Also called: Dwarvish
[INTERNAL HISTORY] [EXTERNAL HISTORY] [THE STRUCTURE OF KHUZDUL] [THE CORPUS ANALYZED]
DWARVISH WORDLIST: [A]
[B] [F] [G]
[I] [K] [M]
[N] [R] [S]
[T] [U] [Z]
In the second chapter of the Silmarillion we learn that as soon as Aule
had made the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, he "began to instruct the Dwarves
in the tongue that he had devised for them". Their own name for their language
was Khuzdul, which is evidently simply "Dwarvish", the Dwarves calling
themselves Khazad (the singular may actually be *Khuzd). We read that "according
to their legends their begetter, Aule the Vala, had made this [tongue]
for them and had taught it to the Seven Fathers before they were laid to
sleep until the time for their awakening should come. After their awakening
this language (as all languages and all other things in Arda) changed in
time, and divergently in the mansions that were far-sundered. But the change
was so slow and the divergence so small that even in the Third Age converse
between all Dwarves in their own tongue was easy. As they said, the change
in Khuzdul as compared with the tongue of the Elves, and still more with
those of Men, was 'like the weathering of hard rock compared with the melting
of snow' " (PM:323). Also Pengolodh comments upon "the tradition that they
have...that Aule devised for them their tongue in its beginning, and therefore
it changes little" (WJ:402). In contrast a gesture-language the Dwarves
had devised for themselves, the so-called iglishmek, was more changeable.
But however well-preserved, Khuzdul was rarely learnt by others than
Dwarves themselves. Late legends had it that in Valinor, Aule had acquainted
Feanor with the language he had made for the Dwarves, but Tolkien noted
that this was not necessarily true; perhaps it was just a story due to
the fame of Feanor (VT39:10). In Middle-earth, the Elves were not particularly
interested in Dwarvish, and they did not think highly of this language
anyway: "They could understand no word of the tongue of the Naugrim [Dwarves],
which to their ears was cumbrous and unlovely; and few ever of the Eldar
have achieved the mastery of it" (Silmarillon ch. 10). Even Tolkien himself
states as a fact that "Dwarvish was both complicated and cacaphonous. Even
early elvish philologists avoided it" (Letters:31). But even when someone
actually wanted to learn Khuzdul, the Dwarves themselves were very reluctant
to teach it. Their own language was "a secret they did not not willingly
unlock, even to their friends" (LotR Appendix F). One theory is that they
felt that Khuzdul belonged exclusively to their own race, and that no others
had any right to understand it. When they wanted to communicate with other
races, usually for the purpose of trade, they would much rather learn the
language of the others than teach them Khuzdul - even if the other party
was willing to learn. Only two or three times in all the long ages of Middle-earth
did the Dwarves willingly teach their tongue to people of alien race. In
the First Age, when the House of Hador first came into Beleriand from the
east and met the Longbeards, a special friendship arose between the two
races because these Men, being skilled riders, could offer the Dwarves
some protection against Orcs. Then the Dwarves actually "were not unwilling
to teach their own tongue to Men with whom they had special friendship,
but Men found it difficult and were slow to learn more than isolated words,
many of which they adapted and took into their own language." (PM:303.
Nonetheless, it seems that Khuzdul has influenced even the basic structure
of Adunaic, a language descended from the tongue of the early Edain.) Elvish
interest in Khuzdul was low in the First Age, but there was at least one
exception: "Curufin was most interested in the alien language of the Dwarves,
being the only one of the [N]oldor to win their friendship. It was from
him that the loremasters obtained such knowledge as they could of the Khuzdul."
(PM:358) At least one Khuzdul word made its way into Sindarin: kheled "glass",
that appears in Grey-elven as heledh (see the Silmarillion Appendix, entry
khelek-). The Khuzdul word Khazad, "Dwarves", was adapted to Quenya as
Casar "Dwarf" and to Sindarin as Hadhod (the Dwarvish race being called
Hadhodrim, WJ:388). Conversely, the Dwarves seem to have borrowed at least
one word from Sindarin: kibil "silver" must be related to Grey-elven celeb.
