–– : ––
: ERCH DREVAEG ILENDRITH :
A  ·  P a g e  ·  o n  ·  S i n d a r i n
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Sami Paldanius - MMXIV



AN EINSTEINIAN INTRODUCTION

          This page, cleverly disguised as a grammatical treatise, serves as a handy frame and laboratory for my notes, discussions, and other philological pique-nique around the subject of Sindarin, a fictional art language created by J. R. R. Tolkien. The layout was largely inspired (as well as given the ultimate go-ahead kick) by Henry R. Stern's Essential Dutch Grammar, though Ryszard Derdzinski's classic, daring and typographically outstanding Sindarin theory (also representing the golden days of Elfling mailing list) certainly cannot be passed over without a mention.

          For key on abbreviations used below, please see here.




MUTATIONS – A CELTIC LEGACY

          A crucial and relatively unique feature to Sindarin is that it utilizes a number of mutations (L:427) that affect words beginning with a consonant, so as to effectively distinguish between the various grammatical roles and interplay of the words in a sentence (i.e., to show how action is directed and distributed). The said mutations have their foundation in the phonological history of the language, just like the corresponding consonant mutations in Celtic languages, Welsh in particular (L:176).

The function of the mutations (and therefore the varying appearance of words affected by them) is most closely tied to the prepositions, the disclosure of grammatical object, and the definite article, though they also sometimes appear (in certain sound-contacts) for euphonic reasons not fully deducible from published material.

Certain (zero-position) consonant sounds are never altered by any mutation :   flnrth

          The softening of Latin stop consonants in Spanish (not to mention the further leniting of the resulting sounds), particularly between vowels, is a phenomenon closely related to the Celtic-esque consonant mutations.

The Sindarin mutations, table with contact example

          Soft Mutation a.k.a. lenition is by far the most common mutational effect. It denotes a direct object and an adjective paired with (describing) a preceding noun. It also follows the definite article, most prepositions and particles and features heavily in word formation. The operation of Soft Mutation follows its Welsh counterpart closely, affecting also [ h, s ] (see table below). Sometimes (as noted even by Tolkien himself) — especially after nasals — the consonant [ d ] may resist the Soft Mutation change to [ dh ] (/ð/); cf. the toponym Lond Daer (with an unlenited adjective). A first element's final nasal protects original sounds from mutation rather similarly in the compound names Annúminas (annûn-minas, RC:232) and Argonath (arn-gonath, L:427).

          Nasal Mutation (dissimilar from Celtic) is caused by the plural definite article in (i, idh r- : WJ:363). It is also linked to the classically interpreted preposition an "for, intended to", as well as other forms that have in the Sindarin etymological history ended in *-n.

          Mixed Mutation (a post-Tolkien term) is governed by the definite prepositions and the possessive particle en- (e-) "of, belonging to" — when they precede a singular noun. With results resembling those of Old Irish eclipsis¹ (which also resulted from a preceding *-n), the soft sounds [ b, d, g ] remain unchanged, whereas the hard stops [ p, t, c ] become the aforementioned soft sounds respectively. Unlike in Old Irish, [ s ] is traditionally assumed (for lack of evidence) to yield [ h ] in the Sindarin Mixed Mutation.

          Stop Mutation (PE13:120-1, name PE11:17) is caused especially by particles ending in *-t or *-d historically (WJ:366-7). It preserves soft sounds and labials and ultimately changes hard stop consonants [ c, p, t ] into fricatives due to the "set stage" with Brythonic sound laws (*-t t- = *tt > th-). It may be memorized from the prepositional pair ed, ned ("out of" and *"on, during, amidst", respectively), the same effect also following o (od).

          Spirant or Liquid Mutation reflects the Old Irish aspiration-lenition, but in the known Sindarin material the phenomenon is mainly compound-related. In addition to the preposition or "above" it follows certain age-old elemental prefixes such as nel- "tri-". It is reasonable to mentally suspect the Spirant Mutation after attaching forms ending in -l or -r (also called the liquid consonants), though in later Sindarin Soft Mutation obviously spread over much of its traditional hold.

¹    Lehmann 2004 (1975) § 15, Thurneysen (tl.) § 236. Cp. also Thurneysen §§ 239 E, 842 (OIr. en-).


b...
c...
d...
g...
h...
lh...
m...
p...
rh...
s...
t...
S O F T
(e.g. i, sg. def. art.)
v...
 
g...
 
dh...
 
'...
 
ch...
 
'l...
 
v...
(mh...¹)
b...
 
'r...
 
h...
 
d...
 
N A S A L
an "for, toward"
am m...
 
a(n) ch...
 
an n...
 
an ng...
 
a(n) ch...
 
al 'l...
 
am m...
 
a(n) ph...
 
adh 'r...
 
as s...
 
a(n) th...
 
M I X E D
en- "of, belonging to"
e(m)-b...
 
e-g...
 
e(n)-d...
 
e(n)-g...
 (UT:153)
e-ch...
or: en-h...
e-'l...
 
e-m...
 
e-b...
 
e-'r...
 (MR:373)
e-h...
 
e-d...
 
S T O P
o, od "from"
o b...
 
o ch...
 
o d...
 
o g...
 
o ch...
 
o 'l...
or: o thl...
o m...
 
o ph...
 
o 'r...
or: o thr...
o s...
 
o th...
 
S P I R A N T
or "above"
or v...
 
or ch...
 
or dh...
 
or '...
 
or ch...
 
or 'l...
 
or v...
(or mh...¹)
or ph...
 
or 'r...
 
or s...
 
or th...
 
 
In some words, initial [ mb, nd, ng ] are here written due to descent from Common Eldarin's nasal stops *mb, *nd, *ng (respectively). These also mutate differently:


mb...
nd...
ng...
S O F T
(e.g. i, sg. def. art.)
i mb...
(–m...²)
i nd...
(–n...²)
i ng...
 
N A S A L
an "for, toward"
a(m) mb...
 
a(n) nd...³
 
an (n)g...
 
M I X E D
en- "of, belonging to"
e-mb...
 
e-nd...
(en-d...¹)
en-g...
 
S T O P
o, od "from"
o mb...
 
o nd...
 
o ng...
 
S P I R A N T
or "above"
or b...
 
or d...
 
or g...
 

¹    A alternative spelling; also distinctive in the case of [ m ] (SD:129).
²    In compounds and between vowels.
³    Cf. Haudh-en-Ndengin, Silm./WJ (en- with pl. : Nasal).


          Addendum: The one case commonly left untreated, an historically S-final particle like o (h-), *oh "about, concerning" (< √OS, Etym:379) would probably cause the mutations one can deduce by comparing its real-world counterpart, the Old Irish/Old Welsh GEMINATION following proto-Celtic *-s (Thurneysen, §§ 230, 240, 243) with the Brythonic-esque development history of Sindarin:

          B: o b- (*bb); C: o ch- (*kk), D: o d- (< *dd in both W&S); F: (unchanged or spelt oph f-); G: o g- (*gg); H: o ch- (*s(s)kh); L: (unchanged); M: (unchanged or spelt om m-; cp. Etym:386-7); N: o(n) n- (any analogy btw. nasals?); P: o ph- (*pp); R: o(th) r- (to dist. from or "above"; also = Etym:387); S: o(s) s-; T: o th- (*tt); TH: o(th) th-

Id est, the end result appears to practically parallel the Sindarin effect known to us as the Stop Mutation. (These hypotheses should of course be tempered by Tolkien's own possible elaborations on Eld. √AS(A) in PE17:41 — currently unavailable to this author.)



NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

Plurals

          The common or generic plural of Sindarin nouns and adjectives is formed via an (history-rooted) process called the i-affection (or umlaut) — essentially the same process as the nowadays rare English phenomenon mouse – mice. It shifts the phonetic value of a word's vowels, yet treating contracted diphthongs in compound elements like the originals¹ and leaving stressed (original) long vowels unchanged.

Directional examples, analogically applicable on similar syllable structures (at first hand to same vowel in same place) may be given as follows (for the diphthongs see Note 1):

[ A ] :   râd > raid "paths" — thanc > thainc "clefts" [-nc, -nt] — alph > eilph "swans" [liq. + fric.] — narn > nern "tales" [-ng, -rn²] — nDún|adan > nDún|edain "Atani"
[ E ] :   sên > sîn "these [things]" — certh > cirth "runes" — peng > ping "bows" — mae|cheneb > mae|chenib "sharpsighted [ones]" — nedhu (†nedhw) > nedhy "cushions"
[ I ] :   cîl > cîl "passes, gaps" — inc > inc "ideas" — Mirion > Míryn "Silmarils" — Girith|ron > Girith|roen "Decembers"
[ O ] :   thôl > thŷl "helmets" — orch > yrch "Orcs" — ngollor > ngellyr "magicians" — Rodon³ > Rodyn "[Chiefs of the] Valar" — romru (-rû̀) > *remry "sounds of horns" (: PM:353)
[ U ] :   f > luif "times, occasions" — thund (VT46:16 = thond) > thynd "roots" — lumren > *lymrin "shady [things]" — curu (†curw) > cyry "crafts, aptitudes" (VT45:24)
[ Y ] :   (does not change)

¹    Usually o (ó : glor-) from au (aw : √gláw-ar) > pl. oe (but note the structure ngawad > *ngewaid "howlings" : Etym:375). Other diphthongs generally resist change, save ai in monosyllables from √I : cair (√kir) > cîr "ships".
²    [ a > e ] also before any consonant + suffix : mallen > mellin "[items] of gold". Whenever open-syllable forms like adan, edhel, onod become bound, [ a, e, o always > e ] : *onodmar > *enedmair "ent-houses".
³    OS *(a)rǭ́to(ndo) < CE *arā́tō (stressed original long vowel). Sim. roval > rovail "wings" (for **revail). The compound condir (caun-ndîr) "mayor" contains an old stressed diphthong (= a long vowel); the plural is identical.

Irregular formations (often poetic or archaic vocabulary) :   ael > aelin "pools" — êl > elin "stars" (poet.) — fela > fili "caves" — > *huain or *húin "dogs" (OS *kʰugani vs. analogy) — ôl > ely "dreams, visions" (OS *olohi) — ranc >rengy (c. pl. rainc) "a person's arms" (OS *rañkʰui/√RAK) — tôr > teryn "brothers" (poet., for c. sg. muindor, pl. muindyr) — tinc >tingy (c. pl. tinc) "metals" (OS *tiñkʰui) — thêl > theli "sisters" (c. sg. muinthel, pl. muinthil)

There exist also some poetic singular nouns, connected to the commonplace plural :   âr > erain "kings" — nêl > nelig "teeth" — ôr > eryd "mountains" — thôr > theryn "eagles"

          The group or class plural is another possible plural formation in Sindarin, characterized by its common use to denote various peoples and creatures of Arda. It consists of the characteristic word, singular noun, adjective (PM:330) or T-stem (Etym:387; WJ:387), suffixed with -rim (-lim), -lir or (commonly with a subject involving pejorative allusions) -choth (*post-nasal/Gondorean -hoth [L:178]). Examples of attested group plurals include haradrim "Southrons, people from the south" (i.e. not a plural of "south"!), rochirrim "horselords, Men of Rohan", dernlir "line of the thrawn, Dwarves" (PE17:46), glamhoth "noise-crowd" (i.e., Orcs). The suffix -lir also appears exceptionally in group plurals denoting inanimate things or natural formations, e.g. aeglir "a row of [mountain] peaks" (LotR). (With this compare Thang-orodrim, the name of Morgoth's natural fortress — containing a group plural that in quotidian Third Age language might firstly spring to mind "people associated with mountains"? [PE17:190!])

To be noted: Since it is in essence a compound made of singular nouns, the group plural might be grammatically viewed as a singular form, and therefore require a singular adjective or verb as its attribute.

          The last of the three Sindarin plurals is the collective plural, used for universal and comprehensive reference (alluding to any imaginable representatives of a given idea at the time of speaking), and also for any lately occurring objects in pairs which the now obsolete dual number-ad had encompassed in antiquity (L:427). The collective plural is formed from nouns (or adjectives to appear as name elements) with the suffix -ath (long monosyllabic nouns from √I behave like lîr > liriath "straight lines" and fair > firiath "mortals"). Old final geminates now usually written with one consonant, such as lam or perian are relengthened and yield lammath "tongues, languages" and periannath "halflings" (L:425), respectively. Furthermore note the behaviour of [ mp, nc, nt¹ ] after the patterns tump > *tummath "humps" (sec. Etym:369) and tinc > *tingath "metals". (Whereas thond gives thonnath "roots".)

The collective plural is a genuine grammatical plural and receives plural attributes (an umlaut-plural adjective), as evidenced by names like Pinnath Gelin (qq.v. RC:525).

¹    Given forms like the (educated?) numeral canthui and the fact that -nt- is a possible prevocalic combination both in earlier "Noldorin" (PE13) and Welsh, it is to be expected
       that the collective plurals for words ending in -nt may show "dialectal variation" (= a changing correlation of ideas and phonoevolutionary rules entertained by Tolkien).


NUMBERS

          Unlike Sindarin adjectives, cardinal numerals tend to precede nouns in the albeit briefly attested material (mirroring the behaviour of numbers in the Welsh language, Tolkien's main model for Sindarin). An older development stage fragment (Artist & Illustrator, p. 150) suggests that a number is followed by a plural noun complement showing no Mutation. (Word compounds, standing in as adjectives or used as names, are formed with a singular noun, e.g. tad-dal "two-legged, biped", Menegroth "Of/With a Thousand Caves". In these the second element suffers Soft Mutation when the number does not end in the root consonants -l, -r [in which cases Spirant Mutation results]).

Cardinals 1—10 (PE17; VT42) :   mîn (1), tâd (2), neled, nêl (3), canad (4), leben (5), eneg (6), odo(g) (7), tolo-d, -dh (8), neder (9), cae or pae (10)
(Compounds, showing the alternative stems :   nelthil triangle, *nelest or *nelt third part [: VT48], *canthil square, canath fourth part, farthing [PM:45])

          Ordinal numerals behave like adjectives: they follow the noun in a lenited form.

