3.1 Gender
3.2 Number
3.2.1 Formation of the singular form
3.3 Formation of interrogative and negative sentences
3.3.1 Interrogative sentences
3.3.2 Negative sentences
3.4 Derivation
3.5 Parts of speech
3.5.1 The noun
3.5.2 The adjective
3.5.3 The article
3.5.4 The pronoun
3.5.5 The verb
3.5.6 The adverb
3.5.7 The preposition
3.5.8 The conjunction
Gender is the grammatical feature which conventionally classifies words into masculine and feminine. As far as we actually know there is no gender distinction in the Sindarin nouns and adjectives. There is also no gender distinction in the Sindarin pronouns.
Number indicates whether one is referring to a single person, animal or object (the singular form) or to more than one person, animal or object (the plural form). The Archaic Sindarin noun had three numbers: singular, plural and dual. By the time of the War of the Ring the dual form became obsolete; it occurred only in old names (Orgaladhad 'Two-Trees-day') and words of natural pairs (lhaw 'ears'). Numbers actually occurring in Sindarin of the time of War of the Ring are: singular, plural and class plural. In Sindarin number applies to articles, nouns, adjectives, pronouns and various verbal forms. Plural forms of these parts of speech undergo the same phonetic rules.
3.2.1 Formation of the singular form
The singular is the basic, uninflected form of the noun, for example galadh 'a tree'.
3.2.2 Formation of the plural form
The plural is in most cases formed by changing the vowels of the word instead of adding endings; cf. tâl 'foot, leg', pl. tail ', feet, legs', adan 'Man', pl. edain 'Men', orodben 'mountaineer' eredbin (earlier örödbin). This changing of the vowels is called vowel affection, umlaut in English or prestanneth in Sindarin. Helge K. Fauskanger writes about this phenomenon: It has to do with one vowel 'affecting' another vowel in the same word, making it more like itself, in linguistic terms assimilating it. The umlaut relevant for the plural formation Tolkien referred to as 'i-affection' (WJ 376), since it was a vowel i that originally triggered it. Tolkien imagined that the primitive Elvish language had a plural ending *-í, still present in Quenya as -i (as in Quendi, Atani, Teleri etc.). This ending as such did not survive into Sindarin, but there are clear traces of its former presence, and these "traces" have themselves become the indicator of plurality in Grey-elven.
|
non-final syllabe |
example |
final syllabe |
example
|
|
|
a |
a > e |
aran, pl. erain |
a > ai |
tal, pl. tail |
|
ar > er |
narn, pl. nern |
|||
|
ang > eng |
fang, pl. feng |
|||
|
alph > eilph |
alph, pl. eilph
|
|||
|
e |
e > e |
edhel, pl. edhil |
e > i |
edhel, pl. edhil |
|
é > í |
têw, pl. tîw |
|||
|
[ ie > i ] |
[ Miniel, pl. Mínil ]
|
|||
|
i |
i > i |
ithron, pl. ithryn |
i > i |
sigil, pl. sigil
|
|
o |
o > e |
onod, pl. enyd |
o > y |
orch, pl. yrch |
|
ó > ý |
bór, pl. býr |
|||
|
[ io > y ] |
[ thalion, pl. thelyn ]
|
|||
| u |
u > y |
tulus, pl. tylys |
u > y |
tulus, pl. tylys |
|
ú > ui |
dûr, pl. duir
|
|||
|
y |
y > y |
ylfdan, pl. ylfdain |
y > y |
ylf, pl. ylf |
|
ý > ý |
mýl, pl. mýl
|
|||
|
au |
au > oe |
- |
au > oe |
naug, pl. noeg
|
|
ae |
ae > ae |
- |
ae > ae |
aew, pl. aew
|
|
ai |
ai > ai |
- |
ai > ai |
-
|
|
ei |
ei > ei |
- |
ei > ei |
-
|
|
ui |
ui > ui |
ui > ui |
luin, pl. luin |
Special plural in -in
Regarding such plural nouns as conin 'princes' (pl. of caun?), elin 'stars' (pl. of êl) etc., we cannot say if they are another type of plural in -in or they do not have in fact any plural ending, being the result of the Sindarin evolution (for example elin is a regular plural of the Archaic Sindarin elen, which became êl 'star' in Sindarin). On the other hand plurals in -in were a feature of the old Sindarin dialects of North Sindarin and Doriath Sindarin.
