Khuzdul

Khuzdul (pronounced [kʰuzˈdul]) is a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien, one of the languages of Middle-earth, specifically the secret and private language of the Dwarves.

Khuzdul
Created byJ. R. R. Tolkien
Datec. 1935
Setting and usageMiddle-earth, the setting of the novel The Lord of the Rings, the secret and private language of the Dwarves.
Purpose
Cirth
SourcesInfluenced primarily by Hebrew in phonology and morphology and other Semitic Languages
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone

External history

Tolkien began developing Khuzdul before the publication in 1936 of The Hobbit, with some names appearing in the early versions of The Silmarillion. Tolkien based Khuzdul on Semitic languages, primarily Hebrew, featuring triconsonantal roots and similarities to Hebrew's phonology and morphology.[1][2] Tolkien noted some similarities between Dwarves and Jews: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…".[3] Tolkien also commented of the Dwarves that "their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."[4]

Although a very limited vocabulary is known, Tolkien mentioned he had developed the language to a certain extent. A small amount of material on Khuzdul phonology and root modifications has survived which is yet to be published.[5]

Internal history

In the fictional setting of Middle-earth, little is known of Khuzdul (once written Khuzdûl), the Dwarves kept it secret, except for place names and a few phrases such as their battle-cry and Balin's tomb inscription in Moria, which read respectively:

Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!"Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!"
Balin Fundinul uzbad Khazad-dûmu"Balin son of Fundin, lord of Moria"

The highest level of secrecy applied to Dwarves' "inner-names", their personal names, with the possible exception of the Petty-dwarves. The names of all Dwarves are "outer-names" either from another language (Dalish) or nicknames/titles, sometimes in Khuzdul: e.g. Azaghâl, Gamil Zirak.

According to the Lhammas, Khuzdul is a language isolate, the sole member of the Aulëan language family, not related to the Oromëan languages spoken by Elves. Aulëan was named from the Dwarvish tradition that it had been devised by Aulë the Smith, the Vala who created the Dwarves. Later, Tolkien dropped the origins of Elvish being taught by Oromë, but kept the origins of Khuzdul the same. It is said in The Silmarillion that Aulë created the dwarves, and taught them "the language he had devised for them", making Khuzdul both in fiction and reality, a constructed language.

The Dwarves had a great reverence for Aulë. Because of this, Khuzdul remained unchanged. As a result, all Dwarven clans could speak with each other without difficulty despite the great distances that separated them and the more than 12,000-year history of the language. Khuzdul was to the dwarves “a tongue of lore rather than a cradle-speech”, and was carefully learned through reverent study as they matured, to make sure Khuzdul was passed down unaltered from one generation to the next. The changeability of Khuzdul versus other languages was compared to "the weathering of hard rock and the melting of snow".

Dwarves were unwilling to teach outsiders Khuzdul, even to their non-dwarf friends. Dwarves would speak the languages of the region "but with an accent due to their own private tongue...",[6] and being careful not to even speak Khuzdul around non-dwarves. Only a few non-Dwarves are recorded as having learnt Khuzdul, most notably the Elves Eöl, Fëanor's son Curufin, and reluctantly the Noldor loremasters of the Second Age:

"They understood and respected the disinterested desire for knowledge, and some of the later Ñoldorin loremasters were allowed to learn enough of both their "aglâb" (tongue) and their "iglishmêk" (gesture-code) to understand their systems."

There were many similarities between Khuzdul and the native tongues of Men of the Far-East of Middle-earth. This is because in the early days of Middle-earth, Men of these regions had friendly contact with the Dwarves, who "were not unwilling to teach their own tongue to Men with whom they had special friendship, but Men found it difficult and were slow to learn more than isolated words, many of which they adapted and took into their own language". Adûnaic, the language of Númenor, retained some Khuzdul influences and was said to have been influenced by Khuzdul's basic structure.

