Sindarin Adjectives
Sindarin adjectives: post-nominal position, lenition after nouns, plural forms, and the copula 'to be'.
Sindarin adjectives have three key properties that differ from English:
- They come after the noun they modify (not before)
- They undergo soft mutation (lenition) after the noun
- They have plural forms (agreeing with plural nouns, via i-affection)
Position: Adjective After Noun
| English | Sindarin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| a great man | adan veleg | beleg (great) → veleg after noun |
| the green leaf | lass galen | calen (green) → galen |
| a white tower | mindon thíren | thîren (white/bright) follows |
| a beautiful elf | edhel vain | bain (beautiful) → vain |
Lenition: Soft Mutation of Adjectives
When an adjective follows a noun, it takes soft mutation on its initial consonant.
| Adjective | Base Form | After Noun (Lenited) |
|---|---|---|
| beleg (great) | beleg | veleg |
| bain (beautiful) | bain | vain |
| calen (green) | calen | galen |
| dûr (dark) | dûr | dhûr |
| gorn (stone; adj. sense "stony") | gorn | **(∅)**orn (g disappears) |
| maen (skilled) | maen | vaen |
| morn (dark, black) | morn | vorn |
| palan (far and wide) | palan | balan |
| sîr (flowing; adj.) | sîr | hîr |
| tîr (watching) | tîr | dîr |
Why Adjectives Are Lenited
The historical reason: nouns in Old Sindarin typically ended in vowels. Adjectives following those noun-final vowels were in an "intervocalic" position, causing the consonant-weakening (lenition) that we see in mutations. When the final vowel of the noun was lost, the mutation remained as a grammatical marker.
Plural Adjectives
When the noun is plural, the adjective must also be in its plural form. Plural adjectives are formed by the same i-affection vowel changes as nouns:
| Adj. (singular) | Adj. (plural) | Vowel change |
|---|---|---|
| beleg (great) | belig | e→i |
| bain (beautiful) | bein | ai→ei |
| calen (green) | celin | a→e, e→i |
| morn (dark) | myrn | o→y |
| dûr (dark) | duir | long û→ui |
| maen (skilled) | mîn | ae→î |
Plural Adjective Examples
| Noun phrase (singular) | Noun phrase (plural) | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| adan veleg | edain velig | great man / great men |
| edhel vain | edhil vein | beautiful elf / beautiful elves |
| amon galen | emyn gelin | green hill / green hills |
In a full noun phrase: the noun is plural (with i-affection), the adjective is also in its plural form, and the adjective is still lenited.
Predicate Adjectives: "To Be"
Sindarin expresses "X is Y" (copula sentences) without a visible verb in simple statements:
- Beleg aran — "The king is great" (lit. "Great the king")
- Bain i edhel — "The elf is beautiful"
For past and future copula, a verb na- or nar- ("to be") is used:
- Naun belegui — "I was great" (reconstructed)
- Nartha beleg — "He will be great"
This is an area of active reconstruction — forms vary between scholars.
Comparative and Superlative
Sindarin does not have a well-attested comparative/superlative system. Neo-Sindarin uses:
-
Comparative ("more X"): preposition na or och + adjective, or compound forms
- beleg nach (greater than) — speculative
- May use construction: [adj] na [noun] (X is adj compared to/than noun)
-
Superlative ("most X"): prefix er- or ar- (most, best)
- arveleg = greatest (speculative Neo-Sindarin)
Common Sindarin Adjectives
| Adjective | Meaning | Lenited Form |
|---|---|---|
| beleg | great, mighty | veleg |
| bain | beautiful, fair | vain |
| calen | green | galen |
| dínen | silent | dhínen |
| dúr | dark (gloomy) | dhúr |
| echor | outer (ring) | 'echor |
| glân | white, clean | 'lân |
| glórn | golden-haired | 'lórn |
| gollor | magical | 'ollor |
| laeg | green (vivid) | laeg (l unchanged) |
| maen | skilled, shapely | vaen |
| morn | dark, black | vorn |
| naur | fiery | naur (n unchanged) |
| nen | of water | nen (n unchanged) |
| nîn | watery | nîn |
| randir | wandering | randir (r unchanged) |
| rhem | frequent | 'rem (rh→r, but initial rh is voiceless... rh→r under soft mut.) |
| sîdh | peaceful | hîdh |
| tarias | steadfast | darias |
| thôn | pine (adj. sense "of pine") | dhôn |
| tirn | watching, guarding | dirn |
Adverbs
Sindarin adverbs are formed:
- From adjectives with no change (used predicatively in adverb position)
- With the prefix al- (not) for negation: alveleg (not great)
- Some independent adverbs: sí (now, here), palan (far and wide), nef (on this side of), ab (after)
The adverb typically follows the verb it modifies:
- Tôl Aragorn vorn — "Aragorn comes darkly/secretly" — vorn (dark) as adverb (lenited as it follows verb — debated)