Comments by Röandil
These are the 10 posts of 143 by Röandil.
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Help with translation
Because of our incomplete knowledge of Tolkien’s languages, this sentence requires heavy paraphrasing in both Quenya and Sindarin, so you’ll get as many options as translators. I wouldn’t tattoo it, but if you’re okay with the risk of it becoming slightly outdated (though still intelligible) in some years’ time, an engraving shoudn’t be too troublesome. Here’s my take:
Ciluvan coita erya coivië ó tye lá termarë ilyë Ambaro randar erinqua
Ciluvan coita erya coivië ó tye lá termarë ilyë Ambaro randar erinqua.
lit. “I-will-choose to-live one life with you over to-endure all the-World’s cycles alone.”
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A word for "code" ?
I think NDUL is more the root we’re after than MUY here, and Middle Period tehtele is likely to have been replaced by tengwë or sarmë, so I’d suggest muinatehtele > nul(u)tengwë or nulusarmë.
Notessë literally means “number-name,” so notessetehtele, in addition to being overlong for a Quenya compound, is redundant. Perhaps nototengwë, notosarmë (or even nottengwë and notsarmë with syncope, though those forms do feel slightly off to my taste).
Lambë (from LAB “lick, move the tongue,” cf. lamba, the body part) refers to spoken language. For a general system of communication and codified signs, I’d look at tengwelë (“language” as a general term) or tengwestië (language as a concept, abstracted from tengwesta “system of code or signs”).
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"Have you no shame?" in Sindarin
I'm at a bit of a loss with this one, actually. There are Quenya words for "shame" in Tolkien's early materials, but their root later has to do with grief and anguish, so I think that's a dead end.
I'm tempted to try something figurative like Le/ci alchun? "Are you (formal/informal) unbowed?" But I'm by no means confident in that. Please wait for a Sindarin expert's opinion before committing to anything permanent!
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A word for "code" ?
There isn't one — you rather derive words in both from an older common ancestor (though once the Noldor arrived in Beleriand, I suppose some words would have been loaned/adapted directly from Quenya, but not many). It's a matter of familiarizing yourself with Elvish linguistic history. Not very clean-cut, unfortunately.
Quenya is much more conservative, so it's easier to guess what shape an ancient form might have taken. Tengwesta probably looked and sounded almost identical, likely teŋwestā or teŋgwestā, which I believe would yield teweth and tengweth in Sindarin. I'll leave more seasoned Sindarists to confirm/refute, though.
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A word for "code" ?
Ah, I see. Well, it's impossible to say what Tolkien might have imagined, but we do have tengwesta in Quenya meaning "system or code of signs," so that could drift and apply here. You could also derive something from Q. tenta- / S. *tenna- "to direct toward" in the sense of programming code as directives to a computer.
I'm hesitant to get too poetic without a better idea of the metaphors Elves might have applied to computing.
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A word for "code" ?
No, there very often is lenition or another form of mutation, but these processes don't affect all consonants. In this instance, th (a single consonant sound, though represented by two letters in our alphabet) does not change.
As a single word, yes, I believe Mithorn would work, and we don't see mutation because orn begins in a vowel. As separate words, however, you'd see orn vith or orn vithren.
I'm afraid I don't see how "thought tree" relates to "code."
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A word for "code" ?
If we said it as two separate words, then yes, the order would be noun + lenited adjective: thain "rule" + (n)dolen "hidden" > thain nolen "rule hidden" = "hidden rule." In a compound, the order is reversed.
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Learning Sindarin
In addition to being slightly outdated, it's highly technical and not at all aimed at a beginner. More importantly, it tends not to make clear distinctions between Tolkien's Sindarin and Salo's brand of Neo-Sindarin. Here's an in-depth review noting these and other points of criticism.
The learning resources available today and most up-to-date with our current understanding of the language are Fiona Jallings's A Fan's Guide to Neo-Sindarin and these abbreviated notes of the same.
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A word for "code" ?
I'll leave Elaran to comment on the rest, but -as is an abstract noun suffix, so maethas would mean something like "control" or "authority." English happens to use -ing as both a participial (adjective from verb) and gerund (noun from verb) suffix.
"Tree trunk" is a very idiomatic element of the real-world word's Latin etymology and likely wouldn't come into play with an Elvish construction. Dolthain is from doll "hidden, secret" + thain "rule"; !dolthaind looks like a plural of a nonsense word dolthand "hidden/secret shield."
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Help please!
While there are some fine transcription apps (real-world language to Elvish writing system), there are currently no reliable or accurate translation apps (English to Quenya, Sindarin, etc.).
Feel free to post here for help!