Dwarves were however, willing to reveal the names of places in Khuzdul, with Gimli revealing the names of the landmarks of Moria: "I know them and their names, for under them lies Khazad-dûm, the Dwarrowdelf... Yonder stands Barazinbar, the Redhorn...and beyond him are Silvertine and Cloudyhead:...that we call Zirakzigil and Bundushathûr."[7]

Iglishmêk

Besides their aglâb, spoken tongue, the Dwarves used a sign language, or iglishmêk,[8] which was also just as secretive as Khuzdul. According to The War of the Jewels, it was learned simultaneously with the aglâb from childhood. The Dwarvish sign language was much more varied between communities than Khuzdul, which remained "astonishingly uniform and unchanged both in time and in locality".

Tolkien described of their structure and use among the dwarves:

"The component sign-elements of any such code were often so slight and so swift that they could hardly be detected, still less interpreted by uninitiated onlookers. As the Eldar eventually discovered in their dealings with the Naugrim, they could speak with their voices but at the same time by ‘gesture’ convey to their own folk modifications of what was being said. Or they could stand silent considering some proposition, and yet confer among themselves meanwhile."[8]

Tolkien only gave a few examples of the Iglishmêk sign language in his unpublished notes. The command to "Listen!" involved a slight raising of both forefingers simultaneously. The acknowledgment "I am listening" involved a slight raising of the right-hand forefinger, followed by a similar raising of the left-hand forefinger.[9]

Phonology

The following phonemes are attested in Tolkien's Khuzdul vocabulary.

  Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive b t d k ɡ ʔ1
Aspirated Plosive tʰ kʰ (ɡʰ)2
Fricative f s z ʃ (ɣ)2 h
Nasal m n
Trill (r) 3 ʀ 3
Approximant l j
Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Close-mid e eːə4o oː
Open-mid   ʌ4
Open  a aː 

Only one diphthong is attested in Khuzdul: ai [ai], as seen in ai-mênu.

1 Often at the start of words that begin with a vowel, often not written in the Latin alphabet, but has its own rune in Angerthas Moria.
2 Supposedly in Azaghâl, 'gh' [ɣ] is used to represent this sound in Black Speech and Orcish, but wasn't said of Khuzdul. Could also be [ɡh] or [ɡʰ].
3 Alveolar trill [r] a later variant in pronunciation, the uvular trill [ʀ] being the original Khuzdul pronunciation.
4 No examples found, Tolkien explicitly states these were frequent in Khuzdul, and have their own Cirth runes. Possibly in between incompatible consonant formations or current vowels in known corpus.

Khuzdul features a CV(C(C)) syllable structure. Words that begin with either a vowel or diphthong have a glottal stop at the beginning to fill the place of an initial consonant. Words can not start with a consonant cluster, but these are found in medial or final positions in a word. It is unknown what all the consonant clusters are. Few are attested as shown in the corpus above, but presumably are more flexible and varied than of the consonant clusters found in the Elvish languages, as the language was said to be "cumbrous and unlovely" (Silmarillion ch. 10) to the elves, with Tolkien describing it as having a cacophonous quality.

Writing

Tolkien wrote most of Khuzdul in the Latin alphabet, and in Cirth within Middle-earth. The dwarves had adopted the Cirth from the elves by the end of the first age, and made changes to their liking to represent the sounds of Khuzdul. There were two methods known of writing Khuzdul, Angerthas Moria when the dwarves still lived in Khazad-dûm before its fall, and Angerthas Erebor once they fled and further developed the Cirth when they settled at Erebor, The Lonely Mountain.

The following table presents both Cirth mode readings:

No.CirthMoriaErebor No.CirthMoriaErebor No.CirthMoriaErebor No.CirthMoriaErebor
1 ★p /p/ 16 -- ★zh /ʒ/ 31 l /l/ 46 e /e/2
2 b /b/ 17 z /z/ ★ks /k͡s/ 32 ★lh /ɬ/ - 47 ê /eː/ -
3 f /f/ 18 k /k/ 33 nd /nd/ 48 a /a/2
4 ★v /v/ 19 g /ɡ/ 34 h /h/ s /s/ 49 â /aː/ -
5 ★hw /ʍ/ 20 ★kh /x/1 35 ʻ /ʔ/ 50 o /o/2
6 m /m/ 21 ★gh /ɣ/ 36 ★ŋ /ŋ/ 51    ô /oː/ -
7 mb /mb/ 22 n /n/ 37 ★ng /ŋɡ/ 52    ★ö /œ/
8 t /t/ 23 ★kw /kʷ/ 38    ★nj /nd͡ʒ/ - 53 n /n/
9 d /d/ 24 ★gw /ɡʷ/ 39 i /i/2 54 s /s/ h /h/
10 ★th /θ/1 25 ★khw /xʷ/ 40 y /j/ 55    /ə/3
11 ★dh /ð/ 26 ★ghw /ɣʷ/ 41 ★hy /j̊, ç/ 56    /ʌ/3
12 r /ʀ, ʁ, r/ 27 ★ngw /ŋɡʷ/ 42 u /u/2 57 - ★ps /p͡s/
13 ★ch /t͡ʃ, c/ 28 ★nw /nʷ/ 43 û /uː/ z /z/ 58 - ★ts /t͡s/
14 - ★j /d͡ʒ, ɟ/ 29 ★j /d͡ʒ, ɟ/ g /ɡ/ 44 ★w /w/ 59 +h1 /◌ʰ/
15 sh /ʃ/ 30 ★zh /ʒ/ ★gh /ɣ/ 45    ★ü /y/ 60 - &
★ Sounds unattested in Khuzdul

1 Aspirated th is written as Cirth (8 + 59), aspirated kh is written as Cirth (18 + 59); Cirth No. 10 and 20 represent fricatives.
2 Long vowels in Angerthas Erebor were written with a macron under the base vowel.
3 Unknown transliteration.

As an example, the dwarvish battle-cry can be written thus:

Mode Khuzdul Romanized
Moria
baruk khazâd khazâd ʻaimênu
Erebor
baruk khazâd khazâd aimênu

Grammar

Too little is known of Khuzdul grammar to even construct a sentence, but the language was known to have its morphology based mainly on Hebrew, and other Semitic languages. Tolkien states that Khuzdul was complicated and unlike the other languages of Middle-earth at the time in terms of phonology and grammar. It has been said the grammar of Khuzdul influenced the basic grammar of Adûnaic, but little material is given to show these influences other than the mention of where Adûnaic's grammar differs from Quenya. Even then, differences could be influenced by other languages than Khuzdul.

Nouns and adjectives

Nouns and adjectives are known to have singular and plural forms and, like the Semitic languages, can be in the absolute or construct state. The construct state indicates a connection with the following noun, being a quality, belonging or part of that noun. The construct comes before the absolute noun e.g.: Baruk Khazâd! 'Axes + Dwarves' "Axes of the Dwarves" the axes belong to the dwarves, Khazad-dûm 'Dwarves + Delving' "Dwarrowdelf", a Dwarvish delving. The construct is also used for compounding words, in which it is the composition state, which may nor not be different to the construct form based on conjugation. There are no known (if any) definite or indefinite articles in Khuzdul.

Khuzdul appears to have case endings similar to Arabic, having nominative, accusative/genitive cases, and an adjectival suffix akin to the nisba in Arabic.

Title
Nominative Accusative/Genitive Nisba
-ø -u -ul
Khuzd Khuzdu Khuzdul
Khazad-dûm Khazad-dûmu

Nouns and adjectives appear to share different declensions for formation and number. How many declensions there might be in Khuzdul is currently unknown. Tolkien stated plural formations were said to be similar to Arabic's broken plurals, which would make for many irregular plurals; two examples are known: baruk, the plural of bark "axe", and Khazâd, the plural of Khuzdul.

1st Declension
TemplateSg. Pl.
Abs. &
Const.		Abs.Const.
RootMeaning CuCCCaCâCCaCaC
√KhZDDwarf KhuzdKhazâdKhazad
√RKhSOrc RukhsRakhâsRakhas
√ʔZNShadow ‘uzn‘azân‘azan
√BNDHead BundBanâdBanad
√HNDHill HundHanâdHanad
√GNDCave, Cave Hall GundGanâdGanad
√TRGBeard TurgTarâgTarag

Note that only Khuzd "Dwarf" and Rukhs "Orc" are the only nouns fully attested in this table. As the other roots are based on the attested forms of "Dwarf" and "Orc", they could differ from declension and/or broken plural patterns.