Ordinals :   minui (1st), tadui (2nd), nelui (3rd), canthui (4th), lefnui (5th), enchui (6th), odothui (7th), tollui (8th), nedrui (9th), caenui or paenui (10th)
(Special forms :   main prime, pre-eminent, taid side-, supporting, secondary, neil, nail holding third place, third)

Note also the elemental prefixes :   eb-, eph- *"early, Früh-, Vor-, first of two", cad-, cath- *"after-, latter" (PM:136, in light of Q forms)

Ordinals are also used in expressions of time (date) : erin dollui Lothron "on the eighth of May" (: definite preposition)

          Ad notam: an authentic quote from SD:129, nelchaenen uin Echuir "[it being the] thirty-first (sic?) day of the Stirring", demonstrates a possible prepositional alternative to announce the larger unit to which the day belongs (i.e., the month) by using uin "from/of the" — this also happens to reflect the Welsh announcement of date with o "from, of" (e.g. ar y cyntaf o [fis] Gorffennaf "on the first of July" [with optional fis /vis/ = "month"]).


ADVERBS

          As a general rule, Sindarin adverbs are formed by na followed by an adjective under Soft Mutation. (Similar to Welsh yn, Irish go.)

Some adverbs are fusions resulting from such close linking, e.g. an-ann "for a long [time]". An instead of na might even be a common preference before a vowel.

          Tolkien's notes published in PE17 feature adverbial ideas expressed via prefixes, e.g. fer- "soon, promptly" (+ Soft Mutation). Presumably, though, one could also express the preceding example with *na fair (containing a same-root adjective feir, fair from PE17:181). (Such a paraphrase would undoubtedly most belong in a culturally distanced, non-Eldarin environment of Sindarin speakers!)

          Given the lead of the material (Etym:364; LB:354; SD:129), it can be inferred that some adjectives are also applicable (can be understood) as adverbs just by themselves. Monosyllables and ones ending in -ol are the most likely, perhaps also -eb (cf. Q -vë), and (on occasion) -ui. A common real-world factor is the essive sense (often with zero-suffix): hence, if sticking the English word "as" in front of an adjective creates a sensible phrase, it might be conveyable with just one word in Sindarin — just like dîn¹ "[as/being/standing] silent" works in LB:354. (Likewise compare German -ich, etc.)

          Adverbs of one component like si "now", taw "to that dimension; thither" (PE19) suffer Soft Mutation when placed after a verb form (or another adverb) that historically ended in a vowel — such as the imperative : LotR/II:IV (WJ:371).

          Other items and paraphrases of interest :   ab dâd oer "after two morrows, the day after tomorrow" — ad "again" — air (†eir), ero, eriol "alone, solely, only" — ē̆d "forth, out; ?anymore" in VT50? — *edra "forward" (cp. PE17:14; PE11:23) — ennas "there; *there is/are" — eno *"still, immer noch" (VT50) — *ethírol "carefully" — far, -n "enough" — *hair "one finds, (i.e.) there is" [KHIR] — him "continually, constantly" — íd "extremely, very" (PE17) — io galan "a day ago, yesterday" — lae (adj laew) "a great number, many" (VT45) — lui daid (na lui) "sometimes, at times" — mae "well, gut" — minuial "[be it] morrowdim, tomorrow" zero-essive : SD:129 — *ne gwannor "yesterday" more lax(nā̆d, †naw) gar "is conceivable, may (be, etc.)" at back of sent.palan "afar, far and wide, widely" — rem (na rem) "often, frequently" : cf. e.g. Celticrhanc "awry" (PE17) — *sín < *si-nen, *be hen "this way, like so" — sír (ned lû vín, erin lúath hin) "today (nowadays, these days)" — û "no, not" (PE17:144)

          ¹    Adjective in Silm. Appendix (maybe historically paralleling TC:195, Etym:376, or poss. *-enia). In WJ:185 and PE17, dîn is given as a noun meaning "silence" (OS *dinie or *dīne < *dēnē?) — ultimately there's no reason why both such forms (whether historically separate or not) could not coexist; cf. S rîn "crowned" vs. "queen" (noun extended from the adjective) and Old Irish fír "true" vs. fír "an oath to establish truth".


PRONOUNS

Subject pronouns

          The pronominal subject in Sindarin (as in Celtic etc.) is already sufficiently represented by the personal endings in verbs, limiting the use of separate personal subject pronouns mostly to "X [is/are] Y" type assertions — the Sindarin versions of which always omit the present tense forms of "to be" altogether (VT44) similar to Hebrew or Russian. In The King's Letter (SD:128-9) a subject pronoun appears also separately in front of an action verb (reminiscent of English), possibly to clarify the subject (operator) among various other nominatives.

A table of attestations (still plausible after LotR) and reconstructed forms :

SingularPlural
1st personim (#ni-, !ín-¹)   I, яmín   *we (as well); (it is) with us [VT44]
2nd person
ech [PE17] = 2 sg. refl. ? 
ci   you, ты [PE17]
*eil (ail)²   you (resp, formal)
 
*lín   *you (as well); (it is) with you
3rd person
 
 
 
es(t) [VT50] = 3 sg. refl. ? 
e   he, он   — arch. †(h)o, csp. to masc. pl. †(h)ŷn
*e or he †/s-/?   she, она
ha †/s-/?   it, оно (inanimate)
#te, *tā̆(n)   cp. Icel. , Sp. es- (OIr. suide?)
[!ent or eth   that (one), то(т)]
idi(r) [VT50], !tí(n), *tain   they
 
hain †/s-/?   they (inanimate)
 
[!int, ī̆th (#2, VT50)]

¹    From OS *inie; cp. Etym:392. Unsuffixed, the stem could be confused with the refl. poss. pn. ī̆n and as such would be considered obsolete. However, the pair Q Narvinyë, S Narwain may point to II ev. ptn. *ain.
²    Assuming that i-affection still went 'regularly' (or analogously) with OS *(C)eCie, cp. Gateway § 4.105 (also paralleling unsuffixed Welsh pres. 3 sg. verbs from Celt. *[root]-jet- : Morris-Jones p. 322; cp. 93, 164-5).

          For the negative equivalent of the equational sentence, one requires only the verb uin "I am not" (PE17:145, cp. Etym:396 [Q]) which is conjugated for person (*ui-g [-dh] "thou art not", etc.) and has a past stem úne-. When it governs another verb (thereupon meaning "X does/do not") it is followed by the lenited personless sg. [e.g. gār (< °c-)] or personless pl. form [gerir] of that verb (depending on the number of the subject). — Ad notam: In the published LotR (Appendix A) we are treated to a variant solution to this, i.e. an undeclinable negative particle ú- (+ Len.) prefixed to conjugated verbs. (In the syntactic situation where it appears, a present tense verb is used to denote an unstopped habit begun in the past.)

Object pronouns (direct)

          These forms are used as the direct object of a verb, equivalent to the accusative case forms of pronouns in inflected languages. The direct object normally suffers Soft Mutation (Lenition) in Sindarin, whereas the consonant-began forms below are given in an 'already lenited' state, not changing any further.

