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Khuzdul

A translation chart from Khuzdûl into Roman letters

Khuzdûl was the language of the Dwarves, written in the 50-letter Cirth script (Runes). It appears to be structured, like real-world Semitic languages, around the triconsonantal roots: kh-z-d, b-n-d, z-g-l.

History[]

The language was created by the Vala Aulë, creator of the first Dwarves, who taught them "the language he had devised for them," implying that Khuzdûl is a constructed language even within the context of the books.[1] The language was rarely heard by outsiders and was a secret, and was thus not recorded by Elves or Men. The Dwarves also had a language of silent gesture-signs known as Iglishmêk.[2]

In the early days of Middle-earth, before Men entered Beleriand, they had contact with the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains and further East, and the Taliska language was devised, similar to the Dwarven tongue. Taliska would be the ancestor of Adûnaic, the later tongue of Númenor, and of the Common Speech.

The only Khuzdûl line in J.R.R. Tolkien's primary writings is Gimli's battle-cry "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!", meaning, "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!".

Conceptual history[]

The Lhammas tells that Khuzdûl was uniquely derived from a separate language family called Aulëan, devised by Aulë the Smith, the Vala who created the Dwarves. Khuzdûl is unique in belonging to Aulëan, unlike the languages of Elves and Men, which are of the Oromëan language family.[3]

Background[]

Khuzdûl was largely inspired by Semitic languages. In fact, Tolkien wanted it to sound much like Hebrew, and noted that both Jews and his Dwarves were "once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue"[4]. Another reason Hebrew was chosen as a basis for Khuzdûl is that it is unlike any European languages, equivalent to the contrast between Dwarven speech and Elvish languages. Although Dwarven symbols were identical to Germanic Runes, the symbols that correlate to specific English letters have been mixed around, and a few runes are inverted.[5]

See also[]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Greek Κχουζντούλ
Hebrew קהוזדול
Japanese クズドゥール
Persian خوزدول
Russian Кхуздул

References[]

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