Welcome Guest 

Register

Forum Home » Languages » Sindarin Discussion » English - Sindarin Cognates
Author Topic:
Beren_Elaran
Council Member
Posts: 80
Send Message
Avatar
Post English - Sindarin Cognates
on: March 20, 2005 08:04
I thought it would be fun to look for and discuss words that sound similar and have similar meanings in Sindarin and English. How heavily did Tolkien let English influence his languages? We shall find out! :evil:

I will start off with one which jumped out at me when I was reading Helge Fauskanger's essay, "Sindarin: The Noble Tongue".

blabed "flapping" --> i vlabed "the flapping"

This word surprised me as "bl" is not a very common cluster in Sindarin. Then I looked more closely at the lenited form. I can't help wondering, did Tolkien invent a language in his childhood in which he replaced the -ing ending of gerunds with -ed and then voiced all the consonants? That's certainly what "vlabed" looks like to me.
Naneth
Elvish 101 Moderator
Posts: 568
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: English - Sindarin Cognates
on: March 21, 2005 08:34
Hmmm ...it's late and I"m a bit tired. I"m not sure exactly what you're asking. If you mean "did Tolkien turn the gerunds into nouns by replacing the "English -ing" with the "Sindarin -ed/-ad", then yes. If I'm not getting your question right, please clarify.

[Edited on 22/3/2005 by Naneth]
Uialdil_i_degilbor
Elvish Scribe
Posts: 380
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: English - Sindarin Cognates
on: March 22, 2005 05:30
I think that Beren is remarking on the similarity of sound between S (i) vlabed and E flapping. I think that the E word is onomatopoeic: when wings flap in the air, it sounds like 'flap-flap-flap' to many people. That is the origin of the word. Maybe it sounded similar to Elvish ears: 'paláp-paláp-paláp (PALÁP- being the CE root). Onomatopoeis seems a likely explanation.
Beren_Elaran
Council Member
Posts: 80
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: English - Sindarin Cognates
on: March 23, 2005 02:39
Sorry if I didn't make the purpose of this thread very clear. Uialdil's interpretation was correct. I never thought about onomatopoesis causing the English and Sindarin words for "flap" to sound the same. Thanks for pointing that one out.

I found another one - a near-cognate of the verb _revia-_ "to wander". In English, a "reverie" is a wandering daydream. Coincidence? I think not. (Okay, okay, so the meanings aren't all that similar, but it's interesting all the same.)
Members Online
Print Friendly, PDF & Email