SingularPlural
1st personnin   me, mich#ven (< °m-)   us, uns
2nd persongī̆ ~ #gen   you, dich#len   you, euch
3rd person
 
hen or (d)en   *him, *her   — with #2 cp. OIr. (s)ón
han   it (inanim.)
dī̆, *dain   them
hain   them (inanim.)

Relative pronoun

          The relative pronoun ("that, which; who") is virtually identical to the definite article, showing in basic function the number of that which it refers to : sg. i (+Soft), pl. in (+Nasal).

The word following it is NOT mutated, however, if the relative pronoun carries an objectival sense (its referent is implicitly an action target) : Perhael i sennui Panthael estathar aen "Perhael who(m) they should rather name Panthael" (SD:129).

          Indirect action, motion. In the light of current knowledge it is in the very least laborious to determine explicitly, whether Sindarin resorts in this to analytic constructions (more than one word, MnE to, from which) or does it prefer inflectional remnants (like MnE whence). Celtic (Welsh) and Spanish are morphologically similar environments whose relative phrases have cast aside inflections and now entirely prefer the analytic mode. But in Sindarin there is ai (from The Lord's Prayer fragment) which some view as an inflected-like (case-powered) form or fusion capable of carrying the meaning "to (those) which, to (those) who". However, another challenge arises (when attempting the same from a more conventional angle): does one set off from *ja-da or *je-da if desiring to reconstruct another reasonable dynamic form (noting WJ:366; VT47:21; SD:129)? Or would these "old and normal" inflectional remnants (at least the "shorter" ones with CE *-da, *-se?) actually wind up as conjunctions instead, as their Common Celtic counterparts have shown to do in medieval Welsh (Morris-Jones, p. 448)? (Note early Q tárë for "once, when"!) The late discovery of pronominal adverbs like taw with proto-stage meanings still attached seems to argue the opposite. Ergo one might view the Derdzinskian lead (with forms like *ial "from which") as something that Tolkien himself at least one point could have considered a treadable direction. (Also cf. Gateway, pp. 108-9.)


VERBS

          A theoretical abstract on Sindarin verbal conjugation follows, based on personal views deduced from material thus far available to the author. Included are also hypothetical passive or impersonal forms (apparently last met in a fragment published in Vinyar Tengwar #50) — perhaps comparable to a similar conjugation found in the Celtic languages.

For a full set of personal endings (finally known from PE17) see here.

'primal stem' 
 
present 
 
past 
 
future-conditional 
[ SD:129 ]
impersonal 
[ Etym:372, 396; VT50 ]
active & passive imperative 
[ LotR; UT:65; VT44 ]
participles 
 
infinitives 
 
Derived,
Prefixed
derived
oltha-
(pres: ")
 
olthon  "I dream"
oltho-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
oltha  "he dreams"
olthannen or elthennin¹
olthanne-g/-dh, etc.  (2 sg.)
olthant  "he dreamed"
olthathon  "I shall dream"
olthatho-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
olthatha  "he shall dream"
(en) olthar
?olthoe [*olsǭia < *olosā-jā]
eleich [*olohia < *olos-jā]
oltho!  "(may ..) dream!"
oltho den  "let .. be dreamed"
 
olthol
olthan(nen)
elthiel
olth-od [†-o]
olthad  [itid.
      MR:373]
Root I
[ WJ:415;
PE17:sev. ]
car-
(pres: ceri-)
 
cerin  "I do, carry out"
ceri-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
câr  "he does, er macht"
agoren  "I did (do)"
agore-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
agor²  "he did (do)"
cerithon  "I shall do"
ceritho-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
ceritha  "he shall do"
(en) °cerir / °*córar
ceir, cair [*karia < *kar-jā] :
remod. as OS *kar(r-) > car?
caro!  "(may ..) carry out!"
caro den  "let .. be done"
 
car-el, -ol
carnen
córiel
(†)ceri
cared
 
Root II
 
[ Etym:363 ]
haf-  [ VT45 ]
(pres: hevi-)
 
hevin  "I sit"
hevi-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
hâf /hɑːv/  "he sits"
hemmin  "I sat"
hemmi-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
hamp, havant  "he sat"³
hevithon  "I shall sit"
hevitho-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
hevitha  "he shall sit"


 
havo!  "(may ..) sit!"

 
havel
hammen
hóviel
(†)hevi
haved
 
Prefixed
root

 
tre-nar-
(pres: treneri-)
 
trenerin  "I narrate"
treneri-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
trenar  "he narrates"
trenoren  "I narrated"
trenore-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
trenor  "he narrated"
trenerithon  "I shall narrate"
treneritho-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
treneritha  "he shall narrate"
(en) °trenerir / °*trenórar
tre-neir, -nair [*trenaria <
      *teré-nʲar-jā]
trenaro!  "(may ..) narrate!"
trenaro den  "let .. be narrated"
 
trenar-el, -ol
trenarnen
trenóriel
(†)treneri
trenared
 
Mixed
[ Etym:360;
VT45:29 ]
sog+a-
(pres: segi-)
 
segin  "I drink"
segi-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
sôg  "he drinks"
sogannen or segennin¹
soganne-g/-dh, etc.  (2 sg.)
sogant, sunc  "he drank"
segithon  "I shall drink"
segitho-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
segitha  "he shall drink"
(en) °segir / °*súgar
suig [*sukia < *suk-jā : /ui/]
 
sogo!  "(may ..) drink!"
sogo den  "let .. be drank"
 
sogol
sungen, sogen
súgiel
sog-od [†-o]
sogad
 
Irregular
 
 
[ PE17:148 ]
gwa-4
(pres: gwae-)
 
 
gwaen  "I go, fare"
*gwae-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
*gwâ  "he goes"
 
anwen  "I went"
anwe-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
anu [anw]  "he went"
 
*gwaethon  "I shall go"
*gwaetho-g/-dh  (2 sg.)
*gwaetha  "he shall go"
 


 
 
*g(w)aw! = glenno!  "(may ..) go!"

 
#1 CE *wā (ā) : cp. WJ:372 &al ]
*gwaul [*wǭla]
gwan-wen, -nen
*guiel [*wǭiela]
 
?gwae CE *wa-jā, -ijā
?gwâd    = glennod
?gwa-ed = (g)ledh-;
      #el-  [ PE17 ]

¹    Cf. rithessin *"I strived" (< rithas) and medennin "I ate" (PE17). I-affected past stem was already advocated in The Etymologies' time by e.g. hennin (363), but contrasted by some forms like drammen (354, "pa.t."). I-affected past
              stem is not recommended here for verbs that show word-historical vowel lengthening in past tense formation, given the lead of agorer *"they made" (VT50) and anna- : pa 1 sg. ónen "I gave, have given" (LotR/A; RC:700).

²    With original stop consonant stems (from monosyllabic roots), a nasally affixed past formation appears instead (PE17:42, 131) : adhanc "he slew" (< DAK/NDAK), *agamp "he leapt" (< KAP), *ebent "he spoke, has spoken" (< KWET). In
              the stem used for other persons, the contained consonant clusters downgrade to ng, mm and nn/nth, respectively. The presence of i-affection ("Noldorin" stop roots: Etym:363) remains unclear, though nasal infixion certainly allows it.

