Sindarin is one of
the constructed languages devised by
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
for use in his fantasy stories set in
Arda, primarily in
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...
. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the
Elves
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''.
In medieval Germanic-speakin ...
.
The word is
Quenya
Quenya ()Tolkien wrote in his "Outline of Phonology" (in '' Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: is "a sound as in English ''new''". In Quenya is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81. is a constructed l ...
for Grey-elven, since it was the language of the Grey Elves of
Beleriand. These were Elves of the Third Clan who remained behind in Beleriand after the
Great Journey. Their language became estranged from that of their kin who sailed over sea. Sindarin derives from an earlier language called
Common Telerin, which evolved from
Common Eldarin, the tongue of the
Eldar before their divisions, e.g., those Elves who decided to follow the Vala
Oromë and undertook the Great March to
Valinor
Valinor (Quenya'': Land of the Valar''), the Blessed Realm, or the Undying Lands is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the home of the immortal Valar and Maiar on the continent of Aman, far to the west of Middle-earth; he ...
. Even before that the Eldar Elves spoke the original speech of all Elves, or
Primitive Quendian.
In the
Third Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional un ...
(the setting of ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
''), Sindarin was the language most commonly spoken by most Elves in the Western part of Middle-earth. Sindarin is the language usually referred to as ''the Elf-Tongue'' or ''Elven-Tongue'' in ''The Lord of the Rings''. When the
Quenya
Quenya ()Tolkien wrote in his "Outline of Phonology" (in '' Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: is "a sound as in English ''new''". In Quenya is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81. is a constructed l ...
-speaking
Noldor
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor (also spelled Ñoldor, meaning ''those with knowledge'' in his constructed language Quenya) are a kindred of Elves who migrate west to the blessed realm of Valinor from the continent of Middle-earth ...
returned to Middle-earth, they adopted the Sindarin language. Quenya and Sindarin were related, with many
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
words but differing greatly in grammar and structure. Sindarin is said to be more changeful than Quenya, and there were during the First Age a number of regional
dialects
A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...
. The tongue used in
Doriath (home of
Thingol, King of the Sindar), known as
Doriathrin
Sindarin is one of Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien, the constructed languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda (Tolkien), Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoke ...
, was said by many Grey-elves to be the highest and most noble form of the language.
In the
Second Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainu (Middle-earth), Ainur entered Arda (Middle-earth), Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of l ...
, many
Men
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
of
Númenor
Númenor, also called Elenna-nórë or Westernesse, is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was the kingdom occupying a large island to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was the greatest civil ...
spoke Sindarin fluently. Their descendants, the
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, the Dúnedain (; ; ) were a fictional race, race of Man (Middle-earth), Men, also known as the Númenor#Culture, Númenóreans or ''Men of Westernesse'' (translated from the Sindarin term). Those who ...
of
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. The third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings'', '' The Return of the King'', is largel ...
and Arnor, continued to speak Sindarin in the Third Age. Sindarin was first written using the
Cirth
The Cirth (, meaning "runes"; sg. certh ) is a semi‑artificial script, based on real‑life runic alphabets, one of Tolkien's scripts, several scripts invented by J. R. R. Tolkien for the constructed languages he devised and used in his wor ...
, an Elvish runic alphabet. Later, it was usually written in the
Tengwar
The Tengwar () script is an artificial script, one of Tolkien's scripts, several scripts created by J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of ''The Lord of the Rings''. Within the context of Tolkien's fictional world, the Tengwar were invented by the ...
(Quenya for 'letters') – a script invented by the elf
Fëanor. Tolkien based the
phonology
Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...
and some of the grammar of Sindarin on
Literary Welsh, and Sindarin displays some of the consonant mutations that characterize the
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...
.
The Dwarves rarely taught
their language to others,
[ Foster, Robert (1978) '' The Complete Guide to Middle-earth''. Ballantine.] so they learned both Quenya and Sindarin in order to communicate with the Elves, especially the
Noldor
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor (also spelled Ñoldor, meaning ''those with knowledge'' in his constructed language Quenya) are a kindred of Elves who migrate west to the blessed realm of Valinor from the continent of Middle-earth ...
and Sindar.
