Lesson 12: Adjectives & Adverbs

Sindarin adjectives: post-nominal position, lenition rule, singular and plural agreement, comparison forms, and how to form adverbs.

sindaringrammaradjectivesadverbsintermediate

Position: Always After the Noun

In Sindarin, adjectives always follow the noun they modify. This is the opposite of English ("great king" vs. aran veleg — literally "king great") and reflects a strong Celtic influence. Welsh, for example, also places adjectives after their nouns: brenin mawr = "great king" (lit. "king great").

This post-nominal position is not optional or stylistic — it is grammatical rule. An adjective placed before its noun would be ungrammatical in standard Sindarin.

English Sindarin (wrong) Sindarin (correct)
great king beleg aran aran veleg
green forest calen taur taur galen
dark tower morn barad barad vorn
beautiful elf bain edhel edhel vain

The noun comes first, the adjective follows, and the adjective's initial consonant undergoes soft mutation (Lesson 11).

Lenition of the Initial Consonant

Because the adjective immediately follows its noun, soft mutation applies. The trigger is the nominal position — the noun's environment causes the following adjective to lenite.

Quick recap of soft mutation applied to common adjective initials:

Adjective Initial Mutated Example
beleg b v aran veleg (great king)
calen c g ithron galen (green wizard)
glân g zero edhel lân (white elf)
morn m v amon vorn (dark hill)
dûr d dh barad dhûr (dark tower)
bain b v elleth vain (beautiful elf-woman)
sûl s h amon hûl (windy hill — s→h)
taur t d dôr daur (great land)
hollen h ch annon chollen (closed gate)
laeg l l galadh laeg (l unchanged — fresh-green tree)

Adjectives beginning with f, l, r, n, v, or w do not mutate.

Adjective Plural Agreement

Sindarin adjectives agree in number with their noun. When the noun is plural, the adjective must also be plural. Sindarin adjectives form their plurals using i-affection (also called i-mutation or umlaut), the same process used for noun plurals.

In i-affection, vowels in the final syllable (or only syllable) shift toward i or e:

  • a → e (or ai in final position)
  • o → y (or oe)
  • u → y
  • au → oe or ui
  • an → ein
  • on → yn

Additionally, the plural adjective still undergoes soft mutation when following its (now plural) noun.

20 Essential Adjectives with Plurals

Singular Plural English
bain bîn beautiful
beleg bileg great, mighty
calen celin green
glân glîn white, pure
morn myrn dark, black
mithren mithrin grey
caran cerin red
luin luin blue (no change — already has ui, no further affection needed)
maer maer good (no vowel change — ae is stable)
tauron taurin forested, wooded
fain fîn white, radiant
naur naurin fiery
iaur iair old, ancient
nîn nîn wet (already î, no change)
dínen dínen silent
gail geil bright, sparkling
laeg laig fresh, green (ae → ai in plural)
baran berin brown, golden-brown
dûr duir dark, sombre
taen tîn tall, slender

Noun-Adjective Plural Agreement Table

Singular Phrase Plural Phrase English
aran veleg erain vileg great king / great kings
edhel vain edhil vîn beautiful elf / beautiful elves
galadh lân gelaidh lîn white tree / white trees
amon vorn emyn vyrn dark hill / dark hills
ithron galen ithryn gelin green wizard / green wizards
orch dhûr yrch dhuir dark orc / dark orcs

The pattern is: both noun and adjective pluralize (each via their own i-affection), and the adjective still undergoes soft mutation because it follows the (now plural) noun.

Predicative Adjectives (After nâ)

There are two ways to use an adjective:

  1. Attributive: the adjective directly modifies the noun → i aran veleg ("the great king")
  2. Predicative: the adjective is linked to the noun via a copula → "The king is great"

For predicative use, Sindarin employs the copular verb nâ ("is"). The predicative adjective appears after the copula, and — crucially — does not undergo soft mutation in this position because there is no directly preceding noun triggering lenition.

