Pronouns are small words that substitute for nouns. Some common pronouns in English are “I”, “you” and “he, she”. When used as objects, though, the English pronouns become “me”, “you” and “him, her”, whereas possessive pronouns become “my”, “your” and “his, her”. For example:
Sindarin pronouns have independent, subject (suffixed to the verb), object, dative and possessive:
Forms marked with a * are not attested, though some of the “attested” forms may only be attested for other functions, such as de which is attested as an archaic 2nd sg. polite form. The gaps in the chart are filled in based on other attested forms, though some of them (especially 3rd. sg.) are based on thin evidence; see pronouns for a more detailed discussion.
| Nominative | Subject Suffixes | Accusative | Dative | Possessive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st: Singular | *ni “I/me” | -n “I” | nin “me” | annin “to me” | nín “my” |
| 2nd: Singular Familiar | ci “you” | -g “you” | *cin “you” | *echin “to you” | *cín “your” |
| 2nd: Singular Formal | le “you” | -l, †-dh “you” | *len “you” | *allen “to you” | lín “your” |
| 3rd: Singular | *te “he/she” | — “he/she” | *ten “him/her” | *athen “to he/she” | tín “his/her” |
| 1st: Plural Inclusive | *pe “we/us” | -b “we” | *pen “us” | *aphen “to us” | *pín “our” |
| 1st: Plural Exclusive | *me “we/us” | -f “we” | men “us” | ammen “to us” | mín “our” |
| 2nd: Plural Formal | de “you” | -dh, †-dhir “you” | *den “you” | *annen “to you” | *dín “your” |
| 3rd: Plural | ti “they/them” | -r “they” | *tin “them” | *ethin “to them” | *tín “their” |
The suffixed verb and noun forms are written as a single word. However, this course sometimes inserts dashes within Sindarin words to break down their elements for purposes of analysis. This makes it easier to give a literal English translation of the Sindarin form, with parenthesis around the English words that correspond to a single Sindarin element:
1.2.3.1 Object “Accusative” and Independent “Nominative”: One major complication with Sindarin pronouns is that some attested pronouns end in n such as: nin “me”, men “us”, ten “*it”, whereas others do not: ci “you”, le “you”, ti “*they” (with ten and ti only attested in mutated form den and di). One common assumption in descriptions of Neo-Sindarin is that the pronouns without n are nominative forms, and the pronouns with n are accusative or oblique forms. However, most of the attested uses of independent pronouns (both with and without n) are functionally objects.
Example sentences:
1.2.3.2 Subject Suffixess: As mentioned before nominative pronouns are usually suffixes on the verbs.
For example:
1.2.3.3 Possessive: Sindarin has a set of possessive pronouns that seem to be very similar to and possibly based on the forms of independent pronouns. Only a subset of the possible pronominal forms are attested and they are:
In all attested uses of the Sindarin possessive pronouns, they follow the noun and undergo soft mutation like adjectives. In most examples the noun itself also has a definite article. Some examples:
If the possessed noun is plural, then the noun undergoes nasal mutation and vowels i-affection.
In the last example you can tell it is plural because of the definite article “in”.
1.2.3.4 Section Summary: Here is a simplified chart of the pronouns discussed in this chapter.
| Object | Subject | Possessive |
|---|---|---|
| nin “me” | -n “I” | nín “my” |
| len “you” | -l “you” | lín “your” |
| ten “him, her” | - “he, she” | tín “his, her” |
Exercise 1.2
Translate the following into English:
Translate the following into Sindarin:
Answers are in Answer Key 1.2.