[, '' Quenta Silmarillion'', ch. 10 "Of the Sindar"] By the Third Age, however, the Dwarves were estranged from the Elves and no longer routinely learned their language, preferring to use
Westron.
Two timelines
For Tolkien's constructed languages one must distinguish two timelines of development:
* One external, in which Tolkien's linguistic taste and conceptions evolved
* One internal, consisting of the sequence of events within the fictional history of Tolkien's secondary world
External timeline
Goldogrin and other early languages
Tolkien was interested in languages from an early age, and developed several
constructed language
A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...
s while still a teenager. Eventually, as a young adult, he created an entire
family of constructed languages spoken by Elves and a
secondary world
A fictional universe, also known as an imagined universe or a constructed universe, is the Continuity (fiction), internally consistent fictional Setting (narrative), setting used in a narrative or a work of art. This concept is most commonly as ...
where these could evolve.
One of these languages was created in around 1915, inspired by the
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...
, particularly
Literary
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...
Welsh. Tolkien called it ''
Goldogrin'' or "Gnomish" in English. He wrote a substantial dictionary of Gnomish and a grammar.
[I-Lam na-Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue. '']Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
'' 11. This is the first conceptual stage of the Sindarin language. At the same time Tolkien conceived a History of the Elves and wrote it in the ''
Book of Lost Tales''. Gnomish was spoken by the Gnomes or ''Noldoli'', the Second Clan of
Elves
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''.
In medieval Germanic-speakin ...
, and ''Elfin'' was the other tongue spoken by the great majority of the Elves of the Lonely Isle.
The beginning of the "Name-list of the ''
Fall of Gondolin''", one of the ''Lost Tales'', gives a good example of both languages (Gnomish and Elfin):
Noldorin
A few years later, c. 1925, Tolkien began anew the grammar and lexicon of the tongue of his Gnomes. He abandoned the words ''Goldogrin'' and ''lam Goldrin'' in favour of ''Noldorin'' (a
Quenya
Quenya ()Tolkien wrote in his "Outline of Phonology" (in '' Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: is "a sound as in English ''new''". In Quenya is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81. is a constructed l ...
word already sparingly used for his Gnomish tongue). This is the second conceptual stage of Sindarin. Tolkien composed then a grammar of this new Noldorin, the ''Lam na Ngoluith''.
['']Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
'' 13. In the early 1930s Tolkien wrote a new grammar of ''Noldorin''.
[Still unpublished as of 2011.] This is the "late conceptual Noldorin". At the same time, Tolkien was developing the Ilkorin tongues of the Elves of the Third Clan who remained in Beleriand (those same Elves whom Tolkien would much later name ''Sindar'' in Quenya). ''Noldorin'' (the Welsh-style language) was at that time conceived as having evolved from the ''Old Noldorin'' spoken in Valinor to the many (not Welsh-like) dialects, later called ''Lemberin'', that were spoken in Beleriand. The Noldorin Elves wanted to speak a distinct tongue from the First Clan Elves who also lived with them and spoke Quenya, and so they developed ''Old Noldorin'' from what Tolkien called ''Koreldarin'': "the tongue of those who left Middle-earth, and came to ''Kór'', the hill of the Elves in Valinor."
[ Tolkien, J. R. R., ''Tengwesta Qenderinwa 1''. ]Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
18, p. 24.
From Noldorin and Welsh
Tolkien created Sindarin in around 1944. He used much of Noldorin and blended it with "Ilkorin Doriathrin" and added in some new features. On that matter, he wrote a side note on his "Comparative Tables": "Doriath
in etc. = Noldorin ((?)viz. as it used to be)".