For a more detailed analyzis of the Sindarin plurals see Helge K. Fauskanger's article Sindarin - the Noble Tongue.
3.2.3 Formation of the class plural form
The Sindarin class plural can be divided into two groups: the collective plural and the general plural (according to Didier Willis).
The collective plural
Originally in Archaic Sindarin the suffix -ath was a collective noun-suffix and it was used as a group plural, embracing all things of the same name, or those associated in some special arrangement or organization. So elenath (as plural of êl, pl. elin) meant 'the host of the stars': sc. (all) the (visible) stars of the firmament. Cf. ennorath, the group of central lands, making up Middle-earth.
The general plural
The class plural can be also expressed by the endings -rim 'people' and -hoth 'folk, tribe, host, horde, people' (usually quite pejorative); cf. Nogothrim is said to be the class plural of Nogoth 'Dwarf', Dornhoth 'the Thrawn Folk', another Elvish term for Dwarves.
3.3 Formation of interrogative and negative sentences
We can build the interrogative sentences using the interrogative pronouns and interrogative adverbs, i.e. Man agorech? 'What did you do?', Mar agorech hin? 'When did you do it?', Mas barech? 'Where [is] your house?'
In Sindarin, negative sentences are formed by placing the negative adverb la, law before the verb; the rest of the negative expression comes after it: La chebin estel anim 'I don't keep hope for myself'. Another Sindarin prefix used in the negative sentences is ú 'bad, uneasy, hard', with a meaning intensified to 'impossible' so that it came near to a negative. Ú-chebin estel anim 'I cannot keep hope for myself' (VT#42, p. 33). The first consonant of the verb following the la and ú undergoes lenition.
In Sindarin, affixes provide a highly productive way of forming new words. Phrases such as 'the little flower' or 'the great river' correspond to lotheg and sirion; a suffix (-eg, -on) has been added to an original form (loth, sîr) to produce a word belonging to the same family. Suffixes and prefixes are of particular importance in Sindarin. The most common of these are augumentative, diminutive, pejorative and negative.
Augumentative
|
-on |
sirion 'great river' |
Diminutive
|
-eg |
nogotheg 'dwarflet' |
Pejorative
|
ú- |
úmarth 'ill-fate' |
Negative
| pen- | penadar 'fatherless' |
| al- | alfirin 'immortal' |
Sindarin nouns have number, but they don't have gender; the gender distinction can be observed only in the proper nouns. About the Sindarin number you can read here.
They refer to people, animals or things in general: orodben 'mountaineer', draug 'wolf', galadh 'tree', annon 'doors'.
They refer to a particular person, animal or thing. In the Latin transcription they are usually capitalized: Beren, Minas Tirith. In the same way they are treated in the tengwar transcription. Only the animated proper nouns have the gender distinction expressed by the masculine and feminine endings; cf. masculine -on and feminine -eth.
The Sindarin noun is not inflected for cases. The declension can be expressed by the word order or by means of prepositions.
The Sindarin nouns can be used as genitives without changing their form. They follow the described noun as in the phrases: Condir i Drann 'Mayor [of] the Shire', Aran Moria 'Lord [of] Moria'.
Also the accusative and dative can be expressed by the uniflected Sindarin noun. Dative or the indirect object follows the direct object or Accusative: Ónen i-Estel Edain '[I] gave Hope [to the] Men'.
Declension by prepositions
Various cases, as Ablative, Locative, Allative, Instrumental etc. can be expressed in Sindarin by means of the prepositions: Celebrimbor o Eregion 'Celebrimbor from Hollin'; Palan-díriel na-chaered 'Having watched to [remote] distance'.
The Sindarin noun can act as:
1. A subject, when it is the main part of a noun phrase: Guren bêd enni 'My heart tells me'. Such a noun has a function of the Nominative case. In Sindarin the subject pronoun can be omitted, as the verb alone is sufficient to indicate the person and number of the subject when it has a Nominative pronominal suffix: Ónen i-Estel Edain 'I gave Hope to the Men'.
2. An attribute or predicate, when it complements the 'to be' sentence: A Pherhael suilad uin aran 'To Samwise [is] greeting from the king'.
