Welcome Guest 

Register

Forum Home » Languages » Sindarin Discussion » Is there a certain way to make derivatives?
Author Topic:
Alasseatya
Council Member
Posts: 15
Send Message
Post Is there a certain way to make derivatives?
on: November 30, 2014 03:55
I've been having trouble translating things lately because I can't find the words I need in multiple Sindarin dictionaries. I remember reading in the Sindarin workbook introduction, and also reading something about it on David Salo's blog, that sometimes you have to make new words using the derivational process. Does anyone know if there's a specific way to do that or if you're just supposed to combine other words?

I can't even translate a sentence as simple as, "I know you are a doctor and you have been sent home from war," because of how drastically few English words actually exist in Sindarin. I mean I understand not having words like "computer" or "break-dance" but I can't even find words for "is," "army," "sent," and "doctor." I've typed in over twenty words in the past hour and none of them showed up in the dictionary. I thought of one of the most basic, simple words I could think of, which was "happy," and typed it into the dictionary to see if I would get a result, and I did. So at least I can say "happy," in Sindarin. I guess the elves just never had any happy doctors though, since they don't have a word for doctor, healer or physician (at least not that I've been able to find in the CoE dictionary or in Dragonflame).

[Edited on 11/30/2014 by Alasseatya]

[Edited on 11/30/2014 by Alasseatya]

[Edited on 11/30/2014 by Alasseatya]
Alasseatya
Galadivren
Council Member
Posts: 557
Send Message
Post
on: December 01, 2014 03:29
Okay... let's shed some light on some of these words for you

Is: Isand are don't exist on their own in Sindarin. This is something all Sindarin students have to get their head around I'm afraid. The exception is where they're part of a pronoun, for example Ci = You are.

Doctor: We don't have doctor, but we have Nestor = Healer

Sent: The verb 'to send' is Mentha- . This is reconstructed, and means 'to cause to go'.

Army: We don't have army, but we do have Gwaith = Host, regiment, troop of able-bodied men (also seen in compounds to refer to the people of a specific region, such as Nornwaith, Tawarwaith etc.)

Regarding your sentence as a whole:
Iston ci/le nestor a venthannen na mar od auth = I know you are a healer and were sent to home from war.

Ci = You are (informal, someone you know well)
Le = Thee are (formal)

(I'd rather say 'to your home' but you didn't specify that so I left it).
Alasseatya
Council Member
Posts: 15
Send Message
Post
on: December 03, 2014 09:16
Thanks a bunch!
Alasseatya
Members Online
Print Friendly, PDF & Email