[ Tolkien, J. R. R. "Comparative Tables". '']Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
'' 19, p. 23. The Ilkorin tongues of 1930–50 spoken in Beleriand, e.g. Doriathrin and the other dialects, were not as much based on Welsh as Noldorin was, and Tolkien wanted his new "tongue of Beleriand" to be a Welsh-type language. In Tolkien's words, "The changes worked on Sindarin
rom Common Eldarinvery closely (and deliberately) resemble those which produced the modern and medieval Welsh from ancient Celtic, so that in the result Sindarin has a marked Welsh style, and the relations between it and Quenya closely resemble those between Welsh and Latin."
[, p. 135.]
Tolkien did not provide a detailed description of the language in published works such as ''The Lord of the Rings'', but he did say that
[
Tolkien wrote many pieces in Sindarin. He made an effort to give to his Elvish languages the feel and taste of ]natural language
A natural language or ordinary language is a language that occurs naturally in a human community by a process of use, repetition, and change. It can take different forms, typically either a spoken language or a sign language. Natural languages ...
s. He wanted to infuse in them a kind of life, while fitting them to a very personal aesthetic taste. He wanted to build languages primarily to satisfy his personal urge and not because he had some universal design in mind.
Internal timeline
In Tolkien's words:
Dialects
The divergence of Sindarin (Old Sindarin) begun first into a Northern or group and a Southern group. The Southern group had a much larger territory, and included or "Central Sindarin".[
So during the ]First Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional un ...
, before the return of the Noldor, there were four dialects of Sindarin:
* Sindarin
** Southern group
*** , the language of Doriath;[
*** or "West Sindarin", the language of the Falas;
** Northern group
*** North-Western dialect, spoken in Hithlum, Mithrim, and Dor-lómin;
*** North-Eastern dialect, spoken in Ard-galen (before its ruin), and the highlands of Dorthonion (Taur-nu-Fuin).
]
Doriathrin
Doriathrin preserved many archaic features. Unlike the other dialects, it remained free from Quenya
Quenya ()Tolkien wrote in his "Outline of Phonology" (in '' Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: is "a sound as in English ''new''". In Quenya is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81. is a constructed l ...
influences. The "accent" of Doriath was also quite recognisable, so that after Túrin had left Doriath he kept a Doriathrin accent until his death, which immediately pinpointed his origin to speakers of other dialects of Sindarin. "The post-war 'Beleriandic' as lingua franca and as a language of Noldor was strongly influenced by Doriath."[, p. 132] Tolkien set out much about Doriathrin morphology, and how it contrasts with the other Sindarin dialects, in his linguistic writings:[
]
Falathrin
The language of the followers of the Elf CÃrdan, called ''Falathrin'' (''Falassian'' in English), is the other dialect of the Southern Sindarin group. It remained close to the tongue of Doriath because there was great trade between the two groups up to the time of the Wars of Beleriand.[
]
North Sindarin
North Sindarin was spoken by the , the northernmost group of the Grey-elves. It differed from the Central Sindarin of Beleriand in many aspects. Originally spoken in Dorthonion and Hithlum, it contained many unique words and was not fully intelligible to the other Elves. The Northern dialect was in many ways more conservative, and later divided itself into a North-Western dialect (Hithlum, Mithrim, Dor-lómin) and a North-Eastern dialect (the highlands of Dorthonion, and the wide plains of Ard-galen to the north of the highlands). This language was at first adopted by the exiled Noldor
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor (also spelled Ñoldor, meaning ''those with knowledge'' in his constructed language Quenya) are a kindred of Elves who migrate west to the blessed realm of Valinor from the continent of Middle-earth ...
after their return to Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...
at Losgar. Later Noldorin Sindarin changed, much owing to the adoption of Quenya
Quenya ()Tolkien wrote in his "Outline of Phonology" (in '' Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: is "a sound as in English ''new''". In Quenya is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81. is a constructed l ...
