Sindarin dictionary help

Main entries

Each word is given with its attested variants between parenthesis, its inflected forms (plural for a noun, past tense for a verb, etc.), its grammatical role and its definition. The following diamond symbol (◇) introduces the textual references (books and pages where the word occurs -- in the case of deduced entries, references are introduced by an arrow (←), see below.

cair* [kˈɑjr] (ceir) n.  ship ◇ Ety/365, LotR/A(iv), X/EIMS *keir, OS *kiria (KIR)

Words immediately followed by a star (*) are attested in Sindarin (in that case, see Cair Andros in the Lord of the Rings, appendix A). A word without this sign is attested in "Noldorin" dialect only (most probably in The Etymologies). When both forms are known, searching for the "Noldorin" word is always possible, and returns a link to the main entry.

ceircair

Likewise, inflected forms are linked to the actual word: edain* pl. of adan

Etymologies
David Salo's etymological reconstructions are introduced by another diamond (◇) diamond. David has spent much of his time understanding how Sindarin words are derived from Common Elvish. These notes try to extend Tolkien's ever changing rules, providing consistent and understandable etymologies.

Related entries
The full diamond (◈) introduces a list of related words, for instance inflected forms of the headword. Each related entry is given with its grammatical role (part of speech). Assuming that you search for ava-, you will get the following result:


ava-* [ˈɑvɑ] aux. will not ◇ OS *aba (ABA)avad* ger.avo* v. imp.avon* v. 1stavam* v. 1st

Homonyms
When several words with the same orthography exist in the dictionary, they are numbered:

caun* I [kˈɑun] n. outcry,  clamor ◇ PM/361-362OS *kåna (KAN1)conath* n. coll
caun II [kˈɑun] n.  valour ◇ Ety/362OS *kåne (KAN2)

Deduced entries
A few words in the dictionary are actually not attested in full form in Tolkien's writings, but may be deduced from place names or inflected forms occurring in a Sindarin text. In that case, they are printed in italic:

cast* [kˈɑst] n.  cape,  headland ← Angast VT/42:28

Probable misreadings
Tolkien's handwriting is sometimes difficult to decipher. Several probable errors have been corrected in the dictionary (such as hamma for hamnia), according to our understanding of the Sindarin phonology. However, Christopher Tolkien's original reading is always mentioned after the corrected word:

hamma- (misread. hamnia) [hˈɑmmɑ] v. to  clothe ◇ Ety/363OS *kʰampʰa- (KHAP)hammad ger.

Coined words
A few words not invented by Tolkien himself, but occur in Peter Jackson's movie adaptation or later texts by Tolkien's fans. They are included for discussion and reference. They are marked as deduced (italic) and are followed by a dagger sign (†).

gūdn.  foe ◇ [PJ-Movie]Inscription on Aragorn's Hunting Knife and Glamdring, Official Movie Magazine #2 (source: Gwaith i Phethdain)

Indexed words
In the Sindarin dictionary, as shown in all the previous examples, indexed English words are preceeded by a small   sign, which acts as an active link to the English reversed dictionary. The Sindarin words associated with an English concept are all returned, and you may click on a word to get its detailed definition.

friend elvellon* n., meldir n. m., meldis n. f., mellon* n.


Copyright (c) 1999-2002 by Didier Willis and The Sindarin Dictionary Project. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).
Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Distribution of this work or derivative of this work in any standard (paper) book form is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained.