Khuzdul ( Khuzdul or Khuzdûl - "gnomes") - the language of the Dwarves in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien on Middle-earth . One of the artificial languages created by Tolkien, along with Quenya and the black dialect .
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Khuzdul in the history of Arda
According to the legend described in the book The Silmarillion , Khuzdul was invented by Aule - one of the Valar . Aule created the gnomes from stone and began to teach them the language he had invented for them [1] . This happened even before the dwarves fell asleep again to wait until the time came for their Awakening. And before the Children of Eru came to Middle-earth - elves and people. So, we can say that Khuzdul is the most ancient language of Middle-earth (not counting Valarin and, possibly, the language of Ents ).
After the Awakening of the Dwarves, this language (like all languages and everything else in Arda ) changed over time, differing in different distant places of the settlements of the Dwarves. But the changes took place so slowly, and the differences were so small that even in the Third Age, gnomes from different genera easily understood each other.
Khuzdul was rarely and reluctantly studied by members of other races. Apparently because the language of the Dwarves was complex and dissonant. And the dwarves themselves did not really want to reveal it to strangers. Their language was “a secret that they did not voluntarily reveal even to their friends” [2] . The proper names of the Dwarves, such as we see them in Tolkien's works, are taken from the language of people . Gnomes do not reveal their secret, "internal" names to anyone. They are not even carved on tombstones. In The Lord of the Rings and other works of Tolkien, khuzdul is used mainly in geographical names. One of the few phrases spoken in Khuzdul is the battle cry of Gimli , which he shouted during the Siege of Hornburg : “Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu! "( Eng. Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu! ) -" Axes of the Dwarves! Dwarves (go) on you! "
However, in the First Epoch, when the people of House Hador came to Beleriand and met with the gnomes of the Dolgoborod clan, friendship arose between the two peoples, since people, being skilled riders, could offer the gnomes protection from the orcs . And the dwarves introduced people to their language, but people found Khuzdul difficult and slowly absorbed something more than individual words, many of which, having changed, entered their own language [3] . Khuzdul seems to have influenced the structure of the primary language of the people - Talisk , as can be seen from the later language of the people - Adunaik .
The History of Khuzdul
Tolkien wrote that Khuzdul “was created in outline, with some details of the structure and a very small dictionary” [4] . This undoubtedly happened in the thirties. The Khuzdul words Khazaddûm and Gabilgathol appear in early versions of The Silmarillion [5] . Obviously, the basis for it was the Semitic languages . However, Tolkien did not leave detailed materials on the language, so all that is known is fragments of phrases about the structure and a small vocabulary of words and expressions. We know only a few names, names; the inscription on Balin’s grave is “ Balin Fundinul uzbad Khazaddûmu ” - “Balin, the son of Fundin, the ruler of Moria” and the war cry of Gimli - “ Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! "-" Dwarf Axes! Dwarves are on you! ”
There is information [ what? ] that in Tolkien’s drafts there is a complete Khuzdul grammar, but it lies in the storerooms of one of the linguistic Tolkienist magazines .
Many researchers of Arda's languages: Liza Star, Helge Fauskanger, David Salo, Freyr Strong, Magnus Aberg, Roland Mückstein, Stefan Grignon and D. Rodionov were interested in Khuzdul, but almost no one seriously reconstructed it or developed a grammar. So a Khuzdul textbook on which it could be studied cannot yet be compiled.
Khuzdul Structure
The following consonants were present in the famous Khuzdul words: two explosive aspirates - kh and th , that is, “k” and “t” with aspiration. Khuzdul also has non-aspirated consonants, similar to the Russian “k” and “t”, but, unlike Russian and English, k and t are independent phonemes that need to be distinguished from kh and th . Also in Khuzdul there are voiced explosive b , d , g ; deaf graduate students f , sh and s ; voiced students of z and gh ; side l ; vibrant r ; nasal n , m ; half-vowels w and y ; laryngeal h and larynx explosive.
Short vowels form a classical system of five sounds: a , i , e , o , u . The existence of long vowels is certain: â , ê , î , û , ô . There is a diphthong ai . There are also abbreviations for the vowels / a / and / e /, denoted by ə .
Also, judging by the table of runes of Angertas Moria, in Khuzdul there can probably be other sounds - consonants j , ch , v , mb , hw , dh , nj , ng , kw , gw , ghw , ngw , nw , rh , lh , nd , ps , ts ; short vowels ö , ü . There may also be diphthong oi and other diphthongs caused by the presence of half-vowels w and y . There is also the symbol + h , which has a separate rune, which, possibly, meant aspiration (stunning) of consonants.
The basic structure of Khuzdul is similar to the structure of Semitic languages. The foundations from which words are formed are themselves not spoken words, but consist only of consonants. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. are formed by inserting certain vowels between the consonants of the basis: ( Khuzd ( ul ) - Khazâd - Khizd ( in ) - from the possible root of Kh-ZD ), and sometimes - possibly by doubling one of the consonants.
In Khuzdul, as in Semitic languages , the root usually consists of three consonants. Several of these roots are mentioned in TI: 174 and RS: 466: BRZ - “red”, BND - “top”, KBL - “silver”, NRG - “black”. An example of a root with two consonants is ZN - “dark, vague, foggy” [6] . Roots consisting of one consonant are possible: ( -L- ) in Ul - “streams”; ( -Y- ) in aya - “on”.
Also, word prefixes and suffixes are used in word formation: ai- (preposition “on”), -ul (adjective suffix), -ûn (possibly a certain article), -în (plural of adjectives), -u (genitive) etc. Mutations or assimilation of consonant roots in compound words are possible ( MBR in Barazinbar ).
Writing
As a writing, the dwarves mainly used the runes invented by the elf Daeron - Angertas (also Kirt ) (although Tolkien has a phrase that the dwarves themselves invented the runes - but perhaps this refers to the Moon Runes from The Hobbit) - "translated" Tolkien variations of the Germanic runes.
Links
Notes
- ↑ (The Silmarillion , Chapter 2)
- ↑ (LotR, adj. F)
- ↑ Tolkien. JRR Part Two. Late Writings // The Peoples of Middle-earth / Ed. C. Tolkien . - Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996 .-- P. 303. - 496 p. - (The History of the Middle-Earth). - ISBN 0-395-82760-4 .
- ↑ Tolkien. JRR Part Two. Late Writings // The Peoples of Middle-earth / Ed. C. Tolkien . - Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996 .-- P. 300 .-- 496 p. - (The History of the Middle-Earth). - ISBN 0-395-82760-4 .
- ↑ Tolkien. JRR Part Two. Valinor and Middle-Earth before the Lord of the Rings // The Lost Road and Other Writings / Ed. C. Tolkien . - Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987 .-- P. 274. - 455 p. - (The History of the Middle-Earth). - ISBN 0-395-45519-7 .
- ↑ Tolkien. JRR Chapter XXV. The Mines of Moria // The Return of the Shadow / Ed. C. Tolkien . - Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988 .-- P. 466. - 497 p. - (The History of the Middle-Earth). - ISBN 0-395-49863-5 .