Much later, in the Second Age, the Dwarves reluctantly allowed a few
Elves to learn a little Khuzdul purely in the interest of science: "They
understood and respected the disinterested desire for knowledge, and some
of the later [N]oldorin loremasters were allowed to learn enough of both
their lambe (aglab) ["tongue" in Quenya and Khuzdul] and their iglishmek
[gesture-code] to understand their systems." Pengolodh the Loremaster of
Gondolin is said "for a while to have dwelt among the Dwarves of Casarrondo
(Khazad-dum)" (WJ:395, 396). These later loremasters evidently had a less
arrogant attitude than their colleges in the previous age, who except for
Curufin deliberately "avoided" Khuzdul (Letters:31).
On one point, however, the Dwarves were always "rigidly secretive...
For reasons which neither Elves nor Men ever fully understood they would
not reveal any personal names to people of other kin, nor later when they
had acquired the arts of writing would allow them ever to be carved or
written. They therefore took names by which they could be known to their
allies in Mannish forms." (PM:304) Appendix F in LotR confirms this: "Their
own secret and 'inner' names, their true names, the Dwarves have never
revealed to any one of alien race. Not even on their tombs do they inscribe
them." Hence the names Balin and Fundin, that occur in a Khuzdul context
on the slab over Balin's tomb, are not themselves Khuzdul. They are Mannish
names, merely the substitute names Balin and his father Fundin used when
non-dwarves were present.
In chapter 20 of the Silmarillion, we are given one Dwarvish name,
Azaghal, the name of the Dwarf-lord of Belegost. Perhaps it is a title
or nickname rather than his true "inner name". It has been suggested that
it means "warrior", being related to the Numenorean verb azgara- "wage
war" (SD:439). There is also the name Gamil Zirak, the name of a dwarf-smith,
master of Telchar of Nogrod (UT:76). Perhaps it is just another nickname,
or his name may have leaked to non-dwarves by accident, to his great and
lasting regret. On the other hand, the Petty-Dwarves evidently did not
attempt to hide their Khuzdul names. In chapter 21 of the Silmarillion,
the Petty-Dwarf Mim readily tells Turin not only his own name, but also
the names of his sons Khim and Ibun. Perhaps such shocking indiscretion
was one of the things the normal Dwarves hated the Petty-Dwarves for.
However, the Dwarves did not feel that it was improper to reveal the
names of places. Gimli on his own initiative told the Fellowship what the
Dwarves called the mountains over Moria and Moria itself: "I know them
and their names, for under them lies Khazad-dum, the Dwarrowdelf...
Yonder stands Barazinbar, the Redhorn...and beyond him are Silvertine and
Cloudyhead:...that we call Zirakzigil and Bundushathur." (LotR1/II ch.
5) The Dwarves were not necessarily offended if others knew a few Khuzdul
place-names. When Gimli came to Lorien, still angry because the Elves at
first required him to be blindfolded, Galadriel said to him: "Dark is the
water of Kheled-zaram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nala, and fair
were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-dum in Elder Days before the fall
of mighty kings beneath the stone." We are told that "the Dwarf, hearing
the names given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met her eyes;
and it seemed to him that he looked suddenly into the heart of an enemy
and saw there love and understanding. Wonder came into his face, and then
he smiled in answer" (LotR1/II ch. 7). So Gimli perceived Galadriel's use
of the ancient Khuzdul names as a friendly gesture. Back in the First Age,
the Petty-Dwarf Mîm said of the hill he lived in that "Amon Rudh is that
hill called now, since the Elves changed all the names" - suggesting that
this irritated him.