features, and partially because of the love of the Noldor for making linguistic changes. Beren's heritage was clear to Thingol of Doriath as he spoke the North Sindarin of his homeland.[
]
Noldorin Sindarin
With the exception of Doriathrin, Sindarin adopted some Quenya features after the return of the Noldor, as well as unique sound changes devised by the Noldor (who loved changing languages):[
In the hidden city of Gondolin, an isolated land, a peculiar dialect developed: "This differed from the standard (of Doriath) (a) in having Western and some Northern elements, and (b) in incorporating a good many Noldorin-Quenya words in more a less Sindarized forms. Thus the city was usually called ''Gondolin'' (from Q. ) with simple replacement of ''g-'', not ''Goenlin'' or ''Goenglin'' s it would have been in standard Sindarin.][, p. 29]
In the Second and Third Age
'Beleriandic' Sindarin as a lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
of all Elves and many Men, and as the language of the Noldor in exile, was based on Western Sindarin but was strongly influenced by Doriathrin. During the Second Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainu (Middle-earth), Ainur entered Arda (Middle-earth), Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of l ...
Sindarin was a lingua franca for all Elves and their friends (thus it was used to inscribe the West-gate of Moria), until it was displaced for Men by Westron, which arose in the Third Age as a language heavily influenced by Sindarin. In Gondor at the end of the Third Age, Sindarin was still spoken daily by a few noble Men in the city Minas Tirith. Aragorn
Aragorn () is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn is a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of ...
, raised in the safety of the Elvish stronghold of Rivendell
Rivendell (') is a valley in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical Elf (Middle-earth), Elvish otherworld. It is an important location in ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of ...
,[, Appendix A "The Númenórean Kings"] spoke it fluently.[, book 1, ch. 12 "Flight to the Ford"]
Phonology
Sindarin was designed with a Welsh-like phonology
Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...
.[, p. 135.]
Stress is as in Latin: on the penult if that is heavy (a closed syllable, long vowel or diphthong) and on the antepenult if the penult is light.
Consonants
The phoneme is voiced to when final or before , but remains written as . The sound is written when final (''alph'', "swan") or when used to spell a lenited (''i-pheriannath'', "the halflings") which becomes . Old Sindarin, like Common Brittonic
Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages.
It is a form of Insular Cel ...
and Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
, also had a spirant ''m'' or nasal ''v'' (IPA: ), which was transcribed as ''mh''. This merged with in later Sindarin. Phonemically, Sindarin aligns with the other velar consonants like , , , etc. but is phonetically the voiceless uvular fricative
The voiceless uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound that is used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , the Greek chi. The sound is represented by (ex with underdo ...
.
Orthographic conventions
Vowels
Monophthongs
An acute signifies a long vowel (á, é, etc.). In a monosyllabic word, a circumflex is used (â, ê, etc.).
In Old Sindarin, there was a vowel similar to German ''ö'' (IPA: ), which Tolkien mostly transcribed as ''œ''. Although this was meant to be distinct from the diphthong ''oe'', it was often simply printed ''oe'' in publications like ''The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a book consisting of a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited, partly written, and published posthumously by his son Christopher in 1977, assisted by G ...
'', e.g. (read: ''NÃrnaeth ArnÅ“diad''), (read: ''GÅ“lydh''). This vowel later came to be pronounced and is therefore transcribed as such (e.g. ''Gelydh'').
Diphthongs
Diphthongs are ''ai'' (pronounced like aisle ɪ, ''ei'' (day �ɪ, ''ui'' (ruin �ɪ, and ''au'' (cow ʊ. If the last diphthong finishes a word, it is spelt ''aw''. There are also diphthongs ''ae'' and ''oe'' with no English counterparts, similar to pronouncing ''a'' or ''o'' respectively in the same syllable as one pronounces an ''e'' (as in pet); IPA . Tolkien had described dialects (such as Doriathrin) and variations in pronunciations (such as that of Gondor), and other pronunciations of ''ae'' and ''oe'' undoubtedly existed.
Grammar
Tolkien wrote that he gave Sindarin "a linguistic character very like (though not identical with) British-Welsh ... because it seems to fit the rather 'Celtic' type of legends and stories told of its speakers".
Unlike the largely agglutinative
In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes (word parts), each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglu ...
