Now that you understand the underlying concept of consonant mutation (that it happens to the first consonant of a word, that a handful of consonants are immune, and that there are different kinds of mutations caused by different things), the hardest part is behind you!

Before you breathe that sigh of relief, you're not out of the woods yet! You have that Mutations Chart printed out, laminated, and sitting in front of you, right? We'll go through the other types of mutations, with examples, and then take a look at the inevitable exceptions.

Remember, as always, that this is all theory arrived at by Helge Fauskanger after analyzing the scant samples of Sindarin available to us. Future publications may prove some of this wrong. The complicated explanations for how he came to these conclusions or suggestions can be read in mind-boggling detail at Ardalambion, and will be more easily understood after you have learned the basics here.

I do not recommend spending a lot of time or energy trying to memorize the information on this chart. It is far more important to understand the concept and when to apply it; the more you use the language the sooner you will find yourself remembering these without needing to consult the chart, but in the meantime, use the chart as often as you need to. I do!

Nasal mutation refers to the changes caused by a preposition or prefix ending with a nasal sound. It can also happen to the second word in a compound when the first word ends in a nasal sound. It can also be caused by a prefix that ends in a nasal sound.

There are two separate columns on the chart for nasal mutation. The first shows what happens when the plural article in "the" appears before the word; the second shows what happens when the prepositions and prefixes that cause nasal mutation appear before the word. In many cases these prepositions and the article change their form. Mixed mutation is caused by:

in "the" (plural)
an "to, for"
dan "against, back"

Let's take a look at the mutations chart, using the same nouns from lesson #4 to demonstrate nasal mutation. (Bear with me if some of these don't seem to make much sense with the prepositions an "to, for" and dan "against"; the intent is merely to show what happens to the causal word and to the word being mutated.)

You'll notice that i lind could be the result of i + lind "the melody" or in + lind "the melodies"; only context can tell you which one you are seeing. The same occurs with hîr, and other cases. You need to be particularly alert for words that (1) do not change in plural form, and that (2) also begin with f, h, l, n, or th (because the plural article in appears as i in front of them).

Notice that the plural article in often appears as i (very confusing at times!), but also as idh. Also note that the preposition an "to, for" changes its form in front of different consonants, sometimes appearing as an, sometimes a, sometimes am, af, al, as, adh, or ath. These changes to the mutation-causer are identical for dan "against, back". Additionally, those two prepositions can be used as prefixes, attached to a word, which will also result in the same nasal mutation taking place.

Note: In the King's Letter we see the phrase mhellyn în phain ~ "friends his all", where pân has undergone nasal mutation. I believe it is mutated because it is part of an adjectival phrase, and because the previous adjective ends in a nasal sound we find nasal mutation rather than lenition. This is by no means certain.This is addressed in further detail in Lesson #9: Adjectives.

This is not a Tolkien-coined term, but it is used because the resulting mutations in this column are at times lenitions, at times nasal mutations, and at times something entirely different!

Mixed mutation is caused by the prepositions with the article in (plural "the") attached to them. Some are:

erin "above/over the" ~ or + in
ben "according to the" ~ be + in
nan "to/at/by the" ~ na + in
uin "of/from the" ~ o + in
nuin "under/beneath the" ~ nu + in
(this is not a complete list)

Mixed mutation is also caused by the genitival article en "of the", which we will study in greater detail in Lesson #9. The mutation chart uses en to demonstrate the changes because en changes its shape. I will include an additional column to demonstrate with a preposition that has the definite article "the" attached also. It is not known for certain if the prepositions with articles attached change their shape with a plural noun.

You are by now familiar with the chart, and I don't think we need to go all the way down the column, although to write it yourself might be a good experience to solidify it in your head. Notice that the genitival article en "of the" is connected to the following noun with a hyphen. This helps to clearly differentiate between e-beraid "of the towers" and e beraid "out of towers" (as seen in the following section on Stop Mutation).

This is a term Tolkien used in writing about an earlier conception of a created language, Gnomish. It is created by prepositions ending in –t or –d, or prepositions that used to end in either sound. There are three prepositions that would cause this type of mutation:

ed "out, out of"
ned "in" (referring to a time, not a location)
o "of, from" (which comes from primitive aud but still sometimes appears as od before vowels)

There aren't many examples of this mutation, so this is largely theoretical. It is likely that prefixes ending in -d or -t could cause stop mutation, and when the first word of a compound ends in -t or -d it might cause stop mutation of the second word.

The mutation chart demonstrates using ed, which changes its form. It appears in full when the following word begins with a vowel (so ed achas "out of fear"), but usually appears as e in front of consonants, with some exceptions. Ned behaves the same way.

O does not change its form before consonants. Before vowels it is sometimes written as od; that is especially likely before a word that begins with o, so while o Imladris "of/from Imladris" is seen, od Imladris would be possible also, and od Ossiriand "of/from Ossiriand" would be advisable.

Tolkien actually says that before -f, -s, and -th, ed "often" appears as ef, es, and eth. It is presumably therefore acceptable to write it as e fileg, e sûl, e thoron. In the case of ned, it is not desirable to write it as nef, so as to avoid confusion with the preposition nef "on this side of". While normally a final -f is pronounced like a "v", in this case ef coming from ed is intended to be pronounced "eph".

