izrê

noun. sweetheart, beloved

A noun translated “sweetheart, beloved” and fully declined as an example of a weak II feminine-noun (SD/438).

sâibêth

noun. assent

A noun translated “assent” (SD/247). The second element of this word is probably bêth “word” as suggested by several authors (AAD/22, EotAL/BITH). It isn’t clear what the first element means.

Conceptual Development: In the draft versions of the Lament of Akallabêth, the form of this word was sōbēth (SD/311).

abâr

noun. strength, endurance, fidelity

A noun translated as “strength, endurance, fidelity”, and used as an example of noun declension in Lowdham’s Report (SD/431). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/9) that it may be related to the Elvish root ᴹ√BOR(ON) “endure”. It may also be related to the name Abrazân “*Steadfast, Faithful”.

Conceptual Development: This word also appeared in earlier Adûnaic names Zen’nabâr and Abarzâyan (both glossed “Land of Gift”), where it apparently had the meaning “gift”. These names were eventually replaced by Yôzâyan in which the element yô means “gift”, freeing abâr to have the meaning: “strength, endurance, fidelity”.

nimir

noun. Elf, (lit.) Shining One

A noun translated “Elf” (WJ/419) and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/436). In one place, its plural Nimrî was translated “Shining Ones” (SD/358), which indicates was probably derived from the Primitive Adûnaic root √NIMIR.

Conceptual Development: In its earliest appearances from the 1940s, this noun had the plural form Nimrî (SD/358, 388) as opposed to later plural Nimîr (SD/388, 436), which could indicate either an earlier singular form Nimri or a variant syntax for draft-plural formation. The word also appears in Tolkien’s “Quendi and Eldar” essay from 1959-60 (WJ/386), indicating that this word survived in Tolkien’s later conception of Adûnaic.

phazân

noun. prince, king’s son

A noun translated as “prince, king’s son”, given as an example of a noun with a long vowel in its final syllable that (archaically) uses the declension for a strong-noun, the rare class of Strong-Ib nouns (SD/436-7). By the time of Classical Adûnaic, it could be declined as an ordinary weak-noun instead.

hazad

noun. seven

A number translated as “seven”, appearing in the form hazad in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247), but in the form hazid in Lowdham’s Report (SD/427-8). Helge Fauskanger suggested (AL/Adûnaic) it may be related to the dwarvish word Khazâd “Dwarves”, who were divided into seven houses.

minal-zidar

place name. Poise in Heaven

The name of a planet in Tolkien’s unfinished story “The Notion Club Papers”, translated “Poise in Heaven” (SD/200). Its language is not specified, but it is probably Adûnaic, since its first element minal is the Adûnaic word for “heaven”. If so, its second element zidar must mean “poise”.

nuphâr

noun. parent

A noun translated “parent” (SD/434). It also appears in the dual form nuphrât “father and mother”, but this dual form is peculiar. As a weak II noun, the dual form ought to be *nuphârat, as for example batân “road” → batânat “pair of roads” (SD/431). Its dual form seems instead to undergo the Adûnaic syncope (vowel loss), which happens nowhere else with a long vowel. There is no obvious explanation for this irregular formation.

azrubêl

masculine name. Sea-lover, Friend of the Sea

The Adûnaic name of Q. Eärendil, having a similar meaning “Friend of the Sea” (SD/359). The first element is the objective form of azra “sea” and the second is an agental-formation for the verb stem bêl- (PM/373). An earlier version of this name, Azrabêl, predates Tolkien’s invention the objective case for Adûnaic (SD/359).

Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic name given to this character was Pharazîr (SD/305).

aphanuzîr

masculine name. ?Bliss-friend

The Adûnaic name for Q. Amandil (SD/389). The last element of this name is an agental-formation for the verb zîr- “to love”, also seen in the name of his son Nimruzîr “Elf-friend” (Q. Elendil). The initial element seems to be the objective form of a noun aphana, whose meaning is unclear. The equivalent element in his Quenya name is Aman “Blessed Realm”, but Tolkien had not yet coined this word when he invented the name Aphanuzîr. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/PHAN) that it means “bliss”. This fits the earlier story of the Lost Road (LR), in which Tolkien wrote of various incarnations of a father and son whose names were “Bliss-friend” and “Elf-friend” in many languages. Amandil and Elendil were two of these incarnations.

Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic name given to this character was Arbazân (SD/365).

anadûni

adjective. western

An adjective translated “western” formed from the noun adûni “the West” which was in turn formed from the adjective adûn “west”; the initial an- was the genitival prefix (SD/435). This adjective anadûni was in turn femininized to produce the place name Anadûnê “Westeresse, Númenor”.

adûn izindi batân tâidô ayadda

[the] road west once went straight, (lit.) west straight road once went

The 11th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247), whose word order varied considerably in the different drafts of the text. The first two words are the adjectives adûn “west” and izindi “straight, right, true”. They modify the subject batân “road, path, way”, which is in the normal-case rather than the subjective. This is consistent with the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, since the verb ayadda has a pronominal suffix a- “*it” (SD/429).

The fourth word is an adverb tâidô “once, then”. The verb form yadda seems to be the past tense of #yad- “to go”, functioning here as a pluperfect (see SD/439). This makes sense in the narrative, since this sentence describes the previous state (the road west going straight to Valinor) while the next sentence uses the aorist tense to describe the current state (all roads being bent around the now-round world).

Tolkien’s glosses match the word order of the Adûnaic sentence: “west straight road once went”. This might be rendered in more ordinary English as “[the] road west once went straight”.

The previous (second draft) version of this sentence had more differences from the final version than any other sentence in the second draft (SD/312). It had a different word order, with the adjective izindi “straight” appearing directly before the verb, perhaps functioning as an adverb. It has ēluk instead of tâidô and the verb form yadda is missing the pronominal prefix a-. Unfortunately, Christopher Tolkien did not publish the English glosses for this sentence, so it is hard to decipher the meaning (if any) of these differences.

bârun (u)kallaba

the lord fell, it was the lord who fell

An example sentence showing how the subjective case is used for the subject of sentences (SD/429). The subject bârun “lord” is the subjective form of bâr. The verb form kallaba is the past tense of kalab- “to fall”. The masculine singular pronoun prefix u- “he” is optional, but when present makes the sentence emphatic: “it was the lord who fell” (SD/429). This sentence is contrasted with bâr ukallaba in which the subject is instead in the normal-case, which makes the pronoun u- required rather than optional (but not emphatic).

amatthâni

place name. Blessed Realm, (lit.) Land of Manwë

The Adûnaic name for the Blessed Realm, home of the Valar (SD/388, SD/420). Its Quenya equivalent would be Aman, though Tolkien did not coin the Quenya name until a later conceptual stage of his legendarium. The Adûnaic word is derived from their name for the ruler of the Bless Realm: Amân (Manwë). Its literal meaning is “Manwë’s Land”. Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic name for the Blessed Realm was Zen’namân (SD/385).

sapthân

noun. wise man, wizard

A noun translated “wise man, wizard” given as an example of the phonetic development of primitive aspirates in contact with stops (SD/421). According to Tolkien, it was pronounced [safθān], indicating that the combination pth would be pronounced as a voiceless labial fricative [f] followed by a voiceless dental fricative [θ]. Given the phonetic rules of Adûnaic, most voiceless stops would be pronounced as fricatives before another fricative in Classical Adûnaic.

athânâtê

place name. Land of Gift

The first-draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Amatthânê (SD/312).

-ma

suffix. instrumental (draft)

The suffix used for the draft-instrumental case, translated “with” (SD/438). In a later conceptual stage, it became the ordinary prepositional suffix -mâ. Carl Hostetter and Partick Wynne suggested (VSH/33, AAD/19) that the deleted form -men on SD/311 is a separate prepositional suffix “on” related to ᴹQ. men “place”, but I believe it is a variant of the plural instrumental form -main.

rôth

noun. foam, white crest of waves

An element appearing in the name Rothinzil “Foam-flower”, attested in later writings (1968) as roth (PM/369, 376). This later form is incompatible with the earlier phonetic rules of Lowdham’s Report from the 1940s, which allowed only long [ō] in Adûnaic words. If this word were used in the phonetic context of Lowdham’s Report (Middle Adûnaic), it should be rôth, and in these earlier texts, the Adûnaic name of Eärendi’s ship was Rôthinzil with a long ô (SD/360). Even in later writings, Tolkien lists róþ ([rōθ] = rôth) as one of its possible forms (PM/369). See the entry on conceptual-changes-in-late-Adûnaic for further discussion.

êru

masculine name. God (the Omnipotent)

The Adûnaic word for God (SD/432), the equivalent of Q. Eru, though Tolkien had not yet coined that name. In the conceptual development of this name, Tolkien first invented it as an Adûnaic word (SD/312), only later adding it to Quenya. In this revised scenario, it is likely that the Adûnaic word was a loan word from Elvish. See Ad. Amân for a similar development.

-in

suffix. feminine subjective suffix

The subjective suffix for singular feminine-nouns, reduced to -n when the noun ends in a vowel (SD/430, 436).

abrazân

masculine name. *Steadfast, Faithful

The Adûnaic name that Lowdham used to address Jeremy in Tolkien’s unfinished story: “The Notion Club Papers” (SD/252). In an earlier version of the story, Jeremy was called ᴹQ. Voronwe (SD/290) and Abrazân may be the Adûnaic equivalent of that name, meaning “Steadfast, Faithful”. If so, its first element is probably related to Ad. abâr “strength, endurance, fidelity”. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/BAR) that the entire name may be the agental-formation of an unattested verb *abrazâ- “to stand fast”.

zâira nênud

longing (is) on us

The 10th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The first word zâira “longing (is)” is the subjective form of zâir “longing, yearning” as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/20). Like in the 9th sentence, the phrase nênud is a combination of the pronoun nê “us” and the prepositional suffix -nud “on”. There is no verb, so the subjective here functions as the verb “to be” (SD/429): “longing (is) on us”.

This sentence did not appear at all in the first draft of the Lament.

-ada

preposition. to, toward, into, against, -ward

A prepositional suffix variously translated as “(in)to” or “(to)ward”, and in one place “against” (SD/247, SD/429). It can appears as either -ada or -ad (SD/429), but in most examples it is -ada, the one exception being Gimlad “Starwards”.

azra-zâin

noun. sea-lands, maritime regions

A noun given as an example of a genitive compound (SD/429), translated “sea-lands, maritime regions” (SD/435) but literally meaning “*lands of the sea”.

minul-târik

place name. Pillar of Heaven

The Adûnaic name of the Pillar of Heaven (Q. Meneltarma), the great and holy mountain at the center of Númenor (SD/249). The first element is the objective form of minal “the heavens”. The second element târik “pillar” is normally a noun, but in this case it behaves verbally with the sense “that which supports”, since the objective case requires a second verbal element (SD/429). Therefore, the literal translation of the name is “That Which Supports the Heavens”. Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic name for this mountain was Menel-tūbil or Menel-Tûbal (SD/305, SD/363).

nadroth

noun. hind-track

An Adûnaic noun translated “hind-track”, referring to the wake behind a boat (PM/376). It appeared more than two decades (1968) after Tolkien’s Adûnaic Grammar in Lowdham’s Report from the 1940s (SD/413-440). This noun is inconsistent with the earlier grammar in two respects. First, the prepositional element nad- appears as a prefix, not as a suffix as prepositions did in the earlier grammar (SD/435). Second, it includes a short o, whereas in the earlier phonetic rules of Adûnaic, only a long [ō] is allowed (SD/423). See the entry on conceptual-changes-in-late-Adûnaic for further discussion.

nimruzîr

masculine name. *Elf-friend

The Adûnaic name for Q. Elendil “Elf-friend”, almost certainly with the same meaning (SD/247). The first element is the objective form of Nimir “Elf” and the second element is an agental-formation for zîr- “to love” (SD/389). Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic version of this name, Nimruzân, shares the same suffix as the first Adûnaic version of his father’s Adûnaic name Arbazân*.

rahat-

verb. to break, rend

A verb appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth with the past-tense translations “broke” and “rent” (SD/247, VT24/12), so meaning “to break, rend”. In the final version of the Lament it appeared as yurahtam “they rent”. The initial element of this form is the 3rd persons masculine plural suffix yu- “they”, while its final element is the plural verbal suffix -m, both in agreement with the plural subject Bârîm “Lords”. This leaves the basic verb form rahta, which is the aorist tense according to the theories used here.

In the previous (second draft) version of the Lament, the verb form was urahta with the 3rd persons masculine singular suffix u- “he”, and no plural suffix -m. This is consistent with the subject in this version, which was the singular Bârun “Lord”.

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/22) that this verb may be related to Q. rac- “to break” (MC/223). It could also be related to the contemporaneous ᴹQ. hat- “to break asunder” (Ety/SKAT).

Conceptual Development: In the first draft of the Lament, the form was rakkhatū, indicating the earliest form of the verb may have had the verb stem rakhat- instead of later rahat-.

tâidô

adverb. once, then

An adverb glossed as both “once” and “then” (SD/247, VT24/12). Several authors have suggested (AAD/23, EotAL/TA3) that the final element may be îdô “now”. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/TA3) the initial element tâ is a marker that puts it into the past: îdô = “now”, tâ-îdô = “previous time” = “then”. It seems likelier to me that the prefix is related to the Eldarin demonstrative root √TA “that, there, then”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/23): tâ-îdô = “that time” = “then”.

Conceptual Development: In the second draft of the Lament of Akallabêth, this word was ēluk (SD/312).

indilzar azrabêlôhin

*Line of Elros [son] of Earendil

A draft Adûnaic phrase for the members of “the elder house” (SD/365, 382) which appears with and without the patronymic suffix -hin. Though untranslated, Indilzar Azrabêlô seems to mean “Elros of Eärendil”, and the patronymic -hin probably means “the line of ...” or “the house of ...” or more literally “child”, the last translation suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (AAD/13). This phrase uses an earlier form Indilzar for the Adûnaic name of Elros (instead of later Gimilzôr) and an earlier form Azrabêl of the Adûnaic name of his father Eärendil (instead of later Azrubêl). It also seems to include the suffix -ô*, although this could also be the draft-genitive inflection.

kadō zigūrun zabathān {hunekkū >>} unekkū

and so ‽ humbled he-came

The first draft of the 1st phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311), differing only from the the final version in its use of the verb (h)unekkū for later unakkha. In the draft, Tolkien changed the 3rd-person singular masculine suffix in this sentence from hu- to u- as he vacillated over the proper form of this inflection.

urîd yakalubim

The mountains lean over

An isolated Adûnaic sentence in “The Notion Club Papers” story (SD/251). The subject urîd seems to be the normal plural of urud “mountain”. According to the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, this word is not required to be in the subjective because the verb has the pronominal prefix ya-, most likely the neuter form of “they”. The verb ends with the usual verbal plural suffix -m, leaving the verb form kalubi. It seems to be an inflection of the verb kalab- “to fall”, perhaps the continuative-present form. If so, a more literal translation of the sentence would be “*the mountains are falling”.

This analysis of yakalubim was suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/27).

-î-

suffix. plural inflection

The inflection used to mark nouns as plural (S/429), used either as a suffix (for weak-nouns) or replacing the last vowel (for strong-nouns). According to Tolkien, the primitive form of this suffix was most likely ✶-yī (SD/424). See the entry on the plural nouns case for further details.

aglarrâma

proper name. Castle of the Sea

An earlier name for the ship Alcarondas, likely the Adûnaic equivalent of that name (SD/372, PM/156). Aglarrâma was glossed “Castle of the Sea”, but many students of Tolkien’s languages feel that this is unlikely to be a literal translation of the name. The first part of its Quenya name is Q. alcar “glory”, and the element Ad. aglar of its Adûnaic name may have the same meaning, possibly as a loan word from S. aglar. It is not clear what the last element of the name would mean. This analysis is all rather speculative, since it isn’t even clear what languages the names Aglarrâma and Alcarondas belong to.

ûrî

feminine name. (Lady of the) Sun

The feminine personification of ûri “the sun” (SD/426), perhaps the Adûnaic name for Q. Arien.

anadûnê

place name. Westernesse

The Adûnaic name for Númenor (Q. Númenórë), with the same meaning as its Quenya name: “Westernesse” (S/261). In The Silmarillion appendix, Christopher Tolkien stated that is it a loan word from Elvish (SA/andúnë). According to J.R.R. Tolkien’s own writing (SD/426), this is true, albeit not directly. Anadûnê is a feminized form of the adjective anadûni “western, of the west”, which is itself related to S. dûn “west”.

inzilbêth

feminine name. Flower-?word

The wife of Ar-Gimilzôr who was the 23rd ruler of Númenor (S/268). She was a secret Elf-friend and raised her son Inziladûn to be faithful to the Valar. Her name has the same initial element as her son: inzil “flower”. The second element might be bêth “word”.

minal

noun. the heavens, sky

An Adûnaic noun for “the heaven” or “sky”, cognate of Q. menel but not a direct loan word from Quenya (SD/241). It was borrowed from Primitive Elvish, probably from an Avari dialect, and therefore underwent different phonetic development (SD/414). In one place Tolkien changed it minil (SD/414), but the form minal appears in various compounds and is probably to be preferred.

zimrathôn

masculine name. ?Many-jewels

The son of Ar-Adûnakhôr and the 21st ruler of Númenor, whose Quenya name was Tar-Hostamir “Many-jewels” (UT/222). The first element zimra “jewel” of his Adûnaic name seems to have the same meaning as the last element -mir of his Quenya name. The first element ᴹQ. hosta of his Quenya name means a “large number”, and this might be the meaning of the last element -thôn* of his Adûnaic name, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/23).

Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/ZIM’R) that the final element -ôn may be the same as the final element of Pharazôn and that the entire name is an agental-formation of an unattested verb *zimrathâ- “gather jewels”. This makes the literal meaning “Jewel-gatherer”, which fits if you assume (as Mr. Moehn suggested) that the initial element of Quenya name is actually the verb Q. hosta- “to gather” so that Hostamir = “Gather-jewels”.

ēphal ēphalek īdōn athanātē

far far away is now the Land of Gift

The first draft of the 14th (and final) phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). It differs from the final version mainly in its use of ēphalek “far away” for later êphalak and athanātē “Land of Gift” instead of later Akallabêth. In the final version of the Lament, another word for “Land of Gift” (Yôzâyan) appears in the second-to-last sentence instead. Like the final typescript version but unlike the final manuscript version, is uses īdōn “is now” instead of īdō “now”. This is likely a combination of the adverb īdō “now” and the predicate suffix -n “is” used elsewhere in the draft version.

-zê

preposition. at

A prepositional suffix translated “at” (SD/429), but not appearing in any example sentences. It is perhaps a later repurposing of the draft-dative case suffix -s, since the other draft-cases became prepositional suffixes in later versions of the Adûnaic grammar: draft genitive -ō versus later preposition -ô “from”, draft instrumental -ma versus later preposition -mâ “with”.

anadūni akallabi

Westernesse fell in ruin

The first draft of the 6th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311). It differs from the final version in its grammar and in the omission of the word zîrân “beloved”. The subject anadūni seems to be an earlier version of Anadûnê “Númenor”. The verb akallabi “fell in ruin” is an early form of kalab- “to fall (down)”, perhaps in the draft-perfect tense.

karab

noun. horse

A noun translated “horse”, given by Tolkien as an example of how common-nouns can be altered into masculine and feminine forms using the suffixes -û and -î: karbî “mare” and karbû “stallion” (SD/434).

kulub

collective noun. roots, edible vegetables that are roots not fruits

A collective-noun meaning “all edible root vegetables”, as opposed to kulbu used for an individual root (SD/431).

menel

noun. the heavens (draft)

A draft Adûnaic word for “the heavens”, later replaced by minal (SD/305).

raba

noun. dog, *male dog, bitch

A noun translated “dog” and fully declined as an example of a Strong II noun (SD/437). It is also used as an example of a common-noun that can be altered to masculine and feminine forms rabô “male dog” and rabê “bitch” (SD/434).

satta

noun. two

The Adûnaic number “two” (SD/428). It seems likely that it is related to Q. atta “two”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (AAD/22), though it is unclear how the initial s- might have developed in the Adûnaic. It may also be related to the Adûnaic dual suffix -at, as suggested by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/SAT).

zidar

noun. poise

A word attested only in the compound Minal-zidar “Poise in Heaven” (SD/200). Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/ZID) it may be related to izindi “straight”.

zôrî

noun. nurse

A noun translated “nurse” and fully declined as an example of a feminine Weak II noun (SD/438). It has two attested objective forms, an archaic form †zôrîyu using the ordinary objective inflection -u- and non-archaic form zôrî, no doubt using the objective inflection -i- often used in feminine nouns (SD/432): zôrî + -i = zôrî.

īdō kathī batānī rōkhī-nam

lo! now all ways bent-are

The first draft of the 12th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). Although all of its word are similar to the final version, each has differences in grammar or spelling from the later versions of the text.

• The first word īdō is the same as in the final version, but is glossed “lo! now” instead of simply “now”.

• The adjective kathī “all” is the plural form of katha, not singular as it is in the final text, perhaps indicating a shift in the rules for adjective-noun agreement.

• The subject batānī “ways” is the normal plural form of batân, not inflected to the subjective case as it is in the final text.

• The final word rōkhī-nam “(are) bent” has the plural adjective rōkhī instead of later form lōkhī. It also use the suffix -nam “are”, likely the plural of the predicate suffix -n “is”. This probably serves the same function as the subjective inflection of the final version: to represent the “to be” verb “are”.

igmil

noun. star-shaped figure

This noun is another singular variation of the collective-noun gimil “(all) stars”, used for a “star-shaped figure” (SD/427) instead of an actual star which is gimli.

arminalêth

proper name. *Royal Heaven (City)

The Adûnaic name for the capital of Númenor, whose Quenya name is Armenelos (SD/363, PM/145). The final element -êth seems to be a feminizing suffix, also seen in Ad. Akallabêth. The initial element Ar- is the same as that used in the name of kings and queens, and the middle element minal means “heaven”, so perhaps the literal meaning is something like *“Royal Heaven (City)”, similar in the sense to the Quenya name.

azar

noun. star (draft)

Christopher Tolkien mentions this as a noun meaning “star” from early and unpublished materials related to “The Notion Club Papers” stories (PM/372). It may be an element in the early Adûnaic name Indilzar for Elros. As Indilzar was replaced by Gimilzôr, it is likely that azar was replaced by gimli and gimil, which are well attested in later writings.

gimilnitîr

feminine name. Star-kindler

A title of the goddess Avradî (Q. Varda) translated “Star-kindler” (SD/428), and therefore the Adûnaic equivalent of S. Gilthoniel. The first element gimil means “stars”, and the second is an agental-formation for the verb nitir- “to kindle” (SD/427-8).

obroth

noun. fore-cutting

An Adûnaic word translated “fore-cutting”, referring to the wake before a boat (PM/376). It appeared more than two decades (1968) after Tolkien’s Adûnaic Grammar in Lowdham’s Report from the 1940s (SD/413-440). It is inconsistent with the earlier grammar in two respects. First, the prepositional element ob- appears as a prefix, not as a suffix as prepositions did in the earlier grammar (SD/435). Second, it includes a short o, whereas in the earlier phonetic rules of Adûnaic, only a long [ō] is allowed (SD/423). See the entry on conceptual-changes-in-late-Adûnaic for further discussion.

-êth

suffix. feminine suffix

A feminine suffix appearing in several names, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/11). On SD/427, Tolkien said that the affix -th was often found in feminine forms.

ammê

noun. mother

A noun for “mother” (SD/434). Tolkien gave two forms of this word, ammî and ammê, with no indication as to which would be preferred. However, ammî resembles a plural word, and Tolkien elsewhere stated that such forms tended to change their final vowel to -ê (SD/438), so my guess is that ammî is an archaic form. This word is probably related to the Elvish root √AM “mother”. Some authors have suggested it is directly related to ᴹQ. amme (AAD/10, AL/Adûnaic), but as Andreas Moehn points out (EotAL/MAM) such basic words are rarely borrowed from other languages, so the relationship is more likely from the Primitive Elvish root.

attô

noun. father

A noun for “father” (SD/434). Tolkien gave two forms of this word, attû and attô, with no indication as to which would be preferred. For reasons similar to those given in the entry for ammê “mother”, my guess is that attû is an archaic form, and attô was preferred by the time of Classical Adûnaic. This word is probably related to the Elvish root √AT(AR) “father”, perhaps from Primitive Elvish ᴹ✶atū.

bêth

noun. expression, saying, word

A noun translated as “expression, saying, word” (SD/427). It is likely derived from the Primitive Adûnaic root √BITH “say” (SD/416). This word is very similar to Sindarin peth “word”, especially in the Sindarin lenited form beth. The ancient development of the Adûnaic word may have been similar to Sindarin, with Primitive Elvish root ᴹ√KWET > √PET > ✶Ad. √BITH*, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL/Adûnaic).

manô

noun. spirit

A noun translated “spirit” and fully declined as an example of a Weak II noun (SD/438). It appeared with both a short a (SD/424) and long â (SD/438). Given its ending -ô, it might be a masculine-noun, but it seems unlikely that spirits would only be male. This entry assumes it is a common-noun instead. It is probably related to ᴹQ. manu “departed spirit” as suggested by various authors (AAD/19, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/MAN).

pûh

noun. breath

A noun translated “breath” and fully declined as an example of a Weak I noun (SD/431).

zinî

noun. female

A noun translated “female” and fully declined as an example of an (archaic) feminine Strong II noun (SD/437). The archaic form of this word is †zini which is a Strong II noun since it ends in a single short vowel. Its non-archaic form is zinî, which is presumably declined as a Weak II noun; most masculine and feminine nouns became weak in Classical Adûnaic (SD/436).

zîr-

verb. *to love, desire

An Adûnaic verb appearing as an element in various compounds as -zîr or zîr- (SD/389, 423). The verb was not translated, but its primitive root form ZIR is glossed “love, desire”, so this verb probably has a similar meaning.

Several authors have suggested (EotAL/ZIR, NBA/20) that the verb stem is zir- with a short vowel. However, the vowel is long in the participle form zîrân “beloved”, and there are tentative examples where a verb with a short vowel would retain that short vowel in the agental/participle form: magân “builder”. I therefore think that the verb stem is likelier to be zîr-*.