3. A direct object: Ónen i-Estel Edain '[I] gave Hope to the Men'. It has the function of the Accusative case.
4. An indirect object: Ónen i-Estel Edain '[I] gave Hope to the Men'. Sometimes it is introduced by the preposition an: Gurth an Glamhoth! 'Death to [the] din-horde'. It has the function of the Dative case and it follows the direct object in the sentence.
5. The object of another noun: Ennyn Durin, Aran Moria 'Doors [of] Durin, King of Moria'.
6. An object introduced by a preposition: Celebrimbor o Eregion 'Celebrimbor from Hollin'; Palan-díriel na-chaered 'Having watched to [remote] distance'.
It has the function of various noun cases.
7. Vocative: Naur dan i ngaurhoth! 'Fire [be] against the werewolf-host!'
Adjective functions
The adjective is added to the noun to qualify or determine it, being classified as either qualifying or determining. Common adjective endings are -eb, -en (with its variant -ren) and -ui: aglareb 'glorious' (cf. aglar 'glory'), angren 'of iron' (cf. ang 'iron'), crumui 'left-handed' (cf. crum 'left hand'). However, as a result of early loss of the Common Eldarin endings, many adjectives have no special endings, and the word-form of such sometimes belongs to more than one part of speech. Loss can be both adjective 'dazzling-white' and noun 'snow'.
Main characteristic
-
The adjective usually goes after the noun: annon edhellen 'Elvish gate', genediad Drannail 'the Shire (adj.) reckoning'. In this position the adjective undertakes lenition.
-
However, indefinite, interrogative and exclamative adjectives are placed before the nouns.
Agreement
Adjectives agree with the noun in number. However, if the adjective applies to more than one noun, it takes the plural form: I loth hen ar i 'aladh hen bain 'This flower and this tree [are] beautiful (pl.)' (notice the lenited forms hen < sen, 'aladh < galadh).
The qualifying adjective
Such an adjective indicates the qualities which may be attributed to persons, animals or things. It is placed after the noun: roch 'lân 'a white horse'. However, word order may be changed for special emphasis: galadhremmin ennorath 'the tree-woven Middle-earth'
Comparative and superlative
The comparative is formed with the prefix an-: angeleg 'swifter' (cf. celeg 'swift') However when the prefix an- is followed by i it is umlauted to ein-: einior 'elder'.
The superlative is formed with the suffix -wain: iarwain 'the eldest', celegwain 'the swiftest'.
Determining adjectives
These are classified into numerals or indefinite, demonstrative and possessive adjectives.
Numerals
They are divided into ordinal and cardinal numerals. The cardinal numerals are usually placed after the noun: corvath nêl 'three rings', also the ordinal numerals go usually after the noun: [aur] Gwirith taid 'second [day of] April'. For the days of month only cardinals are used. When they begin with a consonant this sound is lenited: erin [aur] tollui Ethuil 'on the eighth [day] of spring' (cf. tolodh 'eight').
Cardinal numerals are (cf. VT#42, p. 25): 1 mîn, 2 tâd, 3 nêl, 4 canad, 5 leben, 6 eneg, 7 odog, 8 tolodh, 9 neder, 10 pae. In the duodecimal Elvish system there are also: 11 minig and 12 uiug. Cardinals between 13 and 19 take the forms: 13 pae-a-nêl, 14 pae-a-canad, 15 pae-a-leben, 16 pae-ar-eneg, 17 pae-ar-odog, 18 pae-a-tolodh and 19 pae-a-neder. Cardinals 20, 30, 40 etc. take the forms: 20 taphae, 30 nelphae, 40 canaphae, 50 lephae, 60 enephae, 70 odophae, 80 tolophae, 90 nederphae. Cardinals 100, 200, 300, 400 etc. take the forms 100 haran, 200 tacharan, 300 nelcharan, 400 canacharan, 500 lefaran, 600 enecharan, 700 odocharan, 800 tolocharan, 900 nedercharan. Numeral 1000 is meneg.
Ordinal numerals are: 1st minui, 2 tadui 3rd nelui, 4th canthui, 5th levnui, 6th enchui, 7th odothui, 8th tollui, 9th nedrui, 10th paenui.
