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Mutations in Sindarin

Perhaps one of the most distinctive features of Sindarin; its complex consonant changes. In Sindarin the initial consonant of a word may undergo change, these changes are called mutations.

There are different types of mutation, the most common two; soft- and nasal mutation are the most well attested ones, so we can describe these with relative certainty. Some of the other types of mutation we will have reconstruct from minimal knowledge.

The types of mutations are:

Soft mutation, lention

Nasal mutation

Mixed mutation

Stop mutation

Liquid mutation

There are also special cases

Ps. Autocorrect was very judgemental about all of this, I haven’t found a way to turn off those annoying red squiggly lines. Maybe I’ll figure it out one day, but for now, please just ignore them.

#prestanneth #sindarin

Special mutation cases in Sindarin

As with any language there are exceptions to the established rules. Luckily, these are not overly complex. The special cases have to do with the B, D, and G; the word origin changes the mutations. If B, D, G originated as MB, ND, ÑG (instead of simply B, D, G) they mutate differently. I recommend using Eldamo to research word origin.

The words I used as examples are:

‘bâr’ (=land, home)(stem: mbar)

‘dôl’ (=head)(earlier: ndolo)

‘Golodh’ (=Noldo)(primitive: ñgolodô)

Anyhow, I have made a table with all special cases for every mutation:

#special cases #prestanneth

Liquid mutation in Sindarin

This mutation is the sketchiest in terms of what we know of it. Tolkien never mentioned it in any of his writings, but the texts we have seem to demand the existence of this mutation. Especially if Tolkien adheres to his own rules, which he did sometimes.

True to its name, liquid mutation occurs after words ending in a liquid:

or (=over, above, on), preposition

or- (=over), prefix

The mutations:

#liquid mutation #prestanneth

Stop mutation in Sindarin

This one is also never mentioned in Tolkien’s official writings on Sindarin. A mutation by this name is mentioned in his Gnomish Lexicon. It is not very well attested, most of what is recorded here is extrapolated from what little is known. That being said, the following words trigger stop mutation:

o (=from, of), preposition, it is possible to change ‘o’ to ‘od’ before vowels, but this is not necessary. This would probably be done in cases like ‘od orch’ (of an orc), to avoid the double o (‘o orch’). On the Moria gate inscription ‘o Imladris’ is written, though ‘od Imladris’ would apparently also be possible.

ed (=out, out of), preposition, mostly shortened to ‘e’, see the table for details.

ned (=in), preposition, behaves like ‘ed’, however, it would probably not become ‘nef’ to avoid confusion with ‘nef’ (=on the side of).

Now, the table with the mutations:

Ps. The ‘es, ef, eth’ (as well as ‘nes’ and ‘neth’) were “often found”, according to Tolkien. This means that the other forms are also possible.

#stop mutation #prestanneth

Mixed mutation in Sindarin

This mutation is never explicitly referred to in any published material, we don’t even know what it’s called, mixed mutation is a term made up by fans. Because it sometimes resembles soft- and sometimes nasal mutation. What we know of it we only know by observing its effects. It occurs after ‘e’/‘en’ and after prepositions incorporating -in:

e, en (=of the)

erin (=on the)

ben (=according to the)

nan (=to the)

uin (=from the, of the)

‘nin (=to the, for the)

The mutation table:

You may have noticed that in some cases the words are the same in their mutated form. As example I have used ‘cost’ and ‘gost’, these both become ‘e-gost’, for their meaning we must rely on contextual clues.

Ps. I just noticed, with a few words I have included an example with ‘erin’ as well as ‘en’. All of these words can of course also be mutated with ‘erin’ in front. That I have only included examples with a few words does not mean it’s not possible with all other words as well.

#mixed mutation #prestanneth

Nasal mutation in Sindarin

Nasal mutation occurs after the following words:

in (=the, plural), article

an (=for/ to), prefix

dan (=against), preposition / also used as prefix ‘re-‘

This form of mutation can be very confusing, but here’s a table with the mutations:

#nasal mutation #prestanneth

Soft mutation, lenition in Sindarin

Soft mutation, also called Lenition (=softening), is the most frequent mutation. It has many uses, it occurs after a series of particles, prepostitions and prefixes: typically those that either still end in a vowel or did so at an earlier stage.

A list with all those that cause lenition:

ab (=after, behind, following, later), prefix and preposition, originated as ‘apa’ in Quenya

adel (=behind, in the rear (of)), preposition, probably ‘atele’ in Old Sindarin

am (=up, above, over), preposition and prefix, ‘amba’ in Quenya

ath- (=on both sides, across), prefix, originated from the older ‘attha’

athra- (=across), prefix

be (=according to), prepostition, because it corresponds to the Quenya ‘ve’ it most likely means ‘as’ and ‘like’ as well.

dad (=down), adverb and prefix

di (=under, beneath), preposition

go-, gwa- (=together), prefix

i (=the), article

na (=to, towards, at, of, with, by), preposition