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/25) that it may be related to the Middle-Period Elvish root ᴹ√SER.

amatthânê

place name. Land of Gift

A draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Zen’nabâr (SD/378). A variant of this name reappeared later as Amatthâni, the Adûnaic name for the Blessed Realm.

ar-

prefix. king or queen

A prefix appearing before the Adûnaic names of kings and queens, the equivalent of Q. Tar- “High” (SA/ar(a)). It is most likely either a prefixal form of Ad. ârû “king” or derived from the same root. Conceptual Development: This prefix was introduced in the earliest versions of Adûnaic from the 1940s (SD/311, SD/248), and survived in the later Adûnaic names of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

azrîya du-phursâ akhâsada

that [the] seas should gush into [the] chasm

The 5th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The subject azrîya is the subjective plural of azra “sea”. Judging by the glosses, the verbal prefix du most likely indicates the optative or subjunctive moods (see those entries for discussion). The verb form phursâ resembles the aorist tense of the verb phurus-, except that the long â is unusual. Perhaps this variation is because the verb is actually in an infinitive form, though Andreas Moehn instead suggested the verb stem may be a derived verb *phursâ- (EotAL/PHUR). The last word akhâsada is the word akhâs “chasm” with the prepositional suffix -ada “towards, into”.

The gloss of the manuscript version was “that seas should gush into Chasm” (VT24/12). This gloss seems to indicate that this sentence might actually be a subordinate phrase of the preceding sentence Bârim an-Adûn yurahtam dâira sâibêth-mâ Êruvô “Lords of the West, they broke the Earth with assent from Eru”. This would fit well with its use of the optative/subjunctive mood, so that this phrase gives reason why the Valar broke the Earth (to sink Númenor). However, both the manuscript and typescript versions separated the two sentences with an ellipsis “...”, indicating that they are separate sentences.

bâ kitabdahê

Don’t touch me!

An isolated Adûnaic sentences appearing in “The Notion Club Papers” (SD/250). None of its elements appear elsewhere, making it difficult to interpret, but there is a some consensus in the literature as to the likeliest interpretations. The first word, bâ “don’t” could be derived from the Primitive Elvish root √BĀ/ABA “refuse, deny”, possibly an example of the optative mood (AAD, LGtAG). The first element of the second word could be a pronoun ki- “you”. The middle portion tabda could be the aorist form of a verb *tabad- “touch”. The last element -hê seems to be the object pronoun “me”, though Thorsten Renk (NBA/18) suggested it is an imperative marker instead.

bârim an-adûn yurahtam dâira sâibêth-mâ êruvô

Lords of [the] West, they rent [the] Earth with assent from Eru

The 4th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). One major conceptual change from earlier versions was that the subject of the sentence was plural Bârim an-Adûn (“Lords of the West”) instead of the earlier singular Bârun an-Adûn (“Lord of the West”). It seems that Tolkien decided that the drowning of Númenor was attributed to all of the Valar rather than just Manwë. A similar change from singular to plural was made in the corresponding Quenya sentence: herunūmen >> númeheruvi.

The subject Bârim of this sentence is the subjective plural of bâr “lord”. It is modified by the adjectival phrase an-Adûn “of the West”, with the genitive prefix an- “of” added to the noun adûn. The verb has the 3rd-plural suffix yu- “they”. In the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report this makes the subject emphatic, with a meaning more like “It was the Lords of the West who broke the Earth...” (SD/429).

The verb form rahtam is the aorist tense of rahat- “to break” with the verb plural suffix -m. The object of the sentence, dâira “Earth”, is in the normal-case.

The base sentence is modified by the prepositional phrase sâibêth-mâ Êruvô “with assent from Eru”. The combination sâibêth-mâ is the word sâibêth “assent” and the prepositional suffix -mâ “with”. The final word Êruvô is the name Êru and the prepositional suffix -ô “of”, with the usual glide-consonant [w] (which was sometimes written “v” as mentioned on SD/434) between the u and the following suffix.

izindu-bêth

noun. true-sayer, prophet

A noun for “prophet”, more literally “true-sayer”, given by Tolkien as an example of the objective case combined with a verb stem in an agental-formation (SD/427).

nai

adverb. might (draft)

A verbal prefix in the first draft sentence azrē nai phurrusim akhās-ada (SD/311), expressing either the subjunctive or optative verbal mood. It almost certainly related to Q. nai “maybe, may it be that” used for the expression of a wish, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/20). In later versions of the Lament of Akallabêth, this word was changed to du.

zen’namân

place name. Blessed Realm, Blessed Realm, Land of Amân, Land of Aman

A draft Adûnaic name for the Blessed Realm, later replaced by Amatthâni (SD/385). Its initial element zen is a draft name for “land” also seen in the draft name Zen’nabâr “Land of Gift”. Its final element is Amân, the Adûnaic name of Manwë, joined to the first element with an elided form of the genitive prefix an- “of”. Therefore, the literal meaning of the name is “Land of Amân (Manwë)”.

zen’namân

place name. Blessed Realm, Land of Amân

A draft Adûnaic name for the Blessed Realm, later replaced by Amatthâni (SD/385). Its initial element zen is a draft name for “land” also seen in the draft name Zen’nabâr “Land of Gift”. Its final element is Amân, the Adûnaic name of Manwë, joined to the first element with an elided form of the genitive prefix an- “of”. Therefore, the literal meaning of the name is “Land of Amân (Manwë)”.

-un

suffix. masculine subjective suffix

The subjective suffix for singular masculine-nouns (SD/430, 436), reduced to -n when the noun ends in a vowel.

êphalak îdô yôzâyan

far away now (is) the Land of Gift

The 13th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The first word êphalak “far away” is an adverb or emphatic adjective; see the entry for -ak for further discussion. The second word îdô “now” is an adverb. The last word Yôzâyan “Land of Gift” is one of the names for Númenor. There is no subjective noun or a verb, so this phrase is a fragment rather than a full sentence.

The typescript version (and all earlier versions) had īdōn “now (is)” instead of īdō “now”. See the entry for îdô for further discussion.

avalê

noun. goddess

The feminine form of Avalô “God, Power”, translated “Goddess” (SD/428). Like its masculine equivalent, it is probably pronounced [awalē], since the sound [w] in Adûnaic was sometime written “v” (SD/434).

dalad

preposition. under, beneath

A preposition translated as “under” (SD/247, 311) or “beneath” (VT24/12). It appeared in the usual suffixal position in the final version of the Lament of Akallabêth, but appeared before the noun it modified in the first draft version.

gimilzagar

masculine name. ?Sword of Stars

Second son of the 18th ruler of Númenor Ar-Belzagar (Q. Tar-Calmacil “Light-sword”) and younger brother to the 19th ruler Ar-Abattârik (UT/227). The first element gimil means “stars”. The second element zagar* most likely means “sword” if his father’s Quenya and Adûnaic names have the same meaning.

phurus-

verb. to gush, flow

A verb translated “to-gush” or “flow” appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247 SD/311), in later writings attested only in the form phursâ. This form superficially seems to be the aorist of the triconsonantal verb phurus-. Its two draft forms phurusam > phurrusim further support the idea that the verb stem is phurus-. However, ordinarily aorist forms end in a short -a, so perhaps there is something unusual about this formation. It also lacks the usual plural verb suffix -m appearing in first-draft version of the Lament, which would ordinally be required to agree with the plural subject. Since phursâ appears with the subjunctive or optative prefix du-, perhaps it is a special (infinitive?) form of the verb.

Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/PHUR) the verb stem may be phursâ- instead of phurus, so that it is a derived-verb. This isn’t consistent with earlier forms, but it is possible that Tolkien changed his mind about the basic verb form.

tûbal

noun. *pillar (draft)

A draft version of târik “pillar” (SD/363), also appearing as tūbil (SD/305) and tyūlā (SD/346), the latter perhaps a variant of Q. tyulma “mast”.

êphal

adjective. far

An adjective (or adverb?) translated as “far” (SD/247, SD/312).

balîk hazad an-nimruzîr azûlada

seven ships of Elendil [went] eastward

The 8th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). As written, it seems to be an incomplete noun phrase rather then a full sentence. It contains neither a verb nor a noun in the subjective case that could represent a copula (“to be” statement).

The first word, balîk “ships” is the normal plural of #balak “ship”. It is in a genitive composition with the number hazad “seven”, a construction discussed on SD/428, literally meaning “seven of ships”. This is modified by the phrase an-Nimruzîr “of Elendil” consisting of the genitive prefix an- “of” and the name Nimruzîr (Q. Elendil). The final word, azûlada “eastward(s)” is a composition of azûl “east” and the suffix -ada* “(to)wards”.

The final typescript and manuscript versions differ only in that the manuscript is missing the dash “-” in the genitive an-Nimruzîr “of Elendil” (VT24/12). The previous (second draft) version of the phrase is missing the entire prefix an- (SD/312). The first draft had a rather different sentence.

lament of akallabêth (first draft)

Lament of Akallabêth (first draft)

The first draft of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311-2), presented in full here as a specimen of the draft Adûnaic grammar.

ēphalek īdōn akallabēth

far away lo!now is She-that-is-fallen

The first draft of the 13th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). It differs from the final version mainly in its use of ēphalek “far away” for later êphalak and akallabēth instead of later Yôzâyan (Akallabêth appears instead in the last sentence of the final version). Like the final typescript version but unlike the final manuscript version, it uses īdōn “lo! now is” instead of īdō “now”. This is may be a combination of the adverb īdō “now” and the predicate suffix -n “is” used elsewhere in the draft version.

kadô zigûrun zabathân unakkha

and so [Sauron] he came humbled

The 1st phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). It changed little from its original draft, with only the verb unekkū becoming unakkha. Tolkien did not interpret the name Zigûrun in any version of the text, but it can be equated to Sauron from information given elsewhere (SD/250). Tolkien’s gloss was “and so ‽ humbled he-came”, which in more ordinary English might be “and so Sauron he came humbled”.

The subject Zigûrun of the sentence is the subjective form of the name Zigûr. The verb unakkha has the 3rd-person singular masculine inflection u- “he”. In the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, the subject would be emphasized with this syntax (SD/429), so the sense might be more like “and it was Sauron who came humbled”. It could be that the “so” of the English gloss is a representation of this emphasis, and that the initial word kadô is simply the conjugation “and”.

The verb form nakkha is the past tense of nakh- “to come”. Since the majority of the text seems to be in the aorist, this use of the past tense would function as a pluperfect according to the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report (SD/439). If so, the sense would be more like “Sauron had come” rather than “Sauron came”. Finally, the position of the adjective zabathân “humbled” is difficult to explain, since Tolkien stated that “adjectives normally preceded nouns” (SD/428). Perhaps it follows because it is used as a predicate of the subjective subject Zigûrun (a construction discussed on SD/429), so that the literal interpretation of the full phrase would be “and so Sauron [was] humbled, he had come [to Númenor]”. Alternately, zabathân* could appear in this abnormal position because it is a participle (verbal adjective).

adūn batān akhaini ezendi

West road lay straight

The first draft of the 11th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). It resembles the final version, but is missing the adverb tâidô and has the verb khay- “to lie” instead of yad- “to go”.

The first two words adūn “west” and batān “road” are the same as in the final version. The verb form akhaini “lay” seems to be the draft-perfect tense of the verb #khay- “to lie”. The word ezendi “straight” (instead of later izindi) appears at the end, perhaps functioning as an adverb.

lament of akallabêth

Lament of Akallabêth

This text is the only substantial work in Adûnaic, appearing in Tolkien’s unfinished story “The Notion Club Papers” (SD/145-327). In the context of this story, a modern Englishmen named Lowdham retrieves the tale from visions of the ancient past, along with a Quenya translation of the same text. The text summarizes the tale of the fall of Númenor. Tolkien himself did not name the text, but it is sometimes referred to as the “Adûnaic Fragments” (SD/311, VT24/14). This entry uses the title “Lament of Akallabêth”, the Adûnaic equivalent of the common title of its Quenya version, the Lament of Atalante.

There are three known versions of the text:

• A first draft (SD/311-12) written before the grammar of Adûnaic was fully developed, which uses the draft version of Adûnaic grammar.

• A second draft (SD/312) using the final form of Adûnaic grammar, fairly close to the final version. The second draft has not been formally published, but it can be reconstructed from Christopher Tolkien’s notes on SD/312.

• A final version which exists in nearly identical typescript (SD/247) and manuscript (VT24/12) forms, with somewhat different English translations. The full manuscript form originally appeared on the frontpiece of the British first edition of SD. It also appeared in the linguistic review of that book in VT24 (VT24/12).

Christopher Tolkien was uncertain which of the typescipt or manuscript was the true final revision of the text (SD/289). Andreas Moehn (LGtAG) and Aleš Bičan (AF) both suggested that the typescipt is the later of the two, but I believe it is the manuscript, based on its cleaner glosses and the development of îdô “now” in the sentences êphalak îdô Yôzâyan and êphal êphalak îdô hi-Akallabêth (see the entries for îdô and the draft predicate suffix -n for further details). Both texts are extremely close, however, and can be collectively called the “final version”.

The version given here is the final manuscript version, with spelling normalized to use the circumflex (â) for long vowels instead of the macron (ā). In the original version, English glosses appeared underneath words to indicate their literal meaning. The English translation given here is a combination of the manuscript and transcript translations, modified to use more natural English with some editorial additions in [brackets] where Tolkien omitted names and definite articles from his English translation. Original glosses and textual variations are discussed in the entries for individual phrases. The entire first draft is given its own entry below as a specimen of the draft version of the Adûnaic grammar.

