User:Jteuber/Sindarin Phonology

Phonology

Consonants

Sindarin Consonant Inventory
Place →	Labial				Koronal				Dorsal				Glottal
↓ Manner	Bilabial		Labiodental		Dental		Alveolar		Palatal		Velar
Nasal		m ⟨m, mm⟩						n				ŋ ⟨ng, ñ⟩
Plosive	p	b					t	d			k ⟨c⟩	ɡ
Frikative			f ⟨f, ph⟩	v ⟨v, f⟩	θ ⟨th⟩	ð ⟨dh⟩	s				x ⟨ch⟩			h
Approximant									(j)
Vibrant							r̥ ⟨rh⟩	r
Lateral Approximant							l̥ ⟨lh⟩	l	(lʲ)
Labial Approximant											ʍ ⟨hw⟩	w
Where signs occur in pairs, the left ones are voiceless and the right ones are voiced sound. Where the usual romanisation differs from the IPA sign, it is given between angle brackets ⟨…⟩. Sign in parentheses (…) are allophones of other phonems listed.

Gemination

Five of those consonants can occur doubled and are then intended to be pronounced for a longer duration.

• s in the middle and at the end of words: lossen /ˈlɔsːɛn/ ‘snowy’, lass /ˈlasː/ ‘leaf’
• l in the middle and at the end of words: callon /ˈkalːɔn/ ‘hero’, sell /ˈsɛlː/ ‘daughter’
• n in the middle and at the end of words: annon /ˈanːɔn/ ‘gate’, ann /ˈanː/ ‘gift’
• r only in the middle of words: Rochirrim /rɔˈxirːim/ ‘Horse-lords’
• f only in the middle of words: aphadon /ˈafːadɔn/ ‘follower’

Sindarin used to have /mː/ as well, but this combination has shortened in pronunciation. Still mm occurs sometimes in the romanisation, where it is either a reminder that m still attracts stress, or as a purely aesthetic choice.

Vowels

Sindarin vowel system

	Front	Mid	Back
Close	i · y		u
Mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a ~ ɑ

Sindarin distinguishes three different vowel lengths: short vowels, which are left unmarked in the romanisation (i, y, e, a, o, u), long vowels, marked by an acute accent (í, ý, ó, ú) and specially prolonged ones, that usually (but not exclusively) occur in monosyllables and are marked with a circumflex (î, ŷ, ê, â, ô, û). All vowels can occur in both short and over-long form, but only some exist as long vowels: ancient long ē, ā and ō had shifted to í, ó/au, ú, leaving é, á absent in Sindarin.

Those vowels can form six diphthongs: three ending in -i (ei, ai, ui), two in -e (ae, oe) and one in -u (au). Other combinations of vowels are not diphthongal, but occupy two separate syllables (e. g. Gilthoniel is Gil·tho·ni·el with four syllables). The only exception to this is i followed by another vowel occurring at the beginning of a word, there it represents j (the y sound in English you), e. g. iant /jant/.

Stress

The position of stress is predictable from the shape of the word:

• In words with one or two syllables, the stress falls on the first syllable: dûn ‘west’, adan ‘human’.
• In words with three or more syllables a distinction is made:
  • If the second-to-last syllable contains a vowel that is either long or followed by two or more consonants (or by an m), it is stressed: Pelargir.
  • If the second-to-last syllable is not heavy, the third-to-last syllable receives the stress instead: Celeborn.

Notice that digraphs count only as a single spoken consonant: Denethor is stressed on the first e, because th represents the single sound /θ/.

