A relative clause begins with a complementizer called a Relative Pronoun. A relative clause modifies nouns just as adjectives and prepositional phrases do. The English relative pronouns are "That/Who/Whom/Which."
In Sindarin they take three known shapes. The singular relative pronoun is i and its plural is in or ai. The singular and plural relative pronouns are how a relative clause can become plural to match the noun it's modifying. The word following the relative pronoun is mutated using vocalic mutation for i and ai and nasal mutation for in.
Ni i 'wend i d�rant yrch �-'onodui. - I am the girl who saw uncountable orcs.
Goston in yryg i phadar ne d�. - I fear the monsters that walk at night.
Goston in yryg ai badar ne d�. - I fear the monsters that walk at night.
If a relative pronoun is attached to an accusative pronoun, the pronoun can't go before the verb as it normally does. Instead it follows the verb, with soft mutation still affecting it. Also, whether the pronoun has its -n depends on whether it is the subject or object of the relative clause.
To figure out whether you need an oblique pronoun or a nominative pronoun, look at the relative clause on its own, placing the pronoun back into the clause.
Reinor m�l den i Faradril onnant. - Reinor loves her whom Faradril begot.
"Faradril begot her" is what the relative clause is on its own. "Her" is the direct object, so you need the direct-object pronoun.
Reinor m�l de i de nathant. - Reinor loves she who saved him.
"She saved him" is the relative clause on its own. In this case, the pronoun being modified by the relative clause came from the its subject, therefore it must be the nominative pronoun.
The rest of these are highly theoretical but are common fodder amongst Neo-Sindarin translators. Use at your own risk.
"When/while" for beginning relative clauses is ir. Mutate the word following it with Liquid mutation. It's from an untranslated poem in a pre-Sindarin language, and we could be mistranslating it. So, this one is very risky to use. I prefer the solution below, or to use present participles.
Menathon ir phenin vellyn. - I'm willing to go when I have no friends.
For the rest of the relative pronouns, there are two different common approaches. One set was designed by Ryszard Derdzinski, based on the Quenya relative pronoun root ya- and reconstructed ancient case suffixes. It does make a certain amount of sense, but I disagree on one point. I think that the case endings were lost in Sindarin, and replaced with prepositions, but there really is no evidence either way for now.
The only other way that I can see to give us greater variety with relative pronouns is to use prepositions with the relative pronoun i. These would cause mutation to the word that directly follows them, but not to anything else. Below I've included a few examples.
| English | Sindarin | Contracted Form |
|---|---|---|
| To/For whom/which | an i | ani |
| In where | mi i | mî |
| From whom/where | od i | odi |
| At where/when | na i | n'i |
| During when | ned i | nedi |
Iston ani den ag�reg. - I know why you did it.
N'i genin, tolo annin. - When I call, come to me.
Menin n'Ondor od i nidhin dandoled. - I will go to Gondor from where I will return.