Another analysis of this text can be found in “Lalaith’s Guide to Adûnaic Grammar” by Andreas Moehn (LGtAG). A less formal analysis can be found in the “VSH” article (VT24/14-38) by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne, which analyzes much of text as part of their general discussion of Adûnaic grammar.

ârû ’nadûnâi

King of the Anadunians

An phrase illustrating Adûnaic grammar, in particular how the genitive prefix an- “of” must be used when a plural noun needs to be put into a genitive relationship with another noun (SD/429). Without the an-, the preceding noun would be in an objective relationship instead. Here the an- is elided to ’n because of the preceding uninflected noun.

-î

suffix. feminine suffix

A suffix used to form feminine nouns from common or masculine nouns (SD/435). Another common variant was -ê (SD/438).

êru-bênî

collective name. Servants of God

Another Adûnaic title for the Valar, translated “Servants of God” (SD/357). Since Êru is “God”, the second element must be bênî “servants”, the plural of otherwise unattested bên “servant”

dubud-

verb. to fall (under influence/cover of)

A verb glossed “fell” in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247), but it is clear from context that its meaning is different from the ordinary verb for “to fall”: kalab-. Perhaps the sense of dubud- is “to fall under the influence of [shadow]” or “to fall under the cover of [shadow]”. Between the second draft and the final version version of the poem, the verb form changed from dubbudam (past tense) to dubdam (aorist), in both cases with the plural verbal suffix -m.

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/23) that dubud- may be related to the Elvish root ᴹ√DUB “loom, hang over oppressively”, which would fit well with the sense “to fall under the cover of”.

Conceptual Development: The draft form of the verb was udūbanim, which is difficult to analyze. It is missing a second d, so the draft verb may be a biconsonantal-verb dū̆b- or perhaps a triconsonantal-verb dūban-. Patrick Wynne and Carl Hostetter suggested (VSH/35-36) that the initial u- may be a 3rd-person pronominal prefix, but I think it may instead be the vowel augment of a draft-perfect tense; see that entry for further discussion.

gimlu-nitîr

kindler of a (particular) star

An example illustrating the difference between the singular noun gimli “star” and the collective-noun gimil “(all) stars” as used in the name Gimilnitîr “Star-kindler, kindler of all the stars” (SD/428).

izindi

adjective. straight, right, true

An adjective glossed “straight” (SD/247), “right” (VT24/12) and “true” (SD/427), the last of these in the compound izindu-bêth “true-sayer”. This final example is interesting, because the adjective izindi is declined into the objective case.

Conceptual Development: In its first appearance (SD/312), the form of this adjective was ezendi, an impossible form in the later phonetic rules of Lowdham’s Report, since Adûnaic only allowed the long vowel [ē] (SD/423).

zâir

noun. longing, yearning

A noun with alternate forms zaira and zâir, glossed “yearning” and derived from the Primitive Adûnaic root √ZIR (SD/423). It also appears in the subjective form zâira “longing (is)” in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247), as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/25).

This words seems to be a violation of the rules for root-modifications, under which a root never undergoes two changes from the same kind of process (SD/424). This word seems to have both kinds of vowel modification, vowel-lengthening and a-fortification, from its root √ZIR.

êphalak

adjective. far away

A combination of êphal “far” and the suffix -ak (SD/247, 312), which could either mean “away” or be some kind of intensifier. See the entry for -ak for further discussion.

îdô katha batîna lôkhî

now all ways (are) bent

The 12th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (VT24/12). The first word is the adverb îdô “now” and the second is the adjective katha “all”. Curiously, the adjective katha is not pluralized to agree with the noun as is the case with adjectives elsewhere in the text, including the pluralized lôkhî at the end of this very sentence.

The subject batîna “roads” is the subjective plural form of the noun batân “road, path, way”. There is no verb, so the subjective form functions as the “to be” verb (SD/429). The final word lôkhî seems to be a pluralized adjective, perhaps #lôkho.

The typescipt version has kātha instead of katha, but is otherwise identical to the manuscript except some minor differences in translation (SD/247).

-n

suffix. predicate suffix

A suffix appearing at the end of several words in the first draft of Lament of Akallabêth, variously glossed with different forms of the verb “to be”: burudan “heavy-is”, rōkhī-nam “bent-are”, īdōn “now is” (SD/312). Evidentally the suffix -n “is” is the singular form and -nam “are” is plural. The plural form probably includes the plural verbal suffix -m. This use of the suffix -n is probably no longer be valid in later versions of Adûnaic, as discussed below.

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (VSH/36) that -nam maybe related to Q. ná- “to be”, but they fail to analyze the singular forms of the suffix. Andreas Moehn (LGtAG) does connect the singular instances of the suffix -n to the plural -nam, but without connecting it to Q. ná-. I think both authors got part of the story right: the suffixal form -na is mostly likely derived from the same Elvish root √NĀ as Q. ná-, losing its final a in the singular form but preserving it in the plural form when the plural suffix -m is added.

In its first two appearances in the draft version of the Lament, this suffix is attached to the predicate of a copula (a linguistic term for a “to be” expression). For that reason, the discussion here uses the term “predicate suffix” for this use of the -n suffix:

• agannūlo burudan nēnum “death-shade heavy-is on-us” subject agannūlo “death-shade”, predicate buruda “heavy” + -n “is”.

• īdō kathī batānī rōkhī-nam “lo! now all ways bent-are” subject batānī “ways”, predicate rōkhī “bent” + -nam “are”.

The suffix’s second two appearances in the draft version of the Lament are more ambiguous.

• ēphalek īdōn akallabēth “far away lo!now is She-that-is-fallen”.

• ēphal ēphalek īdōn athanātē “far far away is now the Land of Gift”.

Going by word order alone, it seems that the -n is attached to the predicate in both of these sentences as well. However, as Andreas Moehn points out (LGtAG), īdō could be the subject of both sentences if the predicates are the final word of each sentence, which is more consistent with the later subjective inflection.

In the later version of Adûnaic described in Lowdham’s Report, the suffix -n has a new function, namely as the common subjective suffix: -an/-n. This new use differs from the older one in that it applies to the subject of a copula instead of the predicate. Despite this grammatical change from draft-Adûnaic, the word form īdōn appears in all later versions of the Lament of Akallabêth except the final manuscript version.

• Ēphalak īdōn Yōzāyan “far away now (is) Land of Gift” (SD/247).

• Ēphal ēphalak īdōn hi-Akallabēth “far far away now (is) She-that-hath-fallen” (SD/247).

These later appearances of īdōn still have the gloss “now (is)”, so it seems possible that these they are remnants of the predicate suffix from draft Adûnaic. Moehn, Hostetter and Wynne all suggested (LGtAG, AAD/16) that these later appearances of īdōn can be reinterpreted as a subjective inflection. However, this interpretation is still problematic, since îdô would surely be a neuter instead of a common noun, whose subjective form would therefore be *îdôwa.

The suffix -n did not appear after īdō in the final manuscript version of the Lament, and the gloss “is” was removed as well:

• Ēphalak īdō Yōzāyan “far away now Gift-land” (VT24/12).

• Ēphal-ēphalak īdō hi Akallabēth “far far away now She that hath Fallen” (VT24/12).

It is my belief that Tolkien eventually decided that the suffix -n could no longer be used in this context and removed it.

-ō

suffix. genitive (draft)

The suffix used for the draft-genitive case, with a plural form -ōm (SD/438). In a later conceptual stage, it became the ordinary prepositional suffix -ô.

gimlî hazid

seven (of) stars

An example phrase indicating how Adûnaic numbers follow plural nouns and are in a genitive relations with them: “seven of stars” (SD/427-8).

lômi

noun. (pleasant) night

A noun translated “night” or more fully “fair night, a night of stars”, a late loan word from Q. lómë (SD/414-5). According to Tolkien, it has a pleasant connotation similar to its Quenya equivalent: “it is a word of peace and beauty and has none of the associations of fear or groping that ‘dark’ has” (SD/306). Some unpleasant words for night and darkness are dulgu, nâlu and ugru.

mulkhêr

masculine name. Lord of Darkness

The Adûnaic name of Morgoth; it seems to be a loan word from Q. Melkor “Mighty Arising” (or some Avari variant of it), but it is glossed “Lord of Darkness” (SD/358). If this is the meaning of the word, the final element could be related to khôr “lord” appearing in the later name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”, or to the older rejected name Kherû “Lord”, also referring to Melkor. The initial element Mul- could perhaps a distant variation on the Elvish root √MOR “dark”. Yet another possibility is that it was originally an ancient Elvish loan word (✶milikûr?) that shifted in form to resemble the meaning “Lord of Darkness”.

Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic for Morgoth, Mēlekō, was more clearly based on ᴹQ. Melko, which was the Quenya name for Melkor in that stage of Tolkien’s writing.

yu

pronoun. they (masculine)

A pronominal prefix, most likely the masculine plural pronoun “they”, appearing in the verb yurahtam “[they] broke” in the sentence Bârim an-Adûn yurahtam dâira sâibêth-mâ Êruvô (SD/247). See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

-an

suffix. common subjective suffix

The subjective suffix for singular common-nouns, reduced to -n when the noun ends in a vowel (SD/430, 436).

narîka ’nbâri ’nadûn yanâkhim

The Eagles of the Lords of the West are at hand

An isolated Adûnaic sentence in “The Notion Club Papers” story (SD/251). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (VSH/26) that this same sentence is mentioned previously on SD/231 where Lowdham speaks in “an unknown tongue”, and then cries out in English “Behold the Eagles of the Lords of the West! They are coming over Nūmenōr!”. If so, this provides another translation of the phrase.

The first word, Narîka “Eagles” seems to be the subjective plural of #narak “eagle”, but is unusual in that it is declined as if it were a neuter noun. The names of animals are generally common-nouns (SD/426). Perhaps when this sentence was written, Tolkien had not yet fleshed out the Adûnaic gender rules.

Narîka is modified by the noun phrase ’nBâri “of the Lords”, which is a combination of the genitive prefix an- “of” (elided) and the plural of the noun bâr “lord”. This is also unusual in that it uses the short i rather than the long î for the plural, another sign that this may be an early sentence (the Adûnaic draft-plural often used a short i).

The phrase is further modified by ’nAdûn “of the West”, another instance of an elided genitive an- prefixed to the noun adûn “west”.

The verb yanâkhim is glossed “are at hand”. Its initial element ya- is likely the third neuter person plural pronominal suffix “they” and it ends with the normal plural verb suffix -m. This leaves the verb form nâkhi, which seems to be an inflection of the verb nakh- “come”. A literal interpretation might be “The Eagles of the Lords of the West are coming”, as supported by the second translation mentioned above, so that this is an example of the Adûnaic continuative-present tense. This analysis of yanâkhim* was suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/27).

asdi

?. [unglossed]

A word Tolkien used to illustrate Adûnaic pronunciation (pronounced [azdi]) without giving its meaning (SD/421).

gimlad

place name. Starwards

Another name for Númenor translated “Starwards” (SD/378), the equivalent of Q. Elenna. Its first element is gimil “stars” with the Adûnaic syncope and its second element is the suffix -ad (-ada) “toward”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (AAD/15).

nimriyê

noun. Nimrian Tongue, *Elvish

The Adûnaic word for the Elvish language (SD/414), most likely a combination of the word Nimir “Elf” (evidently with the Adûnaic syncope) and a suffix meaning “language”, perhaps -iyê.

pharazîr

masculine name. *Sea-lover

The first version of the Adûnaic name of Q. Eärendil (SD/305), quickly rejected and replaced by Azrabêl, later Azrubêl. Its rejected elements have the same meaning as Azrubêl. Interestingly, the suffix -zîr “-lover” reappeared in the later names Aphanuzîr and Nimruzîr, though as derivations of zîr- instead of iri-. The word pharaz also reappeared later with the meaning “gold”.

rothinzil

proper name. Foam-flower

The Adûnaic name of Eärendil’s ship Vingilótë “Foam-flower”, of the same meaning (S/249). This name appears in earlier writings as Rôthinzil with a long ô (SD/360). Its later form is a violation of the phonetic rules laid out by Tolkien in Lowdham’s Report, which said that the vowels [ē] and [ō] could only be long in Adûnaic (SD/423). The later form could be an Anglicanized or a Westronized form (where a short [o] could appear), or it could indicate that Tolkien changed his mind about Adûnaic phonetic rules. Some linguistic notes from the 1930s suggest Tolkien at one point considered making the name Quenya (P19/49).

sakalthôr

masculine name. ?Shore-son

The son of Ar-Zimrathôn and the 22nd ruler of Númenor, whose Quenya name was Tar-Falassion (UT/223). Tolkien didn’t translate either name, but his Quenya name seems to mean something like “Shore-son” (falassë “shore” + -ion* “-son”) and his Adûnaic name may have a similar meaning, as suggested by several authors (AAD/22, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/SAK’L). If so, the initial element *sakal would mean “shore” and the suffix -thôr would mean “-son”.

