I wanted to wait until you had seen a good number of examples of plural and lenited nouns before teaching you the rules; it seems like in this case, being given an example before being taught the rules helps make the concept easier to learn. In this lesson, which is important although somewhat boring, we will learn how to make plural, class plural, and lenited nouns.

Rules for lenition

You have seen many examples of lenition on the charts in earlier lessons; so far we know that lenition, or softening of the initial consonant, is triggered by the article i, which means "the." Other forms of "the" include in, which indicates that the noun that follows is a plural, and ir, which replaces i when the noun that follows begins with the letter I. But now let’s add to that; lenition is also triggered by the following words, which come immediately before the noun that is lenited:

Trigger word	Meaning	Before lenition	After lenition	Translation of example
adel	behind, in the rear of	adel + cardh	adel gardh	behind the house
ab-	after, behind, following, later	ab- + mereth	abvereth	after the party
am	up, above, over	am + taur	am daur	over the large forest
ath-	on both sides, across	ath- + sîr	athhîr	on both sides of the river
athra-	across	athra- + parth	athrabarth	across the field
be	according to, as, like	be + glinn	be ‘linn	like a song
dad	down	dad + amon	dad amon	down the hill
di-	under, beneath	di- + cúran	digúran	under the crescent moon
go-	together	go- + giliath	goiliath	stars together
gwa-	together (archaic)	gwa- + hae + tirn	gwachaedir	Palantír
na	to, towards, at, of, with, by	na + glawar	na 'lawar	toward the sunlight
nu	under	nu + haust	nu chaust	under the bed
tri	through	tri + erin	tri erin	through the woods
u-	no, not	u- + ped-	ubed	refusal, denial (literally "opposite speak")

Please note that the prefix gwa- is only used in archaic Sindarin compound nouns. It is worth knowing about in case you stumble across an older word, but is not in use now. Lenition also occurs when words are compounded. For example, dadbenn (downhill), a combination of dad (down) and penn (slope) shows lenition. This also happens in names, such as Gil-Galad, a combination of gil (star) and calad (light). Luckily, you don’t need to remember this rule much because these compound words have unique meanings from their roots and are usually found in dictionaries as separate entries. You will also find that nouns are lenited when paired with certain verbs, but that will be addressed later.

So, now that lenition has been introduced and explored, here are the rules for lenition:

First consonant	Changes to	Example Before	Example after	Translation
B	V	barad	varad	tower, fortress
BL	VL	blabed	vlabed	flapping, beating
BR	VR	brithla	vrithla	pearl
C	G	caim	gaim	hands
CL	GL	claur	glaur	glory, splendor
CR	GR	craban	graban	crow
D	DH	dath	dhath	hole, pit
DR	DHR	dring	dhring	hammer
G	'	galadh	'aladh	tree
GL	'L	glass	'lass	joy
GR	'R	grond	'rond	club
GW	'W	gwilwileth	'wilwileth	butterfly
H	CH	hammad	chammad	clothing
HW	CHW	hwand	chwand	fungus
LH	THL	lhingril	thlingril	spider
M	V	maethor	vaethor	warrior
P	B	parf	barf	book
PR	BR	prestanneth	brestanneth	disturbance
RH	THR	rhach	thrach	curse
S	H	sil	hil	moon
T	D	talagan	dalagan	harper
TR	DR	trenarn	drenarn	tale, story

There is no change in words that begin with F, L, N, R, TH, or any of the vowels (including W and Y). Since these sounds are already fairly soft and nasal, there isn’t really a way to soften them any further without slurring too much.

For those interested in the grammatical aspects of lenition, it is good to note that there is a method to the madness; P turns into B; T into D, and C into G. Practice going back and forth between these sounds and you will notice that the mouth movement to produce them is the same; the only difference between a P and a B sound is that your vocal cords are silent to make a P and active to make a B. The Lenition goes on even further; if you look at B, D, and G when they are lenited, they are softened even further, becoming V, DH, and the G completely disappears. Phonetically speaking, Lenition takes voiceless consonants and adds voice to them. Voiced consonants become even more softened and voiced.

The basics of plural nouns

The Sindarin way of making plural nouns is not so unfamiliar as you think. Although the vast majority of English nouns are made plural by adding an s (such as duck, ducks and car, cars) some undergo a mutation to become plural:

And sometimes there is no change at all in the noun, whether it is plural or singular, such as in the case of moose and buffalo. So, with that in mind, let’s go on to the basics of turning a singular Sindarin noun into a plural. There are two sorts of mutations for making plural nouns. The first deals with "final" vowels, those found in words with one syllable, as well as the last syllable of multisyllabic words, and the second with vowels in all non final syllables.

