Here is a current tentative list of 100 Common Words. This list was first started and compiled by Elaran, and working with Elaran, I refined it to this current list.
Rank ▲▼ | English ▲▼ | Sindarin ▲▼ | Parts of Speech ▲▼ | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | the | e(n) | i(n) | Article | Singular | Plural | (n) before vowels; e → soft mutation, i → nasal mutation. |
2 | be, exist as | na- | Verb | Seen only in imperative form as no "be" & no i "be that / may" |
3 | to(words), at | na | Preposition | Allative case |
4 | of | na(n) | Preposition | Unnecessary word order is enough. Example: Dor Daedeloth |
5 | and | a(h) | Conjunction | |
6 | a | N/A | Article | |
7 | in | mi | Preposition | |
8 | who/that | that | i | sa | san | Pronoun | Relative | Dem. Nom./Subj. | Dem. Acc./Obj./Adj. |
9 | have | hold, have, *possess | sav- | gar- | Verb | General Ownership/Experience | Physical Grasp/Control |
10 | I | me | ni | nin | Pronoun | Nom./Subj. | Acc./Obj. |
11 | he/she/it | him/her/it | te | ten | Pronoun | Nom./Subj. | Acc./Obj. |
12 | to, for | an | Preposition | Dative case |
13 | no, not | no, not, negative | û/law | ú-/ló- | Adverb | Interj. | Prefix | law¹ “sound” vs. law² “not” |
14 | (up)on | bo | Preposition | “*on” [is, per editors, perhaps related to] √apa “touch” |
15 | (together) with | gu | *ŷ | Preposition | ŷ for more than one other thing. |
16 | he | (see #11) | Pronoun | |
17 | as, like | *as | be, sui | Preposition | |
18 | you (thou | thee | you pl.) | ci/cin | le/len | de/den | Pronoun | Nom./Subj. | Acc./Obj. |
19 | do, make | car- | Verb | |
20 | at | (see #3) | Preposition | |
21 | this | se | sen | Pronoun | Dem. Nom./Subj. | Dem. Acc./Obj./Adj. |
22 | but | ach | Preposition | |
23 | his/her(s)/its | tín | Possessive pronoun | circumflex "î" vs. acute "í". |
24 | by (agent of) | beside, alongside | mo | sa | Preposition | |
25 | from, of | away (from) | o | o(d) | Preposition | o < ✶hō causing lenition. | o(d) < ✶aut causing stop mutation |
26 | *they | them | ti | tin | Pronoun | Nom./Subj. | Acc./Obj. |
27 | we (excl.)/us (excl.) | we (incl.)/us (incl.) | me/men | pe/pen | Pronoun | Nom./Subj. | Acc./Obj. |
28 | say, speak | ped- | Verb | |
29 | her | (see #23) | Possessive pronoun | |
30 | she | (see #11) | Pronoun | |
31 | or | egor | Preposition | |
32 | an | N/A | Article | |
33 | will (future) | will, mean to, intend | *will | atha- | nidh- | innas | verb | verb | noun | -atha(-) "will (future conjugation)" |
34 | my, *mine | nín | Possessive pronoun | |
35 | one | one, alone | one, somebody, anybody | min | er | pen | Cardinal | Adjective | Pronoun | |
36 | *all | il | Adjective | |
37 | would (hypothetical) | -ath(a)- & aen | Verb, Adverb | meant to be "...atha aen = would" |
38 | there | (in) there | ennas | *tas | Adverb | not used like English "there is" [may interfere with "index finger"] |
39 | their(s) | tín | Possessive pronoun | identical in form to #23, clarified by context |
40 | *what, who | man | Pronoun | Interrogative | *Hypothetically like pronouns: ma(n)/van, e.g., "Ma agor han?" |
41 | so, then, (after) that | *to | Adverb | |
42 | up(wards) | am | Adverb | |
43 | out (of) | ed | Prepostion | |
44 | if | pi | Adverb | |