³    At least on a theoretical level one could also expect *?achof, cf. aw "he had" (< ahawv < *asām-) from SAM, a similar nasal root (PE17:173). A more probable (certainly for the above theory a more internally coherent) example of the latter
              phonoevolutionary type might be *îl "it shone (white)" (< *isīl- < #SIL, LB:354), given that the first CE root phoneme disappears analogously in the liquid-root past tense aul "(s)he, it grew" for gala- *"to grow" (GAL, PE17:131-2).

4    Although it is suggested that Tolkien may have abandoned gwa- as the verb "to go", the forms provided in PE17 are highly illustrative morphologically nonetheless and certainly help further the study of other irregular verbs, namely na-
              "to be" (impt. no, VT44). Another verbal noun resembling the stem #gwae- is athae "ease, comfort" — however a present tense verb given in PE17:148 is eitha- (< *atʰia- < *ath-?). Be as it may with #-ae as any kind of "infinitive of
              short-stem irregulars" (cp. Celtic sound-parallels of CE >> S in Morris-Jones, p. 100), the prec. noun-verb correlation is still a thing to bear in mind — especially when a reconstruction may relate to an i-affected present stem (OS *-ia-).


Past tense

          The Sindarin past tense (properly a "preterite") also translates the perfect and pluperfect tenses of many real-world languages (cf. Slavic, Semitic, Old Germanic). The "regular" suffix for past 3 sg. is -ant — however in PE17 we also find a pro-choice intransitive past suffix -as(t) (describing a personal action without an object) entertained by Tolkien. (Intransitivity is also found to be the combining semantic factor of the highly similar "Noldorin" preterites after the model of mudas "s/he laboured" in The Etymologies & VT45/46.)

          Prefixed verbs produced by stop roots (final -K, -P, -T) display nasal past : trevant "(s)he traversed, has traversed" (trevad- < BAT, Etym:352).

          Mixed verbs (whose attested conjugations resemble one another) include also gar+a- (pa.t. garant) "to hold, have in possession", lod+a- "to float" (VT45), mad+a- "to eat" (PE17), and mel+a- "to love" (VT45). #Fara- "to hunt" might also belong here, since the infinitive given in Etym:387 is faro (cp. garo), not **feri.

Imperative and Negative Command

          The negative imperative ("do not do/etc.") is formed with the indeclinable auxiliary particle avo (or in fast speech av-) followed by a lenited imperative verb. (WJ:371)

The Participles

          The active participle is formed by suffixing the consonant-final Root verbs with *-el (H.F. & D.S.), the I-root preferent -iel (RGEO:72; L:278), or -ol (cf. rhú-garol, PE17:170). Derived verbs always take -ol (as in hwinia- > hwiniol "twirling"). Although the active participle often stands in as an acting adjective, scholarly opinions vary as to whether it can be pluralized — the Quenya cognate does not sport a distinguishable plural form.

          Observing the adverb representative edregol (from ET + ERÉK?) next to such real-world counterparts as Finnish eritoten "in especial", one might arrive at the conclusion that it is the Sindarin active participle which is used to also translate the adverbial or instructive infinitive — to describe an action simultaneous to the main action of the phrase; i.e., "he looked towards the shore, raising his hand". This co-function of the active participle is probably known to most students of the classical I-E languages Latin and Greek. (Compare the corresponding past reference made with perfective active participle below.)

          Attested passive participle like forms include dangen "(the) slain (one)" (PE17:97), eglan "(the) forsaken or exiled (one)", gwanwen "(the) departed (one)", neithan "(the) maltreated (one)", hollen "closed, shut" (PE17:98). They show predictable plurals (dengin, eglain, gwenwin) in nominal function.

          Here analyzed as a Mixed type verb, mad+a- "to eat" displays a passive participle of either the form mannen or maden ("eaten") — both given in PE17:131. Important guiding examples to be sure, and also interesting polar oscillation results to compare with earlier non-nasal-infixed formations like dolen "hidden" (OS *daulena < DUL) and naud "bound" (OS *nauta < NUT).

          Looking at the tendency of "things being kept simple" found both in real-world languages and in Tolkien's morphological enterprise, it seems rather safe to assume that all the forms in the first paragraph are indeed "grammatically passable" passive participles. The derived verb #onna- "to conceive" attestedly has a passive participle in the form of #onnen and not *(*)onnan, but this may simply be realistic "sub-class" variation, apparently often following the difference in verb suffixes (cf. THUR+Â: thor-en vs. TIR: tir-nen) but more probably resulting from a common phenomenon called analogy (here with nasal or liquid root participles; a theory that the OS forms in Gateway would parallel). Objectively speaking, one must admit the Professor's mobile ideas, coming from different times work oddly and surprisingly well together — and in their ostensible "irregularities" they conjure up for us a linguistic environment that ultimately looks more realistic than any fantastic Esperanto-regularity (with buckets of accidence arranged in plumb, geometric rows that stand apart and never touch). Furthermore, one may observe that none of this prevents a form like neithan from still sporting a longer variant neithannen as well (the possible homonymity with past 1 sg., if not naturally averted with i-affected past stem, presenting little nuisance in any language), externally, say, "in the spirit of Slavic"; such supporting forms might even serve a purpose, e.g. as indicators of the copula ("to be") in a language like Sindarin that omits it in the present tense (VT44; AI:150) — an operational trait also shared by Russian.

(Of course, in the "Noldorin" notes related to The Etymologies, one indeed finds the form prestannen "affected [of vowel]", given "on a detached slip" according to CJRT.)

          The perfective active participle (commonly recognizable from an accented vowel and the ending -iel) is a feature unique to Sindarin. It can be used to translate the English phrase "having done/etc. st" or "after (do)ing st" (RGEO:72; ?LB:354). One who has already studied foreign languages may compare it with comprehensive forms (contracted sentences) like those found in the Romance family (e.g. the Spanish gerund). The real-world thing resembling it most is probably the Russian past gerund.

          The perfective active participle is often encountered in verses depicting Elbereth (the Queen of the Valar). Presumably formed via root vowel lengthening in ancient times, the participle reaching the Sindarin stage ought to regularly show the "raised or shifted vowel" phenomenon also known from Tolkien's past tense system presented in WJ:415 and PE17:173 (already included at the "Noldorin" concept stage, VT45/46) : henia- > *hóniel "having understood" (< KHAN : cf. PE17:82). Verbal stems not lengthened because of the following consonant cluster instead show the i-affection (caused by the suffix -iel) that is now able to "come to view" (cp. with plurals of nouns) : hence lasta- > *lestiel "having listened; one who has listened".

Infinitive

          The infinitive (the "basic form" of the verb) is a conjugation whose looks in especial Tolkien appears to have been revamping continually, before and after LotR.

            The forms -i (: Q -ië) and -o (< OS *-ǭbe, *-ǭbi) are "Noldorin" stage inventions from The Etymologies (c. 1938); however note the late entry nathlo "welcome, be kind to" in PE17:141. (Did Tolkien perhaps consider keeping -o as an alternative or variational form, e.g. for verbs resembling W gweithio, et sim?)
            -od (an ending for Derived & Mixed, apparently) is from PE17:132 (LotR period), a reinstatement of older "Noldorin" stage preference (PE13).
            -ad features as an action noun in The Etymologies (hammad, 363), later in LotR's time as a verb form (1951 : tírad, SD:129). The suffix was encountered onwards ad obscurum, also without any separate infinitive counter (1959 : eithad ɪɪ, WJ:365)
            -ed is found appointed as infinitive (for Root verbs) in both older and later notes of the Professor (with it cf. Cabed-en-Aras, published Silm./WJ:432).