Quenya, Sindarin is mainly a fusional language
Fusional languages or inflected languages are a type of synthetic language, distinguished from agglutinative languages by their tendency to use single inflectional morphemes to denote multiple grammatical, syntactic, or semantic features.
For ...
with some analytic tendencies. It can be distinguished from Quenya by the rarity of vowel endings, and the use of voiced plosives ''b d g'', rare in Quenya found only after nasals and liquids
Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...
. Early Sindarin formed plurals by the addition of ''-Ä«'', which vanished but affected the preceding vowels (as in Welsh and Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
): S. , pl. , S. , pl. '' Yrch''. Sindarin forms plurals in multiple ways.
Nouns
While Sindarin does not have a grammatical gender
In linguistics, a grammatical gender system is a specific form of a noun class system, where nouns are assigned to gender categories that are often not related to the real-world qualities of the entities denoted by those nouns. In languages wit ...
, it has two systems of grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a Feature (linguistics), feature of nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verb agreement (linguistics), agreement that expresses count distinctions (such as "one", "two" or "three or more"). English and many other ...
, similar to Welsh. Singular/plural nouns correspond to the singular/plural number system just as of English. Sindarin noun plurals are unpredictable and formed in several ways.
Some Sindarin (and Noldorin) nouns of one syllable form the plural with an ending (usually ''-in''), e.g. , pl. "wild men, Woses, Púkel-Men". Others form the plural through vowel change, e.g. and , "lore master, sage" (obsolete as a tribal name before the Noldor came back to Beleriand); , pl. , "Dark-Elves". Still others form their plurals through some combination of the two, and a few do not change in the plural: , "Beleriandic-Elf/Elves" is singular and plural.
The other system of number was called by Tolkien 2nd plural or collective number.[, p. 26 and p. 45-46.] The nouns in this system form it usually by adding a suffix to the plural (as in Welsh); for example ''-ath'', as in , "all the stars (in the sky)", but not always, as in . Another ending of the 2nd pl. is ''-rim'', used especially to indicate a race-group: "the race of the Dwarves", from pl. (sg. , "Dwarf"). There exist another such ending ''-lir'', as in .
The endings ''-rim'', ''-hoth'', and ''-waith'', Sindarin words meaning 'multitude', 'host', and 'people' respectively, are added to a singular noun to form a 2nd plural, e.g. "the Werewolf-horde" and "wolvish folk", from "werewolf".
Plural forms
Most Sindarin plural
In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
s are formed by vowel change and are characterised by ''i-mutation
I-mutation (also known as umlaut, front mutation, i-umlaut, i/j-mutation or i/j-umlaut) is a type of sound change in which a back vowel is fronted or a front vowel is raised if the following syllable contains , or (a voiced palatal approxi ...
''. The Noldorin term for this is ''prestanneth'' "affection of vowels". In an earlier stage of the language, plurals were marked by the suffix ''-Ä«'', to which the root assimilated, becoming fronted (and raised if low); later the final ''-Ä«'' was lost, leaving the changed root as the sole marker of the plural. (This process is very similar to the Germanic umlaut
The Germanic umlaut (sometimes called i-umlaut or i-mutation) is a type of linguistic umlaut (linguistics), umlaut in which a back vowel changes to the associated front vowel (fronting (phonology), fronting) or a front vowel becomes closer to ...
that produced the English forms ''man/men'', ''goose/geese'', and closer still to the Welsh i-affection plurals in forms like and .) The resulting plural patterns are:
* In non-final syllables:
** a > e – (tree) > (trees)
** e > e – (queen) > (queens)
** o > e – (female dwarf) > (female dwarves) (originally became œ, which later became e)
** u > y – (poplar tree) > (poplar trees)
* In final syllables:
** a with one consonant following > ai – (king) > (kings)
** a with consonant cluster following #1 > e – (saga) > (sagas)
** a with consonant cluster following #2 > ai – (outline, shape)> (outlines, shapes)(nasal
Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination:
* With reference to the human nose:
** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery
* ...
& plosive
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...
