Name Translations for Bookish Themes

Hello there!

I am currently trying to build a character for a campaign, and they need a secret elvish name. This character is furtive and bookish in nature, an erudite and librarian, but I am struggling on putting together names in Quenya and Sindarin. Language and grammar are concepts that both interest me and confuse me, but I am going to do my best!

My first attempt in Queyan is putting together a name meaning: 'hidden leaf' like the missing page of a book: halda + lassë

Would it be Haldalas?

And my first attempt in Sindarin for 'hidden leaf' is: dolen + lass

Would it be Lasdolin?

Their name in Common Tongue is 'Page', so I am trying to build something within that theme.

Hello and welcome! While I can't help with Quenya I can help with Sindarin. I must not that name construction is one of the hardest parts as there are 140 rules to go through.

I can offer Thurilas, as far as I know sd does not happen in Sindarin. You could also do Hallas [veiled, hidden, shadowed, shady].

I believe having lass + dolen would yield Lannolen.

Also N. parf “book”, ᴺS. parlas “parchment, document” and ᴺS. palt “wide flat leaf; page of book”.

Mae govannen!

Thank you so much for reaching out with your help. It is absolutely a confounding effort, but I am really enjoying the puzzle aspect of it. I'm still reeling over the fact that there are 140 rules to go through!! I was completely off with my first guesses, but I'm looking forward to learning!

Thurilas would have more of the regal tone that I am going for, but I am unsure how to pronounce it in Sindarin. What would be the phonetical spelling of the name?

What would be the result of the construction of parf and palt with dolen?

I can give you the IPA but it is very subjective as each person pronounces things differently. 'θu.ri.las.

• th is always pronounced th in English think, and never like th in English these.
• u is most like u in English put or the vowel sound in the word good. It is never pronounced like uin English gut, or like u in English rude.
• r is always trilled or at least flapped wherever possible, like in Scottish English.
• i is usually pronounced as the i in sick.
• l is l
• a is most like a in English father or a in Spanish mambo.
• s is always pronounced like s in English safe, and never like s in English ease.

I will have to look into the other name construction.

That actually totally worked!! Having the sounds broken down into familiar words really helped me read the name with the intended phonetics! I think it will help me read more of Sindarin too.

Thank you so much, Rínor, you're the best! I'm invigorated.

I put the IPA into this IPA to Speech reader and think it came out pretty close!

Link: ipa-reader.xyz

Hello again! I am returning back to this with more questions.

If I were to write: Thurilas of House Parmaitë

Would that end up being: Thurilas Nost Parmaitë

Hello again! Well you don't mix Quenya and Sindarin unless it is attested by Tolkien.

So you would have to tern Parmaitë to Parvaed.

I would say Thurilas e-Noss Parvaed (Thurilas of the House of Parvaed)

Ah! QwQ Thank you so much!! I'm still getting my Quenya and Sindarin mixed up ; w; I gotta find a trick that helps me differentiate between the two! Sindarin for those who Sailed the Seas and Quenya for those who Came Before?

I'm now trying to flesh out names for other members of Thurilas' family, and I would like to follow how conventional family names are usually done (if there is any rhyme and reason to it, I say, squinting at elvish family trees). I suppose the best example of what I have in mind would be to follow this naming convention: Finwë > Fingolfin > Fingon

If I were to name his father, his uncle, and his grandfather by his paternal line, then the prefix would be the constant, while the suffix is the changing part of the name, but it's around that part that I get lost since I am still lost in learning the 140 rules regarding name construction in Sindarin.

Hello again, Harper. This might be difficult because "Finwë" is Quenya, while Fingolfin is an adaptation of his father-name, Nolofinwë.

"Fin" is an affix used in the Sindarin names of relatives of Finwë.

Others who have more knowledge in this area might be able to chime in more. But S. thurin means “secret, hidden,” from the root ᴹ√THUR. The thing is, I don't see a Quenya word for it because ᴹQ. muina (adj.) means “hidden, secret,” which is not modern Quenya.

Please note, I don't dabble in Quenya, so I am very limited in what I know. Therefore, I don't think it would work the same way you are thinking.

That is fair! O<O I thought as much as I started squinting more and more at the construction of the names that I thought to use as a format to guide my attempts, but when things started involving Quenya was when I started getting confused.

In light of this, if we were to limit it to simply building names with the same root of ᴹ√THUR then what rules would apply in this case? I imagine that it would limit the pool somewhat in that the root would command what rules would be needed.

Thank you again, Rínor for helping me with this!! I am truly having a wonderful time learning from you.