The interpretation of the second element is less certain than the first. For example, Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/11) that is Quenya name Falassion is actually a genitive plural meaning “of the Coasts” and does not involve “-son” at all. They suggested the final -thôr may instead mean “one” or “lord” (AAD/23).

sapda

?. [unglossed]

A word Tolkien used to illustrate Adûnaic pronunciation without giving its meaning (SD/421).

zimraphel

feminine name. *Jewel Daughter

The daughter of Ar-Inziladûn (Tar-Palantir), who would have been the 25th ruler of Númenor had the throne not been usurped by her cousin Ar-Pharazôn (UT/224). Her Quenya name Tar-Míriel seems to mean “Jewel’s Daughter”. If her Adûnaic name has the same meaning, then the first element zimra probably means jewel and the second element -phel* might mean “-daughter”, though it could simply be a general feminine suffix.

Conceptual Development: In her earliest appearance in the Tolkien’s stories, this character was called ᴹQ. (Tar-)Ilien (LR/27, SD/335, SD/351). Tolkien gave her the name Ad. Ar-Zimrahil after he invented the Adûnaic language (SD/373). The suffix -hil in this version of the name might be a feminine form of the patronymic -hin. In later material appearing in the published version of The Silmarillion, her Adûnaic name was changed to Zimraphel. This final version of the name is inconsistent with the phonetic rules laid out by Tolkien in Lowdham’s Report, which said that the vowels [ē] and [ō] could only be long in Adûnaic (SD/423).

zîrân

adjective. beloved

An adjective translated “(the) beloved” (SD/247), apparently formed from the verb zîr- “to love, desire” with the participle suffix -ân. Its placement in the sentence Anadûnê zîrân hikalba “Númenor beloved fell (down)” is unusual, since according to Tolkien adjectives normally precede the nouns they modify (SD/428). It is possible that the adjective here is being used as a noun “the beloved”, an idea supported by the translation of this sentence in the final manuscript: “Anadune the beloved she fell” (VT24/12). See the entry for the Adûnaic participle for further discussion.

avallôni

place name. Haven of the Gods

The Adûnaic name for Tol Eressëa, though it may also (or instead) have referred the Blessed Realm, home of the Valar (SD/241). It was translated “Haven of the Gods” (SD/361). Given its meaning, the name seems to contain the word Ad. Avalô, the Adûnaic name for the Valar. It seems likely that Ad. Avallôni is direct borrowing of Q. Avallónë “Outer Isle”, reinterpreted by the Númenorieans to fit their language. It is probably pronounced [awallōni], since the sound [w] in Adûnaic was sometime written “v” (SD/434).

Conceptual Development: An earlier form of this name, Avallondē may have been a mixed name, containing the Quenya element ᴹQ. londe (SD/344).

gimli

noun. star (in the sky)

A noun translated “star” (SD/431) or “star (in the sky)” (SD/427), and fully declined on SD/431 as an example of a Strong II noun.

ûriyat nîlô

sun and moon

An example of a dual phrase with two different words. The first word of the pair is declined as a dual. It contains the related pair ûri “sun” and nîlu “moon” (SD/428).

arpharazōn azgaranādu avalōi-{men >>}si

‽ was waging war‽ Powers on

The first draft of the 3rd phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311). It differs from the final version primarily in grammar. It has a difficult-to-interpret form azgaranādu of the verb azgarâ-. See the entry to that verb for possible interpretations. The last word avalōi-si seems to be the draft-dative plural form of Avalô “Power, God”, changed from the draft-instrumental plural form avalōi-men.

a

pronoun. *it

A pronominal prefix, most likely the neuter singular pronoun “it”, appearing in the word ayadda “[it] went” in the sentence adûn izindi batân tâidô ayadda “the road west [it] once went straight” (SD/247). See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

akallabêth

proper name. Downfallen

The Adûnaic name of Númenor after its fall, the equivalent of Q. Atalantë (S/281). Tolkien usually translated this word as “Downfallen”, but its literal meaning was “(She) That Has Fallen” (PE17/111, SD/247). The final element -êth seems to be a feminine suffix, also seen in Arminalêth. The middle element -kallab- seems to be the past formation kallaba of the verb kalab- “to fall (down)”. The function of the initial a- isn’t clear, but it may be some sort of perfective augment, as seen in the Quenya perfect tense; see the discussion of the Adûnaic draft-perfect for more information.

Other Interpretations: Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (VSH/36) that the prefix a- is probably some kind of emphatic suffix rather than evidence of another verb tense. Thorsten Renk proposes (NBA/39) that the a- is a relative pronoun “that”, analogous to Q. ya, which is an interesting possibility.

bawîba dulgî

winds (were) black

The 7th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The subject bawîba is the subjective plural of #bawab “wind”. There is no verb, so the subjective here functions as the to-be verb “were”, as discussed on SD/429. The adjective dulgî is the plural of dulgu “black”, agreeing in number with the subject.

This sentence did not appear at all in the first draft. In the second draft of the Lament, it was simply the noun phrase dulgu bawīb “*black wind” rather than a full sentence (SD/312). Curiously, the adjective in the second draft did not agree in number with the noun it modified.

bārun-adūnō rakkhatū kamāt sōbēthumā eruvō

the Lord of West broke asunder earth assent-with of God

The first draft of the 4th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311). It differs considerably from the final version:

• The subject is singular “Lord” rather than plural “Lords”, as is the case with the second draft as well.

• The adjectival phrase adūnō “of the West” uses the draft-genitive case instead of the later genitive prefix an-.

• The verb form is rakkhatū, perhaps the draft past tense of an early version rakhat- of the verb rahat-. It later changed >> urahhata >> urahta >> yurahta. It is glossed “broke asunder” rather than simply “broke” as in later versions.

• The word for “Earth” is kamāt rather than later dâira.

• In the final phrase sōbēthumā eruvō “assent-with of God”, the two words are likely declined into the draft-instrumental and draft-genitive cases, respectively.

inziladûn

masculine name. Flower of the West

Son of Ar-Gimilzôr and Inzilbêth and the 24th ruler of Númenor, whose Quenya name was Tar-Palantir “The Farsighted” (LotR/1035). The meaning of his Adûnaic name is “Flower of the West” (UT/227), so he is an example of a Númenorean ruler whose Adûnaic and Quenya names had different meanings. The name Inziladûn was his given name and he adopted Palantir when he ascended the throne.

As pointed out by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/JIL), the ordering of the elements in this name are inconsistent with the rules outlined in Lowdham’s Report, which indicate that the adjectival element “West” should come before the noun “Flower” that it modifies (SD/428), so that the name properly should be *Adûninzil, similar to Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”. The name as written would mean “West of the Flower”. Perhaps Tolkien relaxed or altered those rules in his later writings.

zen’nabâr

place name. Land of Gift

A draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Abarzâyan (SD/378). Its initial element zen is a draft name for “land” also seen in the draft name Zen’namân for the Blessed Realm. Its final element seems to be abâr, joined to the first element with an elided form of the genitive prefix an- “of”. If so, then at the time abâr may have meant “gift”, but its later meaning was “strength, endurance, fidelity”.

êphal êphalak îdô hi-akallabêth

far far away now (is) She-that-hath-fallen

The 14th (and final) phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (VT24/12). The first two words êphal “far” and êphalak “far away” are repeated adjectives (or adverbs), the second with the added suffix -ak. This suffix either means “away” or is some kind of emphatic marker; see the -ak entry for further discussion. The third word îdô “now” is an adverb. The last word Akallabêth “The Downfallen” is the Adûnaic name for Númenor after its destruction. It is prefixed with the pronoun hi “she”, turning the name into a small sentence “She that hath fallen”.

The typescript version (and all earlier versions) had īdōn “now (is)” instead of īdō “now” (SD/247, 312). See the entry for îdô for further discussion.

-ôn

suffix. adjective or agental suffix

A suffix appearing only in the name Pharazôn “Golden” and possibly also in Zimrathôn. Since the element pharaz is elsewhere defined as “gold” (LotR/1114, SD/426), perhaps this suffix can be used to form adjectives from nouns in Adûnaic. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/ZIM’R) it may instead be an agental suffix, a variant of -ân.

ar-pharazônun azaggara avalôiyada

[Ar-Pharazôn] was warring against [the] Powers

The 3rd phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). It differed from its earlier drafts only in its use of grammar. Tolkien’s gloss was “‽ was warring against Powers”, omitting the name Ar-Pharazôn because Lowdham was unsure how to translate it. In more ordinary English might be “Ar-Pharazôn was warring against the Powers”.

The subject Ar-Pharazônun is the subjective form of the name Ar-Pharazôn. The verb azaggara “was warring” is a form of azgarâ- “to wage war”, either the past tense or continuative-past tense (see the entry for that continuative-past tense for further discussion). The last word Avalôiyada “against the Powers” is the plural form of Avalô “Power, God” with the prepositional suffix -ada “toward, against” separated from the i of the plural by the usual glide-consonant y.

The previous (second draft) version of this sentence differs from the final version in two ways (SD/312). First, the subject is in the normal-case instead of the subjective case, perhaps because Tolkien had not finalized the rules for the subjective case. Second, its verb form was azagrāra, although the final verb form azaggara was written nearby as an alternative. See the verb azgarâ- for possible interpretations.

anâ

noun. human being

A noun translated “human being” (SD/426) given as an example of a noun ending in a long vowel that (archaically) uses the declension for a strong-noun (SD/437), an example of the extremely rare class of Strong-IIb nouns. By the time of Classical Adûnaic, it could be declined as an ordinary weak-noun instead. It also had masculine and feminine variants anû “(human) man” and anî “(human) woman” (SD/434) but in ordinary speech it seems likely that more specific words would be used: narû “man, male”, zinî “female”, kali “woman”.

azgarâ-

verb. to wage war

A verb meaning “to wage war” (SD/439), one of two examples of an derived-verb and the only one with any attested inflections. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne initially suggested it is composed of the words azga* “war” and a causative suffix *-râ- (VSH/24), but later suggested (AAD/12) it may be related zagar so that its literal meaning was “wield a weapon” or “put to the sword”, similar to ᴹQ. mahta- “wield a weapon, fight” < ᴹ√MAK* “sword”. Andreas Moehn also suggested (EotAL/ZAG’R) the verb may be related to *zagar “sword”.

This verb appears in slightly different forms in each version of the Lament of Akallabêth, changing as follows: azgaranādu (SD/311) >> azagrāra (SD/312) >> azaggara (SD/247). All three versions have similar glosses, “was waging war” or “was warring”, which seems to imply these are all instances of the continuative-past tense. As they are the only clear instances of this tense, it is difficult to decipher the conceptual development of this verb.

The first form azgaranādu belongs to the draft Adûnaic period and is probably grammatically distinct from the later forms. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne thoroughly analyzed this draft form (VSH/35). The two later forms appeared in very similar versions of the Lament. Rather than representing a revision of the grammar, they could represent distinct verb tenses, as for example Tolkien’s vacillation between the forms hikalba and hikallaba in the sentence Anadûnê zîrân hikalba. The question is, to which tense does each form belong?

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/28) concluded that the azaggara represents the continuative-past without analyzing azagrāra. Andreas Moehn agreed with them in his grammatical article on Adûnaic (LGtAG) but changed his mind in his etymological analysis (EotAL/ZAG’R), concluding it is the past tense instead. I also believe azaggara is more likely to be a simple past tense.

The double-g of the form azaggara resembles other verb forms identified as the past tense in the theories used here, and it seems likelier to me that Tolkien changed the verb from the continuative-past to the simple past without revising the gloss. The second a in azaggara is likely inserted in the verb stem to break up the consonant cluster in az-ggara, since Adûnaic allows at most two consecutive medial-consonants (SD/418).

If the above reasoning is correct, this would make the form azagrāra the best candidate for the continuative-past. Perhaps the repetition of the final suffix -ra is used to mark the continuous nature of the action. All of this is highly speculative, however, since we are working only from a single example.

gimil

collective noun. (all) stars, ?silver

A collective-noun meaning “all the stars of the heavens”, as opposed to gimli which was used for an individual star (SD/427). The element gimil appears in many names, including several later names in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/15) that it may be related to the Elvish root √(Ñ)GIL “shine (white)”.

Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/KH-B-L) that if the later name Gimilzôr means “Silver-fire”, its initial element gimil could instead mean “silver”, perhaps as a cognate of Dwarvish kibil. If so, this alternate meaning could either be a homonym of gimil “stars”, or a new meaning for gimil in Tolkien’s later works.

azra

noun. sea, seas

The Adûnaic word for “sea” (SD/429), appearing as azar in some early texts (SD/305). It is fully declined on SD/431.

pharaz²

noun. sea

A draft word for “sea”, deleted and replaced with azar (SD/305), which later become azra. This word reappeared later with a different meaning: pharaz “gold”.

uruk

noun. orc, goblin

A noun translated “goblin, orc” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/436). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/24) this form of the word may be a derivative of the contemporaneous Elvish root ᴹ√OROK. In later writings it appeared as Ad. urku/urkhu (WJ/390), a derivative of the Elvish root √RUK “terrible shapes”. This entry retains the form uruk because of its many attested inflections.

êruhînim dubdam ugru-dalad

[the Children of Eru] fell under shadow

The 2nd phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). Tolkien did not interpret the name Êruhînim in any version of the text, but elsewhere it is glossed “Children of God (Eru)” (SD/248). Tolkien’s gloss was “‽ fell ‽shadow under/beneath”, with the translation of the last word differing slightly in the typescript (SD/247) and manuscript (VT24/12). In ordinary English the phrase might be “the Children of Eru fell under shadow”.