Again, this mutation is applied to singular nouns in the exact same fashion. Notice how there is no use of hyphens to connect the preposition ed "out of" to the following noun.

This concept is nowhere mentioned by Tolkien, it stems purely from application of phonology and a hope that Tolkien was logical. The only example given is the preposition/prefix or "above, over", although the liquid sound l would logically cause the same mutation if we had any prepositions that ended in -l. Also, prefixes ending in -r or -l could cause liquid mutation (which we see in ar- + pen > arphen), and when the first word of a compound ends in -r or -l it might cause liquid mutation of the second word.

This is very straightforward, and just runs down the chart. The preposition does not change its form.

At last we come to the separate chart, the exceptions to the rules.

There are a number of words that used to begin in a nasal sound (for example: mbar, ndôr, and ngûl) which are now, in modern Sindarin, written and pronounced without that nasal sound at the beginning (bar, dôr, and gûl). However, when they are mutated the nasal sound comes back. So they do not follow the regular changes shown in the main mutation chart. Instead, they follow their own rules:

Let's take a look at some nouns to demonstrate:

(This is not identical to Helge Fauskanger's chart of mutations with regards to stop mutation for ng-)

Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing which words must be treated this way without learning them or looking up their roots. These roots are usually provided in the dictionary entries, so when using a noun that begins with b, g, or d, it is wise to check the entry for its primitive root. I will list all of them here, grouped logically, as Fauskanger does.

MB (16 words)

The "trade" words from stem MBAKH-:
bachor "pedlar"
bach "article, item for sale/exchange"

The "doom" words from MBARAT-:
barad "doomed"
bartha- "to doom"

The "bread" pair from MBAS-:
bas "bread"
basgorn "loaf of bread"

The "duress" words from MBAD- and MBAW-
band "duress, prison, custody"
baug "tyrannous, cruel, oppressive"
baugla- "to oppress"
bauglir "tyrant, oppressor"
baur "need"

The "festive" words from MBER-
bereth "feast, festival"
beren "festive, gay, joyous"

Miscellaneous:
bar "home, dwelling" from MBAR-
both "puddle, small pool" from MBOTH-
bund "snout, nose, cape" from MBUD-

ND (16 words)

The "slaying" words from NDAK-
daen "corpse"
dangen "slain"
dagor "battle"
daug "warrior" (usually referring to Orcs)

The "hammering" words from NDAM-
dam "hammer"
damma- "to hammer"

The "head" pair from NDOL-
dôl "head"
dolt "round knob, boss"

Miscellaneous:
dûn "west" from NDÛ-
dân "Nandorin Elf" from NDAN-
dangweth "answer" from NDAN-
daer "bridegroom" from NDER-
dess "young woman" from NDIS-
dôr "land, realm" from NDOR-
dortha- "to stay, remain" from NDOR-
doll "dark" from NDUL-

ÑG (14 words)

The "harping" pair from ÑGAN-:
gannel "harp"
ganna- "to play a harp"

The "wolf" group from ÑGAR(A)M- and ÑGAW-:
garaf "wolf
gaur "werewolf"
gawad "howling"

The "wise" words from ÑGOL-:
golu "lore"
golwen "wise"
goll "wise"
gollor "magician"
Golodh "Noldo"
gûl "magic"
Golovir "Silmaril" (literally: "Noldo-jewel")

Miscellaneous:
gûr "death" from ÑGUR-
goroth "horror" from ÑGOROTH-

Note: glân "white" is listed as coming from the stem ÑAL-AN-, but is attested in Curunír 'Lân "White Wizard" with regular lenition, so words coming from a primitive Ñ- stem are not considered nasalized stops.

Nasal Mutation:
in "the" (plural)
an "for, to"
dan "against, back"

Mixed Mutation:
en "of the"
prepositions with attached articles, including but not limited to:
nan "to the, towards the, by the, with the"
erin "above the, over the"
ben "according to the"
uin "of the, from the"
nuin "beneath/under the"
and more which are unattested, such as:
min "in the, between the"
buin "on the"
guin "with the, together with the"
trîn "through the"

Stop Mutation:
ed "out of"
ned "in" (referring to a time or date, not a location)
od "of, from" (which always appears as o before words beginning with consonants)

Liquid Mutation:
or "above/over"

You may need to use the Sindarin Dictionary to complete this exercise. Only the four types of mutation in this particular lesson are used. Remember to look for plural nouns. Remember to check for mutation-causing words. Remember that prepositions and the definite article in "the" are united together. Remember to check for primitive nasalized stops.

Write the following phrases in Sindarin:
1. the hobbits
2. for remembrance
3. against an enemy
4. through the Shire
5. according to the magician
6. leaves of the tree (using en)
7. from a land
8. out of a forest
9. in winter
10. over a branch

Translate the following from Sindarin:
11. dam mennas
12. in droeg
13. am mîl
14. nuin ndaen
15. min gar
16. nan dathar
17. or thalf
18. ne Cherveth
19. ef fuin
20. o ndôr

The answers to the exercise can be found in the Answer Key. If you do not understand something in the lesson, please post questions in the Plaza's Language Forum or in the Plaza house Tham Lammath Edhellin. Please read the Introduction to these lessons for disclaimers and sources. You can contact the author of these lessons at taramiluiel@cox.net

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