Regarding Khuzdul, Tolkien stated that "this tongue has been sketched in some detail of structure, if with a very small vocabulary" (PM:300). It evidently came into being in the thirties. The Khuzdul names Khazaddum and Gabilgathol turn up in an early Silmarillion version; see LR:274. Here we also find Khuzud as the Dwarves' name for their own kind, later changed to Khazad. The name Khazaddum Tolkien first applied to Nogrod, not to Moria. Christopher Tolkien comments: "Khazaddum is the first occurrence of the celebrated name. It is interesting to observe that it existed - but as the Dwarvish name of Nogrod - already at this time. Later the Dwarvish name of Nogrod was Tumunzahar... Gabilgathol, now first appearing, remained as the Dwarvish name of Belegost." (LR:278)
Of the Dwarvish language we are told that "structurally and grammatically
it differed widely from all other languages of the West at that time" (PM:316-317).
It seems that it was widely regarded as the proverbial "difficult language",
like many Westerners think of Chinese today.
The phonology was in some respects peculiar compared to other contemporary
languages. There were at least two aspirated stops, kh and th, i.e k and
t followed by h. (Note that kh and th do not here denote German ach-Laut
and th as in English thin, as these digraphs often do in Tolkien's spelling.)
Initial English k and t are also aspirated, but probably not as strongly
as in Khuzdul. Khuzdul also possesses unaspirated stops, like French and
Russian k and t, but unlike the situation in both English, French and Russian,
Khuzdul k and t are phonemes in their own right, that must be distinguished
from kh and th. As we know very few Khuzdul words, it is hardly surprising
that we have no minimal pairs, but k vs. kh and t vs. th are seen to contrast
initially: Kibil-nala vs. Khazad-dum and Tumunzahar vs. Tharkun. Other
consonants include the voiced plosive b, the unvoiced spirants f and s,
the voiced spirants z and gh, the lateral l, the vibrant r (some Dwarves
used a uvular R, others evidently trilled R), the nasals n and m, and one
semi-vowel, y.
If some consonants were somewhat peculiar, the vowel system was pretty
ordinary. The short vowels seem to form a classical five-vowel system,
a, i, e, o, u. According to Tolkien's notes on Daeron's Runes, reduction
vowels like the ones heard in butter were also common, but they are not
directly attested (unless some of the u's and e's represent such vowels).
Four long vowels are attested, a, e, î and u. The apparent absence of *o
may well be due to our small corpus. Long vowels may be shortened when
unstressed (?), compare Khazad with Khazad-dum. (Actually we know nothing
about how Khuzdul words are accented.)
The basic structure of Khuzdul resembles that of the Semitic languages,
like Arabic and Hebrew. The stems from which words are derived are not
by themselves pronounceable words, but consist of consonants only. Nouns,
verbs, adjectives etc. are derived not only by prefixes and suffixes (if
such devices are used at all), but also by inserting certain vowels between
these consonants, sometimes also by doubling one of the consonants.
Often the words are actually inflected by internal vowel-changes instead
of adding affixes: Rukhs means "Orc", but plural "Orcs" is Rakhas. The
root consonants - the so-called radicals - remain the same, like *R-Kh-S
in this case. In Khuzdul as well as in Semitic languages, there are usually
three radicals in the root; several such roots are mentioned in TI:174
and RS:466: B-R-Z "red", B-N-D "head", K-B-L "silver", N-R-G "black". An
example of a biconsonantal root is Z-N "dark, dim" (RS:466). Of
course, vowels will be added when these roots appear as actual words, e.g.
baraz "red" or bund "head" from B-R-Z, B-N-D. The radicals Kh-Z-D contain
the general idea of "dwarvishness" and can be observed in such words as
Khazad "Dwarves" and Khuzdul "Dwarvish" ("Orkish" would presumably be *Rukhsul).
The same radicals Kh-Z-D are evidently present in the ancient Khuzdul name
of Nargothrond, Nulukkhizdîn, but the precise meaning of this name is unknown
(note that Nulukkizdîn in the Silmarillion ch. 21 is a misspelling; see
WJ:180). The most basic meaning of Kh-Z-D may have something to do with
the number "seven", compare Adunaic hazid (SD:428). The Dwarves were descended
from Seven Fathers and were divided into Seven Kindreds - and as we know,
dwarfs (sic!) are still associated with the number seven even in very late
and very childish Mannish mythology.
