Lenition

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Lenition is a phonological and grammatical aspect of Sindarin which reflects the phonological mutations of the language in its evolution from Old Sindarin.

Historical background

Lenition refers to the mutation of medial consonants, occurring usually between two vowels (VCV). It affected the Old Sindarin sounds p, t, k, b, d, g, m and s.

The sounds w, kh were lenited only at the beginning of a word.

More specifically, the evolution of these sounds can be visualized in these examples:

• p > b: OS *capro > S cabor "frog"
• t > d: OS *atar > S adar "father"
• k > g: OS *akar- > S agar "blood"

• b > v: OS Abóro > S Afor "refuser; Avar"
• d > dh: OS *badro > S badhor "brother"
• g > -: OS *jaga > *jaȝa > S iâ "abyss"

• m > v: OS *ramia- > S revia- "to wander"
• s > -: OS *thelese > *thelehe > S thele "sister"

• w- > gw-: OS wende > S gwend "maiden"
• kh- > h-: OS *khanda > S hand "intelligence"

As a consequence, this process took place also in compounds, envisioning retroactively the lenition process from Old Sindarin:

• fanui + dol > Fanuidhol (OS *Fanoidolo)
• cair + tân > Cirdan (OS *Kiriatâno)

External links

• Mutations in Sindarin by Thorsten Renk; it also covers Lenition.
• Soft mutation from the Ardalambion article on Sindarin by Helge Fauskanger