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{{quote|A fair jaw-cracker dwarf-language must be!|[[Samwise Gamgee]]<ref>{{FR|South}}</ref>}}
'''Khuzdul''', or '''Dwarvish''', was the secret language of the [[Dwarves]].
'''Khuzdul''', or '''Dwarvish''', was the secret language of the [[Dwarves]].


==History==
==History==
[[Aulë]], the creator of the the first Dwarves, taught them "the language he had devised for them". Not much is known of the language, as the Dwarves kept it to themselves. One of the only major phrases known to outsiders is their battle-cry: ''[[Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!]]'' meaning ''Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!''
[[Aulë]], the creator of the [[Seven Fathers of the Dwarves]], taught them "the language he had devised for them".  


Khuzdul is unique among [[languages]] in that it belongs to a separate language phylum, unrelated to the languages of [[Elves]]. On the other hand, there are many similarities between Khuzdul and the native tongues of men, such as [[Taliska]], the language of the first and third houses of the [[Edain]]. This is because in the early days of Middle-earth, before Men crossed into [[Beleriand]], they had contact with the Dwarves of the [[Blue Mountains]] and in areas further East. Taliska was the ancestor of [[Adûnaic]], the tongue of Númenor and the direct ancestor of the [[Westron|Common Speech]]. Both languages displayed Khuzdul influences.
Khuzdul is therefore unrelated in origin and different from the languages of the [[Elves]]. Few of other race have ever succeeded in learning it.<ref>{{S|10}}</ref><ref>{{App|Other}}</ref> The Dwarves weren't unwilling to teach Khuzdul to their close friends, but Men found it difficult to learn more than a few words, some of which were loaned.<ref name=pmrel/>
 
In the [[First Age]], before the ancestors of the [[Edain]] crossed into [[Beleriand]], they had contact with the Dwarves in [[Rhovanion]] and later in the [[Blue Mountains]]. As such, there are many similarities between Khuzdul and the native tongues of men, such as [[Taliska|the language of the first and third houses]] of the [[Edain]]. That language was the ancestor of [[Adûnaic]], the tongue of Númenor and the direct ancestor of the [[Westron|Common Speech]]. These [[Mannish]] languages displayed Khuzdul influences.<ref>{{PM|XNotes}}, #4</ref>
 
During the Third Age the Dwarves of the [[Westlands]] had mostly adopted [[Westron]] and Khuzdul was a learned language, being taught to their children at an early age. They used it among themselves and as a language of books and lore, and for records not intended for outsiders.<ref name=DM>{{PM|Dwarves}}</ref>
 
By their own will the Dwarves resisted the change of their language<ref name=pmrel>{{PM|Relations}}</ref> and the language diversified and changed so slowly, 'like the  weathering of hard rock compared with the melting of snow'<ref>{{PM|XNotes}}, #26</ref> considering the languages even of the Elves. As a result, it remained similar to the original form taught by Aulë, and even if the sundered [[:Category:Dwarven clans|clans]] developed their own dialects, even in the [[Third Age]], the clans could communicate easily, serving as a ''lingua franca'' between them.<ref name=DM/>
 
One of the only major phrases known to outsiders is their battle-cry: ''[[Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!]]'' meaning ''Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!''
 
==Naming==
The Dwarves were secretive by nature and their native names were considered too intimate to reveal to outsiders. In public life they took external names in the language of their surroundings. It is not known if these "outer" names are translations of their inner names, or whether they had any relation, or not. The [[Longbeards]] for example adopted [[Northern Mannish]] names or made their own from N. Mannish elements, or even fabricated names that sounded like N. Mannish.<ref>{{App|Languages}}</ref><ref>{{PM|XNotes}}, #32</ref> Even [[Balin's Tomb]] displays these "outer" names of [[Balin]] and [[Fundin]], since there was always a possibility that the inscription would be read by strangers. Eventually they would make use of their "outer" names even among themselves.<ref name=DM/>
 
The Dwarves would re-adopt a name in consequence of some event, like a migration.<ref name=DM/>
 