          In SD:129, the infinitive incarnation -ad (since popularly called a "gerund" after Salo & Fauskanger) is used by Tolkien to connote a message (e aníra tírad...) which in some languages (Finnish) can be understood just as well if paraphrased with the same arrangement that is used in reporting action (for which English may substitute a "that" phrase; e.g. "I saw the King greet his friends" = "I saw that he greeted his friends"; "I can only hope to do the right thing" = "... that I do the right thing"). In Spanish, Latin, etc., a basic reported action sentence likewise includes the infinitive.

Expressing Modality and Common Idioms

          Patterns found in these mostly reconstructed suggestions might be useful when considering how Sindarin expresses the aspects that are given in the English.

*Boe nin le drenared o chenid nín.   I am compelled to (I must) tell you about my visions.    [assuming Soft Mut. after dative pn. lē̆ (prob. < CE *le-da, -se sct W)]
*Horn im le drenared o chenid nín.    [Etym:364]
*I iant lim athradatham aen.    We should cross the bridge quickly. (Let us cross the bridge quickly.)
*Borwair nŷf an faras. Borwair hain h-/s- ammen.    Snares are necessary in order to hunt ('for/in hunting'). They are necessary for us.    [= *boer-yn, -ib]
Penim vast.    We need/lack bread.    [PE17:144]
*Odog garthod gar i 'obel godref.    Seven [souls] may defend the village together.    [cf. AI:150 : impers. gar = Finn. saattaa, voi with any number]
Guren bêd ennin...   I think that... (lit. 'My heart tells me...')    [*original vowel-final possessive suffix or similar enclitic > Soft Mut. follows]


CONJUNCTIONS

          A list of Sindarin conjunctions (both attested and hypothetical ones) may include

          a(h), ar "and" — *ab han, *or han, *tallu "after/upon that, then" [ #3 : cp. LR:72 ]ach *"but, even though, whereas, be it that" (VT50) — * D.S., *pi CE *kwē, *ae CE *ajă +case pn "if, should it be that" — *ae hi, *ad ae D.S. "although, even if" — ndan, *anant D.S. "but, however" — egor "or" — ?i¹, *io² [/ *ho : Q sā̆ ], *ian(no)³ "that, daß" — *(or lû) ī̆w 4 "when, as" — *pib-ae(n), -i(n) : CE *kwikwiie-  †"whenever" [VT49] — si - a "now (here) - and, (ext.) both - and" — sui 5 s/h (Len.) "so that" — *toe (tui)6 t/d (Len.) *"as, when; (like so [is], etc.)"

¹    From a possible reading of VT44 text, i.e. sui mín i gohenam... ?"as [it-is-]with-us that we (-am) forgive..." — note also the absence of Lenition after i. (The other explanation would have the morpheme border contain the plural 
     rel. pn. i(n) +Nasal Mutation.) — Note: Another VT44 item which may carry the sense is actually the never translated di (R. "что" vs. "то, что"), should ai be simply another plural impersonal subject in the line of î, îr (VT50:13-14).
²    An unstressed position outcome of CE *já-be, *já-se or * (sim. taw ~ do 'dorthin', PE19) — Cp. counterparts in Romance (etym.), Q i [acc. object *ī ?], yā̆, ya(n), Finn. että, jotta [< ete- (esi ) & jote- (jo-)], MnGr. που.
³    *ian : an unstressed result of *jan(a), *janen '[that] how' or *janā. (Cf. MnGr. πως, Ger. damit, etc.) — *ianno (< *jás-nā̆-, *janen-nā̆-) emulates Middle W ymae (> W mai ) || MnW form resembling "(where) is" still : JMJ p. 349
4    Lit. "[on the hour] which/when" (a common etymology of rel. "when"for or indicating time cf. SD:129); *ī̆(w) < CE *ii-se (cf. Etym:383 & Morris-Jones p. 114) = Q írë, ier = Finn. kun (older kuin).
5    Assuming origin from CE *sī-be i- (D.S.) or *sā-be i-; extended use as conj. would then parallel W fel y(r) "id." (also etym. parallel) and Latin ut, recalling also Rum. dacă (< L. ita quod?) — cp. Q sívë  'as [here]' < *'this-like', VT43.
6    #1 < CE *tā jā (Q eqv: "then once/when"); bracketed form < *tābe i- (cp. Gateway p. 286).

          The conjunction "until" is not known; for a paraphrase in temporal references one may alternatively weigh between the constructions *taw anann (d)i *"so/as long that" (c/ CE *tā̆be-), *na han ī̆(w) *ad id cum/quando (see Note 4 above), and na(n) lû en- [+noun/vn] "til the time of" (first suggested by Taramiluiel).

          Another interesting observation is that Modern Welsh uses one preposition, tan (dan), for both "under, beneath" and "till, until". A parallel extension appears in Finnish, upon the postposition alla "under" when talking about an event holding some kind of significance : e.g. juhlien alla = in the time [that is left] before the festivities commence.

          The impersonal verb thia "it seems, it appears" (Etym:392) is also an important item. It might conceivably be sometimes used to circumnavigate English "because" (compare Welsh o herwydd "because", containing Celtic *ari-wid- "appearance") — although for that one may also consider the plausibility of such stand-ins as *an "since" (popularly assumed from Q an "id."), (a) thêl vs. imps. *thail (*stel-jā) "(and) it purposes, intends", *'ni(n) thelu "for the purpose, goal" (*-mā) +inf/gen phr, na ýred "by course of that" (-ed : PE17:46), (ar) elo "(and) lo / be it seen" (< id. Finn.), etc. — or where the occasion allows it, simply using the perfect active participle verb ("..., having done s&s") instead.


PREPOSITIONS

          Sindarin prepositions are short, Celtic-esque (but as a general rule, non-inflected) particles followed by an historically inherited grammatical mutation. Prepositional phrases also denote the aspects that are expressed via case inflections in "long-form" languages like Finnish and Quenya. As in English, Sindarin prepositions do not distinguish between stative and dynamic senses (being in vs. moving to).