As has already been mentioned, our Khuzdul corpus is very small. There
are a few names, like Khazad-dum and Zirak-zigil, the inscription on Balin's
tomb, and a battle cry: Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu! "Axes of the Dwarves!
The Dwarves are upon you!"
Baruk Khazad! is said to mean "Axes of the Dwarves!" Baruk is usually
taken to be an example of something similar to the Hebrew "construct state":
the state a word is said to be in when it is placed in front of a noun
to express a genitival relationship: X Y meaning "X of Y" or "Y's X". (Compare
Hebrew sus "horse", hammelekh "the king", sus hammelekh "the king's horse,
the horse of the king".) Of course, we cannot be certain that baruk is
the normal plural "axes" and not a specialized form meaning "axes of".
It may be significant that all the other attested plurals contain a long
vowel: Khazad "Dwarves", Rakhas "Orcs", tarag "beards", shathur "clouds",
ul "streams", dum "excavations, halls". Could the normal plural "axes"
be *baruk? Shathur "clouds" may represent a plural pattern in -a-u-. In
Hebrew, the vowels of words in the construct state are often shortened.
Or, given that u is clearly a Dwarvish element meaning "of" (Bund-u-shathur
"Head in/of Clouds", TI:174), is it incorporated in baruk, inserted between
the second and third radical? Words with three simple radicals (1-2-3)
seem to have singular forms in 1u23 (bund "head", Rukhs "Orc" - radicals
B-N-D, *R-Kh-S) and plurals in 1a2a3 (Rakhas "Orcs", compare Khazad "Dwarves"
and tarag "beards" from *Kh-Z-D and *T-R-G). As baruk seems to have a similar
radical structure of three consonants (*B-R-K), we may perhaps add a construct
state plural in 1a2u3 to the paradigm and inflect B-R-K "axe" as follows:
Singular *burk "axe", normal plural *barak "axes", construct state plural
baruk "[the] axes of" (and similarly e.g. *tarug Khazad "the beards of
the Dwarves" from the attested form tarag "beards"?) The construct state
singular may have the form 1u23u (*burku Khazad "the axe of the Dwarves"),
if Bundushathur is simply *Bundu Shathur "Head of Clouds" being written
in one word when used as the name of a mountain (B-N-D "head").
The second part of the battle-cry is Khazad ai-menu! "The Dwarves are
upon you!", our only real sentence. Ai-menu is "upon you", ai being a short
form of aya "upon" and menu being accusative plural "you". This is evidently
a nominal sentence, containing no actual Khuzdul equivalent of the verb
"are". Sentences like this - "X Y" meaning "X is/are Y" - are common in
Russian and many Semitic languages. This may support the theory of a distinct
construct state of nouns, to distinguish "X Y" meaning "X of Y" from "X
Y" meaning "X is Y".
Then there is the text that appears if one deciphers the runes on Balin's
tomb: Balin Fundinul uzbad Khazaddumu, "Balin son of Fundin, Lord of Moria."
The names Balin and Fundin are Mannish, so their etymologies are irrelevant.
What remains is the ending -ul, here used to form a patronymic, uzbad "lord"
and the well-known name Khazad-dum "Dwarrowdelf, Moria" (though there is
no equivalent of the hyphen in the Runic inscription). It here occurs with
an ending -u, that is evidently a genitive of some sort. But why is an
ending required here when none is present in Baruk Khazad "axes of the
Dwarves"? (It does not matter whether baruk is a specialized form meaning
"axes of" or is simply "axes"; even if it incorporates an element meaning
"of", this inflection still affects the first word in the construction,
not the second as in uzbad Khazaddumu.) Evidently this is a kind of objective
genitive, denoting that Moria is ruled by the lord, not simply that the
lord somehow "owns" Moria (might that be *uzbud Khazaddum, following
the pattern of baruk Khazad???) This theory finds strong support in Adunaic,
the Numenorean tongue, that descended from a Mannish tongue influenced
by Khuzdul (SD:414). This language has a so-called "objective" form incorporating
u that is used in compounds, e.g. gimlu-nitîr "kindler of a star" (gimlu-
being the objective of gimli "star", SD:428 cf. 427). Though this Numenorean
objective is used in compounds only and not independently as in uzbad Khazaddumu,
it may in origin be related to the Khuzdul objective.