Final vowel	Changes to	Ex: singular	Ex: plural	Translation
A	AI	cam	caim	hands
The above rule applies when only one consonant follows the letter A. Remember letters like CH, DH, LH, NG, PH, RH, TH, and HW count as one consonant, not two.
A	E	pand	pend	courtyards
The above rule applies when more than one consonant follows the letter A. Remember letters like CH, DH, LH, NG, PH, RH, TH, and HW count as one consonant, not two.
E	I	edhel	edhil	elves
I	I	meril	meril	roses
O	Y	Orn	Yrn	trees
U	Y	tulus	tylys	poplar trees
Û, Û	UI	dûr	duir	darkness
Y	Y	ylf	ylf	drinking vessels
AE	AE	aes	aes	cooked meats
AI	AI	aith	aith	spear points
AU	OE	naug	noeg	dwarves
EA	EE	aear	aeer	seas
EI	EI	rein	rein	footprints
IE	I	Miniel	Mínil	Elves of the Vanyar
IO	Y	thalion	thelyn	heroes
UI	UI	uir	uir	eternities

. . . aaaaand the chart for nonfinal syllable mutations:

Final vowel	Changes to	Ex: singular	Ex: plural	Translation
A	E	adan	edain	men
E	E	aegas	aegais	mountain tops
I	I	fileg	filig	small birds
O	E	golodh	gelydh	deep elves, gnomes
U	Y	tulus	tylys	poplar trees
Y	Y	ylfdan	ylfdain	builders
AE	AE	laegel	laegil	green elves
AI	AI	aina	aina	holy
AU	OE	naug	noeg	dwarves
EI	EI	eirien	eirin	daisies
UI	UI	uilos	uilys	simbelmynë flower

The class plural

A class plural is a category of plural noun that indicates a group or population of some sort. It is mainly used in general terms, such as "elves used to live in this forest" or "little brothers are annoying." In English there is no spelling difference between an ordinary plural and a class plural, but in Sindarin there is. The ordinary plural indicates a specific group, whereas class plurals can refer to more nonspecific groups such as an entire nation or a group of people. Below is a chart of all of the examples of class plurals I was able to find.

There are three suffixes used in making class plurals. -Ath is used to describe things as a general group, such as a race of beings or all members of a species or group in general. This is occasionally rendered -iath if the word the suffix is being attached to has the letter I in its final syllable. -Rim and -hoth refer to more specific groups of people. The difference is that -rim usually only applies to living creatures and -hoth has a negative connotation. For example, adanath equates to "all humankind" and does not equate with edain which refers to a group of men. Galadhrim and Telerrim are specific tribes of elves and do not mean "elves in general." Below is a chart showing the singular, plural, and class plural of names for various groups found in Middle-Earth.

Singular	Plural	Class Plural	Translation of Class Plural
adan	edain	adanath	humankind
Above we see the difference; adan means an individual human and could be used in the sense of "that guy over there." Edain refers to a group of humans, like "those humans by the river" and adanath equates to humanity in general, such as "people eat food."
anfang	enfaing	Anfangrim	"Longbeards," a tribe of Dwarves
aphadon	ephedyn	aphadrim	"Followers," an Elvish name for men
dorn	dyrn	dornhoth	"The thrawn folk", dwarves
drû	druin	drúath	The race of wild men, woses
eglan	eglain	Egladhrim	"The Forsaken," elves of the Falathrim
egol	egyl	Eglath	"The Forsaken," elves of the Falathrim
-	-	Falathrim	Those who dwell in Falas
feredir	feredir	faradrim	hunters in general
feredir	feredir	faroth	a group of hunters
fair	fair	firiath	mortals
forod	feryd	Forodrim	the race of Northmen
gaur	goer	gaurhoth	a host of werewolves
gódhel	gédhil	gódhellim	the race of Gnomes
golodh	gelydh	Golodhrim	the tribe of Deep Elves, Gnomes
gwathui	gwethui	gwathuirim	humans from Dunland
hadhod	hedhyd	hadhodrim	the race of Dwarves
harad	heraid	haradrim	humans from the south lands, southerners
ion	ionnath	ionnath	sons (same word whether referring to a specific person’s sons, or the "sons of a nation."
laegel	laegil	Laegrim	the tribe of Green-Elves
naug	noeg	naugrim	the race of Dwarves
ódhel	ýdhil	ódhellim	the tribe of Deep Elves, Gnomes
onod	enyd	onodrim	the race of Ents
orch	yrch	orchoth	the race of Orcs
perian	periain	periannath	a host of hobbits
rochir	rychir	Rochirrim	“horse-lords,” the Riders of Rohan
sell	sill	sellath	daughters
-	-	tawarwaith	the Silvan elves; tawar (wood, forest) + gwaith (able-bodied people)
teler	telir	Telerrim	elves of the Teleri
thoron	thyryn	thoronath	eagles

And it works with non-living nouns, too, except instead of referring to tribes or parties or groups, it refers to collective groups that belong together:

Singular	Plural	Class Plural	Translation of Class Plural
aegas	aegais	aegath	all the mountain tops of a range
con	cyn	conath	many voices, usually refers to mourning or lamentation
dagor	degyr	dagorath	all the battles
dûr	duir	dúath	shadow, darkness, nightshade
lam	laim	lamath	echoing voices (literally “many tongues”)
lîn	lîn	liniath	a group of pools of water
lond	lynd	lonnath	narrow paths, havens
elloth	loth	loth	flowers
pinn	pinn	pinnath	ridges
sam	saim	sammath	chambers

Now you know the rules for lenition, making plurals, and forming prepositional phrases. Practice forming short phrases, as a solid working knowledge of nouns will be needed before we move on to verbs. Sílo Anor bo men lín!