)
** a with consonant cluster following #3 > ei – (swan) > (swans) (liquid
Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...
& fricative
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in ...
)
** â > ai – (foot) > (feet)
** e > i – (mortal woman) > (mortal women)
** ê > î – (child) > (children)
** o > y – (lord) > (lords)
** o > e – (mountain) > (mountains) (in some cases)
** ó > ý – (steadfast man) > (steadfast men)
** ô > ŷ – (pine tree) > (pine trees)
** u > y – (monster> (monsters)
** û > ui – (dog) > (dogs)
** au > oe – (dwarf)> (dwarves) (cf. German ''au'' > ''äu'')
** aea > ei – (sea) > (seas) (presumably changed further to ''air'' as is common at the end of Sindarin words; "a" actually changes to "ei" before "ai")
Vowels not listed do not undergo any change, such as remains as , meaning that it is possible for some words to have the same form in the singular and plural.
Initial consonant mutations
Sindarin has a series of consonant mutations, varying between dialects as follows.
Mutations found in Noldorin
The mutations of "early conceptual Noldorin" are defined in Tolkien's ''Lam na Ngoluith, Early Noldorin Grammar''.[ Tolkien, J. R. R., ''Lam na Ngoluith. Early Noldorin Grammar.'' ]Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
13, p. 120.
Mutation is triggered in various ways:
* Soft mutation is triggered by a closely connected word ending in a vowel; the consonant then assumes the form it should have medially.[
* Hard mutation is due to the gemination of an original initial consonant because of precedence of a closely connected word ending in a plosive.][
* Nasal mutation is due to a preceding nasal.][
The following table outlines how different consonants are affected by the three mutations.
The apostrophe ’ indicates ]elision
In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run to ...
, and is not necessarily written. Those forms of lenited ''p'' that are pronounced ''f'' are written ''ph'' as mentioned above.
Noldorin words beginning in ''b-'', ''d-'', or ''g-'', which descend from older ''mb-'', ''nd-'', or ''ng-'' are affected differently by the mutations:
Many of the mutations of Noldorin were taken into Sindarin a few years later. The Sindarin word ''gwath'' "shadow" becomes ''i 'wath'', "the shadow".[, p. 41.]
Mutations found in Salo's grammar
David Salo's ''A Gateway to Sindarin'' proposes a more complex set of mutations, based on extrapolation from the Sindarin corpus, as follows (empty cells indicate no change):
The nasal mutation however does not affect 'd' and 'g' when found in the clusters 'dr', 'gr', 'gl' or 'gw'. By Salo's admission, the liquid mutation is speculative and not attested in Tolkien's writings at the time he wrote ''A Gateway to Sindarin''.
Pronouns
One source is used for the Sindarin pronouns,[, p. 132.] another for the possessive suffixes.[, p. 46]
These are subjective forms used in conjugation. Sindarin used objective detached forms, like ''dhe'' (2nd pers. formal/polite singular).[, p. 26]
Sindarin pronouns could combine with prepositions as in Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...
, Welsh: "to/for us" from 'to/for' and 'we/us'. [, p. 38] annin "for/to me".[, p. 147] The first person singular pronoun suffixes could combine with nouns: Lamm, "tongue" > lammen "my tongue".
Verbs
Tolkien wrote that Quenya inflections were pretty regular,[ Tolkien, J. R. R., "Early Qenya Grammar", '']Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
'' 14, p. 56. but that "Sindarin verbal history is complicated."[, p. 43.] About ''-ant'', the 3rd person past tense ending of Sindarin, he wrote: "it is rather like that of Medieval Welsh ''-as'', or modern Welsh p sing.''-odd''." So with "make marks of signs, write, inscribe", is the 3rd person singular past tense.[ Cf. Welsh , "he played" (< 'to play' + and 'he'). ''-ant'' is the Welsh 3p ''plural'' ending: 'they (will) play'.
