Sindarin Lesson 7
Lesson Seven.
Comparisons, Comparatives and Superlatives.
One very useful word is sui as, like.
Beautiful as a rose Bain sui meril.
Lonely as a wise dwarf Ereb sui naug hael.
Generous as a king Fael sui aran
Fierce as a Hobbit without meat Brêg sui perian pen aes
Comparatives, ie better, greater, more greedy are created by adding the prefix an-. Remember to mutate the adjective, as it now forms the second part of a compound word.
good, useful maer better, more useful anvaer
greedy melch greedier anvelch
horrible, loathsome deleb more horrible andheleb
The greedier orc desires jewels I orch anvelch aníra vîr
The horrible man has a more horrible friend I adan dheleb gâr vellon andheleb.
Finally there are superlatives(the best, the greediest, etc), which are easy. Just add the suffix -wain to the adjective, no mutation required.
Cenedril, cenedril, erin ram, man thia vainwain i istam?
The above says "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who seems fairest that we know?"
I give you my best bow Le annon gû nîn vaerwain.
The horrible man has a more horrible friend, and a most horrible wife. I adan dheleb gâr vellon andheleb, a chervess dhelebwain.
Vocabulary.
sui as, like.
bain beautiful
ereb lonely
naug dwarf
sael wise (shown in mutated form, hael above}
fael generous
brêg fierce
perian halfling, hobbit
pen without
aes food
an- comparative prefix
maer good, useful
melch greedy
deleb horrible, loathsome
mîr (shown in mutated form (and plural, though mîr does not chance), vîr, above)
-wain superlative suffix
cenedril mirror
erin on the
ram wall
i which, that, who
cû bow (weapon)
Exercise 7.1
Take any ten adjectives from the adjective list and give comparative and superlative forms.
Exercise 7.2
Translate the following into English
1. Legolas thia vainwain a Boromir thia vrêgwain.
2. In Edain anírar in erain velegwain.
3. I berian angeleg tôl.
4. I lú gelegwain, i lú verenwain.
5. Le annon hathol anlaeg.