Although the entirety of the Elvish language is unknown, from the text provided by Tolkien it is possible to reconstruct the grammar and usage of the languages. Here follows a guide to speaking and writing in fluent Quenya and Sindarin as written by Ruth S. Noel, famed student of Tolkien’s languages, in her excellent dictionary The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It is a personal favourite of mine, and does a very nice job of explaining general rules of Tolkien’s Elvish.

Verb Conjugation

Quenya

present	past	future
root + a	root + e	root + uva
na is	ne was	nuva will be
Lina sings	line sang	linuva will sing
imperative	subjunctive
root + e	root + ai
ne be!	nai may it be
line sing!	linai may it sing

The plural forms of verbs can be formed by adding –r. When the subject of the sentence is plural the verb must also be plural: ex lassi lantar
To indicate the pronouns I, we, and thou as subjects use the suffixes: -n for I, -(l)met for we, and –lye for thou. In the case of –met, l may replace to plural r suffix.


Sindarin

present	past	future
root + a	root + ant	root + ath
na is	nant was	nath will be
tira watches	tirant watched	tirath will watch
imperative	participial	auxiliary
root + o	root + iel	root + i
no be!	niel being	ni have been
tiro watch!	tiriel watching	tiri have watched

To indicate that pronoun I as the subject add n in the manner as follows:

present	past
root + on	root + en
non I am	nen I was
linon I sing	linen I sang
future	auxiliary
root + ath + on	root + in
nathon I will be	nin I have been
linnathon I will sing	linin I have sang

Judging from the single given example of linnathon, from root lin, it seems that when in this from of the future tense, if there is a single final consonant, it is doubled. If there are two or more final consonants as in the case of the root quant, there is no further change.

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Nouns

Compound words
In both Quenya and Sindarin placing the describing element before the main element generally forms compound words. Unlike today’s English language, the concepts of of and of the are expressed by word order, not separate words.

Dúnadan ‘Man of the West’ literally ‘west-man’
Yavanna ‘Giver of Fruits’ literally ‘fruit gift’
Elendil ‘Lover of the Stars’ literally ‘star-lover’
ithildin ‘star-moon’ literally ‘moon-star’

When forming names using the Elvish language it is permissible to combine both Quenya and Sindarin.


Noun Forms
Quenya, based on the Finnish language, has dual forms added to the ending of words in order to construct grammatical forms.

Quenya plural is formed by adding i to the words ending in one or more consonants: elen, eleni; las, lassi; mir, miri. Quenya words ending in vowels add r to become plurals: alda, aldar; fan, fanyar; sinda, sindar.

The Quenya possessive is formed by dropping the final vowel, if any, and adding o: Varda, Vardo ‘Varda’s’; Calacirya, Calaciryo ‘Calacirya’s’. Adding –on to plurals and do not drop the final vowel: Silmarillion ‘of the Silmarils’, aldaron ‘of the trees’.

Prepositional elements come at the end of Quenya words, but the final vowel is not dropped: Oiolosse, Oiolosseo ‘from Everwhite’; Sindanori, Sindanoriello ‘from grey country’; Lórien, Lóriendesse ‘in Lórien’.

In Quenya, the dual element is formed by adding t: maryat ‘hands-her two’, met ‘us two’.

Sindarin plurals are formed by changing the vowels, as shown below:

Some of the rules covering these changes are: stressed a becomes e, unstressed a becomes ai, o becomes e, i, or y.

Collective plurals (that is, plurals that signify all of a set of things) are formed in Sindarin by adding –ath, or, usually in the case of peoples, -rim, literally meaning ‘a host,’ ‘a great number’; elenath ‘all the stars’, periannath ‘the whole race of halflings’, Galadhrim, ‘all the tree-folk’, Rohirrim ‘all the Masters of Horses’.

An augmentative suffix, -on, is added to Sindarin nouns to signify that the thing is very great or mighty, as in aearon ‘great sea’.

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Sentence Structure

Quenya
subject-verb-object:
hísië untupa Calaciryo míri
mist covers Calaciryo’s jewels

object-verb-subject:
tier undulávë lumbulë
roads drowned (by) heavy shadow

object-subject-verb:
máryat Elentari ortanë…
he two hands Star-queen lifted up…

a verb occurs at the end of a sentence if it is a question:
Sí ma I yulma nin enquantuva?
Now who the cup for me will refill?

sentences beginning with verbs seem to be emotionally charged:
Nai hiruvalye Valimar.
May it be that thou shalt find Valimar.
Auta I lome!
Passing is the night!

If there are one or more nouns before a verb, one of them is usually the subject:
Yéni ve lintëyuldar avánier.
Years like swift draughts have passed away.

However, if the noun before the verb has a prepositional suffix (-o, -ello, ‘from,’ ‘in’) the subject will be the noun following the verb:
sindanoriello caita mornië I falmalinnar
from grey country lies darkness the waves upon

Most adjectives proceed the noun:
lintë yuldar, lissi miruvoreva
swift draughts, sweet nectar

Adjectives of plural nouns must be plural. Plural adjectives are formed by changing the final vowel to e or adding e.

Sindarin
object-verb-subject:
le linnathon
(to) thee chant-will-I (here the subject pronoun is a suffix to the verb)

verb-object:
na vedui Dúnadan
(it) is (at) last Dúnadan

verb-subject:
noro lim, Asfaloth!
ride on, Asfaloth!

subject-verb-object:
Naur dan I ngaurhoth!
Fire take the werewolves!

Verbs are usually followed by their modifiers, which may even come at the end of the sentence:
Cuio I Pherian annan!
Live the Halflings long!

Nouns are usually followed by their modifiers:
Annon edhellen, Fennas nogothrim
Door (of the) Elves, Gateway (of) Dwarf-folk

The concepts ‘of’ and ‘of the’ are usually implied by word order, as above. Where ‘from’ or ‘of’ is stated, the Sindarin word o atands alone, rather than being a suffix, as in Quenya:
o menel, Celebrimbor o Eregion
from heaven, Celebrimbor of Hollen

 

 

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