The only noun that is attested both in the plural and the singular
has already been mentioned, Rukhs "Orc", pl. Rakhas. As we speculated above,
Khazad "the Dwarves" and tarag "beards" may be plurals formed according
to the same pattern, so that the singular nouns "Dwarf" and "beard" are
*Khuzd, *turg. The word shathur "clouds" evidently belong to another plural
pattern than Khazad and Rakhas, and we cannot reconstruct the singular
form. It would probably have the same radicals *Sh-Th-R, but different
vowels. Other plural nouns are ul "streams" and dum "excavations, halls"
(the latter may also be a collective). Is it significant that they both
contain the same vowel u as shathur?
Only three verbs are attested: gunud "delve underground, excavate,
tunnel" (stated to be a root), felek "hew rock" and the related word felak,
meaning to use a tool like a broad-bladed chisel, or small axe-head without
haft. Felak may also be used as a noun denoting such a tool. Cf. English
"hammer", noun or verb. This example indicates that Khuzdul verbs cannot
always be distinguished from other parts of speech by their form alone.
We have a few adjectives: There is the word Khuzdul itself, apparently
meaning "dwarvish", being derived from *Khuzd "dwarf" with the ending -ul
that is also used to form patronymics: Fundinul, son of Fundin. We also
have sigin "long" in Sigin-tarag, the Longbeards. If Khuzdul adjectives
agree in number, sigin may be a plural form. (On the other hand, the basic,
uninflected form of the adjective may be used in compounds.) Zirak (pl.
*zirik???) may be the adjective "silver" according to TI:174, but on the
next page it is suggested that it means "spike" instead. It is possible
that an adjective follows the noun it describes (though not in compounds
like "Longbeards"); see below.
In compounds, the order of the elements is the same as in English:
Khazad-dum "Dwarrowdelf", Kibil-nala "Silverlode", Kheled-zaram "Glass-lake"
(concerning this translation rather than "Mirrormere", see wordlist), Gabilgathol
"Great Fortress", Sigin-tarag "Longbeards". The name Zirak-zigil "Silver-spike"
(Celebdil, Silvertine) fits this pattern (TI:174), but Tolkien later seems
to have decided that zirak means "spike" and zigil means "silver" rather
than vice versa. In that case, this word may be a "construct state" connection
just like baruk Khazad seems to be: *Zirak zigil "Spike (of) silver" (a
construction that Frodo, naturally ignorant of Khuzdul, took to be a compound
and spelt Zirak-zigil, Zirakzigil). If zigil is an adjective "silver" rather
than a noun, this construction may suggest that adjectives follow the noun
they describe.
Only one pronoun is attested: menu, plural accusative "you" (WR:20).
We have only two prepositions, aya "upon" (WR:20, reduced form ai in
ai-menu "upon you"), and u "in, of" (only attested in the middle of a compound,
Bundushathur = "Head in/of Clouds", name of the mountain Cloudyhead, Sindarin
Fanuidhol).
There is not much we can say about derivation. One derivational pattern
seems to be of the form 1a23un, where 1, 2, 3 represent the three radicals.
The meaning seems to be simply "person, thing or place characterized by
the root meaning": Nargun "Mordor, *Black Land", from the radicals N-R-G
"black", and Tharkun "Staff-man", Gandalf's Dwarvish name (radicals *Th-R-K
"staff"?) If the consonants Z-Gh-L really are the radicals of the verb
"to war" and Azaghal means "warrior", we have an agentive pattern a1a2a3.
The word Khuzdul "Dwarvish" may argue the existence of an adjectival pattern
1u23ul. But as stated above, -ul may be simply an adjectival ending added
to the singular form of the noun (*khuzd "Dwarf"). Compare the patronymic
Fundinul. If so, there is no need to establish a pattern 1u23ul that involves
the original radicals.