The bracketed consonants appear when the following word begins with a vowel.

adel /+Soft/Spir./ "behind"   an /+Nas./?Soft¹/ "for², bound for"   bo /no Mut.³/ "(resting) on, atop"   ndi /+Soft/ "beneath, in manu; (PE17, di ) with"   e(d) /+Stop/ "out of, forth from"  
en-, e- /+Mix. (Nas.)/ "of, des"   im /+Mix./ "between"   na I /+Soft/ "to, in, into"   na(n) II /+Soft/Nas.¹/ "by, at, provided with"   o(d) /+Stop/ "from, of"  
o(h) /+Stop (Gem.)/ "about; around"   or /+Spir./ "above, over, upon"   sui /+Soft/ "like, as"   trî /+Soft/ "through, via"   vimi) /+Soft³ (VT50)/ "in; within"

¹    Reflecting ideas that Tolkien explored in a LotR-period essay published in Parma Eldalamberon #17. In classic fragments the preposition an governs Nasal Mutation: gurth an Glamhoth! "death to [the] Din-horde!" (UT:39); am Meril "to Rose" (SD:129)
²    I.e., destination/dative, not = "in exchange for, as geld for" (Lat. pro, W am, Ir. ar), for which Sindarin may perhaps either just use dan "back to, back (in return) against" (PE17:38) or ed [+ *mass, *mae(r), *bûr (VT45:7) "out of good of"] (cf. F -sta,
     hyvästä) — if not envelop it within either nef ("on this side of") or (a)thar, !ath ("cross[wise], over", < √Á-TH- vs. *atta- [VT49]; cp. W am [*ambi- "on both sides"], tros [*trāns]). Purely etymologically, Q "on behalf of, for", ara "along" = S *ro,
     *âr / *âdh if such cognates existed. (Assuming Welsh as model, "on behalf of" might be represented with one word [cf. W tros], yet for "in place/stead [of]" we would rather expect some multi-part phrase such as *ne chawed [KHAW] or *nes sad.)
³    The zero-mutation in VT44 ('bo Ceven'; after def. *vin actually Mixed?) may be due to the "mutation already in preposition" situation from word history (*apā-; *imī-?). One is reminded of si vs. hi & the Celtic drift in W: older mal, fal vs. Mn fel /vel/, etc.

          In PE17:147, Tolkien includes the stem nat-, nad- "towards place" which if studied analogically might point to a variant *nad of the preposition of physical motion na I (cp. od = o : WJ:366-7). If we follow the phonetic rules Tolkien himself has priorly established, such a pair of variants should govern Stop Mutation instead of Soft Mutation. However, Soft Mutation is still unambiguously assigned to na "[un]to, towards" on pages 146-7 of the same notes.

          Many prepositions also have definite versions (i.e., they translate English "... the") that are distinguished by the suffix -in, -(e)n : (e)nin "(meant) for the" (LotR/VI:IV), (i)min "between the" (< CE *imbi i-), *tren "through the". They are more regular, governing Mixed Mutation with a singular form and Nasal Mutation when followed by a plural (also the suggested behaviour of en- "of, belonging to" : PE17:97). Some prepositions like ndan prefer a construct with a separate definite article : ndan i "against the" (+Soft w/ sg.).

          "As far as, up to" (Q tenna, Lat. usque ad, tenus) is not attested in the material, however the sense can potentially be expressed via the dynamic preposition na, PE17 prevoc. n' "unto, ad" (cf. especially OIr. co) — either with substantives (e.g. nan Aur Dadui "to/til the 2nd Day"; Latin-wise discernibly *bôr II/taedol nan duin [TAY] or i lend [ban] nan duin "all the way to the river") or, imaginably, with an infinitive/verbal noun (e.g. na doled dī̆n, lit. *"[up] to his/their coming" = "till he/they come").

          "During" might be expressable with an arrangement modeled after the Celtic languages, i.e. ned ŷr [cf. W yn ystod], ned / or or (referring to a past era) (e)rin andrann [c. vi Ir. le linn] — all followed by a noun articled to carry the genitive sense. Similarly be vreniad or am mreniad +G might be used to convey "while, as long as" (bez. use of √BOR-ÓN-, compare the similar Modern Greek set διαρκ-ώ: -ής, [κατά τη] διάρκεια).

          At least in the corpus material, the only Sindarin preposition whose appearance changes with a personal object (me, you, etc.), resulting in just one-piece form due to attached pronominal endings is an :

*an-ni-ni/e-, ?an-n¡e-n- >   ennin   "for me, to me"   VT41:11
*an-ke-ne-, ?an-k¡e-n- >  
*an-de-ne- (2 sg. #DE, PE17:26) >  
*a(n)chen /-ŋχ, -χχ-/  
*annen
"for thee, to thee" – dial./poet. lē̆
resp. or fam. of above  – qq. dē̆, dhē̆ CE *de-da/-se
cp. WR:287 (VT47:36); /ŋχ/ = VT42:10, /(χ)χ/ = JMJ § 99.vi 
*/nn/ (Nas.), vs. coeval */(n)δ/ (Len. = PE17:147) 
*an-si-na; *an-se-ne- >  
  
*assen  
  
"for this [one]; †for her (: Etym:385)"  
  
= masc? (cp. Q se [VT49], S e "he" [vowel!], and 
    unigender Q sena "to him, her, it" in VT49:14) 
*an-me-ne- >   ammen   "for us"   LotR/II:IV; VT44:21, 27 (everywhere /mm/ = Nas.)
*an-le-ne- >   *allen   "for you (pl.)"  
*an-si-n(a)i >  
*an-sa-n(a)i >  
*essin  
*essain  
"for these [ones]"  
"for them" (of inanimates)
  
 
PE17:42: "hain = heinn (< san-)"
*an-teni, ?-tei / *an-en-t(a)i >   *e(n)thin / *enint   "for them (for those [ones])"   cp. #1 with VT44:30, VT50:13-14

          The unattested "beside, next to, near" may also be expressible with the help of a Celtic-like construct, i.e. by pairing a proper synonym for "rim, border, edge" (rain, raw, rîf, *edrif) or "hand" (cam, †maw) together with a preceding locative preposition (vi, ned, na) — cf. MW yn ymyl, ynghyfyl "near, beside, on the side of" from ymyl "rim" and cyfyl "edge, vicinity" (later W ach law, ger llaw : c/ llaw "hand"). In the published material we are presented with an authentic prefix for this idea: among the notes in PE17:145 is listed adh- "by, near, beside" — perhaps even usable as a verb affix in less poetic translations?


VOCABULARY SUPPLEMENT

          Below are found some coinages of the author which among other things (so I hope) follow the rules of "Noldorin"/Sindarin phonetic evolution observed by Tolkien (The Lost Road and Other Writings, The War of the Jewels, et al.), later studied by the distinguished scholars Gilson, Hostetter, Bellet, Iosad, Willis, Derdzinski, etc. and further advanced by the interpretations of Salo, Fauskanger & Renk.

          The "logic" of the compounds. Whenever the availability of elements allows it, a conscious attempt has been made to stick in word formation to semantics (most commonly) found in Germanic, Latin, Celtic and Uralic — the languages Tolkien referred to as his main inspiration. (Though at the operational level Sindarin undeniably displays some very Russian-esque traits as well.)


age (of individual)
 
n.
 