]
Basic verbs
Basic verbs form the infinitive
Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all ...
by adding ''-i'': from . This ending causes an ''a'' or ''o'' in the stem to umlaut to ''e'': from . The infinitive is not used as a noun; the gerund
In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ger) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, it is one that functions as a noun. The name is derived from Late Latin ''gerundium,'' meaning "which is ...
is used instead.
For all persons except the third person singular, the present tense is formed by the insertion of ''-i'', and the proper enclitic pronominal ending: , , . As with the infinitive, ''-i'' causes an ''a'' or ''o'' in the stem to umlaut to ''e'': , , , from . The third person singular, because it has a zero-ending, does not require the insertion of ''-i''. This leaves the bare stem, which, because of Sindarin's phonological history, causes the vowel of the stem to become long: , , .
The past tense of basic verbs is very complicated and poorly attested. One common reconstructed system is to use ''-n'': . However, the only time this ''-n'' actually remains is after a stem in ''-r''. After a stem ending in ''-l'', ''-n'' becomes ''-ll'': . After ''-b, -d, -g, -v,'' or ''-dh'', it is metathesized and then assimilated to the same place of articulation as the consonant it now precedes. The consonant then experiences what could be called a "backwards mutation": ''-b, -d,'' and ''-g'' become ''-p, -t,'' and ''-c'', and ''-v'' and ''-dh'' become ''-m'' and ''-d''. The matter is complicated even further when pronominal endings are added. Because ''-mp, -mb, -nt, -nd,'' and ''-nc'' did not survive medially, they become ''-mm-, -mm-, -nn-, -nn-,'' and ''-ng''. In addition, past tense stems in ''-m'' would have ''-mm-'' before any pronominal endings. These examples show the transformations step-by-step:
* ''cab-'' > **''cabn'' > **''canb'' > **''camb'' > ''camp'', becoming ''camm-'' with any pronominal endings.
* ''ped-'' > **''pedn'' > **''pend'' > ''pent'', becoming ''penn-'' with any pronominal endings.
* ''dag-'' > **''dagn'' > **''dang'' (''n'' pronounced as in ''men'') > **''dang'' (''n'' pronounced as in ''sing'') > ''danc'', becoming ''dang-'' with any pronominal endings.
* ''lav-'' > **''lavn'' > **''lanv'' > **''lanm'' > **''lamm'' > ''lam'', becoming ''lamm-'' before any pronominal endings.
* ''redh-'' > **''redhn'' > **''rendh'' > **''rend'' > ''rend'', becoming ''renn-'' before any pronominal endings.
The future tense is formed by the addition of ''-tha''. An ''-i'' is also inserted between the stem and ''-tha'', which again causes ''a'' and ''o'' to umlaut to ''e''. Endings for all persons except for the first person singular can be added without any further modification: , . The first person singular ending ''-n'' causes the ''-a'' in ''-tha'' to become ''-o'': , , .
The imperative is formed with the addition of ''-o'' to the stem: , , .
Vocabulary
As of 2008, about 25,000 Elvish words have been published.
The lexicons of '' Gnomish'', ''Noldorin
Sindarin is one of Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien, the constructed languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda (Tolkien), Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoke ...
'' and ''Sindarin'' lack modern vocabulary (television, motor, etc.). Tolkien fans have extended Sindarin to enable it to be spoken.
Numerals
According to Tolkien, the elves preferred duodecimal
The duodecimal system, also known as base twelve or dozenal, is a positional numeral system using twelve as its base. In duodecimal, the number twelve is denoted "10", meaning 1 twelve and 0 units; in the decimal system, this number is i ...
counting (base 12) to the Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, the Dúnedain (; ; ) were a fictional race, race of Man (Middle-earth), Men, also known as the Númenor#Culture, Númenóreans or ''Men of Westernesse'' (translated from the Sindarin term). Those who ...
's decimal
The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers (''decimal fractions'') of th ...
system (base 10: Quenya ''maquanotië'', *''quaistanótië''), though the two systems seem to have coexisted. The numbers 1–12 are presented below (reconstructed forms are marked with an asterisk *), as well as a few higher numbers.