Adjectives like baraz "red" (B-R-Z) or sigin "long" (*S-G-N) clearly
represent adjectival patterns 1a2a3 and 1i2i3 (though kibil "silver" seems
to be a noun).
The word Mazarbul, as in "the chamber of Mazarbul" (Chamber of Records),
seems to represent some more complex derivation. If -ul is simply the adjectival
ending discussed above (which would mean that the "of" in the translation
is strictly superfluous), we are left with mazarb "record(s?)". Could this
be a kind of past participle, or the corresponding noun, of a verb "record"
(radicals probably *Z-R-B)? If so, we have a pattern ma1a23.
DWARVISH WORDLIST
(mostly based on a list compiled by Lisa Star that appeared in Tyalie
Tyelellieva #4 p.22; she in turn thanked Jim Gillogly, Alberto Monteiro
and Anthony Appleyard for helpful comments and suggestions). I have excluded
Balin, which, though it appears in the Balin Tomb inscription, is a Mannish
name. So is Forn, a name of Tom Bombadil used by the Dwarves. On the other
hand, I have included Fundinul, though only the ending -ul is actually
Khuzdul. I have excluded Dushgoi "Minas Morgul", which is evidently Orkish,
but nonetheless seems to include an element dush *"dark, black" that also
occurs in Buzundush, the Dwarvish name of Morthond.
<A>
aglab "(spoken) language" (WJ:395). This evidently contains the same
radicals G-L as in iglishmek.
ai-menu "upon you" (LotR2/III ch. 7, Appendix F), with ai, a reduced
form of aya (q.v.), and menu (WR:20)
Azaghal name of the lord of the Dwarves of Belegost (Silmarillion ch.
20)
[Azanul - a form Tolkien seems to have replaced with Azanulbizar (RS:466)]
Azanulbizar "Dimrill Dale" (LotR1/II ch. 4). In A Tolkien Compass p.
182, Tolkien states that "the Common Speech form is an accurate translation:
the valley of the dim (overshadowed) rills that ran down the mountainside".
See also RS:466: Azanulbizar "Vale of Dim Streams" with the elements ZN,
ul, bizar (q.v.)
aya "upon" (WR:20). Reduced form ai in ai-menu "upon you".
<B>
baraz "?red" in Barazinbar, TI:174. Baraz "?Red One", short name of
Barazinbar. (LotR1/II ch.3)
Barazinbar "Redhorn", one of the mountains over Moria, Sindarin Caradhras
(LotR1/II ch. 3).
baruk "axes of" (WR:20), Baruk Khazad! "Axes of the Dwarves!" (Appendix
F). Possibly the construct state plural of *burk "axe".
bizar "dale, valley" (RS:466) in Azanulbizar
B-N-D radicals of bund, q.v. (TI:174)
B-R-Z radicals of baraz, q.v. (TI:174)
bund "head" (TI:174). In Bundushathur, q.v.
Bundushathur "Cloudyhead", one of the mountains above Moria, in Sindarin
Fanuidhol (LotR1/II ch. 3); the elements are Bund-u-shathur "Head in/of
Clouds" (TI:174).
Buzundush "Morthond, Blackroot" (TI:167)
dum "excavations, halls, mansions", either a true plural or a collective
singular (in Khazad-dum, q.v.)
<F>
felek "hew rock" (stated to be a root; the radicals are evidently *F-L-K)
(PM:352)
felak 1) (used as noun) a tool like a broad-bladed chisel, or small
axe-head without haft, for cutting stone, 2) (used as verb) to use this
tool (PM:352)
felakgundu, also assimilated felaggundu "cave-hewer" (name given to
Finrod because of his skill in lighter stone-carving, adapted to Sindarin
as Felagund). (PM:352) This evidently obsoletes the entry PHELEG in the
Etymologies (LR:381), where Tolkien provided an Elvish etymology for this
name.
Fundinul translated "son of Fundin", literally probably a kind of adjective
derived from this name (which is in itself Mannish, not Khuzdul)
<G>
gabil "great", isolated from Gabilgathol, q.v.
