I

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i (plural in in Sindarin) is the Quenya and Sindarin article "the" and relative pronoun "who".

Etymology

It's possible that the article begun as a relative pronoun, whose Primitive Quendian Root was YA.

Sindarin

Mutations

In Sindarin, the singular form causes lenition to the following word. For example tâl "foot" > i dâl "the foot"[1].

The plural form causes nasal mutation, and the final -n is assimilated. For example Periain "Halflings" > in+Periain > i-Pheriain "the Halflings"[2]

(The affection is usually noted with a hyphen or a dot between article and word)

Related forms

These Sindarin prepositions contain the suffixed article -in

The above combined articles when before a word, cause a peculiar phenomenon of lenition different from the above[3].

As a relative pronoun

In both Quenya and Sindarin, i is used for the relative pronoun "who" or a conjunction "that", introducing a secondary phrase. In Quenya it is usually the plural form of ya/ye but can also be used in the Singular

For example

In Quenya, it can also be declined as a noun

References