Translation for a name

MVCHINA #218

So I usually call my girlfriend “LadyRiver” and I was wondering how that would be said/spelled in Sindarin or the most popular form of elvish language. It’s going to be apart of a birthday gift for her so any amount of help would be very much appreciated!

Nimlothiel #219

Hello! I’m only a beginner in learning the language, (sindarin), however I may be able to help. Following the same structure as ‘Duinhir’ (river lord’ you could have ‘Duinhiril’ which would be ‘river lady’. You could also have Duiniel/Duinien which is ‘duin’ (river) + the feminine ending ‘iel/ien’. The word ‘sîr’ is also another word for river in sindarin so you could also have ‘Síriel/Sírien’. As I said, I am not a linguist and not advanced in this language so I would wait for verification by a more knowledgeable linguist!

Aldaleon #221

Hi MVCHINA, and welcome to Parf Edhellen!

Nimlothiel has made a few good suggestions already. I would say that *Duinhiril is probably the best. *Sírien is also good, although it would translate "daughter of the river". Also, if you do not mind two words, simply *heryn sîr "lady of [the] river."

Nimlothiel #225

You may want to consider the name in Quenya, as this is essentially the elvish version of Latin. I am not as far in my study of Quenya as I am in Sindarin so these may be wrong - treat with caution! As I said before, maybe wait until verification from a more advanced linguist if you wish to use these: Sírenissë (sírë (river) + nissë (woman)); Herinén (heri (lady) + nén (water)), this would translate however as ‘lady of the water’; Sírien (similar to Sindarin) (Sír(ë) (river) + -ien (feminine suffix)) or Herinduinë (heri (lady) + -nduinë ((large) river)). As aforementioned, these may be inaccurate as I could have used words which are no longer attested or wrong words. Have fun!

MVCHINA #226

Thank you so much to both of you guys! Your help is very much appreciated! I wish I could thank you guys in person or something because this really means a lot to me!

Nimlothiel #227

You’re very welcome!