Sindarin

Sindarin is a fictional language invented by J.R.R. Tolkien and spoken by the Grey-elves or Sindar in his books about Middle-earth (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, etc). Sindarin is loosely based on Welsh and was originally called Gnomish. The name Sindarin is in fact Quenya - an old native name for the language is Eglathrin.

Sindarin is can be written with a number of alphabets, including the Latin alphabet, Cirth and Tengwar. The Tengwar script for Sindarin can be written with vowel diacritics (Standard Mode), or with separate symbols for vowels (the Mode of Beleriand).

Tengwar for Sindarin

Consonants
Sindarin consonants

Vowels
Sindarin vowels

Notes

In the Sindarin Standard Mode the short vowels symbols (tehtar) are written on the short vowel carrier (telco) when they appear at the end of a word. Overwise they are written on the consonant that follows them.
Long vowels are either written with the long vowel carrier (ára)
In the mode of Beleriand vowels are written with separate letters
When a word begins with i followed by another vowel, the i is written with the letter yanta and pronounced [j]
At the ends of words r is written with óre rather than rómen.

Numerals

Tengwar numerals

Tengwar numerals are written from right to left, and base-12 is used.

Sources: http://www.languagesandnumbers.com/how-to-count-in-sindarin/en/sjn/, https://www.tecendil.com/

Download an alphabet chart for Sindarin (Excel)

Sample texts

Sample text in Sindarin in the Mode of Beleriand

Transliteration

Ennyn Durin aran Moria: pedo mellon a minno!
Im Narvi hain echant. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin.

Translation

Gate of Durin, King of Moria, say friend and enter!
I, Narvi made them. Celebrimbor of Eregion drew these signs.
(inscription on the Gate of Moria)

Article 1 of the UDHR in Sindarin in the Tengwar alphabet

Transliteration

Firiath ennin lîn ar îf vi virwas ar 'ernais. Sevir channas ar faelas ar bórar lengad anith vi faer gwadoras.

Source: Tecendil. Translation by Ekin Gören

Transliteration

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample recording in Sindarin

Links

Informain about Sindarin and Tengwar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindarin
http://www.forodrim.org/daeron/teng-sin.pdf
http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_beleriand.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengwar
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Tengwar
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Tengwar
http://at.mansbjorkman.net/tengwar.htm
http://sindarinlessons.weebly.com/43---sindarin-alphabet.html
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sindarin

Tengwar pages

Tengwar for Quenya, Sindarin, Arabic, English, High Valyrian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Kurdish, Portugese, Scottish Gaelic (1), Scottish Gaelic (2), Spanish, Spanish (Latin American), Turkish, Vietnamese, Welsh

Tolkien's alphabets and languages

[top]

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

[top]