No one can actually be fluent in Sindarin or Quenya, because these languages don't have enough words and grammar for people to indeed have any conversations, specially Sindarin.
I haven’t watch it yet but by the look on Legolas’s face, I can tell it’s going to be big time! Edit: I was right! @Artreii this is a lesson! Thank you for being the teacher of Elvish!
It just bears remembering that in light of Tolkien's notes from the 1960's (published in _Parma Eldalamberon_ #22) one ought to use Sindarin future forms like *carathon* "I shall do (it)" instead of "cerithon" (the old reconstruction theory promoted at sites like Ardalambion).
Remarks regarding plurals in Sindarin: In the word's final syllable (or in a monosyllable) *a* changes to *ai* when follwed by one consonant, or to *e* , when followed by two or more consonants. Example: *galadh* "tree" → *gelaidh* "trees" - the *a* in the non final syllable changing to *e* , and the *a* in the final syllable changing to *ai* because it is followed by one consonant, *dh* (which represents the sound of the English "th" in "this", "that" - not "thank", "think") The expected plural form of *alph* (which has only one syllable), second to the plural formation rules, would be **elph* , but it is *eilph* instead: an irregular plural. The diphthong *au* changes to *oe* in both non-final _and_ final syllables: *tauron* “forester” → *toeryn* “foresters” *Naug* “Dwarf” → *Noeg* “Dwarves” Sindarin, as any language, has irregular plurals: *orod* "mountain" → *ered* "mountains" *gîl* / *gil* "star" → *geil* "stars" *êl* "star" (poetic use only) → *elin* , *ely* "stars" *alph* "swan" → *eilph* "swans" *ôl* "dream" → *elei* "dreams" *Naugol* "Little Dwarf" (diminutive of *Naug* "Dwarf"), but can also be translated just "Dwarf" → *Nauglin* "(Little) Dwarves" And we have at least one example of dual plural in Sindarin (the dual is a kind of plural that denotes two things that form a pair): *galadh* "tree" (a thick, dense and branching tree, like an oak and beech * ) → *Galadhad* "the (Two) Trees of Valinor" (Laurelin and Telperion). * Another word for "tree" is *orn* , but referring to a taller and more slender tree, like an ash or birch. A few Sindarin words have the plural as their normal form. The singular is derived from the plural by adding the suffixes *-eg* , *-ig* , *-og* , *-od* . These are the examples I can recall: *lhaw* "ears" → *lheweg* "ear" * *loth* "blossom", "inflorescence", "head of small flowers" (also just "flower") → *lotheg* "flower" (a single flower) *gwanûn* "twins" (a pair of twins) → *gwanunig* "twin". *Glam* "Orc noise", "any body of Orcs (specially of noisy/yelling Orcs)" → *Glamog* "noisy/yelling Orc" (or any Orc). *filig* "small birds" → *filigod* "small bird" (also *fileg* ) * When the singular suffix *-eg* is appended to the plural word, it may trigger _i-affection_ (certain vowels in certain syllables become closer to *i* or even become *i* ) - the same phenomenom observed in the plural formation. This occurs in *lhaw* → *lheweg* (rather than **lhaweg* - since *a* in a non-final syllable changes to *e* ); but not in *loth* → *lotheg* ( *o* in a non-final syllable doesn't change). *-Ig* would also trigger i-affection; but, surprisingly, we don't see it occurring in *gwanûn* → *gwanunig* (the expected was **gwenynig* ). Adjectives also go to the plural in Sindarin. An adjective must pluralized when: (a) it describes a plural noun or pronoun, or (b) when it describes two or more nouns or pronouns. Note: In Sindarin, adjectives are usually placed after the noun they describe; buy the reverse order is allowed for emphasis or in poetry. The plural formation rules for adjectives are the same as those for nouns. *gwilwileth valen* "yellow butterfly* * *gwilwilith velin* "yellow butterflies" * *i lotheg a i 'wilwileth melin* "the flower and butterfly are yellow" ** * The word for "yellow" is actually *malen* . But adjectives directly following the noun they describe are subject to soft mutation a.k.a. lenition. This mutation causes *malen* to become *valen* and the plural *melin* to become *velin* . ** Here, *gwilwileth* "butterfly" becomes *'wilwileth* because the article *i* "the" triggers lenition (soft mutation) on the following word (when the word begins with *g-* , this consonant drops and is replaced by an apostrophe ( *gwilwileth* → *'wilwileth* ), which may be pronounced as a glotal stop or not pronounced at all (we don't know) - the article *in* , plural "the" ( *i* is singular "the"), triggers nasal mutation, which I won't address here. The adjective *melin* "yellow" (plural), is not lenited because of the verb "to be" which is understood in the phrase, between it and the nouns it describes, breaking the order of adjective immediately following the noun.
@@xinahliaofthefeywild8985 You're welcome! There are some updates regarding the plural formation and one info I'd like to add about the dual. I will share them here in a reply to my own comment (the one above), so people can get the correct and up-to-date information.
Plurals in Sindarin are formed by vowel change, referred to as “vowel affection” - or prestanneth, in Sindarin (actually, Noldorin), literally meaning “affection”. When words go to the plural, their vowels usually become closer to i or actually become i. Vowel combinations (either diphthongs or not) may also be subject to vowel affection. Vowel changes in non-final syllables: a → e o → e u → y au → oe Vowel changes in final syllables or in monosyllabic words: a (followed by one consonant) → ai a (followed by two consonants #1*) → e a (followed by two consonants #2*) → ai a (followed by two consonants #3*) → ei á, â → ai e → i é, ê → í, î o → y ó, ô → ý, ŷ u → y ú, û → ui au → oe io → y aea → ei * Number #2 refers to consonant clusters made up of a nasal (n, m) followed by a plosive (c, p or t). Number #3 refers to clusters made up of a liquid (l, r) followed by a spirant (f, ph, v, s, th, dh, h, ch). Number #1 refer to any other cluster. Notice that not all vowels and vowel combinations undergo these changes. Thus, some words in Sindarin happen to look the same in the singular and in the plural. The dual plural which I referred to before (marked by the suffix *-ad* ), is extinct in Third Age Sindarin (the Sindarin spoken by the time of the War of the Ring). It only survives in old proper names such as *Galadhad* "the (Two) Trees of Valinor" (Laurelin and Telperion), from galadh "tree" (a thick, dense and branching tree, like an oak or a beech).