Attributive Predicative English
i aran veleg I aran nâ beleg the great king / The king is great
edhel vain I edhel nâ bain the beautiful elf / The elf is beautiful
taur galen I taur nâ calen the green forest / The forest is green
amon vorn I amon nâ morn the dark hill / The hill is dark

Notice: i aran veleg (attributive) has veleg (mutated), but I aran nâ beleg (predicative) has beleg (unmutated), because the copula nâ stands between noun and adjective, breaking the soft-mutation trigger environment.

Adverb Formation

Sindarin does not have a single productive adverb suffix comparable to English -ly. Instead, adverbs are formed in several ways:

1. Adjective Used Adverbially

Some adjectives can be used directly in an adverbial position without change:

  • maer (good) → used as "well": Pedin maer ("I speak well")

2. Independent Adverbs

Many Sindarin adverbs are independent lexical items, not derived from adjectives:

Adverb Meaning Attestation
anann long, for a long time Cuio i Pheriannath anann! ("May the Halflings live long!")
palan far, afar palan-díriel ("having gazed far and wide")
sí here, now sí nef aearon ("here on this side of the Great Sea")
nef on this side nef aear ("on this side of the ocean")
han beyond, on the far side contrasted with nef
no under, beneath (adv.) various
boe it is necessary impersonal verb/adverb: boe anim
nâ it is (copula) nâ functions as both verb and locative
mae well Mae govannen! ("Well met!") — mae = well
ú not, without ú-chebin estel anim ("I have kept no hope for myself")

3. Prefixed Adverbs

The prefix palan- is especially productive for "afar/far-reaching":

  • palan-díriel = having gazed far (palan + dîr- "to watch" + past participal suffix)
  • palan-tîr = far-gazing (a kenning)

Degree Modifiers

Intensifier

an- as a prefix can indicate the superlative degree ("most") in Neo-Sindarin usage:

  • an- + beleg → ambeleg (greatest/mightiest) — note: an- before b triggers nasal mutation, giving am-
  • an- + calen → angalen (greenest)
  • an- + morn → amorn (darkest)

Attested Superlative-Like Forms

Tolkien used the prefix an- in names with an intensifying "great/very" sense:

  • Annûn ("west" — but an- here means "long, extended")
  • Anduin = an- + duin (long river / great river)
  • Anfauglith = an- + fauglith (gasping/choking dust — terrible)

For learners, using an- + adjective for superlative is an accepted Neo-Sindarin convention, though not heavily attested.

Comparison (Comparative Degree)

Attested comparative constructions in Sindarin are limited. The most common approach (by analogy with known grammar) is:

  • Comparative: use na ("than") after the adjective: I aran nâ veleg na i hîr ("The king is greater than the lord")
  • Some scholars reconstruct a comparative prefix thar- ("sur-, over-") but this is speculative

For practical use, the adjective remains in its basic form and context plus the comparative particle conveys degree.

Practice: Noun + Adjective Phrases

Form the correct noun + adjective phrase (applying soft mutation and, for the plural, i-affection):

Singular:

  1. aran (king) + caran (red) = ?
  2. elleth (elf-woman) + mithren (grey) = ?
  3. ithron (wizard) + morn (dark) = ?
  4. galadh (tree) + bain (beautiful) = ?
  5. dôr (land) + iaur (ancient) = ?

Plural: 6. edhil (elves, pl. of edhel) + bain (beautiful) = ? 7. erain (kings, pl. of aran) + calan → celin (green) = ? 8. emyn (hills, pl. of amon) + morn (dark) = ? 9. yrch (orcs, pl. of orch) + morn (dark) = ? 10. gelaidh (trees, pl. of galadh) + glân (white) = ?

Answers:

  1. aran garan (c→g)
  2. elleth vithren (m→v)
  3. ithron vorn (m→v)
  4. galadh vain (b→v)
  5. dôr iaur (i unchanged)
  6. edhil vîn (b→v; bain→bîn plural)
  7. erain gelin (c→g; calen→celin plural)
  8. emyn vyrn (m→v; morn→myrn plural)
  9. yrch vyrn (m→v; morn→myrn plural)
  10. gelaidh lîn (g→zero; glân→glîn plural, then g- drops under mutation)