Sindarin Lessons
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    • Lessons 1-11 >
      • 1 - Pronunciation >
        • Sindarin IPA
      • 2 - Greetings
      • 3 - Origins >
        • Sindarin place names
      • 4 - Questions
      • 5 - Eating & drinking >
        • Barter vocabulary
      • 6 - Plurals (1)
      • 7 - Plurals (2)
      • 8 - Pronouns (nominative)
      • 9 - Pronouns (object & dative)
      • 10 - Colours & Soft mutation introduction
      • 11 - Soft mutation contd.
    • Lessons 12-23 >
      • 12 - Using adjectives & adverbs
      • 13 - Prepositions (1)
      • 14 - Prepositions (2)
      • 15 - 'in' & Nasal mutation
      • 16 - Pronouns (possessive)
      • 17 - Verbs (Present Tense)
      • 18 - Verbs (Past Tense) Parts 1-4
      • 19 - Verbs (Past Tense) Parts 5-7
      • 20 - Verbs (Future Tense)
      • 21 - Verbs (Conditional)
      • 22 - Irregular verbs
      • 23 - Verbs (Dual)
    • Lessons 24-35 >
      • 24 - Sentence structure
      • 25 - Negation
      • 26 - 'To be'
      • 27 - Relative pronouns and uncertainty
      • 28 - Timekeeping
      • 29 - Talking about the weather
      • 30 - Numbers & Mathematics
      • 31 - Mixed mutation and 'En'
      • 32 - Plurals (3): Class plurals
      • 33 - Pronoun suffixes
      • 34 - Comparatives & Superlatives
      • 35 - Abstract Suffix
    • Lessons 36-43 >
      • 36 - Further suffixes
      • 37 - How to make names (1)
      • 38 - How to make names (2)
      • 39 - Gondorian & Mirkwood Sindarin
      • 40 - Doriathrin Sindarin
      • 41 - Liquid and Stop mutations
      • 42 - Elision
      • 43 - Sindarin Alphabet
  • Mutation chart
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    • Grammatical terms
    • (m)b words
    • (n)d words
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Lesson 10 - Colours, and an introduction to soft mutation

Ivrinel: Amdiron, gerig muindyr egor muinthil?
Amdiron: Gerin muinthel, i eneth dîn Elil. Sâf hent luin a finnel nimp.
Ivrinel: A hevig finnel vorn a chent varan!

Ivrinel: Amdiron, do you have brothers or sisters?
Amdiron: I have a sister, her name is Elil. She has blue eyes and white hair.
Ivrinel: And you have black hair and brown eyes!

The most important thing to understand about Sindarin is that the letters at the beginning of words change depending on where they come in a sentence or what comes before them. This is used in both spoken and written Sindarin, and must be applied - it is an intrinsic part of the language.
The Sindarin word for soft mutation is prestanneth. Other sites and lessons may call it 'Vocalic mutation' or 'Lenition'.
Translating Sindarin invariably involves descriptions, and the Elves loved to have many words for their colours to describe things, from the colours of snow to falling leaves. First of all, here is a list of the colours, in both Sindarin and English. The last three are my own reconstructions, but they are useful for more modern translations.
Sindarin
English
Caran
Red
Coll
Scarlet, golden-red
Luin
Blue
Elu
Pale blue
Malen
Yellow
Calen
Green
Morn
Black
Baran
Golden brown
Rhosc
Brown, russet
Faen, Fain, Nimp
White
Gloss
White as snow
Glân
Bright shining white
Mith
Pale grey
Thinn
Grey
Rustui
Coppery
Celebren
Silvery
Mallen
Golden
Cull
Orange
Ling
Purple
Crinth
Pink
Three different words for white?
The Elves were very fond of words for white, but there are subtle differences between them.
Faen = Radiant, white
Fain = White, also the noun 'cloud'
Nimp = Pale, white