Gabilan a name of the river Sirion (WJ:336). Apparently includes gabil
"great", cf. Gabilgathol.
Gabilgathol "Great fortress", Sindarin Belegost (Silm ch. 10, LR:274)
Gamil Zirak name of a dwarf-smith, master of Telchar of Nogrod (UT:76).
Suggested interpretations are "Old Silver" or "Old Spike"; see zirak.
gathol "fortress", isolated from Gabilgathol, q.v.
gundu "underground hall" (from root gunud) (PM:352). Does a form of
this noun occur in the name of the mountain Gundabad, stated to be "in
origin a Khuzdul name"? (PM:301)
gunud "delve underground, excavate, tunnel" (PM:352 cf. 365), stated
to be a root. Cf. gundu above.
<I>
Ibun the name of one of Mim's sons (Silm. ch 21, UT:102)
iglishmek a gesture-code used by the Dwarves. (WJ:395) Cf. aglab.
inbar "horn"; the radicals are given as M-B-R, note apparent dissimilation
mb > nb. (TI:174). In Barazinbar, q.v.
<K>
Kazaddum unorthodox spelling of Khazad-dum (RS:467). It should hardly
be taken as an indication that k and kh are not distinct phonemes after
all.
K-B-L radicals of kibil, the word for silver (TI:174)
Khazad "Dwarves", their name for themselves (Appendix F). Sg *Khuzd?
Khazad-dum "Dwarrowdelf", Moria (LotR1/II ch. 3)
Khazad ai-menu! "The Dwarves are upon you!", Dwarvish battle-cry. (Appedix
F)
kheled "glass" in Kheled-zaram "Mirrormere", lit. "glasslake" (Silmarillion
Appendix, entry khelek-; see also A Tolkien Compass p. 190)
Khim the name of one of Mîm's sons. (Silm. ch. 21)
[Khuzud "Dwarves", changed by Tolkien to Khazad. (LR:274, 278)]
*Kh-Z-D radicals in words having to do with dwarves and dwarvishness,
in Khazad "the Dwarves" (sg. *Khuzd?), in Khuzdul "Dwarvish" and evidently
also in Nulukkhizdîn "Nargothrond" (Silm. ch. 21)
kibil "silver" (TI:174). Radicals K-B-L. TI:174 suggests that this
word is related to Quenya telpe, but the actual borrowing must rather be
from Sindarin celeb (and the borrowing must be fairly late, for even at
the Old Sindarin stage, the word was kelepe [LR.367] with no change of
post-vocalic p to b; the Primitive Quendian form was *kyelepe). Khuzdul
kibil reverses the order of the two last consonants of celeb.
Kibil-nala "Silverlode" (LotR1/II ch. 3), the river Celebrant. The
separate elements kibil, nala (q.v.) are discussed in TI:174, 175. Curiously,
the Khuzdul name of this river is given as Zigilnad in PM:279, 286. PM:275
indicates that Tolkien in one draft for a LotR appendix used the name Kibil-nala
to refer to the Mirrormere, but changed it to Kheled-zaram, the name used
in the main text of LotR. Christopher Tolkien dismisses this as a "slip
without significance" (PM:286).
<M>
Mahal Dwarvish name of Aule (Silm. ch. 2)
Mazarbul "(of?) Records". The Chamber of Mazarbul is equated with "the
Chamber of Records". (LotR1/II ch. 5, Letters:186) If -ul is the Khuzdul
adjectival ending, "of" in the translation may be strictly superfluous.
M-B-R the radicals of inbar "horn" (note apparent dissimilation mb
> nb). (TI:174)
menu "you (acc. pl.)" (WR:20)
Mim name of a Petty-Dwarf (Silm. ch. 21)
<N>
-nad element occurring in Zigilnad, another name of the river Celebrant
(Silverlode): PM:279, 286. This river is elsewhere called Kibil-nala in
Khuzdul, so nad would have to mean the same as nala, q.v.
