Lenition

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

[edit] 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 *kelepe > S celeb "silver"

t > d

OS *atar > S adar "father"

k > g

OS beleka > S beleg "great"

b > v

OS *jabasse > S Iavas "autumn"^{[note 1]}

d > dh

OS *badro > S badhor "brother"

g > ∅

OS *khugo > *huȝo^{[note 2]} > S hû "dog"^{[note 1]}

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"

[edit] In compounds

As a consequence, this process took place also in Old Sindarin compounds, when the initial letter of a word was no longer initial in a compound. Even in later compounds that would be pure Sindarin, the lenition was solidified as a rule, envisioning retroactively the lenition process from a theoretical Old Sindarin compound.

For example the word athrabeth "debate, converse (lit. 'across-word')" can be analyzed both as a derivative of OS word *athrapettha but also as a compound of Sindarin words athra- "across" + peth "word".

The fact that the above sounds mutated when medially was solidified as a rule

• thind + coll > Thingol (< ?OS *Thindakollo)
• cair + tân > Cirdan (< ?OS *Kiriatâno)
• fanui + dol > Fanuidhol (< ?OS *Fanoidolo)
• Edhel + sarn > Edhelharn (< ?OS *Edelosarno)
• har- + Gondor > Harondor (< ?OS *Kharagonddor)
• ar- + gwend > Arwen (< ?OS *Arwende; no g would evolve between ar- and wende)
• or- + hall > orchal (< ?OS *orkhalna; kh would not lenite as h inside a word)

[edit] Grammatical and Syntactical significance

[edit] Inspiration

Sindarin, being inspired from the Welsh language, also borrowed heavily from its mutation system^[1]. The grammatical lenition is generally prominent in the Celtic languages.

[edit] External links

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

Notes

References

1. ↑ Jim Allan (ed.) An Introduction to Elvish "Sindarin grammar"