1.2.4 Adjectives (adj.) and Adverbs (adv.)

Orc illustration

Adjectives are words that describe other things, generally nouns. Adverbs describe or modify the action of the entire sentence and can be viewed as modifying the verb. One notable feature of Sindarin adjectives is that they generally appear after the nouns they modify. Here is a sample of Sindarin adjectives and adverbs with their meanings:

Note ¹: “tond”, and “anuir” are Neo-Sindarin. “tond” a loan word from Noldorin and “anuir” created by Elaran from an “to, for” + uir “eternity”.

Adjectives usually come before the noun they modify, but adverbs can be placed more freely. For example:

Note ²: en-Edhel thalion. “The strong elf.” and en-Aew luin. “The blue bird.” are both ambiguous. They can both mean “The elf is strong.” and “The bird is blue.” This applies to any adjective standing in this situation if it cannot overtly show lenition.

1.2.4.1 Plural Adjectives

Sindarin adjectives inflect for number to agree with their noun: en-Edhel thalion “The strong elf” → in-Edhil thelyn “The strong elves”. More examples:

1.2.4.2 “To Be” Statements

In English, “to be” statements are phrased with some form of the verb “to be” as in “you are wise”, “Elrond [is] an elf. In linguistics a word like “is” or “are” are called a “copula”, which is a simply a small linking word connecting the subject (you, Elrond) to its predicate (wise, an Elf). The Elvish languages are notable in that they do not normally use a copula word in such sentences: the subject and predicate are simply placed next to each other with no joining word (in linguistics this is referred to as a “zero copula”). In other words, the verb “to be” in Elvish languages is frequently optional, and this seems to be true of Sindarin as well.

Based on examples like these, it has become a popular notion in Neo-Sindarin that the copula na- is not merely “optional” as it is in Quenya but is in fact almost never used. Based on this theory, many Neo-Sindarin writers use an independent pronoun together with its predicate for “to be” statements that use pronouns:

Not much can be said for certain about “to be” statement in Sindarin, but it is recommended to use the following for Neo-Sindarin writing:

Other examples:

The same construction can be used to equate two nouns, as well as nouns modified by adjectives:

Note ¹: The English phrase “The elves are sleeping” superficially resembles a “to be” sentence in English, but it isn’t. Here the “are” is a helping verb for the present continuous formation “are sleeping”. Therefore, its Sindarin translation uses the present tense, en·Edhil lerir., and not the “to be” construction described above.

1.2.4.3 Adverbs

English, adverbs modify the entire phrase and typically follow the verb: i·edhel lôr anuir. “The elf sleeps forever.” The adverb may appear elsewhere in the sentence, however:

A Note from Ellanto on VL¹: An interesting thought occurred to me today, regarding the seemingly contradicting examples of edro hi ammen and le nallon sí di'nguruthos. Various explanations have been proposed and discussed, usually leading to a SI vs. KHI distinction, but I believe the two forms can be neatly explained with just SI as well.
Note that in the first example the adverb in question is given with a short vowel + lenition, whereas in the second example it is given with a long vowel and without lenition; note also that in Sam's invocation sí is in a metrically stressed position. I propose that in Gandalf's incantation (and in normal speech when the adverb is not especially emphasised) the adverb (if monosyllabic, at any rate) encliticises to the verb and its vowel reduces. Such situations will also call for lenition, since the adverb adjoins to the preceding prosodic word - Sindarin mutations all originally arose as sandhi phenomena within prosodic phrases. In Sam's invocation sí is metrically stressed and pragmatically emphasised, leading to the retention of the long vowel, as well as its removal from the preceding prosodic phrase, blocking lenition.
Also of interest to this theory is Tolkien's mention of "unstressed ... adverbial particles (mainly monosyllabic)" in PE23/143.

It is generally assumed that, like English, Sindarin adverbs can modify adjectives and when they do, they precede those adjectives: Megil vae·vell. “A well-loved sword.” or Mae vell e·Vegil. “The sword [is] well loved.”. Here the adverb causes the adjective to be lenited; this is independent of the lenition of the adjective or adjectival phrase when it modifies a noun attributively.

One peculiar feature of Sindarin is that adjectives may sometimes function as adverbs, in which case they follow the verb: en·Orch nôr lim. “The orc is running swift (= swiftly)”. This is subtly different from en·Orch lim nôr. “The swift orc is running” which of course is ambiguous, so perhaps you could also say Nôr en·Orch lim.

1.2.4.4 Section Summary

Click the phrase to reveal the answer. Uses CEA 1969 definite articles e/en & in.

Exercise 1.3

1.2.5 Febith (Prepositions) →