Sounds and Spelling
Sindarin Grammar 1
Course 1 · Chapter 2 · Sounds and Spelling
Tolkien's Languages 3 taught you to read Elvish aloud in outline. Mutation, the subject of Chapter 4, changes the spelling of words, so before the grammar begins you need a sharper map of the sounds and the spelling. This chapter gives the full Sindarin consonant table, the few spellings that surprise, the vowels and the stress rule. The examples are taken from the attested texts.
The Consonants
| Type | Spellings and sounds |
|---|---|
| Stops | p, b, t, d as in English; c = /k/; g = hard g as in "go" |
| Fricatives | f = /f/ (see below); v; th as in "thin"; dh as in "this"; s; h; ch as in Welsh or Scottish "loch"; lh, ll = a breathy l |
| Nasals | m, n; ng (see below) |
| Trills and approximants | r; rh = a breathy r; l; w; hw = a breathy w, like Scottish "which"; i before a vowel at the start of a word = y |
The Five Special Cases
- c is always /k/. Never /s/. Celeborn begins like cat.
- f and ph. The letter f is /f/ everywhere except at the end of a word, where it is voiced to [v] and still written f. The sound /f/ is written ph when it is word-final or when it spells a mutated p: i-pheriannath "the halflings".
- ng. It stands for /ŋ/ (as in "sing") at the end of a word, and for /ŋg/ (as in "finger") everywhere else.
- ch is not English ch. It is the Welsh and Scottish sound in "loch".
- i at the start of a word before a vowel is a consonant, /j/, like English y.
Old Sindarin also had a spirant written mh, a nasal v, which later merged with ordinary v. You will meet mh in the mutation tables of Chapter 4, where it matters again.
Vowels
The vowel letters are a, e, i, o, u and y. A short vowel is plain; a long vowel has an acute accent (á é í ó ú); and in a one-syllable word, length is marked with a circumflex (â ê î ô û), as in Lhûn and dôr. The vowel y is the front rounded vowel of French u or German ü. Old Sindarin also had a vowel like German ö, printed oe, which later became e (Gelydh).
Diphthongs
Stress
The rule is the same as in Quenya and in Latin. It was met in Tolkien's Languages 3 and applies here to Sindarin words:
- A two-syllable word is stressed on its first syllable.
- In a longer word, stress the next-to-last syllable if it is heavy (it has a long vowel, a diphthong, or a final consonant).
- Otherwise stress the one before it.
Stress in compound words is not covered here. The sources checked state only the general rule, so where a long name is a compound, check how it is divided before applying it.
- "dh and th are the same sound." One is voiced, as in "this"; the other voiceless, as in "thin".
- "A circumflex is stronger than an acute." Both mark a long vowel; the circumflex is used in one-syllable words.
- "Final f sounds like f." It is voiced to [v].
Hands-On Exercises
Say how each is pronounced: c in Celeborn, ng at the end of a word versus in the middle, ch, dh, th, rh, and the initial i before a vowel. Give an English comparison for each.
📄 View solutionMark the stressed syllable of pedo, minno, Elbereth and Mithrandir, saying whether each penult is heavy or light and why.
📄 View solutionExplain why i-pheriannath is spelled with ph rather than f or p, and what that suggests about the word before it. Then say what the circumflex in Lhûn tells you.
📄 View solutionChapter 2 Quick Reference
- c = /k/; g hard; th thin, dh this; ch loch; lh, rh, hw breathy
- f = /f/, voiced to [v] word-finally; /f/ is written ph when final or from a mutated p
- ng = /ŋ/ at the end of a word, /ŋg/ elsewhere; initial i before a vowel = y
- Vowels a e i o u y; acute = long; circumflex = long in a one-syllable word
- Diphthongs ai ei ui au (final aw), ae oe
- Stress: two syllables → first; longer → penult if heavy, else antepenult