Tolkien's "hidden" conlang
From: | Wesley Parish <wes.parish@...> |
Date: | Monday, September 27, 2004, 9:26 |
the one the Dwarves spoke.
It seems to have triconsonantal bases. Eg, the Moria tomb inscription:
Balin Fundinul
Uzbadkazaddu:mu
Balin son of fundin lord of moria
and Gimli's war-cry before Helm's Deep:
Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu
Assuming Fundin to be a human name like Balin, -ul is then a patronymic.
uzbad would be z-b-d, to rule, with zero grade between z-b and a prefix
indicating the actor - ie, the lord. du:mu would likewise be d-w-m - to dig,
with a genitive -u. b-r-k is "edged weapon", "axe", with the vowel pattern
-a-u- indicating the plural. One would expect Khazud for "Dwarves".
The major problem is these are the only traces of the language Tolkien took
the time to develop.
Am I talking through a hole in my head?
--
Wesley Parish
* * *
Clinersterton beademung - in all of love. RIP James Blish
* * *
Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?"
You ask, "What is the most important thing?"
Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people."
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