The only known indefinite adjective is pân (pl. pain) 'all'. It indicates an unspecified amount of something.
These are as follows:
|
sen (pl. sin) 'this' |
tan (pl. tain) 'that' |
These are used to indicate to which person (possessor) something belongs. Sometimes they are called genitive pronouns.
One possessor:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| nín 'my' | chín 'your', lín 'thy' | tín 'his, her' |
Several possessors:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| mín 'our' | chîn 'your', lín 'your' | tín 'their' |
Indefinite and definite article
The article is the part of speech which precedes the noun and specifies it. Sindarin has no indefinite article like English a, an. The definite article is i 'the': adar 'father', i adar 'the father'. Its plural form is in: edair 'fathers', in edair 'the fathers'. The article may appear as suffix appended to prepositions: na 'to' - nan 'to the'; be 'according to' - ben 'according to the'; nu 'under' - nuin 'under the', or 'over, on' - erin 'on the', o 'from' - uin 'from the'.
The singular article i causes lenition of the initial consonant of the following word: i vellon 'the friend' (cf. mellon 'friend'). However its plural form in triggers nasal mutation: i ngaurhoth 'the werewolves'.
Genitival article
Sindarin expresses genitival relationship by word order: Ennyn Durin 'Doors of Durin'; however, if the second word in such a construction is a common noun, the genetival article en, pl. in is used if the noun is definite: Cabed-en-Aras 'Deer's Leap', Tol-in-Gaurhoth 'Isle of Werewolves'. Genitival article triggers the nasal mutation of the initial consonant of the following word: i ngaurhoth 'the werewolves'.
The pronoun takes the place of the noun and performs its functions.
I. Demonstrative pronouns
These are used to convey the distance between the person or thing they represent and the speaker or speakers. These are as follows:
|
sen 'this' |
tan 'that' | ent 'that yonder' |
II. Personal pronouns
Nominative independent forms are used as subjects. The Sindarin subject pronoun is only used for emphasis or to prevent ambiguity as the person of the subject is already conveyed by the verb.
| singular | plural | |
| 1st | im, nin 'I' | mín, men 'we' |
| 2nd (familiar) | chín 'you' | chín 'you' |
| 2nd (reverential) | le 'thou' | le 'you' |
| 3rd | e 'he, she', san 'it' | ti, sain 'they' |
Nominative suffix forms are added to the verbs:
| singular | plural | |
| 1st | -n 'I' | -m 'we' |
| 2nd (familiar) | -ch 'you' | -ch 'you' |
| 2nd (reverential) | -l 'thou' | -l 'you' |
| 3rd | - | -r 'they' |
III. Possessive pronouns
They are called also the genitive pronouns. They are used to indicate to which person (possessor) something belongs. Sometimes they are the same as the possessive adjectives.
One possessor:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| nín 'my' | chín 'your', lín 'thy' | tín 'his, her' |
Several possessors:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| mín 'our' | chín 'your', lín 'your' | tîn 'their' |
The possessive pronouns can have the form of the noun endings like in lammen 'my tongue' or guren 'my heart'. Such possessive pronominal endings are:
One possessor:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| -n 'my' | -ch 'your', -l 'thy' | - |
Several possessors:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| -m 'our' | -ch 'your', -l 'your' | - |
Sindarin has also a reflexive possessive adjective în 'his own, her own', referring back to the subject of the sentence.
The Quenya influenced form of Sindarin among the Noldor (i.e. dialect of Imladris) had le 'thee'. It can be a loan-word from Quenya where *le 'thee' is quite a possible Accusative pronoun - a short form of Nom. elyë; cf. Common Eldarin *de (> *le).
These are: man 'who' and ma, man 'what'
V. Relative pronoun
This relates two clauses by representing or substituting in the second clause a person or thing mentioned in the first clause. In Sindarin this role is played by the article i: Perhael i sennui Panthael estathar aen 'Samwise who ought to be called Fullwise, Dor Gyrth i chuinar 'Land of the Dead that Live'.
I will make a distinction here between the variable forms of the verb and invariable forms. The former are those that undergo a series of modifications in relation to the mood, the tense and the person of the verb. The invariable forms, which undergo no such modifications, are the infinitive, the participle and the gerund.
