Talk:Sandastan

Does anyone know what the litteral meaning is of both the words sandastan and thangail? ~ Earendilyon 15:08, 29 December 2007 (EST)

The Quenya Corpus Wordlist says:

sandastan "shield-barrier", a battle-formation (UT:282; probably sandastam- since the final element is derived from a stem stama- "bar, exclude")

--Mith 11:46, 30 December 2007 (EST)

Thanks, Mith! I should've looked there myself, of course! According to this dictionary thangail would mean 'bright shield', btw. ~ Earendilyon 13:58, 30 December 2007 (EST)

Could it be lenition from cail meaning "fence"?--Mith 14:09, 30 December 2007 (EST)

I'm not that familiar with linguistic laws, but I think 'shield' would also do, seeing that 'sandastan' als contains a reference to 'shield'. ~ Earendilyon 14:17, 30 December 2007 (EST)

What I mean is - assuming that dictionary is correct - it probably comes from than meaning "shield" and then cail, which undergoes lenition to gail, meaning "fence". Without getting into technicalities and specifics, in compounds the second half will undergo lenition. Also, I don't mean to be rude but I think you've got Than and Gail the wrong way around. --Mith 14:22, 30 December 2007 (EST)

It seems you're right (Hya: get that grin of your face!!): according to that dictionary linked to above 'gail' would mean 'bright' and 'than' 'shield'. ~ Earendilyon 14:35, 30 December 2007 (EST)

I agree, gail meanings "bright", but what I'm saying is that thangail is not than + gail but actually than + cail which would be consistent with Sindarin grammar rules (of lenition), and make much more sense as a meaning, I think. For another example of lenition check out Arvedui#Etymology. Lenition is the softening of consonants, which makes words more pronounceable. --Mith 14:43, 30 December 2007 (EST)

I seem to have been a bit dense, yesterday. Ofcourse cail makes much more sense! I'll change it accordingly! ~ Earendilyon 03:19, 31 December 2007 (EST)