Portal:Constructed languages/Language of the month/August 2007

Khuzdûl is the language of the Dwarves in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction of Middle-earth. Khuzdûl is usually written with the Cirth script. It appears to be based, like the Semitic languages, on triconsonantal roots: kh-z-d, b-n-d, z-g-l.

Little is known of Khuzdûl, as the Dwarves kept it to themselves, except for their battle-cry: Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! meaning Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!; and the runes written on Balin's tomb in Moria can be translated to read "Balin Fundinul Uzbad Khazad-dumu", meaning "Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria". This secrecy extended to Dwarven names: with the exception of the Petty-dwarves, all Dwarven names are either from another language (Dalish) or nicknames/titles, and Dwarves don't even record their names on their tombstones. Only few non-Dwarves are recorded of having learnt Khuzdûl, most notably Eöl.

Placenames were not subject to this secrecy, and form the major sample of known Khuzdûl. Unlike their private names, Dwarves seemed eager to share these names with others. Find out more...