==Writing==
It is said that the Dwarves had developed an ideographic or pictographic writing, until they came close to the [[Eldar]] and realized the usefulness of the alphabetic [[tengwar]] and [[cirth]] systems; this influence came especially from the [[Noldor]] of [[Eregion]] during the [[Second Age]]. The Dwarves didn't use written communication much but were fond of inscriptions cut in stone, and thus (even though the [[Gwaith-i-Mirdain]] used runes only as a "matter of lore" mainly for formal writings) the [[Dwarves of Moria]] found the cirth more practical.<ref name=DM/>
 
The Dwarves adopted and modified the cirth at various stages (see: [[Angerthas Moria]], [[Angerthas Erebor]]). By the [[Third Age]] the cirth were largely forgotten but by the Dwarves, so there was the misconception that the Dwarves invented them, known as "dwarf-letters".<ref name=DM/>


==Etymology==
==Etymology==
The word ''Khuzdul'' (also spelled ''Khuzdûl'' in late manuscripts<ref>{{PM|Dwarves}}, p. 321 (footnote 19)</ref><ref name=VT48>{{VT|48a}}, pp. 6, 24</ref>) is composed of the stem ''[[Khazâd|KH-Z-D]]'', and the adjectival ending ''-ul'', which has the meaning similar to "-ish" or "-ian".{{fact}}
The word ''Khuzdul'' (also spelled ''Khuzdûl'' in late manuscripts<ref>{{PM|Dwarves}}, p. 321 (footnote 19)</ref><ref name=VT48>{{VT|48a}}, pp. 6, 24</ref>) is composed of the stem ''[[Khazâd|KH-Z-D]]'', and the adjectival or genitival ending ''-ul''.<ref>{{PE|17}}, p. 47</ref>


==Other names==
==Other versions of the Legendarium==
In older writings such as ''[[The Lhammas]]'' and ''[[The Tree of Tongues]]'', Tolkien described several phyla of the [[Valarin]] language, and Khuzdul, devised by Aule, belongs to the '''[[Aulëan]]''' phylum.


Other names used by [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] for the language of the Dwarves include:
Other names used by [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] for the language of the Dwarves include:
*'''''Khazadian'''''<ref>{{SD|Drowning}}, p. 414</ref>
*Khazadian<ref>{{SD|Drowning}}</ref>{{rp|414}}
*'''''[[Aulëan|Aulian]]'''''<ref>{{HM|LR}}, pp. 179, 197</ref>
*Aulian<ref name=lh>{{LR|Lhammas}}</ref>{{rp|179, 197}}
*'''''Nauglian'''''<ref>{{HM|LR}}, pp. 197, 277</ref>
*Nauglian<ref name=lh/>{{rp|197}}<ref>{{LR|Quenta}}</ref>{{rp|277}}
*'''''Naukarin'''''<ref>{{PE|18}}, pp. 28-9, 81</ref>
*Naukarin<ref>{{PE|18}}</ref>{{rp|28-9, 81}}


==Influences==
==Influences==
Line 22: Line 42:
Khuzdul appears to be structured, like the Semitic languages, around triconsonantal roots, such as ''kh-z-d'', ''b-n-d'', and ''z-g-l''.
Khuzdul appears to be structured, like the Semitic languages, around triconsonantal roots, such as ''kh-z-d'', ''b-n-d'', and ''z-g-l''.


The Dwarvish language sounds much like Hebrew, and indeed [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] noted some similarities between the Dwarves and  the 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&hellip;".<ref>{{L|176}}</ref> Another reason Hebrew was chosen as a basis for Khuzdul is that it is unlike any European language, and thus sufficiently alien to western ears to show just how different Dwarven speech was from the Elvish languages.{{fact}}
The Dwarvish language sounds much like Hebrew, and indeed [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] noted some similarities between the Dwarves and  the 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&hellip;".<ref>{{L|176}}</ref>


