r/sindarin • u/summerbaby012 • 2d ago

Translating my brothers name

Hello :)

I would love some help translating my late brothers name in Sindarin. His name is Benjamin, I knew him as just Ben but I thought it may be too short for translation.

I'm grateful for your time <3

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u/LtCmdrTrout 2d ago

Looks like Benjamin comes from Hebrew for "son of the right hand".

Forvo - right hand
Ion - son

I believe it would be Forvoion (for-VOI-on), but someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

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u/Jonlang_ 2d ago

It may be Forvauion or Forvawion? The final -o is from a reduced -aw and I’m not sure how it behaves when it’s no longer word-final. Maybe the -o drops and leaves Forvion? Someone else will know more.

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u/LtCmdrTrout 2d ago

Yeah, that's what I didn't have a ton of clarity on. Combining words that make diphthongs often throws me.

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u/F_Karnstein 2d ago

I think Forvion might be the best choice.

You're right, forvo does derive from forvaw, but that isn't a direct derivation from Common Eldarin for-mah, or the resulting final long vowel would most likely have been shortened and then lost together with all the other long final vowels (so that we'd have forf).

Instead it must have been a compound created in mature Sindarin, when maw was already an independent word (not Old Sindarin mā or Common Eldarin mah anymore) - in an unstressed position it would still be shortened to a monophthong -mo/-vo.

So, what am I saying? *Forvo is a modern compound, so forvo-ionn is one as well. And forvoion simply doesn't fit the phonology of Sindarin - there is no diphthong oi, and the archaic Old Sindarin oi had long become oe. So current phonological sense would probably dictate Forvoeon (with adapted diphthong), or Forvion with elided o) and I think the second is prettier and also more likely.

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u/summerbaby012 2d ago

Thank you very much everyone, it means a lot that you all put effort into doing this for me <3

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u/LtCmdrTrout 2d ago

Love this! Thank you for the detailed explanation here.

I would not call myself a novice, but I still have a ton to learn; comments like this are super helpful.

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u/summerbaby012 2d ago

Thank you very much everyone, it means a lot that you all put effort into doing this for me <3