Sindarin verbs seem to be in two main categories: according to the Helge K. Fauskanger article we distinguish basic verbs and derived verbs. The first group, known also as I-stems, consists of verbs that come directly from a primitive Common Eldarin stem with no suffixes; cf. car- 'do'.
The derived verbs are these which in the Common Eldarin period were constructed of the primitive stem with an ending, such as: -ná (Sindarin -na), -já (Sindarin -ia), -tá (Sindarin -da/-tha/-ta/-na), -rá (Sindarin -ra) and -á (Sindarin -a).
Sindarin verbs have different endings or inflexions which depend on their mood, tense or person and number.
Moods
Sindarin verbs have three moods: indicative, subjunctive and imperative.
The indicative is generally used to indicate real actions. It is mainly used in independent statements and in some subordinate statements. Indicative has present tenses, past tense and future tense.
It is possible that Sindarin has two present tenses: Continuative and Aorist. Helge K. Fauskanger in the elfling message from July 30, 2000 wrote about the possible distinction between Sindarin present continuative tense and aorist tense. If this theory is true we can distinguish continuative and aorist forms of the Sindarin verb stems like:
|
sil- 'shine': ped- 'speak': mad- 'eat': nor- 'run': |
present tense síla 'is shining', aorist sîl 'shines' present tense pida 'is speaking', Aorist pêd 'speaks' present tense moda 'is eating', aorist mâd 'eats' present tense nura 'is running', aorist nôr 'runs' |
According to the theory quoted above, Sindarin present tense, which is an equivalent of English Present Continuous Tense, is a direct descendant of the Common Eldarin forms with lengthened stem-vowel and the suffix -á in basic verbs (according to David Salo -á became short -a in closed syllables): cf. nuron 'I am running' < AS *nórauni < CE *nóráni but pidam 'we are speaking' < CE *quétamme (closed syllabe) and with lengthening of the last vowel -á in derived verbs (whose -á also became short in closed syllabes): linnon 'I am singing' < AS *lindauni < CE *lindáni but linnam 'we are singing' < CE *lindamme:
| basic verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | pidon 'I am speaking' | pidam 'we are speaking' |
| 2nd (fam.) | pidoch 'thou art speaking' | pidach 'you are speaking' |
| 2nd (rev.) | pidol 'you are speaking' | pidal 'you are speaking' |
| 3rd | pida 'he is speaking' | pidar 'they are speaking' |
| derived verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | linnon 'I am singing' | linnam 'we are singing' |
| 2nd (fam.) | linnoch 'thou art singing' | linnach 'you are singing' |
| 2nd (rev.) | linnol 'you are singing' | linnal 'you are singing' |
| 3rd | linna 'he is singing' | linnar 'they are singing' |
According to the theory of H. K. Fauskanger Sindarin has the tense called by J.R.R. Tolkien aorist. Quenya (and Sindarin) aorist denotes a 'timeless truth' beyond specific tenses. Usually it is used in place of the English Simple Present Tense. This tense is a direct descendant of Common Eldarin aorist with the ending -í added to the verb stem in the basic verbs and with zero-grade suffix in derived verbs.
| basic verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | pedin 'I speak' | pedim 'we speak' |
| 2nd (fam.) | pedich 'thou speakest' | pedich 'you speak' |
| 2nd (rev.) | pedil 'you speak' | pedil 'you speak' |
| 3rd | pêd 'he speaks' | pedir 'they speak' |
| derived verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | linnan 'I sing' | linnam 'we sing' |
| 2nd (fam.) | linnach 'you sing' | linnach 'you sing' |
| 2nd (rev.) | linnal 'you sing' | linnal 'you sing' |
| 3rd | linna 'he sings' | linnar 'they sing' |
This is formed with the suffix -nt which becomes -nn before the pronominal endings:
| basic verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | pennin 'I spoke' | pennim 'we spoke' |
| 2nd (fam.) | pennich 'thou spokest' | pennich 'you spoke' |
| 2nd (rev.) | pennil 'you spoke' | pennil 'you spoke' |
| 3rd | pent 'he spoke' | pennir 'they spoke' |
| derived verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | linnen 'I sang' | linnem 'we sang' |
| 2nd (fam.) | linnech 'thou sangst' | linnech 'you sang' |
| 2nd (rev.) | linnel 'you sang' | linnel 'you sang' |
| 3rd | linnant 'he sang' | linner 'they sang' |
According to the theory of the two present tenses: continuative and aorist, there is also a possibility of two future tenses: Future Continuative and Future Simple.
