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

Sindarin plurals change from the inside, instead of having an S tacked on the end. It's difficult at first, but remember that once upon a time, in the distant past, English also made plurals by changing the vowels inside them.

Remember: when nouns become plural, their adjectives also become plural.

Accents

But first, a quick note about the circumflex and acute accents. When a word gets more syllables, its circumflex accent becomes an acute accent and its acute accent disappears.

Examples

West + man: Dûn + adan = Dúnadan
Grey + pilgrim: Mith + randír = Mithrandir

Regular Plurals

The trick to Sindarin plurals is knowing what type of vowels you are changing: final or non-final.

Non-final vowels are all of the vowels in a word except the last vowel. If the word is only one syllable long, there are no non-final vowels in it. Here is a list of how all of the non-final vowels that change.

Examples

Coron (globe) → Ceryn (globes)
Bauglir (oppressor) → Boeglir (oppressors)
Ganlenas (tobacco plant) → Genlenais (tobacco plants)

Final vowels are the last vowel in a word if it isn't a U without any consonants following it [This is because in the word's history, the U used to be a W.] and if the word is only one syllable long.

All of the accents are kept through the transition, unless the transition is into a diphthong. So, an Ê becomes an Î, and so on and so forth.

Examples

Hên (child) → Hîn (children)
Gwaun (goose) → Gwoen (geese)
Galu (good fortune) → Gelu (good fortunes)
Gûr (heart) → Guir (hearts)
Firieth (mortal maiden) → Firith (mortal maidens)

Class Plurals

There are two plurals that do entail tacking a suffix on, and these are called "Class Plurals." Class plurals are used on nouns only. If they are added to the end of an adjective, say "green" for example, then it would mean "green ones." This is important to remember when pluralizing adjectives with nouns, because the meaning of the phrase could be drastically altered with hilarious effects. When a noun is a class plural, its adjective is a normal plural.

The first class plural is made by adding "-rim" to the end of a word. It is the equivalent to putting "a group of," "some", "a collection of", "a bunch of", or "a tribe of" before a word in English. It is only used when refering to groups, tribes, or races of people ('people' refering to sentiant lifeforms capable of speech).

There are a few odd little rules about using it:
• If the last letter of the word being pluralized is an L, then "-lim" is suffixed on instead of "-rim".
• If the last letter is an N or NN which is derived from ND then the N or NN becomes "-ndrim".
• If the last letter is an N not derived from ND, then the N becomes "-dhrim".
• If the last letter is an NT then the NT becomes "-ndrim".
• If the last letter is an S, SS, or ST, then the S, SS, or ST becomes "-thrim".

Examples

Fael (generous) → Faellim (a group of generous people)
Randír (wanderer) → Randirrim (A group of wanderers)
Nost (family) → Nothrim (a group of people from the same family)

The second class plural is made by adding "-ath" to the end of a word. It is the equivalent of putting "all of the" or "all" before a word in English. Unlike -rim, it can be used on inanimate objects.

It also has a few odd rules about its usage.
• If the last letter of the word is an M that came from MB, then it becomes "-mmath".
• If the last letter is an N or NN that came from ND, then it becomes "-nnath".
• If the last letters are NT, then it becomes "-nnath".
• If the last letter is an S then the S becomes "-ssath".

Examples

Lachen (flame-eyed) → Lachennath (All of the flame-eyed ones)
Aeglos (icicle) → Aeglossath (All of the icicles)
Adan (human) → Adanath (All humans)

Special Plurals

There are a few exceptions, and they are marked in (good) dictionaries. These exceptions are remnants of grammar no longer in use in the Sindarin language.

The dual singular

This is for denoting one of a couple, pair, or set of twins.

Lhewig (ear) → Lhaw (ears)
Gwanunig (twin) → Gwanûn (twins)

The host of evil

Used only for military regiments of mistrusted and feared things, it is an old equivalent to "-rim". It is related to the -hoth of counting.

Daur (werewolf) → Daurhoth (a host or regiment of werewolves)
Dorn (dwarf) → Dornhoth (a host or regiment of dwarves)
Glam (noisy speech) → Glamhoth (a noisy host)

Homework

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