The subject Êruhînim of the sentence is the subjective plural form of #Êruhin. The verb dubdam seems to be in the aorist form of #dubud- “to fall”, glossed in past tense because it is in a narrative occurring in the past. The verb has the plural marker -m in agreement with the number of the subject. The word dalad “under, beneath” is suffixed to the noun it modifies, as is usual of Adûnaic prepositions.

The previous (second draft) version of this sentence (SD/312) differs only in its use of the verb form dubbudam (past tense) instead of the final version’s form dubdam (aorist). The first draft version used all the same words but differed in its grammar.

ûri

noun. sun, sun (and moon)

A noun translated “sun” (SD/306, 428). This word appears in the forms ûrê, ûri and ûrî, but Tolkien declared that the form with long î is actually the personified form Ûrî “Lady of the Sun” (SD/426), perhaps the Adûnaic name of Q. Arien. The form ûrê only appears once (SD/426), so ûri is probably to be preferred as the ordinary word for Sun, especially since it is a neuter noun, which ordinarily cannot end in a long -ê (SD/427). Tolkien lists the “later forms Uir, Ŷr” (SD/306), one of which may be the Westron word for “sun”, most likely Wes. uir. As suggested by several authors (AAD/24, EotAL/UR), ûri is probably derived from the Elvish root ᴹ√UR.

an-

prefix. of, genitive/adjectival prefix

A prefix translated as “of” (SD/247) and one of the ways that genitive relationships are expressed in Adûnaic (SD/429). According to Tolkien, “it is not a preposition ... it is the equivalent of an inflexion or suffix” (SD/435). As such, it is used to form adjectives from nouns, as anadûni “western, of the West” from adûni “the West”. When following another noun, it is often elided so that the a is lost, as in Ârû ’nAdûnâi “King of the Númenóreans” (SD/429) and Bâr ’nAnadûnê* “Lord of Númenor” (SD/428). This elision occurs in most examples, but seems not to happen in some cases:

• When the an- is separated from the modified noun: balîk hazad an-Nimruzîr “ships seven of-Nimruzîr” (SD/247).

• When the modified nouns is declined into the subjective case: Bârim an-Adûn “Lords of the West” (SD/247).

• However, when the subjective noun ends in a vowel, elision still occurs: narîka ’nBâri ’nAdûn “Eagles of the Lords of the West” (SD/251).

Tolkien used a dash to separate an- from the noun to which it is prefixed but omitted the dash when the prefix was elided. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/10) that Ad. an- may be related to the Sindarin genitive marker S. na “with, by”

dolgu

noun. dark, (evil) night

A noun attested as the isolated word dolgu, described as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’” (SD/306). It may be related to S. dû “night” and N. doll “obscure, hidden, dusky”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/13). It is similar to the word dulgu “black” appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth and the two may be variations of the same word, but most authors have suggested (AAD/13-14, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/DUL’G, NBA/11, 24) that they are distinct words. In the phonetic rules in Lowdham’s Report from this period, a short o cannot appear in an Adûnaic (SD/423), so perhaps the proper form of this noun should be *dôlgu.

ûrinîluwat

Sun and Moon

A phrase demonstrating a dual compound with two different elements. It contains the related pair ûri “sun” and nîlu “moon (SD/428).

-a-

suffix. subjective inflection

The inflection used to put neuter nouns into the subjective case (SD/430), used either as a suffix (for weak-nouns) or augmenting the last vowel (for strong-nouns). See the entry on the subjective case for further details.

adūnāim azūlada

The Adunai (Men of W.) eastward

The first draft of the 8th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312), which is essentially a different sentence from the final version. The first word Adūnāim is the subjective plural of Adûnâ “Númenórean”. The second word, azūlada “eastwards” is the same as in the final version: a composition of azûl “east” and the suffix -ada “(to)wards”.

-mâ

preposition. with

A prepositional suffix translated “with” (SD/247, 429).

Conceptual Development: At an earlier conceptual stage, it was the grammatical inflection -ma used for the draft-instrumental (SD/438).

-ô

preposition. from

A prepositional suffix translated “from” (SD/429). In a few places, the suffix appears with the glide-consonant v (pronounced [w]) between it and a preceding u-vowel (SD/247, 249). It is likely related to the Quenya genitive inflection Q. -o.

Conceptual Development: At an earlier conceptual stage, this suffix was a grammatical inflection, the draft-genitive -ō (SD/438).

adûn

noun. west, westward

A noun meaning “west(ward)” (SD/435, PE17/18). Tolkien stated that was “a loan word from Eldarin speech in the language of the Folk of Hador, from which Númenórean was later derived” (PE17/18). Probably it is derived from S. dûn “west”, as suggested by several authors (AAD/9, EotAL/NDU). Tolkien stated that it was an adjective and its proper noun form was adûni (SD/435), but adûn was used as a noun in phrases such as Bârîm an-adûn “Lords of the West” (SD/247).

ar-pharazôn

King Pharazon

A short phrase illustrating the Adûnaic compositional genitive (SD/435).

banâth

noun. wife

The noun for “wife”, given as an example of a noun with a long vowel in its final syllable that (archaically) uses the declension for a strong-noun (SD/437), an example of the rare class of Strong-Ib nouns. By the time of Classical Adûnaic, it could be declined as an ordinary weak-noun instead.

bâ

particle. don’t

A particle glossed “don’t” in the phrase bâ kitabdahê “Don’t touch me!”. It may be a derivative of the Elvish root ᴹ√AB “refuse, deny, say no”, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL/Adûnaic). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (VSH/25, AAD/13) it is an example of the optative mood mentioned by Tolkien SD/439, where “optative” is an expression of a desire or wish. If so, it expresses a negative wish. A positive wish might be expressed by the particle du.

bâr ukallaba

the lord fell

An example sentence showing how the normal-case can sometimes be used for the subject of a sentence (SD/429). The subject is bâr “lord” while the verb has the masculine singular pronoun prefix u- “he”. Such a prefix is required when the subject is in the normal case (SD/429). The verb form kallaba is the past tense of kalab- “to fall”. This sentence is contrasted with bârun (u)kallaba in which the subject is in the subjective case.

menel-tûbal

place name. Menel-Tûbal

A draft version of the Adûnaic name for the Pillar of Heaven, Minul-târik (SD/363). There are several variations, one of which, Meneltyūlā, might either be a Quenya word or from a draft version of Adûnaic that is closer to Quenya.

minal-târik

heavenly pillar

A non-objective that contrasts with the name Minul-târik “Pillar of Heaven” (SD/429). Since the phrase is not objective, it must be a genitive relationship, who meaning according to Tolkien was something like “a pillar in the sky, or made of cloud”.

nithil

noun. girl

A noun translated “girl” and fully declined as an example of a feminine Strong I noun (SD/430). It is also used as an example of feminine nouns that use the suffix -i in their objective inflection as opposed to the usual -u: nithli (SD/431). Though not explicitly stated, nithli is also an example of the variant objective-with-syncope syntax discussed on SD/435. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) it may be related to the Elvish root √NETH “young”.

sulum

noun. mast

A noun translated “mast” illustrating the development of Primitive Adûnaic palatals, or c-series (SD/419). This example may also be related to the draft (?Adûnaic) name for the Pillar of Heaven Meneltyūlā, which contains a word much like the cognate of sulum: Q. tyulma.

ârû

noun. king

A noun translated as “king” (SD/429). The Adûnaic word for “queen” is not attested, but could be a feminized form of this word, such as *ârî.

-s

suffix. dative (draft)

The suffix used for the draft-dative case (SD/438). It is attested in the Lament of Akallabêth (first draft) in a plural form: avalōi-si “Powers on” (SD/311). In a later conceptual stage, it may have become the ordinary prepositional suffix -zê “at”.

kalab-

verb. to fall (down)

A verb translated “fall down” (SD/439). This verb has more conjugations than any other attested Adûnaic verb, and is therefore useful for studying the Adûnaic verb system. Excluding the first draft of the Lament of Akallabêth, it appears in four forms: ukallaba “[he] fell” (SD/429), hikallaba “she fell (down)” (SD/427), hikalba “she fell” (VT24/12) and yakalubim “lean over” (SD/251). Andreas Moehn suggested (LGtAG, EotAL/KAL’B) the last of these could be a different verb kalub- “to lean”, but I think it is likelier to be a form of kalab-, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/26-27).

Various verbal prefixes and suffixes can be extracted by comparison to other forms: the pronominal prefixes u- “he”, hi- “she” and ya- “they (neuter)”, as well as the plural verb suffix -m. Removing these elements, we have three distinct forms: kallaba “fell”, kalba “fell” and kalubi “lean over”. These likely represent distinct verb tenses. The question is: which ones?

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (VSH/26-27) that kalubi is most likely the continuative-present with the literal sense “are falling over”, a conclusion with which most other authors agree (AL/Adûnaic, NBA/14). Andreas Moehn agreed on this verb tense (LGtAG, EotAL/KAL’B), but suggested that it is from the verb kalub-* “to lean” instead.

The two remaining forms kalba and kallaba both have the gloss “fell”. This ambiguity is because the Adûnaic aorist tense could used to describe the past in a narrative (SD/439). Most authors agree that these forms are the Adûnaic aorist and past tenses respectively, though Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested that kallaba is the continuative-past instead (VSH/27-28). See the entry on the Adûnaic past tense for further discussion.

Finally, there is form appearing only in the draft versions of the Lament: akallabi “fell in ruin”. I believe this is an example of draft-perfect tense; see that entry for further discussion.

thâni’namân

Land of Aman

A phrase demonstrating the use of the genitive prefix an-, elided to ’n in this case (SD/435). Earlier in the same discussion, Tolkien gave the non-elided (but less common) variant: thâni anAmân. It may be contrasted with the genitive compound Amatthâni in which the adjective element Amân appears first.

agan

noun. death

A noun for “death” attested both as an independent word (SD/426) and in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow” (SD/247).

agân

masculine name. Death

The masculine personification of agan “death” (SD/426). This could be the Adûnaic name for Mandos.

amân

masculine name. Manwë

The Adûnaic name of Manwë (SD/376). According to Christopher Tolkien, the invention of this Adûnaic name preceded the use of Q. Aman as the name of the Blessed Realm, and was likely the inspiration for this Quenya name (SD/376). The later status of Ad. Amân as the name of Manwë is unclear, but it could be that the ancestors of the Númeróreans conflated the name of the Valar with the name of the land he ruled. Conceptual Development: The first Adûnaic name for Manwë was Manawē (SD/55).

bâr

noun. lords, lord

A noun translated as “lord” (SD/311, 428). This nouns wins the prize for “most inflected Adûnaic noun”, since we have declensions for this noun in both the draft Adûnaic grammar and the later grammar of Lowdham’s Report. As such, it is very helpful for comparing how the noun declensions changed as Tolkien developed Adûnaic grammar. For example, comparing its draft plurals bāri/bārim to its later plural bârî/bârîm indicate the draft plural was originally formed with a short rather than long i. There are a few lingering examples of this short-i plural in later writings (SD/247, 251).

Conceptual Development: In earlier writings the rejected name Kherû “Lord” (SD/376) indicates a possible earlier form of this noun; Kherû itself was changed to Arûn. A similar form reappears in later writings in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”: either akhôr or khôr “lord”. Whether or not this later word replaced bâr is unknown.

du

prefix. should, so-as

A verbal prefix in the sentence azrîya du-phursâ akhâsada and translated as either “so-as” (SD/247) or “should” (VT24/12). It almost certainly indicates some verb-mood. Most authors have suggested it indicates the subjunctive mood based on its glosses (VSH/25, LGtAG, AL/Adûnaic). I think it could also be the optative mood, since in the first draft versions of the sentence the word was nai, clearly related to Q. nai “maybe, may it be that” used for the expression of a wish. Since it appears in only a single example, we don’t have enough information to be sure.

dâira

noun. Earth

A noun translated as “Earth” in the final version of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). It may be related to S. dôr “land”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/13).

Conceptual Development: In the Lament of Akallabêth (first draft), this noun appeared as kamāt (SD/311).

inzil

noun. flower, lily

A noun meaning “flower” or more specifically “lily” (PE19/99). It appears as an element in Adûnaic names from the 1940s (Rôthinzil, SD/360) and later (Inziladûn, LotR/1035).

manawē

masculine name. Manwë

A draft version of the Adûnaic name for Manwë, later replaced by Amân (SD/376).

rûkh

noun. shout

A word glossed “shout” (SD/426). Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/RUKH) that it may be a verb rûkh- “to shout”, but it appears in a list of nouns, so I think it likelier that it is noun form.

tamar

noun. smith

A noun translated “smith” and fully declined as an example of a masculine Strong I noun (SD/436). It may be related to the Eldarin root √TAM “construct”, as suggested by several authors (AAD/23, EotAL/TAM).

zadan

noun. house

A noun translated “house” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).

bārun an-adūn {urahhata >>} urahta dāira sāibēth-mā ēruvō

bārun an-adūn {urahhata >>} urahta dāira sāibēth-mā ēruvō

The second draft of the 4th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). The key difference between it and final version is that its subject is singular (Manwë only) rather than plural (all of the Valar). Thus, it uses the singular subjective Bârun rather than the later plural Bârim and the pronoun suffix u- “he” instead of later yu- “they”. In this version, Tolkien initially wrote a past tense form of the verb rahhata before replacing it with the aorist form rahta used in the final version.