Other noun declension types likely exist, but little detail is provided to show any full declensions or identify any broken plurals. Of these, the only hints that point to their existence is in compounded attested words and single words:

Known Noun & Adjective Forms
Absolute Construct / Composition
Singular
Root PatternWord Root PatternWord
√BRKAxe CaCCBark √NRGBlack CaCC Narg-
√NLʔRiver-course CâCaCNâla’ √ThRKStaff Thark-
√ZRMPool, Lake Zâram √BRZRed CaCaC Baraz
√NRGBlack CaCâCNarâg √NRGBlack Narag
√GThLFortress CaCoCGathol √ZHRHollow Zahar
√FLKHewer CeCaCFelak √GBLGreat in size CaCiCGabil
√ZRKSpike, Tine, Peak CiCaCZirak √KhLDGlass, Mirror CeCeCKheled
√NBRHorn ‘iCCaC‘inbar √KBLSilver (metal) CiCiCKibil
√KhZDDwarf CuCCKhuzd √DBNValley CuCaCDuban
√TM(M) / √DM(M)Hall CûCTûm / Dûm √ZBDLord, Ruler ‘uCCaC‘uzbad
Plural
Root PatternWord Root PatternWord
√RKhSOrc, Goblin CaCâCRakhâs √ʔZNShadow / Dim CaCaC‘azan
√BRKAxe CaCuCBaruk √KhZDDwarf Khazad
√ShThRCloud CaCûCShathûr √BRKAxe CaCuCBaruk
√ShMKGesture ‘iCCêC‘ishmêk √SGNLong CiCiCSigin

The word baruk is both the absolute and construct plural form of bark, likely the result of being a broken plural.

Some patterns can be seen that hint at some details of what state and/or number a noun is in:

  • A CVCVC pattern with matching vowels, are common for construct patterns:
Singular: Baraz, Kheled, Zigil.
Plural: Sigin.
  • A VCCVC pattern, seen in ‘iCCaC and ‘uCCaC for a common singular pattern:
Absolute: ‘inbar
Construct: ‘uzbad
  • Vowel orders of "i-a" and "u-a" seem to apply for absolute and construct nouns respectively:
Absolute: Zirak, ‘inbar
Construct: Duban, ‘uzbad.
  • Long vowels seem to appear only in the absolute state:
Singular: Nâla’, Zâram, Narâg, Dûm/Tûm.
Plural: Khazâd, Tarâg, Shathûr, ‘ishmêk.

Another possible declension based from Nâla’ and Nulukkhizdîn, construct likely singular, but uncertain:

Possible Declension
Sg. AbsoluteSg. (Pl.?) Construct
Pattern CâCaCCuCuC
River-course√NLʔ Nâla’Nulu’1
Pool, Lake√ZRM ZâramZurum*

1 Possible assimilation of (’kh) → (kkh): Nulu’khizdîn → Nulukkhizdîn

Another noun form that may exist is the collective numbers, along with the singulative form. This is from observation of the names Buzundush and Tumunzahar, with roots of √BZ(Z) and √TM(M) / √DM(M) and the suffixes of "-n-, ân-, -în-, -ûn-" meaning a person / place; as seen in Gabilân, Nargûn, Nulukkhizdîn, Tharkûn are applied. Thus making a singular instance of what makes the collective, e.g. a single hall, out of a group of halls. Although being "absolute" in state within names, it's shortened to "-un-" as in the composition form, due to long vowels possibly being shortened before a consonant cluster.

Collective Nouns
Root Template Root: √BZ(Z) Hall: √TM(M)
NumberCollectiveSingulativeCollectiveSingulativeCollectiveSingulative
AbsoluteCûCCuCûnBûz*Buzûn*Tûm1*Tumûn*
ConstructCuCCuCunBuz*BuzunTum1*Tumun

1 Possible assimilation of (dt) → (dd): Khazad-tûm → Khazad-dûm.

Most compounded words feature an Adjective-Noun pattern, with Noun-Adjective pattern observed. This could hint at a flexible pattern, allowing both forms of Adjective-Noun and Noun-Adjective patterns. This could be done to stress the first element or for artistic purposes. Also to note is the role of verbal noun in a compound name, followed by a noun that the verbal noun applies to.