Future Continuative Tense
This tense is formed by adding the suffix -tho to the stem. Here the the -tha is in the continuative form. It can be derived from primitive tháa, which would regularly become tho in Sindarin.
| basic verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | pedithon 'I will be speaking' | peditham 'we will be speaking' |
| 2nd (fam.) | pedithoch 'you will be speaking' | pedithach 'thou wilst be speaking' |
| 2nd (rev.) | pedithol 'you will be speaking' | pedithal 'you will be speaking' |
| 3rd | peditho 'he will be speaking' | pedithor 'they will be speaking' |
| derived verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | linnathon 'I will be singing' | linnatham 'we will be singing' |
| 2nd (fam.) | linnathoch 'thou wilst be singing' | linnathach 'you will be singing' |
| 2nd (rev.) | linnathol 'you will be singing' | linnathal 'you will be singing' |
| 3rd | linnatha 'he will be singing' | linnathar 'they will be singing' |
The Future Simple Tense is formed by adding the suffix -tha to the stem. It is possible that the -tha is an old verb which meant 'to will' or 'to want' or 'to be going to', and in fact the Sindarin future tense was originally a compound tense, consisting of the verb stem + -tha in the aorist form.
| basic verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | pedithan 'I will speak' | peditham 'we will speak' |
| 2nd (fam.) | pedithach 'thou wilst speak' | pedithach 'you will speak' |
| 2nd (rev.) | pedithal 'you will speak' | pedithal 'you will speak' |
| 3rd | peditha 'he will speak' | pedithar 'they will speak' |
| derived verbs | ||
|
singular |
plural | |
| 1st | linnathan 'I will sing' | linnatham 'we will sing' |
| 2nd (fam.) | linnathach 'thou wilst sing' | linnathach 'you will sing' |
| 2nd (rev.) | linnathal 'you will sing' | linnathal 'you will sing' |
| 3rd | linnatha 'he will sing' | linnathar 'they will sing' |
The subjunctive is mainly used in subordinate statements, where the actions are considered to be doubtful or possible (conditional subjunctive), or else necessary or desired (optative subjunctive). In Sindarin the optative subjunctive is expressed by the form aen 'may it be' and the verb in the future tense; cf. estathar aen 'may they name' (= Quenya nai estuvar).
| basic verbs | peditha aen 'may it be he speaks' |
| derived verbs | linnatha aen 'may it be he sings' |
The imperative is used to express orders. In Sindarin it is formed with the ending -o. It covers all persons. Cf. Daro! 'halt', Lacho calad! Drego morn! 'Flame Light! Flee Night!'.
|
basic verbs |
pedo! 'speak' |
| derived verbs | linno! 'sing' |
These are verbs that do not undergo any modifications. They are the infinitive, the gerund and the participle.
It is formed with the ending -d added to the final vowel of the verbal stem -e- (basic verbs) or -a- (derived verbs). This ending is connected with Quenya -ta: cf. caritas 'to do it'
|
basic verbs |
peded 'to speak' |
| derived verbs | linnad 'to sing' |
Gerund is the verbal noun. It has the same form in Sindarin as the infinitive.
|
basic verbs |
peded 'speaking' |
| derived verbs | linnad 'singing' |
In Sindarin there are three forms of the participle: active participle (or present participle), perfective active participle and passive participle (or past participle).
I. Active participle
It is an adjective derived from a verb, describing the condition one is in when carrying out the action denoted by the verb. In Sindarin, the active participle of basic verbs takes the ending -el (however if the stem vowel is i this ending is expanded to -iel) and of derived verbs is formed by means of the ending -ol.
|
basic verbs |
pedel 'speaking' |
| derived verbs | linnol 'singing' |
II. Perfective active participle
Its meaning is similar to the normal active participle, except that it does not describe the state of someone that is carrying out the action of the verb; it describes the state of someone already having carried out this action. It has the ending -iel and in the basic verbs the stem vowel is lengthened (Archaic Sindarin é, á, ó > Sindarin í, ó, ú).