íphathred; iarn-ad (-as, -eth) - YEN; KWA(T); YAR (cp. SKAR, prestann-eth)
cui(l)rin; cuilu ('Lebenszeit') - KOY/KUY; RIN; LU
ask, inquirev.mabed- (1 sg mebedin) - MA; KWET - Q #maquet- (PM:403); cp. S in PE17:166
basement, cellarn.ndíham(math); ndítham(math) - NDI; SAM/THAM
born: be bornv. intr.enia- (past 3 sg enias) - ON(O) (paralleling the verb stock from ORO)
cause, bring aboutv. tr.ceria-, ceiria- (1 sg cerion, ceirion) - KYAR (cp. TYAL)
central, essentialadj.nedhren; enedhui - (É)NED (alt. /th/ for /dh/, < nest [WR:357]) | cf. post aspectus
containv. tr.necheb- (3 sg necheb, 3 pl nechebir) - NED; KHEP
danger, riskn.raes; gorraes (< *rakse < *raksē : itid. Etym:389-390 [Q raxë, VT44:9])
else, otheradj., n.esc, eg(e)n - #ES-EK/EK-ES (Q exa), cp. Etym:373, PE17:55, 184 | 'alius' might also be #edw, -en; cp. edlon
emptyv. tr.cofra- (1 sg cofron) - KUM
entanglev.(†)nuia-, go(n)nuia-, ?-new-ed (*'-ment'); (*insnare) nýra- (cp. VT48:7-8) - SNEW
entwine, interlacev.ath-roea- (t. over from roea- *I. "smile"?), pp. -raen (stem < *rǭia- < *rājā- : PM:363) - RAY
environmentn.osgardh - OS; GAR-AD
expect, await
 
 
v. tr.
 
 
dartha- ("wait, stay, last") - (tr. use might not require additional morphemes — cp. Lat. manere)
anchav-, anchafra- - KHAM (after Welsh/Brythonic example [Morris-Jones § 187] besides S an-glenna-)
amdir- ~ amdiria- - AM #2 [cp. PE17:90]; TIR (i.e., *"to look up on, look increasingly toward, hope for")
favourv. tr.mílanna- (1 sg mílannon) - MEL (assuming the paragon suilanna- as a cpd. with *anta-)
fitv. intr.cevia- (3 sg cevia) - KAM (VT44:14 - sic. RAM, NDAM) : tr. camma-?
forget
 
v. tr.
 
ndadhren- (1 sg ndedhrenin) =ndandren- (cf. WR:55) - NDAN (WJ:412; PE17:166); REN w/ W model
trehena- (1 sg trehenon) - TER; SEN (lit. *'let go of altogether')
get, obtain
 
v. tr.
 
raeda- (1 sg raedon) - RAY (lit. 'catch in a net' — cf. ON , fanga & OSax. girâdan)
tov+a-, tofra- - #TUB #2 (Q tuv- "find"; cp. 1917's Gn. tû- "take, receive, get" = QL tuvu- "receive")
increasev.(g)amma-, (g)ammada- - Gn. gamma-, PE11:37 (cp. Q amba, ambë, PE17)
inspirev. tr.nethan- (1 sg nethenin), nethanna- (1 sg nethannon) - THAN (PE17:82), lit. 'kindle within/into'
keyn.panu (< *panw- < *patmā : Etym:400); padol (< *patla < *patlā) - PAT
lengthn.anath; annas - ÁN-AD (cp. similar roots: LR pp. 398, 363, etc., and also thinnas "shortness")
look for, search for
 
 
v. tr.
 
 
cesta-, cethra- - KETH (PE17:156)
abthor- (1 sg abtherin) - (A)PA; THUR #2 (Q minasurië "enquiry"; surië "Suchen")
ruia- (1 sg ruion) - ROY #1 ('pursue, trail' : cf. Lat. indago)
look out!interj.ethíro! - ET; TIR
noun, Hauptwortn.esbeth - ES; KWET (sim. lass-pelin > lasbelin)
past, Vergangenheitn.gwenwi - WAN (OS *wanwiie : itid. Arda Philology #1 p. 91)
reason, cause
 
 
n.
 
 
câr (-gar | *kjarā), carf vs. ceiru (*kjar-m-/-w-) - KYAR (cf. other palatal roots, e.g. SYAL)
horth; horoth - KHOR (cf. WAR, etc.)
mídhrinc - MIN; RIK(H) [≈ 'primus motor']
recent, most ~
 
adj.
 
laeb-dol, -dern (-genn), -nem (etc.) - LÁY-AK (*laipa) [for cý-?]; TUL (*-tulda); TIR (KEN); NIB
tel-lúvai, -lúven; ródel(wen, -th-ui) (vs. róvedui) - TEL(-ES) (cp. Q telda); LU (CE *lūm-aia; *-inā); MET
sameadj.aif (< *imia < *imjā : Q imya, VT47:37)
save, rescuev. tr.edreitha- (1 sg edreithon) - ET; REK (PE17:38; LotR/II:IV : cf. forms from TEK)
shirt; tunic
 
n.
 
amchamp - AM #2; KHAP
laub (< CE *laupē : Qe. laupë, QL:51)
slow, tarrying
 
adj.
 
lefrol, levon, (*"slowed") lemmen - LEB/LEM
úlag, úlim, úpher, uvreg - LAK / LIM / PHER (PE17:181) / BER-ÉK
smile
 
n.
 
rae (< *raio < *rajō : sic. dae < DAY) - RAY (later surfaced: raen "smiling", PE17:182)
raethir; gelthir - c/ GYEL; STIR (THĒ)
such, that kind ofadj.taed (< OS *taitè : cp. Q, VT49:11); tanui (< OS *tanåia) - TA
support, availv. tr.tolcha-, godolcha- - TUL-UK (: Etym:388, 374; cf. JRRT's Tolchas, VT46:20)
swallowv. tr.lhoga- (1 sg lhogon, 3 sg lhôg) - SLUK (sic. LUT = Mixed : VT45:29)
table
 
 
n.
 
 
pân, padhrind (cp. spread of OE/ON, up to W, OIr.); pangodal [c/ WO; TAL] (gwadal = OIr. *traigred)
talatheg - TAL #2 (dim.)
orthian - OR
tastev. intr., tr.caf- (1 sg cevin); cevia-, ceivia- - KYAB (a curious overlapping with KAM : see fit)
torture, tormentv. tr.mbalcha-; mbaulanna- - ÑGWAL — esp. suffix *-tʰa- is also defensible : cp. /a/+liquid roots like KAL, SKAL
truth, fact, realityn.thaun (< *stʰǭne < *stan- : cf. caun "valour"); ?thain (< OS *stʰania : cf. VT46:16)
turn aroundv.osbertha- (1 sg osberthon) - OS; KWER
value
in 1917's Gn. idreth, PE11:50 
n.
 
(esteem, -ing) sadras, sanneth - cf. √SAT-, sador, sadron in light of Gn. sad- (PE11:66)
(high worth) merwed - MIR (Q mirwa "valuable") | psb. syn-s míl-reth [MEL]; or-vor, -vur [BOR (Q vórë)]
weaponn.escar (-sg-) - SKAR (sth. by which wounding happens, cp. SKAL #1, estel; alternatively, ctn. EK or sim.)
weekn.othor; odothor - OT-OS; AR/UR (compare lefnor "a five-day week", VT45:27)
wombn.mûn - MŌ-N (extendable to "stomach, belly" as in Germanic?)
word stress
 
n.
 
lungrad; lungradant - LUG (Etym. & LT2); DAT (contact d [*t] + d = d : and-duin — qq. Morris-Jones, p. 132)
pethlu - KWET; LUG (ɪɪ [= MHGerm. wiht?] < *lūgè < *lūgu)