Sindarin

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 111) Paul Strack Fri, 04/05/2019 - 02:49
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Sindarin

S. medial [x] became [h] in Gondorian pronunciation; [-x-|xt] > [-h-|xt]

In the Gondorian dialect of Sindarin, any ch [x] was reduced to h [h] medially. This is a change Tolkien mentioned numerous times, invariably in the context of the name S. Rohan and related words:

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 110) Paul Strack Fri, 04/05/2019 - 02:46
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Sindarin

S. [sk] usually became [sg]; [sk] > [sg]

In both Sindarin and Noldorin, the cluster [sk] usually became [sg]:

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 109) Paul Strack Fri, 04/05/2019 - 02:44
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S. final [rr] became [r]; [-rr] > [-r]

Based on a single example, it seems that long final [rr] became single [r] in Noldorin:

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 108) Paul Strack Fri, 04/05/2019 - 02:42
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S. voiceless nasals were voiced; [m̥|n̥] > [m|n]

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 107)

By Paul Strack on Thu, 04/04/2019 - 02:28
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S. short vowels generally lengthened in monosyllables; [C*V̆C] > [C*V̄C]

NOTE: The examples in this entry were fairly comprehensive when it was written (April 2019) but new examples may have been published since then. For brevity, this entry does not provide references for every word, but it does link each to the appropriate word in Eldamo.

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 106)

By Paul Strack on Sat, 03/30/2019 - 18:54
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Sindarin

S. final [w] usually became [u]; [-C{vw}|-aw] > [-Cu|-au]

In both Sindarin and Noldorin, where it was not otherwise lost, a final [w] usually became [u], mostly notably after a consonant as described by David Salo (GS/§4.195). In Tolkien’s writing, he sometimes represented this final [u] as -w, but this seems to be an orthographic convention, not the actual pronunciation. He mentioned this sound change a number of times:

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 103) Paul Strack Sat, 03/30/2019 - 18:35
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S. long voiceless spirants shortened; [θθ|xx] > [θ|x]

In both Sindarin and Noldorin, long voiceless spirants shortened, as noted by David Salo (GS/§4.184). Tolkien alluded to this phonetic development in a discussion of the transcriptions used by Ælfwine in his document on the Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s:

Sindarin Phonetic Development (Part 102) Paul Strack Sat, 03/30/2019 - 18:31
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Sindarin

S. [h] vanished after vowels; [Vh] > [Vø]

In both Sindarin and Noldorin, any non-initial [h] vanished after vowels, as noted by David Salo (GS/§4.100, GS/§4.107, GS/§4.116). A similar sound change occurred in Welsh (WGCH/§94ii). This sound change primarily applied to the [h] that developed from intervocalic [s] which therefore ultimately vanished, as described by Tolkien in a note in The Etymologies from the 1930s:

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