Pronunciation guide

Letter	IPA	Example	Notes
a	ɑ, a	Aragorn	Tolkien cites the English word father, but it is unclear if this should be specifically a back vowel, because RP English does not have the more common variants /a, ä/ natively.
â	ɑːː, aːː	tâd	Sindarin â is pronounced like Sindarin a, except that it is held for a significantly longer time.
ae	aɛ̯	Maedhros	Similar to ai, but ends at a more open vowel.
ai	ai̯	Edain	Sindarin ai is most like i in English time.
au, aw	au̯	Glaurung, Araw	Sindarin au is most like ou in English thousand or like ow in English cow. It is never pronounced like au in English cause or like aw in English law. The spellings au and aw are the same sound, but aw is the preferred spelling at the ends of words, as in Araw.
b	b	Beleriand
c	k	Celeborn	Always hard c like in English cake, never soft c like in English cell.
ch	x	orch	Always like ch in Scottish loch, never like ch in English chair.
d	d	Dúnedain
dh	ð	Caradhras	Sindarin dh is most like th in English there, bathe (as opposed to the th in think, with which in Sindarin is written as th). It is not pronounced like normal d.
e	ɛ	Beren	Sindarin e is most like e in English get, it should not have a y off-glide like in English grey.
ê	ɛːː	êl	Sindarin ê is pronounced like Sindarin e, except that it is held for for a significantly longer time.
ei	ɛi̯	Ereinion	Sindarin ei is most like ey in English grey.
f	f, v	Finrod, Nindalf	This represents [f] usually, except when final, where it is used for [v]. Tolkien also used f for [v] before consonants (e. g. Lefnui) or occasionally between vowels (e. g. Afor). Notice that Gandalf is an Old Norse name, not Sindarin, so the rule does not apply here.
g	ɡ	Galadriel	Always hard g like in English gasp, never soft g like in English gem.
h	h	Húrin
hw	ʍ	hwind	Sindarin hw is most like the traditional pronunciation of wh in English whale, as it is still heard in Scotland, Ireland and parts of the southern United States. If nothing else works, try pronouncing w while whispering.
i	i, j	Minas Tirith, iath	Sindarin i is usually pronounced as the i in sick. When a word starts with i followed by another vowel like in iath, it instead represents [j], the sound of y in English you.
í	iː	Círdan	Sindarin í is pronounced like Sindarin i, except that it is held noticeably longer.
î	iːː	Gwîr	Sindarin î is pronounced for an even longer duration than Sindarin í, usually in single-syllable words.
l	l	Legolas, Ithil	Sindarin l is always pronounced like the light l in English let, not the dark l in girl. Following e, i it is slightly palatalised, if at the end of a word or preceding another consonant (e. g. in Ithil).
lh	ɬ	Lhûn	There is no parallel for Sindarin lh in English, but it is like ll in Welsh or ł in Navajo, or Quenya hl. More specifically, it is a voiceless alveolar lateral, like s when spoken in a lateral lisp. If nothing else works, try pronouncing l while whispering.
m	m	Mordor
mh	ṽ		An Archaic Sindarin sound, a "spirant" m, just like Gaelic mh. This sound became the same as v later, but the spelling mh for mutated m still occurs occasionally,. However, in later spelling mh inside of words is usually means separate m + h (e. g. in glamhoth).
n	n	Nevrast
nc	ŋk	Orthanc	Like nk in English think.
ng	ŋɡ, ŋ	Fingolfin, Glamdring	Represents [ŋɡ] (like ng in English finger) between two vowels and in the combination -ngl-, -ngr-, and [ŋ] everywhere else (like ng in English sing). It is never pronounced like ng in English ginger.
o	ɔ	Gorgoroth	Sindarin o is most like o in English hot, but with rounder lips, similar the o in the Italian word notte. It should not have a w off-glide like ow in English show.
ó	ɔː	Dor-lómin	Sindarin ó is pronounced just noticeably longer in duration than Sindarin o, but otherwise is pronounced the same.
ô	ɔːː	dôr	Sindarin ô is pronounced for an even longer duration than Sindarin ó, usually in single-syllable words.
oe	ɔɛ̯	Nen Hithoel	Sindarin oe is somewhat like oi in English join, but ends at a more open vowel.
œ	œ	Nírnaeth Arnœdiad	An Archaic Sindarin sound, at one time pronounced like French eu, oe or oeu or like German/Swedish ö or like Danish/Norwegian ø. In the Third Age it has become e. Mostly found in First Age Sindarin words, and most famously in Nírnaeth Arnœdiad. Lord of the Rings-style Third Age Sindarin spellings do not use œ at all, only e, such as Ered Wethrin instead of *Œrœid Wethrin. Notice that œ and oe are not always distinguished in printing, in most cases the reading as a diphthong is the correct one.
p	p	Pengolodh
ph	f, fː	Ephel Dúath	Represents [fː] between, f everywhere else. It is used there instead of f to notate the mutation result of p and to distinguish it from f = [v] when word-final.
r	r	Beren	Sindarin r is always trilled or at least flapped wherever possible, like in Scottish English.
rh	r̥	Rhovanion	There is no parallel for Sindarin rh in English, but it is like Welsh rh, or Quenya hr. If nothing else works, try pronouncing r while whispering.
s	s	Sirion	Sindarin s is always pronounced like s in English safe, and never like s in English ease. There is no z in Sindarin.
t	t	Túrin
th	θ	Ecthelion	Sindarin th is always pronounced th in English think, and never like th in English these—the latter sound is represented by dh in Sindarin.
u	u	Curufin	Sindarin u is most like u in English put or the vowel sound in the word good. It is never pronounced like u in English gut, or like u in English rude.
ú	uː	Lúthien	Sindarin ú is pronounced just noticeably longer in duration than Sindarin u, but otherwise sounds the same.
û	uːː	Barad-dûr	Sindarin û is pronounced for an even longer duration than Sindarin ú, usually in single-syllable words. But it is permissible to pronounce it the same as ú.
ui	ui̯	Orodruin	Sindarin ui is most like oo y in English too young, pronounced all in one syllable.
v	v	Tinúviel
w	w	Gwathló
y	y	Emyn Muil	Pronounced like the French u or the German ü. You can produce this sound by pronouncing an i and then rounding your lips as if you were pronouncing an u. In Gondor it became i.
ý	yː	cýron	Sindarin ý is pronounced just noticeably longer in duration than Sindarin y, but otherwise is pronounced the same.
ŷ	yːː	cŷr	Sindarin ŷ is pronounced for an even longer duration than Sindarin ý, usually in single-syllable words.