, ch are single consonants when considering which “A” rule to apply ~~
a (with 2 or more consonants following it) > e … nArn > nErn
e > i … edhEl > edhIl
é/ê > í/ î … tÊw > tÎw
ie > i … minIEl > mínIl
i > i … sigIl > sigIl
o > y … Orch > Yrch
ó/ô > ý … bÔr > bÝr
io > y … thalIOn > thelYn
u > y … tulUs > tylYs
ú/û > ui … lhÛg > lhUIg
y > y … Ylf > Ylf
ý > ý … mÝl > mÝl
au > oe … nAUg > nOEg
ae > ae … AEw > AEw
ai > ai … andAIth > endAIth
ei > ei … rEIn > rEIn
ui > ui … lUIn>lUIn

Let’s go back and look at the word aran “king” for a second. Because A becomes E in the initial syllable, and because A becomes AI in the final syllable you end up with erain “kings”.

Let’s look at some more examples:

Aran – non final syllable: Ar (a>e) final syllable: an (a>ai) = Erain
Edhel – non final syllable: Edh (e>e) , el (e>i) = Edhil
Naug – one syllable: Naug (au>oe) = Noeg
Orch – one syllable Orch (o>y) = Yrch
Gwachaedir – non final syllable: Gwa (a>e) non final syllable: chae (ae>ae) Final syllable: dir (i>i) = Gwechaedir

Plurals that look the same as Singulars

Some Sindarin words look the same in the singular and plural. In these cases, context (the way a word is used in a sentence) dictates which form is intended by the author.
Examples:
aew > bird, aew > birds
sigil > dagger, sigil > daggers

NATURAL PLURALS

In some cases, the normal state of a noun is plural. In these cases, it is necessary to add a suffix to mark the word as singular. These are the singular suffixes that can be deduced:

“-ig” represents one of a pair.
Example: gwanunig = “a twin”, while gwanûn = “pair of twins”.

“-og” and “-od” are used to denote one of a whole.
Examples:
glamog = one noisy orc, while glam = “noisy group of orcs”
filigod = one small bird, while filig = “group of small birds”

THE CLASS PLURAL

Singular nouns can make what is called the “class plural” or “collective plural”. This plural is formed by adding a suffix to the original word, when referring to groups of “all things” or “all people” of a specific arrangement. There are four types of suffixes that are used to form class plurals, these are: -ath/-iath, -rim, -hoth, and -waith (from “gwaith”).

-ATH/-IATH
The suffix “-ath” is used when referring to an entire group of things that “belong” together, or an “entire race”.

Examples:
Perian “halfling” + -ath = Periannath “the entire race of halflings”
elen “star” + -ath = elenath ” the entire group of stars”

“-iath” is used when the word to receive the suffix “-ath” has an “i” in the last or only syllable.

Examples:
lín “pools” + iath = liniath “all the pools (of a specific arrangement)”
gil “star” + iath = giliath “all the stars”

-RIM, -HOTH, and (-G)WAITH
The other endings “-rim”, “-hoth”, and “-waith” are used to denote “specific groups” of people, or “divisions” within a race (some prefer to think of these as “tribes”). These endings are not used to denote groups of “things” (exception: orodrim).

Examples:
Galadh “tree” + -rim = Galadhrim “tree-folk” (a specific group of elves)
Glam “orc noise” + -hoth = Glamhoth “orc-host” (a specific group of orcs)
Forod “north” + -(g)waith = Forodwaith “Northmen” (a specific group of people)

• The suffixes (endings) “-rim” and “-(g)waith are usually used in a good sense. To distinguish when to use “(g)waith” instead of “rim” is not such an easy task. In at least one instance , BOTH are used (Forodrim, Forodwaith). Just be aware that Tolkien used both in his writings.
• The suffix “-hoth” is usually used in a bad sense (when a group is seen as unfavorable) …. at least from the writer’s point of view.
• “(G)waith” is an ending that can also refer to the land that people live in …. example: Forodwaith (Northlands).

More on the class plural ……

Here’s a note of Helge Fauskanger’s about when to double the final consonant in a class plural where “-ath/iath” is added: “If the ending -ath is added to a noun ending in -nc or -m, they would for phonological reasons change to -ng- and double -mm-, respectively, whereas final -nt and -nd would both become -nn-: The class plurals of words like ranc “arm”, lam “tongue”, cant “shape” and thond “root” would evidently be rangath, lammath, cannath, thonnath, respectively.”

In addition, some words may appear to receive an “-nnath/-nniath” ending even if it doesn’t adhere to the quoted suggestions — this is because a word may have earlier in its history ended in -ND, -NN (etc.) and this historical ending is still preserved when adding suffixes.

Examples:
ion (IOND, IONN) “son” + -ath = ionnath “all the sons”
merilin (MŒRILIND) “nightingale” + -iath = merilinniath “flock of nightingales”

GO- AND GWA-

Another plural form involves the prefix go- and earlier gwa- meaning “together”. Tolkien shows us how this prefix can be used to form a plural in one of his Letters when he explains the name Legolas. Go-lass is explained as a collection of leaves, or foliage.

SOME ODD PLURALS

The following is a sample of just some of a substantial number of words with irregular plurals.

Learn Sindarin Elvish

(It is always best to look up a word in Dragonflame when writing in Sindarin, just to be sure the word doesn’t have an irregular plural form.)