The form * (extracted from ) appears in the King's Letter, but at the time the roots for ten were and , resulting in Sindarin *, . This was later changed to , , resulting in Sindarin , so that this older form must be updated. The word * is extracted from the name '' Menegroth'', "the Thousand Caves", although this could technically be a base-12 "thousand" (i.e., 123 or 1,728).
Scholarship and fandom
Two magazines—'' Vinyar Tengwar'', from issue 39 (July 1998), and ''Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
'', from issue 11 (1995)—are exclusively devoted to the editing and publishing of Tolkien's gigantic mass of unpublished linguistic papers. These are published at a slow pace and the editors have not published a comprehensive catalogue of these unpublished linguistic papers. Access to the original documents is severely limited as Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English and naturalised French academic editor and writer. The son of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher edited 24 volumes based on his father's P ...
omitted them from his 12-volume ''The History of Middle-earth
''The History of Middle-earth'' is a 12-volume series of books published between 1983 and 1996 by George Allen & Unwin in the UK and by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin in the US. They collect and analyse much of J. R. R. Tolkien' ...
''. Many new-found words of Sindarin, Noldorin and Ilkorin have been published and the grammar rules of these languages disclosed.
Attempts by Tolkien fans to write in Sindarin began in the 1970s, when the total corpus of published Elvish was only a few hundred words. Since then, usage of Elvish has flourished in poems and texts, phrases and names, and tattoos. But Tolkien himself never intended to make his languages complete enough for conversation; as a result, newly invented Elvish texts, such as dialogue written by the linguist David Salo to be sung to the musical score for Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
's ''Lord of the Rings'' films, require conjecture and sometimes coinage of new words.
References
Primary
Secondary
Sources
* Bellet, Bertrand
"Noldorin Plurals in the Etymologies." ''Tengwestië'' (2005)
*
* Derzhanski, Ivan A. "Peth i dirathar aen: Some Notes on Eldarin Relative Constructions." '' Vinyar Tengwar'' 38 (1997): 9–13, 18.
*
* Gilson, Christopher. "Gnomish is Sindarin: The Conceptual Evolution of an Elvish Language." In '' Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth'', edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter, 95-104. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2000.
*
* Hemmi, Yoko. "Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and His Concept of ''Native Language'': Sindarin and British-Welsh." ''Tolkien Studies'' (2010): 147–74.
*
* Hostetter, Carl F. "The 'King's Letter': An Historical and Comparative Analysis." '' Vinyar Tengwar'' 31 (1993): 12–34.
* Hostetter, Carl F.br> "The Past-Tense Verb in the Noldorin of the Etymologies."
''Tengwestië'' (2003).
* Hostetter, Carl F. "I Lam na Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue." In '' J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment'', ed. Michael D.C. Drout, pp. 291–92. New York: Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, 2007.
* Hostetter, Carl F.br>"The Two Phonetic Values of ll in Elvish Sindarin in the Lord of the Rings"
''Tengwestië'' (2003).
*
* Marmor, Paula; Krieg, Laurence; Strecker, David. "Initial Consonant Mutation in Celtic and Sindarin." ''Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
'' 4 (1974): 12–16.
* MartÃnez, Helios De Rosario
"Light and Tree: A Survey Through the External History of Sindarin." ''Tengwestië'' (2005).
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Welden, Bill. "On the Formation of Plurals in Sindarin." ''Parma Eldalamberon
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
'' 1, no. 1 (1971): 10–11.
External links
Ardalambion
Helge Fauskanger
Helge KÃ¥re Fauskanger (born 17 August 1971) is a Norwegian author and philologist. In Norway he is known as a crime novelist; elsewhere, he is best known as a Tolkien scholar with an interest in Tolkien's constructed languages.
Education
F ...
's site on Tolkien's languages
Glǽmscrafu
(port of Dragon Flame, a Sindarin and Noldorin dictionary, for Mac OS X
macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
)
{{Authority control
Fusional languages
Middle-earth languages
Constructed languages
Constructed languages introduced in the 1940s