==Portrayal in adaptations==
==Portrayal in adaptations==
===Neo-Khuzdul===
===Neo-Khuzdul===
{{seealso|Neo-Elvish}}
{{seealso|Neo-Elvish}}
For [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] and [[The Hobbit (film series)|''The Hobbit'' film series)]], the linguist [[David Salo]] used what little is known of the Khuzdul to create enough of a language for use in the movies. This is usually referred to as neo-Khuzdul by [[Tolkienists]].
For [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' film series]] and [[The Hobbit (film series)|''The Hobbit'' film series]], the linguist [[David Salo]] used what little is known of Khuzdul to create enough of a language for use in the movies. This is usually referred to as neo-Khuzdul by [[Tolkienists]]. [[Gimli]] says the Neo-Khuzdul insult, ''Ishkhaqwi ai durugnul'', (commonly translated "I spit on your grave!") to [[Haldir]] in the extended edition of [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|''Fellowship of the Ring'']]. Salo did not provide this phrase, and it didn't fit easily into his neo-Khuzdul. When the scriptwriter for [[The Hobbit (film series)|''The Hobbit'' film series]] asked him about it with the idea of having Thorin use the same curse, Salo reverse-engineered Gimli's line into a neo-Khuzdul phrase ''îsh kakhfê ai-‘d-dûr-rugnul'' meaning "May my excrement be poured upon the naked-jawed (ones)".<ref>{{webcite|author=[[David Salo]]|articleurl=http://midgardsmal.com/gimla-ok-thorins-bǫlvan/|articlename=Gimla ok Þorins bǫlvan|dated=20-06-2014|website=Midgardsmal|accessed=23-01-2017}}</ref>


==External links==
==External links==
Line 35: Line 55:
*[http://www.jrrvf.com/~glaemscrafu/english/khuzdul.html Khuzdul sound samples] at [[Glǽmscrafu]]
*[http://www.jrrvf.com/~glaemscrafu/english/khuzdul.html Khuzdul sound samples] at [[Glǽmscrafu]]
{{references}}
{{references}}
{{languages}}
[[Category:Khuzdul| ]]
[[Category:Khuzdul| ]]
[[Category:Khuzdul words]]
[[Category:Khuzdul words]]

Revision as of 13:42, 25 January 2020

"I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess." — Sam
This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality.
"A fair jaw-cracker dwarf-language must be!"
Samwise Gamgee[1]

Khuzdul, or Dwarvish, was the secret language of the Dwarves.

History

Aulë, the creator of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, taught them "the language he had devised for them".

Khuzdul is therefore unrelated in origin and different from the languages of the Elves. Few of other race have ever succeeded in learning it.[2][3] The Dwarves weren't unwilling to teach Khuzdul to their close friends, but Men found it difficult to learn more than a few words, some of which were loaned.[4]

In the First Age, before the ancestors of the Edain crossed into Beleriand, they had contact with the Dwarves in Rhovanion and later in the Blue Mountains. As such, there are many similarities between Khuzdul and the native tongues of men, such as the language of the first and third houses of the Edain. That language was the ancestor of Adûnaic, the tongue of Númenor and the direct ancestor of the Common Speech. These Mannish languages displayed Khuzdul influences.[5]

During the Third Age the Dwarves of the Westlands had mostly adopted Westron and Khuzdul was a learned language, being taught to their children at an early age. They used it among themselves and as a language of books and lore, and for records not intended for outsiders.[6]

By their own will the Dwarves resisted the change of their language[4] and the language diversified and changed so slowly, 'like the weathering of hard rock compared with the melting of snow'[7] considering the languages even of the Elves. As a result, it remained similar to the original form taught by Aulë, and even if the sundered clans developed their own dialects, even in the Third Age, the clans could communicate easily, serving as a lingua franca between them.[6]

One of the only major phrases known to outsiders is their battle-cry: Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! meaning Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!

Naming

The Dwarves were secretive by nature and their native names were considered too intimate to reveal to outsiders. In public life they took external names in the language of their surroundings. It is not known if these "outer" names are translations of their inner names, or whether they had any relation, or not. The Longbeards for example adopted Northern Mannish names or made their own from N. Mannish elements, or even fabricated names that sounded like N. Mannish.[8][9] Even Balin's Tomb displays these "outer" names of Balin and Fundin, since there was always a possibility that the inscription would be read by strangers. Eventually they would make use of their "outer" names even among themselves.[6]

The Dwarves would re-adopt a name in consequence of some event, like a migration.[6]