-nala According to TI:175, the meaning of this word is not known, but
if the Khuzdul name Kibil-nala has the same meaning as Sindarin Celebrant,
Silverlode, it may be assumed to mean "path, course, rivercourse or bed".
(TI:174)
Narag-zaram "? Black Pool". Includes radicals N-R-G, q.v. (RS:466)
Nargun "Mordor"; includes radicals N-R-G "black" (RS:466)
N-R-G radicals of the word for "black" (vowels not given); in Nargun
"Mordor, Blackland". (RS:466) The independent word "black" may be *narag,
compare baraz "red" from B-R-Z.
Nulukkhizdîn "Nargothrond" (WJ:180), misspelt Nulukkizdîn in Silm ch.
21 (see WJ:180, where Christopher Tolkien admits that this spelling is
wrong). Changed by Tolkien from Nulukkhizdun. Apparently includes
the radicals Kh-Z-D "dwarf".
<R>
Rukhs "Orc", pl. Rakhas (WJ:391)
<S>
Sharbhund "? Bald Hill", Petty-Dwarvish name of Amon Rudh (UT:98).
Is bhund just a variant form of bund, q.v.?
shathur "cloud(s)", Shathur short name of Bundushathur, "Cloudyhead",
one of the mountains above Moria (LotR1/II ch. 3, TI:174)
Sigin "long" in Sigin-tarag, q.v. (PM:321) If Khuzdul adjectives agree
in number, this may be a plural form (or the basic form may be preferred
in compounds).
Sigin-tarag, "the Longbeards" (PM:321)
<T>
tarag "beards" in Sigin-tarag, q.v. (PM:321). Sg. *turg?
Tharkun, Dwarvish name of Gandalf, said to mean "Staff-man" (LotR2/IV
ch. 5, UT:353)
Tumunzahar "Hollowbold", Dwarvish name of Nogrod (Silm ch. 10)
<U>
-u "in/of" in Bundushathur, Bund-u-shathur "Head in/of Clouds" (TI:174),
Uzbad Khazad-dumu "Lord of Moria" (LotR1/II ch. 4)
[Udushinbar - a form Tolkien seems to have replaced with Bundushathur
(TI:174)]
ul "streams" in Azanulbizar (RS:466)
-ul, possible adjectival suffix (Khuzdul "Dwarvish", Fundinul "[son]
of Fundin")
[Uruktharbun a name of Moria? (possibly replaced by Khazad-dum) (RS:458)]
Uzbad "Lord" (LotR1/II ch 4)
<Z>
zaram "lake, pool" (in Narag-zaram and Kheled-zaram, RS:466)
Z-G-L radicals of zigil (TI:174)
zigil either "spike (smaller and more slender than a horn)" (TI:174)
or a word for "silver" (TI:175) - the compound Zirak-zigil is said to mean
"Silver-spike", but it is not entirely clear which element means "silver"
and which means "spike". According to Tolkien's latest explanation, zigil
means "silver", and in accordance with this, Zigilnad is listed as a name
of the Silverlode (Celebrant) in one source (PM:279, 286). However, TI:174,
175 clearly implies that the name Kibil-nala (occurring in LotR itself)
is the Dwarvish designation of this river. See Kibil-nala.
zirak either "silver" (colour not metal, cf. kibil) or "spike"; see
zigil. Since Tolkien's final decision seems to have been that in the name
Zirak-zigil "Silvertine, Silverspike", it is the zigil part that means
"silver", zirak must mean "spike" (TI:174 vs. 175). Zirak either "Silver"
or (more probably) "Spike", short name of Zirak-zigil, q.v. (LotR1/II ch.
3) Perhaps also in Gamil Zirak, q.v.
[Zirakinbar "Silverhorn" (see inbar), form Tolkien evidently replaced
by Zirak-zigil "Silvertine". (SD:45)]
Zirak-zigil "Silvertine", one of the mountains over Moria (Sindarin
Celebdil).
Z-N radicals of words for "dark, dim" (RS:466). In Azanulbizar, q.v.
Z-R-K radicals of zirik, q.v. (TI:174)