-û

suffix. masculine suffix

A suffix used to form masculine nouns from common or neuter nouns (SD/435). Another common variant was -ô (SD/438).

adûnakhôr

masculine name. Lord of the West

Son of Ar-Abattârik and the 20th ruler of Númenor, whose Quenya name was Herunúmen. In both languages, his name (somewhat heretically) means “Lord of the West” (LotR/1036, S/267). Its first element adûn means “west”, which implies that its second element means “lord”, but it isn’t clear whether this element is *akhôr or *khôr. I think that khôr is more likely, because it resembles the Primitive Elvish root √KHER “rule, govern, possess”, to which it may be related.

agannūlo burudan nēnum

death-shade heavy-is on-us

The first draft of the 9th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312), which was close to the final version but had minor differences in spelling and grammar. The subject agannūlo “death-shade” seems to be in the normal-case rather than the subjective, and nūlo “shade” is a variant spelling of later nâlu. The word burudan “heavy” seems to buruda (so spelled in the second draft but burôda in the final version) with the predicate suffix -n “is”. The final word nēnum “on us” is a combination of the pronoun nê “us” and the prepositional suffix -num “on” (nēnu in the second draft and nēnud in the final version).

anadûnê zîrân hikalba

Númenor the beloved she fell (down)

The 6th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). Its subject Anadûnê “Númenor” is in the normal-case rather than the subjective. This is consistent with the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, which allowed a normal subject if the verb has a pronominal inflection (SD/429), in this case the prefix hi- “she” of the verb hikalba (place names in Adûnaic are often feminine-nouns).

The placement of the adjective zîrân “beloved” after the noun is curious, since according to Tolkien adjectives normally precede the nouns they modify (SD/428). Perhaps in this instance the adjective is used as a noun. Its manuscript gloss “the beloved” instead of simply “beloved” (as in the typescript) supports this possibility. Alternately, it could be in an abnormal position because it is a participle (verbal adjective).

The verbs in the typescript and manuscript versions are slightly different: kallaba “fell down” (SD/247) and kalba “fell” (VT24/12), the past and aorist tenses of the verb kalab- “to fall (down)”. Tolkien also vacillated between these two forms in the second draft version of the sentence before settling on the aorist. Since the fall of Númenor had already come to pass in the fictional context of the Lament, the past tense here could be functioning here as a pluperfect (SD/439), but the aorist tense would also work if the sentence describes the fall of Númenor at that point in the narrative. Tolkien’s vacillation is therefore understandable: either verb form could work albeit with slightly different meanings. The Quenya translation of this sentence, ᴹQ. Númenóre ataltane (SD/247), uses the simple past instead of the perfect, matching the Adûnaic manuscript version rather than typescript.

arûn

masculine name. Lord

An Adûnaic name for Morgoth, perhaps coined by Sauron when he introduced the worship of the dark god to the Númenóreans, translated as “Lord” (SD/376). It is derived from the word ârû “king” and was sometimes used in a compound together with Morgoth’s true Adûnaic name: Arûn-Mulkhêr (SD/367). In other writings (SD/357) it was the original Adûnaic name of Morgoth before he fell to evil, but that hardly makes sense in the conceptual scenario of the later Silmarillion, in which Morgoth had already become evil before men awoke.

azrē nai {phurusam >>} phurrusim akhās-ada

seas might-flow Chasm-into

The first draft of the 5th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311). Its has the same vocabulary as the final version except that it has nai “might” (an adverb?) instead of the prefix du. This nai is almost certainly a variant of Q. nai “maybe, be it that”.

The draft version has several other grammatical differences from later versions. The subject azrē “seas” seems to be a simple rather than subjective plural. Tolkien initially wrote phurusam for the verb and then changed to to phurrusim “flow”, perhaps aorist and past tenses of the verb phurus-, respectively. Both conjugations have the plural verb suffix -m. The last phrase akhās-ada “into Chasm” is essentially identical to the final version, however.

kadô

conjunction. and so

A word glossed “and so” in both the draft and final versions Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247, 311). This is the only known Adûnaic conjunction. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/DAW, KA3) that the element -dô is some sort of modifying suffix, also seen in tâidô and îdô, so that the conjugation “and” is simply ka. Thorsten Renk also used ka for simple “and” (NBA/15).

khibil

noun. spring

A noun translated “spring” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).

mîth

noun. baby girl, maid-child, little girl

An Adûnaic noun for “little or baby dirl” (SD/427, 437), fully declined on SD/437 as an example of a Weak I noun. It is also given as an example of a feminized noun form on SD/427.

pharazôn

masculine name. Golden

The son of Gimilkhâd who usurped the throne to become the 25th and final ruler of Númenor, translated “Golden” (LotR/1114, S/270). His Quenya name was Tar-Calion. Since Calion appears to mean “Son of Light”, Ar-Pharazôn* is an example of a Númenórean ruler whose Adûnaic and Quenya names had different meanings.

The first element in his name is the noun pharaz “gold”. Since Pharazôn is glossed “Golden”, the second element -ôn may be an adjectival suffix. Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/PHAR’Z) that the name means “Golden One”, closer to its Quenya equivalent, and that the suffix -ôn is a masculine variant of the agental suffix -ân*. Either way, the name is also notable in that it does not undergo the Adûnaic syncope when its suffix is added.

Conceptual Development: The name also appeared in “The Notion Club Papers” from the 1940s (SD/311), in some examples inflected into the subjective case (SD/247, 428-9).

târik

noun. pillar, that which supports

The Adûnaic word for “pillar” (SD/241). Tolkien explained that this word is perceived as having a verbal function: “that which supports” (SD/429). As such, it can be used with an objective form in the name Minul-târik “That Which Supports the Heavens”.

Conceptual Development: In earlier drafts of “The Notion Club Papers” stories, this word appeared tûbal (SD/363), tūbil (SD/305) and (Quenya?) tyūlā (SD/346).

zigûr

noun. wizard

A noun translated “wizard” and given as an example of a noun with a long vowel in its final syllable that (archaically) uses the declension for a strong-noun (SD/437), the rare class of Strong-Ib nouns. By the time of Classical Adûnaic, it could be declined as an ordinary weak-noun instead. As the proper name Zigûr, it was the Adûnaic name for Sauron.

zigûr

masculine name. Sauron

The Adûnaic name (or title) for Sauron (SD/250). It simply the word zigûr “wizard” used as a name.

ar-pharazônun kathuphazgân

King Ar-Pharazon is (was) a Conqueror

A phrase given by Tolkien as an example of how the subjective case can be used to represent the verb “to be” (SD/429). Since the first noun the subject, the second noun is the predicate and the verb “is” is implied. Depending on context, the sentenced could refer to the past so that the subjective would represent “was” instead. This sentence is contrasted with Ar-Pharazôn kathuphazgânun, where the second noun is inflected in the subjective instead, so that the entire noun phrase would be the subject: “King Ar-Pharazon the Conqueror...”.

nîlû

masculine name. (Man in the) Moon

The masculine personification of nîlu “the moon” (SD/426), perhaps the Adûnaic name for Q. Tilion.

batân

noun. road, path, way

A noun variously translated as “road”, “path” or “way” (SD/247, 431; VT24/12) and fully declined on SD/431. This noun also appears in the variant strong-plural form batîn that was sometimes used with Weak I nouns in older and poetic writing (SD/247, 435). Its ordinary weak plural form batânî appears in the declension chart on SD/431. Several authors have suggested (AAD/13, EotAL/BAT) that this noun may be a derivative of the Elvish root ᴹ√BAT “tread” (Ety/BAT). If so, its final element may be the agental suffix -ân, and its initial element may be a verb *bat- “walk”, so that the literal sense of the word might be “*walkway”.

imrahil

masculine name. Imrahil

The 22th prince of Dol Amroth who fought at the battle of Pelennor fields in the War of the Ring (LotR/771). Tolkien said that “Imrahil is a Númenórean name” (LotR/1113), which seems to be true for the names of earlier princes as well (as discussed in the entry for Adrahil). It is not clear what this name means. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/16-17) that it may mean “Heir of Imra”, with the same initial element as Imrazôr and with -hil = “heir”. See the entry on -hin for further discussion of the suffix -hil.

Conceptual Development: This name first appeared as Imrahil (WR/363), but Tolkien briefly changed it to Ildramir while he was concocting the name of Arwen, who at one point was similarly named Emrahil (SD/66). Once Tolkien settle on the name Arwen, the name of Imrahil was restored. In the drafts of the Lord of the Rings appendices, Tolkien initially listed Imrahil as a Lemberin (Nandorin) name (PM/36) before deciding it was Adûnaic.

kan-

verb. to hold

A verb translated “hold”, given by Tolkien as an example of a biconsonantal-verb (SD/439). There is unfortunately no information on how it might be conjugated.

nardû

noun. soldier

A noun translated “soldier” and fully declined as an example of a masculine Weak II noun (SD/438). Several authors have suggested (AAD/20, EotAL/NERE) that it may be related to narû “man”.

thâni

noun. land

A noun translated “land” (SD/435) appearing in the Adûnaic names for the Blessed Realm: Amatthâni and thâni’nAmân. Its Primitive Adûnaic form was also ✶thāni, though its primitive was glossed “realm" (SD/420).

zamîn

feminine name. Zamîn

An otherwise untranslatable name of a Númenórian commoner (UT/194).

adûni

noun. the West

According to Tolkien, this is the proper noun form of the adjective adûn “west” (SD/435), though adûn is used as a noun in some examples as well.

ar-pharazôn kathuphazgânun

King Ar-Pharazon the Conqueror

A phrase given by Tolkien as an example of how a pair of nouns would be declined into the subjective case, with only the last noun inflected (SD/429). The entire noun phrase would be the subject of the sentence. It is contrasted with Ar-Pharazônun kathuphazgân, where the first noun is inflected instead. This would be a the sentences “Ar-Pharazôn (is) a conquerer”.

indilzar

masculine name. Indilzar

A draft Adûnaic name for Elros “Star-foam”, later changed to Gimilzôr (SD/363, 380). The final element may be the draft Adûnaic word for “star” azar mentioned by Christopher Tolkien on PM/372. If so, the first element might be a draft word meaning “foam”, but later words for foam such as Ad. rôth are probably preferred.

agannâlô burôda nênud

[the] death-shadow [is] heavy on us

The 9th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The subject agannâlô “death-shadow” is a compound of agan “death” and nâlu “shadow” in the subjective case. The next word burôda “heavy” is simply an adjective, and nênud “on us” is a combination of the pronoun nê “us” and the prepositional suffix -nud “on”. Since there is no verb, the subjective here functions as the verb “to be” (SD/429), so that the English translation should be “the death-shadow is heavy on us”, though Tolkien did not include “is” in his translation.

In the previous (second draft) version of this sentence, the spelling of some words were slightly different: buruda (as it was in the first draft) instead of the final form burôda and nēnu instead of the final form nēnud (SD/312). The first draft of this sentence uses the same words but is grammatically different.

-u-

suffix. objective inflection

The inflection used to mark nouns in the objective case (SD/430), used either as a suffix (for weak-nouns) or replacing the last vowel (for strong-nouns). Feminine nouns sometimes use -i- instead for their objective forms (SD/432), owing to the association of the final vowel -u with masculinity.

agathurush

place name. Greyflood

The Adûnaic name of the river S. Gwathló “Greyflood” (UT/263), also glossed “flood under shadow” (VT42/9). This later name does not fit the Adûnaic phonetic rules described by Tolkien in Lowdham’s Report, since “sh” [ʃ] is not a phoneme used in Adûnaic (SD/418). It may be that Tolkien changed his mind about the phonemes of Adûnaic, or it may be that Agathurush had already undergone some of the phonetic changes leading to the Westron language, which had this sound (LotR/1120). It isn’t clear how this name could be decomposed into its elements.

angelimir

masculine name. Angelimir

The 20th prince of Dol Amroth (PM/223). The language and meaning of this name are not clear, but based on the idea that the princes of Dol Amroth took Adûnaic names (as discussed in the entry for Adrahil), this entry assumes the name is Adûnaic. David Salo suggested instead it was Sindarin (GS/341).

ar-pharazônun bâr ’nanadûnê

King Pharazon is Lord of Anadune

An example sentence illustrating Adûnaic grammar: it is a copula (a “to be” expression) without an explicit verb for “is” (SD/428). The subject of the sentence, Ar-Pharazônun, is in the subjective case, which represents the verb “to be”. The rest of the sentence, Bâr ’nAnadûnê “Lord of Anadune (Númenor)” is the predicate and is in the normal-case. This sentence also provides an example of the use of the genitive prefix an- “of”, here elided to ’n because of the preceding uninflected noun.

arbazân

masculine name. Arbazân

The draft name for Aphanuzîr. Tolkien may have changed the name because of its similarity to Abrazân “*Steadfast, Faithful”.

gimilzôr

masculine name. Star-?foam

Gimilzôr was the Adûnaic name of Elros (SD/380) in the story “The Notion Club Papers” from the mid-1940s. Since the element gimil means “stars”, this name is most likely a translation of the Sindarin name, which means “Star-foam”.