Writing

It is said that the Dwarves had developed an ideographic or pictographic writing, until they came close to the Eldar and realized the usefulness of the alphabetic tengwar and cirth systems; this influence came especially from the Noldor of Eregion during the Second Age. The Dwarves didn't use written communication much but were fond of inscriptions cut in stone, and thus (even though the Gwaith-i-Mirdain used runes only as a "matter of lore" mainly for formal writings) the Dwarves of Moria found the cirth more practical.[6]

The Dwarves adopted and modified the cirth at various stages (see: Angerthas Moria, Angerthas Erebor). By the Third Age the cirth were largely forgotten but by the Dwarves, so there was the misconception that the Dwarves invented them, known as "dwarf-letters".[6]

Etymology

The word Khuzdul (also spelled Khuzdûl in late manuscripts[10][11]) is composed of the stem KH-Z-D, and the adjectival or genitival ending -ul.[12]

Other versions of the Legendarium

In older writings such as The Lhammas and The Tree of Tongues, Tolkien described several phyla of the Valarin language, and Khuzdul, devised by Aule, belongs to the Aulëan phylum.

Other names used by Tolkien for the language of the Dwarves include:

Influences

Khuzdul appears to be structured, like the Semitic languages, around triconsonantal roots, such as kh-z-d, b-n-d, and z-g-l.

The Dwarvish language sounds much like Hebrew, and indeed Tolkien noted some similarities between the Dwarves and the 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…".[17]

Portrayal in adaptations

Neo-Khuzdul

See also: Neo-Elvish

For The Lord of the Rings film series and The Hobbit film series, the linguist David Salo used what little is known of Khuzdul to create enough of a language for use in the movies. This is usually referred to as neo-Khuzdul by Tolkienists. Gimli says the Neo-Khuzdul insult, Ishkhaqwi ai durugnul, (commonly translated "I spit on your grave!") to Haldir in the extended edition of Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring. Salo did not provide this phrase, and it didn't fit easily into his neo-Khuzdul. When the scriptwriter for The Hobbit film series asked him about it with the idea of having Thorin use the same curse, Salo reverse-engineered Gimli's line into a neo-Khuzdul phrase îsh kakhfê ai-‘d-dûr-rugnul meaning "May my excrement be poured upon the naked-jawed (ones)".[18]

External links

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Ring Goes South"
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Sindar"
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Other Races"
  4. 4.0 4.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Relations of the Longbeard Dwarves and Men"
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Notes", #4
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "Of Dwarves and Men"
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Notes", #26
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age"
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Notes", #32
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "Of Dwarves and Men", p. 321 (footnote 19)
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Eldarin Hands, Fingers & Numerals and Related Writings — Part Two" (edited by Patrick H. Wynne), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 48, December 2005, pp. 6, 24
  12. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 47
  13. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "Part Three: The Drowning of Anadûnê, with the Third Version of The Fall of Númenor, and Lowdham's Report on the Adunaic Language"
  14. 14.0 14.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, V. The Lhammas"
  15. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, VI. Quenta Silmarillion"
  16. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets Part 2", in Parma Eldalamberon XVIII (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne)
  17. J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 176, (dated 8 December 1955)
  18. David Salo, "Gimla ok Þorins bǫlvan" dated 20 June 2014, Midgardsmal (accessed 23 January 2017)
Languages and scripts in Tolkien's works
Elvish Angerthas (Angerthas Daeron) · Avarin · Cirth (Certhas Daeron) · Common Eldarin · Mátengwië · Moon-letters · Nandorin · Primitive Quendian · Quenya (Exilic · Valinorean · Vanyarin) · Sarati · Silvan Elvish · Sindarin (Doriathrin · Falathrin · Númenórean · Mithrimin · Old) · Telerin (Common) · Tengwar
Mannish Adûnaic · Dalish · Drúadan · Dunlendish · Halethian · Northern Mannish · Pre-Númenórean · Rohanese · Taliska · Westron (Bucklandish · Hobbitish · Stoorish)
Dwarvish Angerthas (Erebor · Moria) · Aulëan · Iglishmêk · Khuzdul
Other Black Speech · Old Entish · Orkish · Valarin · Warg-language
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Real-world Celtic · English (Old · Middle · AB) · Finnish · Germanic · Gothic · Hebrew · Runic alphabet · Welsh
"A Secret Vice" (book) · "The Lhammas" · "The Tree of Tongues" · Sub-creation