Compounded Nouns
Adj. + Noun Barazinbar
Redhorn		Baraz
Red		Inbar
Horn
Kibil-nâla
Silverlode		Kibil
Silver (metal)		Nâla
River-course
Kheled-zâram
Mirrormere		Kheled
Mirror		Zâram
Lake
Sigin-tarâg
Longbeards		Sigin
Long		Tarâg
Beards
Noun + Adj. Zirakzigil
Silvertine		Zirak
Spike, Tine		Zigil
Silver (colour)
Noun-Prep./Acc.
+ Adj.		 Bundushathûr
Cloudyhead		Bund-u
Head (in/of/Acc.)		Shathûr
Clouds
Verbal Noun Felak-gundu
Cave-hewer		Felak
Hewer		Gund-u
Cave-Acc.

Verbs

Only four verb words are known. The exact tense or use of these verbs are unknown:

Felak : To use a tool like a broad-bladed chisel, or small axe-head without haft.
Felek: hew rock.
Gunud : delve underground, excavate, tunnel.
√S-L-N, Sulûn, Salôn : "fall, descend swiftly" (VT48:24).

Lexicon

Placenames & Names
Khuzdul NamesTranslationKhuzdul NamesTranslation
AzaghâlPresumably an 'outer name' or title. Not an inner name.MahalAulë, known to the dwarves as the Maker.
Azanulbizar'Dimrill Dale' lit: "Shadows of streams/rills" or "Dark stream dale".MîmA Petty-Dwarf, possibly an 'inner name'.
Barazinbar'Redhorn' (Caradhras), also shortened to Baraz 'Red'.Narag-zâram'Black-lake', early name, Mirrormere?
Bundushathûr'Cloudyhead', also shortened to Shathûr 'Clouds'.NargûnMordor, and Sauron, lit: "Black one/place".
Buzundush'Blackroot', earlier name of the Silverlode.Nar(u)kuthûnNargothrond, possible later name.
FelakgunduCave-hewer; epessë of Finrod. Origin of Felagund.NulukkhizdînNargothrond, the Petty-Dwarvish name
Gabilân'Great River'. a portion of the river GelionSigin-tarâgThe Longbeards, the house of Durin.
Gabilgathol'Great Fortress' (Belegost).SharbhundAmon Rûdh, possibly meaning 'Bald Hill' as is in Sindarin.
Gamil Zirak'Old Spike', Nickname of a Firebeard smith.TharkûnGandalf, said to mean 'Staff-man'.
GundabadMount Gundabad.Tumunzahar'Hollowbold' (Nogrod).
IbunA Petty-Dwarf, possibly an 'inner name'.UdushinbarEarlier name of Bundushathûr.
Kibil-nâlaThe name of the Silverlode.UruktharbunEarlier name of Khazad-dûm or Azanulbizar, meaning unknown.
Khazad-dûmDwarf-mansion, Dwarrowdelf' (later known as Moria).Zigil-nâdearlier name of the Silverlode.
Kheled-zâram'glass-lake', i.e. Mirrormere.Zirakinbar'Silverhorn', earlier name of Zirakzigil.
KhîmA Petty-Dwarf, possibly an 'inner name'.Zirakzigil'Silvertine' (Celebdil), also shortened to Zirak 'Spike'.

