Your Sindarin Textbook
Chapter Four, Lesson Two: Elven Counting

Chapter Four | Lesson One | Lesson Two | Lesson Three | Lesson Four
Introduction
Syllabus
Part I
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Part II
Chapter One
Back to Realelvish

The Elves use a base 12 counting system. Because using a base twelve system can be difficult for we base 10 users, keep a calculator close at hand, and you may want to write out arithmetic problems to make translating easier for yourself. For example: 9875=11+(6×12)+(8×144)+(5×1728)

Numbers One Through One Hundred and Forty-three

Here are the numbers from one to twelve:

1 → Min
2 → Tâd (becomes Tad in compounds)
3 → Neledh (becomes Nel in compounds)
4 → Canad (becomes Can in compounds)
5 → Leben (becomes Leb in compounds)
6 → Eneg
7 → Odog
8 → Toloth
9 → Neder
10 → Cae (becomes Caen in compounds)
11 → Mimp (becomes Mimm in compounds)
12 → Imp

To make larger numbers, you must think of it as a string of addition and multiplecation. For numbers 13-23, add "twelve" Imp to the end of the number, as a seperate word. From here on in a guess, a reconstruction rather than an attested fact... but it makes sense

Examples
13 → Min Imp
14 → Tâd Imp
15 → Neledh Imp
16 → Canad Imp
17 → Leben Imp
18 → Eneg Imp
19 → Odog Imp
20 → Toloth Imp
21 → Neder Imp
22 → Cae Imp
23 → Mimp Imp

To make multiples of twelve, add -imp to the end of the number.

Examples
24 (2×12) → Tadimp
36 (3×12) → Nelimp
48 (4×12) → Canimp
60 (5×12) → Lebimp
72 (6×12) → Enegimp
84 (7×12) → Odogimp
96 (8×12) → Tolothimp
108 (9×12) → Nederimp
120 (10×12) → Caenimp
132 (11×12) → Mimmimp

To make the numbers in-between, write the number then the multiple of twelve that it needs; so, you would write 25 like this: one-twentyfour.

Examples
25 [1+(2×12)] → Min Tadimp
26 [2+(2×12)] → Tâd Tadimp
75 [3+(6×12)] → Neled Enegimp

Numbers Beyond One Hundred and Forty-four

144 is host. To make multiples of 144, add -hoth. -hoth changes the words weirdly, so I'll show them for you.

Examples
144 → Host
288 → Tathoth
432 → Nelchoth
576 → Canchoth
720 → Lephoth
864 → Enechoth
1008 → Odochoth
1152 → Tolothoth
1296 → Nederhoth
1440 → Caenchoth
1584 → Mimhoth

1728 or (123) is meneg. To make multiples of 1728, add -veneg. There are some special causes where is changes a little oddly, so they're all listed for you.

Examples
1728 → Meneg
3456 → Tadveneg
5184 → Nelveneg
6912 → Cammeneg
8640 → Lemmeneg
10368 → Enegveneg
12096 → Odogveneg
13824 → Tolothveneg
15552 → Nederveneg
17280 → Caemmeneg
19008 → Mimmeneg

Let's put this together.

11043 [3+(8×12)+(4×144)+(6×1728)] → Neledh Tolothimp Canchoth Enegveneg
365 [5+(6×12)+(2×144)] → Leben Enegimp Tathoth
1376 [8+(6×12)+(9×144)] → Toloth Enegimp Nederchoth
45 [9+(3×12)] → Neder Nelimp

Numbers as Adjectives

There is a time when numbers become adjectives; therefore soft lenition applies when using them. These are words like: first, second, third… you get the idea. Here are the first twelve:

First → Main/Minui
Second → Taid/Edwen
Third → Nail/Nelui
Fourth → Canthui
Fifth → Lemui [I reconstructed this from Noldorin Levnui.]
Sixth → Enchui
Seventh → Odothui/Othui
Eighth → Tollui/Tolothen
Ninth → Nedrui
Tenth → Caenui/Caenen
Eleventh → Mimmui
Twelfth → Immui

The rest are made by adding -ui to the end of the original numbers. For the numbers ending in "-caen", add "-en" to the end of it.

Examples
446th → Tâd Imp Nelchothui
41st → Leben Nelimmui

Homework

DOC

PDF

RTF