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. He based its structure and phonology on Semitic languages, primarily Hebrew, with triconsonantal roots of words. Very little is known of the grammar.

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][3] 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…".^{[T 1]} Tolkien 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]

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:^[1]

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 (all of which are akin to Quenya^[3]). 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.^[6]

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...".^{[T 2]} Dwarves were however willing to reveal the names of places in Khuzdul, such as 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."^{[T 3]}

Besides their aglâb, spoken tongue, the Dwarves used a sign language, or iglishmêk,^{[T 4]} 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".^{[T 4]} Tolkien described its structure and use: "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."^{[T 4]}

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.^{[T 5]}

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 eː	ə4	o 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 a vowel or diphthong have a glottal stop at the beginning to fill the place of an initial consonant.^[1] Words can not start with a consonant cluster, but these are found in medial or final positions in a word.^[1] The language was said to be "cumbrous and unlovely" to the elves;^{[T 6]} Tolkien described it as having a cacophonous quality.^{[T 7]}

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.^{[T 8]}

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 its 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.^[1]

Nouns and adjectives had 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. Khuzdul appears to have case endings with nominative and accusative/genitive cases, and perhaps an adjectival suffix.^[1]

Nouns and adjectives may have had different declensions for formation and number. Tolkien stated plural formations were 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.^{[T 9]}

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:

The word baruk is both the absolute and construct plural form of bark, likely the result of being a broken plural.^{[T 9]}

In compound words, the adjective usually precedes the noun, as in sigin-tarâg, "longbeards".^[1]

Only four verb words are known.^[1] 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.^{[T 10]}

Felek: to hew rock.^{[T 10]}

Gunud : to delve underground, excavate, tunnel.^{[T 10]}

√S-L-N, Sulûn, Salôn : to fall or descend swiftly.^{[T 10]}

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

Khuzdul's word stems are as in the Semitic languages not full words but groups of consonants, most often in threes.^[1]

• Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4.
• Fauskanger, Helge K. "Khuzdul - the secret tongue of the Dwarves". Ardalambion. University of Bergen. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
• Hostetter, Carl F. (2013) [2007]. "Languages Invented by Tolkien: Khuzdul". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Routledge. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-415-96942-0.
• Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954a). The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 9552942.
• Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955). The Return of the King. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 519647821.
• Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Silmarillion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-25730-2.
• Tolkien, J. R. R. (1987). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Lost Road and Other Writings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-45519-7.
• Tolkien, J. R. R. (1994). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The War of the Jewels. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-71041-3.

• Magnus Åberg - An analysis of Dwarvish
• Eldamo: Khuzdul Compilation by Paul Strack
• Khuzdul Documents & Dictionaries - Neo-Khuzdul, based on Tolkien's attested Khuzdul.