Class Plural -ath for Nouns

making the ends of the words intervocalic, vowel reduction, and the meaning of -ath

The suffix -ath means "all..." and when you want it to mean "all of the..." you will need the Plural "the" in.

When it's added to an addjective, it means "all ___ ones/things."

When you add a suffix to the end of a word, that word will change in a couple of ways. The end of the word becomes Intervocalic, and the vowels in the word are reduced.

Vowel Reduction

Vowel reduction happens whenever a syllable is added to a word, so this is not the only time you will come accross this.

Letter	→	Result	Example
Long Vowels
Â	→	A	(m)bâr home → (m)barath all homes
Ê	→	E	hên eye → henath all eyes
Î	→	Í	rîn queen → rínath all queens
Í	→	I	mírdan queen → mirdanath all jewel-smiths
Ô	→	O	(n)dôr country → (n)dorath all countries
Û	→	Ú	mûl slave → múlath all slaves
Ú	→	U	úan monster → uanath all monsters
Ŷ	→	Ý	bŷr follower → býrath all followers
Ý	→	Y	cýron new moon → cyronath all new moons
Diphthongs
AI	→	EI	taith mark → teithath all marks
AU	→	O	taur forest → torath all forests

Ancient -YA Words

When something starting with a vowel is added, an -I- is added too, and I-affection happens instead. That means if the ancient vowel is aan A, E, O, or U, then the vowel becomes E. If the ancient vowel was an I, it remains an I.

belair (ancient vowel A) of Beleriand → beleriath all Elves from Beleriand
telair (ancient vowel E) Telerin Elf → teleriath all Telerin Elves
cair (ancient vowel I) ship → ciriath all ships
fuir (ancient vowel O) northern → feriath all northerners
ruin (ancient vowel U) footprint → reniath all footprints

Making the Ends Intervocalic

You are going to get a LOT of use out of this list. When I refer to this set of changes in the future, I'll call it "becoming Intervocalic." "Intervocalic" is a linguistic term meaning "between two vowels or diphthongs."

When you add a suffix or another word to the end of a word, one that starts with a vowel, the consonants at the end will change, because sounds between vowels have different histories.

-A, that comes from an ancient G, becomes an -I-, only if it follows an L or R. For the other two, the A'd be deleted. If the suffix or word being added begins with an I, the -A is simply deleted. There are only a handful of such words and they are: fela "cave," madha "mud," nadha "fetter," thala "stalwart, steady, firm," thela "spearpoint," and tara "tough, stiff."
-U, that was a -W, goes back to being a -W-.
-M, -MB, -MM, and -MP become -MM-. For an -M to exist at the end of a word in Sindarin it had to have been long in its past, or it would have become a V or W.
-NN, -ND, -NT, and -N (that was an -NN, -ND, or -NT) become -NN-. Single Ns that were never long don't change.
-NC becomes -NG-.
-S or -SS become -SS-. For an -S to exist at the end of a word in Sindarin it had to have been long in its past, or it would have disappeared completely.
-LL, -LT, or -L (that was an -LL or -LT) become -LL-. Single Ls that were never long don't change.
-F becomes -V-. This more has to do with spelling conventions, because -F is pronounced as a V anyways, as you'll recall from the pronunciation lessons.
-OL or -EL that used to be syllabic Ls would go back to being -L-.
-OR that used to be a syllabic R would go back to being -R-.

fela cave → feliath all caves
nadha fetter → nadhath all fetters
(n)golu lore → (n)golwath all lore
cam hand → cammath all hands
cund prince → cunnath all princes
inc idea → ingath all ideas
toss bush → tossath all bushes
ell elf → ellath all elves
raef net → raevath all nets
mag(o)l sword → maglath all swords
mag(o)r swordsman → magrath all swordsmen

Quiz will go here

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