|
basic verbs |
pídiel 'speaking' |
| derived verbs | linniel 'having sung' |
III. Passive participle
Passive participle or past participle is an adjective describing the condition of something or someone that is (or has been) exposed to the action of the corresponding verb. In Sindarin the passive participle is formed with the adjectival ending -en added to the 3rd person singular past tense. As Helge K. Fauskanger writes, since derived verbs form their past tenses in -nt the corresponding passive participles end in -nnen representing -nten.The passive participle has a distinct plural form used when the participle describes a plural word. This is formed by I-umlaut: the ending -nnen is changed to -nnin.
|
basic verbs |
pennen, pl. pennin 'spoken' |
| derived verbs | linnen, pl. linnin 'sung' |
For details see Helge K. Fauskanger's article.
Irregular past tense
These do not undergo the rules for the basic and derived verbs in the past tense. Irregular verbs are: anna- 'give', damma- 'hammer', drava- 'hew', gwedh- 'bind', soga- 'drink', thora- 'fence', trenar- 'recount, tell to the end', banga- trade'. Details you will find in the Helge K. Fauskange's article. For example:
| past | onen 'I gave', aun 'he gave' |
Another verb with irregular past tense is car- 'do'. The vowel occurring in such a verb is reduplicated and prefixed and the stem vowel is lengthened according to the pattern (Archaic Sindarin é, á, ó > Sindarin í, ó, ú).
| past | agor 'he did' |
Verb 'to be'
Sindarin seldom uses the verb 'to be'. The exception may be the imperative form: no 'be!'. It may be derived from na- 'to be'; its present form is nâ '[it] is', past nant '[it] was' and future form natha '[it] will be'.
The adverb qualifies or determines verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
| Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
| noro lim 'run fast' | edregol bain 'especially beautiful' | farn palan 'enough far' |
The Sindarin adverbs do not possess any special ending. They can be divided into the following groups according to their meaning:
| place: | ab 'after', adel 'behind', am 'up, upwards', ambenn 'uphill', an 'to', ath 'across', athan 'beyond', athra 'across', dad 'down', dadbenn 'downhill', di 'under, beneath', ed 'out', ennas 'there', im 'between', mas 'where', min 'between', na 'to, towards; at; with, by', ned 'in', nef 'on this site', nu 'under', o 'about', or 'over, above', palan 'afar', pen 'without', si 'here', ter 'through', thar 'across', trî 'through' |
| time: | ad 'again', bor 'ever, ever again', godref 'through together', io 'ago', ir 'when', si 'now', sir 'today', ui 'always'. |
| manner: | anann 'long', be 'as, like', lim 'fast', mae 'well', manen 'how', |
| order: | na vedui 'at last' |
| quantity: | edregol 'in especial', farn 'enough', |
| certainty: | ú 'not' |
The adverbs which are employed in the interrogative sentences are called the interrogative adverbs. These are: ias 'where', ir 'when', manen 'how'.
Prepositions are an invariable part of a statement whose function is to serve as a link between any syntactic element and its complement. The most usual Sindarin prepositions are:
ab 'after', adel 'behind', ah 'with', am 'up', an 'to, towards', ath 'on both sides, across', athan 'beyond', athra 'across', be 'according to', bo 'on', dad 'down', dan 'against', di 'under, beneath', ed 'out from', im 'between', min 'between', na 'to, towards; at; with, by', ned 'in', nef 'on this side', nu 'under', o 'about', o (od) 'from', or 'over, above', pen 'without', ter 'through', thar 'across', trî 'through', vi 'in'.
When the preposition is placed before a noun, the first consonant of this noun undergoes the consonant mutation. The lenition occurs after the following prepositions: ab, adel, am, ath, athra, be, dad, di, na, nu, trî.
The nasal mutation occurs after: an, dan, pen.
The hard mutation occurs after: o (od), ed, ned.
Prepositions bo and vi don't trigger any mutation (see Ae Adar Nín, VT 44:21).
Conjunctions are links between two parts of a statement or between two statements. They are normally classified as single and compound depending on the number of words with which they are formed (the former are composed of one word, the latter more than one). They can be divided into:
Adversatives: dan 'but'
Copulatives: ar 'and', sa 'that'
Disjunctives: egor 'or'
Version 1.1. (December 2002)