Khuzdul

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

The Dwarves are very protective of their own language. They share little of it with outsiders, even their friends among the other races. Khuzdul is carefully preserved and taught to young Dwarves. Few of the other races have learned it. Dwarves do not go by their Khuzdul names in public, instead taking "outer" names from Northern Mannish. Even on their tombs, Dwarves are recorded by these foreign names rather than their secret names.

A highly inflected language, Khuzdul is based on word stems of three consonants, known as triconsonantal roots. The vowels between and surrounding these consonants determine the case and tense of the word. For example, the root FLK means "chisel, hew rock". Felak means "chisel (object)", afluk means "to chisel, to hew rock", "uflak" means "hewer/chiseller (person)", and iflêk means "the act of hewing rock". The addition of prefixes and suffixes is used to form even more complex cases of a single word, such as mafallakûn, meaning "he who continues to hew rock again/excessively".

Common Terms

See External Links for many more definitions and details. Where applicable, plural forms are given. Note that different cases of these words may be required for proper grammar, depending on their place in a sentence or phrase. Also keep in mind that few of these would be known to non-Dwarves. Even to those familiar with Dwarves, mostly only common phrases and the names of major locations would be known.

akhrâm pl. akharâm - name

anzar pl. anazâr - steward

bark pl. baruk - axe

basn pl. basân - foot

bin- - without

binakhrâm - nameless

bizar - dale

bund pl. banâd - head

dum pl. dûm - hall, mansion

felak pl. felâk - chisel

gabil - great

gamil - old

gathol pl gathôl - fortress

gundu pl. gunûd - delving, underground hall

hund pl. hanâd - hill

inbar pl. nibâr - horn

Iglishmêk - Dwarvish sign language

jazr pl. jazâr - chain

kann pl. kanân - leg

kibil - silver

kheled - glass

Khuzdul - Dwarvish language

mals - mist

malasul - misty

mazarbul - "that which is written": records

mebel - stiff

melek pl. melêk - half, weathered rock

mekhem pl. mekhêm - gate

nâla pl. nulâ - path, course

narag - black

rugn pl. ragân - chin

sharb - bald

shathr pl. shathûr - cloud

shimrîn - guarded place

sigin- long

targ pl. tarâg - beard

thikil - steel

-ul - of, 's (genitive suffix)

ushmar pl. ushmâr - guardian

uzbad pl. uzbâd - king

zabad pl. zabbad - lord

zant pl. zanât - hair

zâram pl. zarâm - lake

zars pl. zarâs - tree

zirak pl. zirâk - spike

zirin - iron

zudnu pl. zudûn - realm, land

'abad pl. 'abbad, 'urd pl. 'urâd - mountain

Colours

baraz pl. barzâ - red

bibil pl. biblâ - bronze

danakh pl. dankhâ - green

khagal pl. khaglâ - blue

labam pl. labmâ - white

tahaf pl. tahfâ - yellow, blond

zigil pl. ziglâ - silvery

ziriz pl. zirzâ - golden

Directions

faham - north

farak - south

nud - east

zelem - west

People

Durthu-rathkh pl. Durthu-rathâkh - Dourhand

Fund pl. Fanâd - Elf (polite)

Hundushmar pl. Hundushmâr - "Hill-guardian": Dunlending

Khûthuz pl. Khuthâz - "Enduring/Endurer": Elf

Khuzd pl. Khazâd - Dwarf

Mebelkhags pl. Mebelkhagâs - "Stiff-neck": Elf (impolite)

Rukhs pl. Rakhâs - Orc

Sharbrugn pl. Sharbragân - "Bald-chin": Hobbit (impolite)

Siginkann pl. Siginkanân - "Long-leg": Man (impolite)

Sigin-targ pl. Sigin-tarâg - Longbeard

Zantulbasn pl. Zantulbasân - "Hairy-foot": Hobbit

Zelem'utn pl. Zelem'atân - Dúnadan, West-man

'Utn pl. 'Atân - Man

Phrases

baruk Khazâd - axes of the Dwarves

Khazâd ai-mênu - the Dwarves are upon you

<Name 1> <Name 2>ul - <Name 1> (son) of <Name 2>

Uzbad Khazaddûmu - Lord of Moria, King of Moria

Uzbad undu 'Urd - King Under the Mountain

Places

Anazârmekhem - Stewards Gate

Azanulbizar - Dimrill Dale, Nanduhirion

Azsâlul'abad - Lonely Mountain, Erebor

Barazinbar - Caradhras, Redhorn

Basnbizar, Bizar - Dale

Bundushathûr - Cloudyhead, Fanuidhol

Gabilshathûr - Great-clouds

Hundshimrîn - "Hill-guard": Dunland

Jazârgund - Underground Halls of Chains

Khazad-dûm - "Dwarves' Mansions": Dwarrowdelf, Moria

Khagal'abbad - Blue Mountains, Ered Luin

Kibil-nâla - Silverlode, Celebrant

Labamzarszudnu - "White Tree Land": Gondor

Malasul'abbad - Misty Mountains, Hithaeglir

Nalâ-dûm - Path Halls

Nud-melek - East-half

Naragzudnu, Nargûn - Black Land, Mordor

Thikil-gundu - Steel Keep

Thorinuldum - Thorin's Hall

Kheled-zâram - "Glass-lake": Mirrormere

Zabadgathol - Lord-fortress

Zelem-melek - West-half

Zigilgund - Silver-coloured Hall

Zirakzigil - Silvertine, Celebdil

'urd'êk - halls under Erebor

Background

The sound of Khuzdul and its triconsonantal root system are inspired by real-life Semitic languages.

J.R.R. Tolkien published very little Khuzdul vocabulary and syntax. Others have since expanded this, by building upon what "official" Khuzdul is available and drawing from real-life languages. Much of the Dwarvish used in The Lord of the Rings Online is from this "neo-Khuzdul". The linguist known as the Dwarrow Scholar has developed an extensive Khuzdul dictionary, from which most of the above terms are derived.

External Links

• Khuzdul - Tolkien Gateway
• The Dwarrow Scholar - huge corpus of neo-Khuzdul
• Parf Edhellen - searchable dictionary of Tolkien's languages, including what little Khuzdul he published