45 | *about | o(h) | Adverb | os updated to o(h) |
46 | who | (see both #8 & #40) | Pronoun | |
47 | get, catch, obtain, take | receive, *accept | ged- [ng-] | cav- | Verb | |
48 | which | (see #40) | Pronoun | |
49 | go | men- | Verb | |
50 | me | (see #10) | Pronoun | |
51 | when | when | *maw/mo | io | Interrogative | Conjunction | |
52 | make | (see #19) | Verb | |
53 | can, be (physically) able to | pol- | Verb | |
54 | as, like | to like | (see #17) | mav- | Prepostion | Verb | |
55 | time, occasion | lû | Noun | |
56 | no | (see #13) | Interjection | |
57 | just, *lonely | air | Adjective | adjectives adverbially so "alone" works to say "alonely > on(e)ly / just" |
58 | him | (see #11) | Pronoun | |
59 | know, have knowledge | ista- | Verb | |
60 | seize | take | mab- | nab- | Verb | *grasp, grab | lay hold of |
61 | people | lî | gwaith | rim | Verb | (of one kind or origin) | [ᴱN.] men, folk | host, great number |
62 | into | mî | Preposition & Adverb | |
63 | year | year | seasonal year | în | idhrinn | lóran | Noun | year | *(lit.) year-circle | (lit.) growth-cycle |
64 | your (sg. fam. | *thy sg. polite | your pl.) | cín | lín | dín | Possesive Pronoun | |
65 | good | ma | maer | Interjunction | Adjective | excellent, that’s right | excellent, fair |
66 | some, few, several | nodui | Adjective | |
67 | could | (see both #37 & #53) | Adverb | debatable, possibly *"pelin mened = I can go" vs. "pelin aen mened = I could go" |
68 | them | (see #26) | Pronoun | |
69 | see, perceive, look | see | cen- | tíra- | Verb | |
70 | other | egel | Adjective | |
71 | than, *beyond | across, athwart, over | athar | thar | Adjective | alternative to "than" in English, e.g. "A is greater than B" → "A is great beyond B" |
72 | then | (see #41) | Adverb | |
73 | now | hí | Adverb | |
74 | look (towards), watch (over) | tir- | Verb | |
75 | only | *only, alone | (see #57) | Adverb | |
76 | come | tol- | Verb | |
77 | its | (see #23) | Pronoun | |
78 | over, above | or | (see #71) | Prepostion | |
79 | think | *sana- | Verb | |
80 | also | eithro | aich | Adverb | |
81 | back | ad- | dan [nd-] | galf | Prefix | Adverb | Noun | again, re- | back to, back on, back again | [of a body], shoulders [collectively] |
82 | after | ab | cad | Preposition | Adverb | |
83 | employ, *use | iuitha- | Verb | |
84 | two | tâd | Cardinal | |
85 | how | movan | naman | Interrogative | by means of what | with what |
86 | our(s) | mín | pín | Possesive Pronoun | Exclusive | Inclusive |
87 | work | ammuia- | muda- | tass | Verb | Noun | to work (hard) for, to earn | to labour, toil, *work | labour, task |
88 | first | minui | Ordinal | |
89 | well; excellent, admirable | mae | mael | Adverb | |
90 | road, way | men (mên) | Verb | Noun | |
91 | even | (see #80) | Adjective | |
92 | young, *new | fresh, new | gwain | cîw | Adjective | |
93 | want | aníra- | mer- | Verb | desire, *long for | hope, wish, desire, want |
94 | because | (see #12) | Preposition | Can also be used as "because". |
95 | any | *ae | Pronoun | |
96 | these | si | sin | Pronoun | Dem. Nom./Subj. | Dem. Acc./Obj./Adj. |
97 | give | anna- | Verb | |
98 | (whole) day, sunlight | aur | Noun | |
99 | most, -est | ro- | Prefix (*superlative) | |
100 | us | (see #27) | Pronoun |