INTRODUCTION

Now that we have covered the basics of the I-stems, it is time to move on to the advanced I-stem topics. To start off with, we shall discuss pronominal endings. In case you have forgotten; the pronominal endings are:

1st person -n = used to signify “I”
1st person -m = used for “we”
2nd person -ch = used for “you”
2nd person -l = used for plural “you”
3rd person -r = used when there is a plural subject. May also be used to signify “they”

These endings are not different between the A-stems and the I-stems so you needn’t worry about that.

We will now move through the various forms of the verb and demonstrate how these endings are supposed to be used with the I-stems.

THE INFINITIVE

Like with the A-stems, it is rather pointless to append an ending to this form. You just end up with phrases like “I to endure” which of course are not very grammatical.

THE PRESENT TENSE (all other persons other than 3rd person singular)

The present tense is fairly straightforward. Essentially, the appropriate ending is appended to a form of the verb identical to the infinitive.

Dar “stop, halt” > Deri (inf) >
Derin “I stop”
Derir “they stop”
Derig “you stop”
Derich “you stop”
Derim “we stop”

THE PAST TENSE (all other persons other than 3rd person singular)

The past tense gets a little bit more involved. With the past tense, the pronominal endings are added to the 3rd person singular past tense form of the verb. Because this past tense form ends in a consonant it is necessary to add a connecting vowel before the pronominal ending. We would normally assume that -e- would fill this position, yet our only examples seem to show an -i- instead. When this -i- is inserted, it triggers an I-umlaut, making all a’s and o’s turn into e. Therefore we end up with:

Dar “stop” > Darn “stopped” >
Dernin “I stopped”
Dernir “they stopped”
Dernich “you stop”
Dernil “you stop”
Derim “we stop”

Nor “run” > Norn “ran” >
Nernin “I ran”
Nernir “they ran”
Nernich “you ran”
Nernil “you ran”
Nernim “we ran”

When these suffixes are appended to words ending in -nt, -nc, -nd, -m and -mp …. they become -nn-, -ng-, -nn-, -mm- and -mm- because the consonant clusters (-n is the example in this case although any of the other endings could have been used) -ntin, ncin, ndin, nmim and mpin cannot exist in Sindarin.

Here is a nice little chart of the changes:

-nt > -nn-
-nc > -ng-
-nd > -nn-
-m > -mm-
-mp > -mm-

Examples:

Ped “speak” > Pent “spoke” > Pennin “I spoke”
Dag “slay” > Danc “slain > Dengin “I slew”
Cab “jump” > Camp “jumped” > Cemmin “I jumped”
Lav “lick” > Lam “licked” > Lemmin “I licked”

THE FUTURE TENSE

The future tense is also relatively easy. Any of the suffixes are appended to the future tense of the verb. The only thing of note, is that final “-n” causes the “-a” to mutate into “-o” before it.

Dar “halt” > Deri “to halt” > Deritha “will halt” >
Derithon “I halt”
Derithar “they halt”
Derithach “you halt”
Derithal “you halt”
Deritham “we halt”

Ped “speak” >Pedi “to speak” > Peditha “will speak” >
Pedithon “I speak”
Pedithar “they speak”
Pedithach “you speak”
Pedithal “you speak”
Peditham “we speak”

THE IMPERATIVE
THE ACTIVE PARTICIPLE
THE PERFECTIVE ACTIVE PARTICIPLE
THE PASSIVE PARTICIPLE
THE GERUND

Yet again these forms of the verb do not seem to be able to accept pronominal endings. Anything beyond this point would be excessive speculation.

MORE ON THE PASSIVE PARTICIPLE

Yet again, the passive participle seems to have a distinct plural form. Please keep in mind that none of the other participles do (as far as we have seen). If you remember from the last lesson, the Passive Participle was formed with the ending “-en”. The plural form seems to have “-in” added to the 3rd person singular past tense. When this happens; the ending “-in” triggers an i-umlaut throughout the verb. Therefore, all “a’s” and “o’s” become “e”. Also, this will again trigger the intervocalic changes (the same as in the singular form)

Dangen “slain” (pp) > Dengin “slain” (plural)
Hollen “closed” (pp) > Hellin “closed” (plural)

Again, this plural form is used when the past participle is describing a plural noun.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

• The Imperative, Infinitive, Active participle, Past participle, Perfective active participle, and Gerund most likely cannot accept pronominal endings.
• When appending pronominal endings to the present tense, append them to a form identical to the infinitive
• When appending pronominal endings to the past tense, add “i” + pronominal ending to the 3rd person singular past tense
• This causes I-umlaut throughout the word and intervocalic changes
• When appending pronominal endings to the future tense, append them to the future tense form of the verb
• when the ending “-n” comes in contact with “-a” the “-a” becomes “–o”
• The passive participle most likely has a plural form. This is formed with “-in” replacing “-en” of the singular passive participle. This causes an I-umlaut throughout the word.