Words
KhuzdulMeaningKhuzdulMeaning
-âb / -babstract collective?kheledglass, mirror
‘aglâbspoken languageKhuzd / KhazâdDwarf / Dwarves
‘aya, ‘ai-uponKhuzdulDwarvish language, lit. "Dwarf-of(gen.)"
‘azandark, dimkibilsilver, the metal
‘iglishmêksign-language of the Dwarvesma-passive participle?
‘inbarhornmazarbwritten documents, records
‘ûlstreamsmazarbulrecords (the Chamber of Mazarbul, Book of Mazarbul)
‘uzbadlordmên* / mênu2nd person plural, "you" - Nom.* / Acc.
‘uzndimness, shadow-n / -ân / -în / -ûnone, person or place.
barazrednâla’path, course, river-course or bed
bark / barukaxe / axesnarâgblack
bizar / bizâr?dale or valleyRukhs / RakhâsOrc / Orcs
bundheadsiginlong
buz / bûzroot?sulûn / salônfall, descend swiftly
dubanvalleysharbbald?
dûm / tûm1delving, subterranean mansion, hallshathûrclouds
dush / dûsh?black, dark?tum / tûmhall / delving1
felaktool for cutting stonethark / tharuk*staff / staffs*
felekhew rockturg* / tarâgbeard / beards
gabilgreat-uof / accusative marker
gamilold?-ulof, patronymic genitive ending
gatholfortresszaharhollow?
gundunderground hallzârampool, lake
gunuddelve underground, excavate, tunnelzigilsilver, the colour
hundhill?zirakspike

1 Seen in Tumunzahar in 'Hollowbold', with 'bold' as an obsolete term for dwelling. Assimilates to 'D' when precedes one, e.g. d-t = d-d : Khazad-dûm

Consonantal Roots
Biconsonant Roots
Khuzdul RootTranslationKhuzdul RootTranslation
√ʔL streams √HL ??? - Azaghâl
√DM excavation, hall, mansion √ND see √NLʔ - Zigil-nâd
√DSh dark, darkness √TM excavation, hall, mansion
Triconsonant Roots
√ʔBD  ??? - Gundabad √MHL Create, Maker?
√ʔGL speech, language, dialect √NBR horn
√ʔRK  ??? - Uruktharbun √NDD see √NLʔ - Zigil-nâd
√ʔZG  ??? - Azaghâl √NLʔ path, course, river-course or bed
√ʔZN dimness, shadow √NRG black
√BND head √RKhS Orc, Goblin
√BRK axe √SGN long
√BRZ red √SLN fall, descend swiftly
√BZR dale, valley √ShMK gesture, hand, sign?
√BZZ root (of a plant) √ShRB bald?
√DBN valley √ShThR cloud
√DMM excavation, hall, mansion √TMM excavation, hall, mansion
√FLK hew, hewer √TRG beard
√GBL great in size √ThRB ??? - Uruktharbun
√GML old, great in age? √ThRK staff (rod)
√GND cave, tunnel √ZBD lord
√GThL fortress √ZGL silver (colour)
√HND hill? √ZHR hollow?
√KBL silver (metal) √ZRB write, inscribe
√KhLD glass, mirror √ZRK spike
√KhZD Dwarf √ZRM pool, lake

References
  1. Fauskanger, Helge K. "Khuzdul - the secret tongue of the Dwarves". Ardalambion. University of Bergen. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  2. Åberg, Magnus (2007). "An Analysis of Dwarvish". In Stenström, Anders (ed.). Arda Philology 1. First International Conference on J. R. R. Tolkien's Invented Languages. Stockholm, 4–8 August 2005. pp. 42–65. ISBN 9789197350013.
  3. Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. #176. ISBN 978-0-395-31555-2.
  4. "An Interview with J.R.R. Tolkien". BBC Four. January 1971. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009.
  5. Hostetter, Carl F. (26 November 2004). "reply to: Khuzdul - mostly to Aelfwine/Carl Hostetter". Lord of the Rings Fanatics Forum. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  6. Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 176. ISBN 978-0-395-31555-2.
  7. The Lord of the Rings, Book II, chapter 5.
  8. J. R. R. Tolkien (1994), The War of the Jewels (volume 11 of The History of Middle-earth), Harper Collins, part 4 appendix D p.395; ISBN 0261 10314 8
  9. Tolkien, J.R.R. (July 1998). Hostetter, Carl F. (ed.). "From Quendi and Eldar, Appendix D". Vinyar Tengwar (39): 5, 10.

Further reading
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