Here is the list of colours again, but this time with their mutated forms next to them, so you can start to see which letters change, and which don't (you will be very pleased to know that not every letter changes). This lesson does not cover every change that occurs with soft mutation, this will be covered in Lesson 11.
Original Sindarin
With soft mutation
Caran
Garan
Coll
Goll
Luin
Luin (L does not change)
Elu
Elu (vowels do not change)
Malen
Valen
Calen
Galen
Morn
Vorn
Baran
Varan
Rhosc
Rosc
Faen, Fain, Nimp
Faen, Fain, Nimp (F and N do not change)
Gloss
'loss (G disappears)
Glân
'lân
Mith
Vith
Thinn
Thinn (TH does not change)
Rustui
Rustui (R does not change)
Celebren
Gelebren
Mallen
Vallen
Cull
Gull
Ling
Ling (L does not change)
Crinth
Grinth
Examples:
i iaul vorn = the black cat
i loth grinth = the pink flower
i higil luin = the blue necklace

sigil luin = blue necklace  (without the i you do not need to mutate the word for necklace)
sigil garan = red necklace  (but you still need to mutate the adjective)
i chû fain = the white dog
hû varan = a brown dog
i annabon vallen a gelebren = the golden and silvery elephant
i annabon vallen a i annabon gelebren = the golden elephant and the silvery elephant

Vocabulary
a/ah/adh = and

If the word following 'and' begins with a consonant, you use a
If the word following 'and' begins with a vowel, you can use a, ah or adh - Lesson 11 will explain why
i = the (singular)
annabon = elephant
iaul = cat
loth = flower
   
sigil = necklace
hû = dog

Testing your knowledge

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  • Home
    • Donations
    • Contact/About me
  • Lessons
    • Lessons 1-11 >
      • 1 - Pronunciation >
        • Sindarin IPA
      • 2 - Greetings
      • 3 - Origins >
        • Sindarin place names
      • 4 - Questions
      • 5 - Eating & drinking >
        • Barter vocabulary
      • 6 - Plurals (1)
      • 7 - Plurals (2)
      • 8 - Pronouns (nominative)
      • 9 - Pronouns (object & dative)
      • 10 - Colours & Soft mutation introduction
      • 11 - Soft mutation contd.
    • Lessons 12-23 >
      • 12 - Using adjectives & adverbs
      • 13 - Prepositions (1)
      • 14 - Prepositions (2)
      • 15 - 'in' & Nasal mutation
      • 16 - Pronouns (possessive)
      • 17 - Verbs (Present Tense)
      • 18 - Verbs (Past Tense) Parts 1-4
      • 19 - Verbs (Past Tense) Parts 5-7
      • 20 - Verbs (Future Tense)
      • 21 - Verbs (Conditional)
      • 22 - Irregular verbs
      • 23 - Verbs (Dual)
    • Lessons 24-35 >
      • 24 - Sentence structure
      • 25 - Negation
      • 26 - 'To be'
      • 27 - Relative pronouns and uncertainty
      • 28 - Timekeeping
      • 29 - Talking about the weather
      • 30 - Numbers & Mathematics
      • 31 - Mixed mutation and 'En'
      • 32 - Plurals (3): Class plurals
      • 33 - Pronoun suffixes
      • 34 - Comparatives & Superlatives
      • 35 - Abstract Suffix
    • Lessons 36-43 >
      • 36 - Further suffixes
      • 37 - How to make names (1)
      • 38 - How to make names (2)
      • 39 - Gondorian & Mirkwood Sindarin
      • 40 - Doriathrin Sindarin
      • 41 - Liquid and Stop mutations
      • 42 - Elision
      • 43 - Sindarin Alphabet
  • Mutation chart
  • Resources
    • Jigsaws
    • Grammatical terms
    • (m)b words
    • (n)d words
    • (n)g words
    • -ath
    • Vocab Slideshows
    • Language of the hands
  • Forum
  • Links & Products