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The Nandor spoke a Telerin dialect called Nandorin (N.) or Danian, known to men as Sylvan Speech. After the split of the Nandor the west-Danian dialect evolved into Ossiriandeb (also Ossiriandic, Ossiriandrin or Ossiriandish and Laiquenderin or later Uialrin, Sîrrandrai and Lindellin) while East-Danian evolved into Leikvian or Silvan-Elvish (with dialects such as Galadhrin and Lam Tawaren).

Genealogy[]

Phonology[]

Modern reconstructions of Nandorin suggest that its sound system is more “open” than that of Sindarin. Nandorin tends to preserve full vowel pronunciations and shows less consonant mutation at the beginnings of words. For example, while Sindarin regularly applies soft mutations (lenition) to signal grammatical relationships, Nandorin appears to favor the maintenance of original consonant clusters and open syllables. Stress in Nandorin is typically penultimate, giving it a lilting quality that many have compared to the cadence of Estonian (a trait noted in some Neo-Nandorin works).

Nandorin tends toward softer, more fluid consonant sounds than Sindarin. Consonant clusters are relatively rare, and the language prefers a gentle, flowing production of sounds. For instance, while Sindarin features a series of initial mutations and a noticeable sibilant quality, Nandorin favors a smoother articulation with lightly rolled or tapped “r” sounds. The vowel system is relatively open and simple, with five primary vowels ([a], [e], [i], [o], [u]) that often appear in clear, unmodified forms. Diphthongs occur, but less frequently than in Sindarin. The stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable, lending the language a steady, measured cadence. The overall intonation is gentle and “woodland” in character, evoking images of quiet glades and soft breezes. In comparison, Sindarin’s melody is often described as lilting and dynamic due to its complex mutation system.

Wordlist[]

alm - elm-tree
Amroth - up-climber
-as - group, host
Beorn - man, warrior
Bor - fist
car - building, house
Caras - moated settlement
cogn - bow
cwenda -Elf
Dan - one who turned back
Danas, Dani - followers of Dan, those who turned back
Danitharo - saviour of the Dani
don -place, land
dóri -land, people
duil- spring
dunna - black
ealc - swan
eb -language, tongue
edel, elda - elf
el - lady, female ending
enel - middle, in the middle, between
Eria -lonely
fene - shape
fin - slope, height
Gal - growth
Galad - tree
Galion - descendant of growth
Garma -wolf
gof -fruit
gol -light
golas -foliage
Golda - a Noldo
gwind - girl
hrassa -precipe
huin - far, far away
ion - scion, descendant
Las - leaf
larm - elm tree
Leg, leik - green
Len - far, arrive
Lindai, Lindi - Singers, Wood-Elves
Linda, Lind - Singer, Wood-Elf
Lindon - Place of song
Lindóri - Singers, Wood-Elves
Loeg - pool
Lóri - golden
lygn - pale
meord -fine rain
nand - Valley
Nel - bell
Nî - woman
Nim - white
Nimrodel - lady of the white grotto
on -man, male ending
or - rise
orgof - rising fruit
Orgol - rising light
Oro - Mountain, height
Oron - tree
ornar - forest
rod - cave, grotto
scella, sciella - shade, screen
seld - daughter
Snād - wounding, wound
Snaes -spear-point
spenna- cloud
Swarn - crooked, corrupted
telf - silver
telfin - silvern, of silver
Tharo - saviour
Thran - vigorous
Tôr - wood
Urc, Urch - Orc pl. yrc
Utum - deep
vir -host, folk

Outer information[]

Tolkien's Nandorin languages seem to have been inspired mainly by anglo-saxon, gothic and maybe to some degree by old Greek.The Neo-Nandorin languages, made up by the ICE Authors, are however loosely based on Estonian vocabulary.In 2000 Tolkien-Linguist David Salo published an extensive study and document on Nandorin featuring a dictionary of Neo-Nandorin in #28 of Other Hands Magazine.He based most of his Neo-Nandorin on the few given Nandorin fragments and to some degree of Tolkien's earlier Ilkorin and Goldogrin languages.

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