In later writings, Gimilzôr is the son of Ar-Sakalthôr and the 23rd ruler of Númenor, whose Quenya name was Tar-Telemnar (S/268). It is unclear whether this instance of Gimilzôr retains the same meaning as the earlier version of the name. It is possible that the later version has the same meaning as Telemnar (translated by most authors as “Silver-fire”), in which case Tolkien may also have revised the Adûnaic name of Elros (the word for “foam” was elsewhere given as Ad. roth). Alternately, it could be that the Adûnaic and Quenya names are unrelated, and Tar-Telemnar simply adopted the Adûnaic name of his illustrious ancestor.

Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/KH-B-L) that if Gimilzôr means “Silver-fire”, its initial element gimil “silver” could be a cognate of Dwarvish kibil. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/11) that his Quenya name Telemnar contains adjective ᴹQ. telemna “of silver”, and does not involve “fire” at all.

Conceptual Development: As a name for Eärendil, this name first appeared as Indilzar (SD/363).

imrazôr

masculine name. Imrazôr

The father of Galador who became first prince of Dol Amroth (UT/248). The name Imrazôr is Adûnaic in form and has the same initial element as Imrahil, who was prince of Dol Amroth during the War of the Ring. It has the same last element as Gimilzôr. It is not clear what this name means, however.

kathuphazgân

noun. conqueror

A noun translated “conqueror” (SD/429), apparently a compound whose first element seems to be the objective form of katha “all”. The final element is likely the agental suffix -ân also attested in magân and sapthân. If so, the middle element is probably a verb, perhaps a triconsonantal verb *phazag-, though it could be a derived verb *phazgâ-.

-im

suffix. gendered plural subjective suffix

A suffix used in plural subjective inflections of gendered-nouns, in most cases blending with the plural ending -î to become -îm (SD/430).

balkumagân

masculine name. Shipwright, *Shipbuilder

The 12th ruler of Númenor, whose Quenya name was Tar-Ciryatan “Shipbuilder, Shipwright” (PM/151). The first element of his name is the objective form of balak “ship”. Therefore, the second element magân most likely means “wright, *builder”. This name appears only in a draft list of the kings of Númenor from the early 1950s, and falls between the conceptual periods of Middle Adûnaic and Late Adûnaic in the terminology used here.

zabathân

adjective. humbled

An adjective translated “humbled” (SD/247, 311), perhaps a participle of the verb *zabath- “to (be) humble” with the participle suffix -ân.

-at

suffix. dual suffix

The suffix for dual nouns in Adûnaic, with the a lengthened to â in subjective duals (SD/428-430). In later (Exilic?) Adûnaic, the â was long in all cases (SD/431). See the entry on dual nouns for further details. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/11) that -at is derived from the same Primitive Elvish form ✶ata as the Quenya dual.

abarzâyan

place name. Land of Gift

A draft Adûnaic name for the “Land of Gift”, later replaced by Yôzâyan (SD/388). Its final element is zâyan “land”. Its initial element seems to be abâr, which also appeared in its predecessor Zen’nabâr. If so, then abâr probably meant “gift” at this stage, though its later meaning was “strength, endurance, fidelity”.

abattârik

masculine name. ?World Pillar

The Adûnaic name of the Tar-Ardamin, the 19th rulers of Númenor (UT/222). His Quenya name appears to mean “World Tower”. The last element of his Adûnaic name is clearly Ad. târik* “pillar”, so perhaps its meaning is similar. If so, the first element of his Adûnaic name may mean “World”. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/BAN¹) this element is likely *aban or abân, with the final n altered to t in the compound according to the rules of Adûnaic assimilation.

ēruhīn udūbanim dalad ugrus

‽ fell under ‽horror‽shadow

The first draft of the 2nd phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311). It differs from the final version only in grammar. The subject of the sentence seems to be a simple plural of #Êruhin, not in the subjective case. The verb might be inflected with the 3rd-person singular masculine suffix u- “he”, but this contradicts the plurality of the subject. Another explanation is that the verb is in the draft-perfect tense and the initial u- is an augment vowel. Either way, it is difficult to explain why it has the verbal suffix -nim instead of the usual plural suffix -m.

The word dalad “under” comes before the noun rather than as a suffix as is usual of later Adûnaic prepositions. The word it modifies seems to be the draft-dative case of the word ugru “shadow”, indicating that the objects of prepositions could be declined into various cases in the draft grammar.

burôda

adjective. (very) heavy

An adjective glossed “heavy” (SD/247) or “very heavy” (VT24/12).

Conceptual Development: It appeared as buruda in early Adûnaic writings (SD/312).

yôzâyan

place name. Land of Gift

This is the Adûnaic equivalent of Q. Andor “Land of Gift”, one of the names given to the land of Númenor (UT/184, SD/241). Its final element is zâyan “land”, so its initial element *yô most likely means “gift”. Conceptual Development: Tolkien experimented with many variations on this name before settling on Yôzâyan. The development seems to have been Athânâtê >> Amatthânê >> Zen’nabâr >> Abarzâyan >> Yôzâyan, all of which were glossed “Land of Gift”.

kamāt

noun. earth (draft)

The noun for “Earth” in the first draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311), later replaced by dâira (SD/247). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/17) that it may be related to the Elvish root ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth”.

ugrudâ-

verb. to overshadow

A verb translated “overshadow”, given as an example of a derived-verb (SD/439). It appears to contain the element ugru “shadow”, so perhaps the final element -dâ- is a causative verbal suffix.

ki

pronoun. *you

A pronominal prefix, most likely the second person pronoun “you”, appearing in the verb kitabdahê “[you] touch me” in the sentence bâ kitabdahê (SD/250). See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

huzun

noun. ear

A noun translated as “ear” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).

narû

noun. man, male

A noun translated “soldier” and fully declined as an example of an (archaic) masculine Strong II noun (SD/437). The archaic form of this word is †naru which is a Strong II noun since it ends in a single short vowel. Its non-archaic form is narû, which is presumably declined as a Weak II noun; most masculine and feminine nouns became weak in Classical Adûnaic (SD/436). It may be related to the Primitive Elvish root √N(D)ER, as suggested by several authors (AAD/20, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/NERE).

îdô

adverb. now

A word translated “now” in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). In the final manuscript version, this is the only form of the word, but in the final typescript version and in all earlier versions, it sometimes appears in the form îdôn.

Some authors have suggested this variation occurs when îdô appears before words beginning in a vowel or semi-vowel (AL/Adûnaic, NBA/12), but this seems unlikely to me. Carl Hostetter, Patrick Wynne and Andreas Moehn instead suggested (VSH/18, AAD/16, LGtAG, EotAL/DAW) that îdôn is a subjective inflection of the word îdô, being used as a noun. The key evidence supporting this second theory is that where the form îdon appears, its gloss is always “now (is)” rather than simply “now”. As discussed elsewhere (SD/429), the subjective inflection can function as the verb “to be”.

I tend to agree with this theory of Hostetter, Wynne and Moehn, but I think the actually development is somewhat more complex. In the first draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth, this form of the word appears twice as īdōn “lo! now is”. As noted by Mr. Moehn (LGtAG), this version of the Lament used a predicate suffix -n “is” in several places: burodan “heavy-is”, rōkhī-nam “bent-are”. It seems likely that draft form īdōn “lo! now is” is another variation of this earlier syntax.

The draft predicate suffix -n differed from the later subjective case in that it applied to the predicate of a clause instead of the subject. Compare these changes from the draft to final versions:

• agannūlo burudan “death-shade heavy-is” >> agannâlô burôda “death-shadow [is] heavy”

• batānī rōkhī-nam “ways bent-are” >> batîna lôkhî “ways (are) bent”

In both draft sentences, the subject is uninflected and the predicate has the predicate suffix -n/-nam. Conversely, in the later sentences the subject is inflected into the subjective case while the predicate is uninflected. This demonstrates the functional shift in the use of the predicate suffix -n in these drafts to the later use of the subjective inflection.

In both the second draft and final typescript versions of the Lament, the form îdôn was retained in all the sentences where it appeared in the first draft. This means that it could have been a remnant of this earlier syntax. The form îdôn could be reinterpreted as the sentence’s subject, but this is also problematic, since îdô is certainly neuter and its subjective form should be *îdôwa, not îdôn.

It is my belief that Tolkien eventually decided that the suffix -n could no longer be used in this context and removed it, switching to an uninflected îdô “now” everywhere in the text as is the case in the final manuscript version of the Lament. On the basis of this deduction, I also believe that the manuscript version was written after than the typescript version.

dulgu

adjective. black, dark

An adjective translated “black” (SD/247). It appears in its plural form dulgî “black” in the final version of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247) and in its singular form dulgu in the second draft of this text (SD/312). It may be related to S. dûr “dark” and N. doll “obscure, hidden, dusky”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/14). It is likely related to or a variant of dolgu “black, dark”.

kadar

noun. city

A noun appearing only as an element in kadar-lâi “city folk” (SD/435).

kali

noun. woman

A noun translated “woman” (SD/434).

kherû

masculine name. Lord

A rejected draft version of the Adûnaic name for Morgoth translated “Lord”, replaced by Arûn of the same meaning (SD/376). It is transparently a derivative of the Elvish root ᴹ√KHER, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/18). A later form of this word, *khôr “lord”, may appears as an element in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”.

khô

noun. crow

A noun translated “crow” (SD/426). Tolkien listed this noun in two forms, khâu and khô, both as examples of seemingly uniconsonantal nouns that prehistorically were biconsonantal (from prehistoric ✶khaw). Most authors have suggested these are simply variations on the same noun illustrating different paths of phonetic development (AAD/18, AL/Adûnaic). Another interesting possibility is that khâu is an (archaic?) subjective form of khô, produced from the usual a-fortification of primitive ✶khaw → ✶khāw, which would develop phonetically in Classical Adûnaic to khâu and khô. As support for this idea, the plural form of khâu is given as khāwī(m), which appears to include the subjective plural suffix -im.

This line of reasoning is quite speculative. Nevertheless, it is probably easier to use the form khô over khâu, since the inflections of khô would be more regular: plural khôi, dual *khôwat, objective *khôwu, etc.

lâi

collective noun. folk

A noun appearing only as an element in kadar-lâi “city folk” (SD/435). It may be related to Q. lië “people”, as suggested by various authors (AAD/18, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/LAI). In at least one Avari dialect, this word was lai (WJ/410).

nîlu

noun. moon

A noun translated as “moon” and fully declined as an example of a Strong II noun (SD/431). It appears with both a short and long final -u, but Tolkien indicated that the form with long û is actually the personified form Nîlû “Man in the Moon” (SD/426), perhaps the Adûnaic name of Tilion. Tolkien also listed the “later forms Nil, Njūl” (SD/306), one of which may be the Westron word for “moon”, most likely Wes. nil. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/NUL) that this noun may be related to nûlo/nûlu/nâlu, but given the evil connotations of these words (SD/306) and the different stem vowels, this seems unlikely to me.

nûph

noun. fool

A noun translated “fool” and fully declined as an example of a Weak I noun (SD/437-8). It was later written in the form nîph (SD/426), but since all the attested declensions are based on nûph, the entry here uses the earlier form.

The word nûph is a common-noun but it has some example inflections with masculine and feminine suffixes: nûphun (masculine subjective), nûphin (feminine subjective), nûphi (feminine objective). This seems to be another way that an individual’s gender be indicated (“male fool”, “female fool”) instead of using explicit masucline and feminine suffixes like -û or -î.

pâ

noun. hand

A noun translated “hand”, given as an example of an apparent Adûnaic uniconsonantal noun, which had a biconsonantal-root but lost one of its consonants from its ancient form ✶Ad. paʒa (SD/416, 426).

ugru

noun. shadow

A noun translated “shadow” (SD/247), also described as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’” (SD/306). It appears in the preprositional phrase ugru-dalad “under shadow” (SD/247) and in the draft-dative form ugrus “‽horror‽shadow” (SD/311).

urug

noun. bear

A noun translated “bear” (SD/426), also given by Tolkien as an example of how common-nouns can be altered into masculine and feminine forms using the suffixes -û and -î: urgī “female bear, she-bear” (SD/435).

zâyan

noun. land

An Adûnaic word for “land” (SD/423). It has an irregular plural form zâin which is the result of the phonetic change (SD/423): [[pad|medial [w] and [j] vanished before [u] and [i]]]. Thus, the archaic plural changed from †zâyîn > zâîn > zâin.

Conceptual Development: In earlier names this word appeared as zen (SD/378, 385).

akhâs

noun. chasm

A noun for “chasm” attested only in the prepositional phrase akhāsada “into chasm” (SD/247) and akhās-ada “chasm-into” (SD/311), the latter example making it clear which element means what.

avalô

noun. Power, God

An Adûnaic noun translated as “God” or “Power” (SD/247, 305), the equivalent of (and possibly derived from) Q. Vala. It is probably pronounced [awalō], since the sound [w] in Adûnaic was sometime written “v” (SD/434). It frequently appeared in its plural or subjective plural forms Avalôi(m) “Powers, Gods”.

Conceptual Development: In early drafts of Adûnaic its plural was Avalâi with a long â instead of ô, perhaps indicating an earlier singular form Avalâ closer to Vala. Earlier still this word was given as plural Balāi, a more direct derivative of the Elvish root form ᴹ√BAL.

avradî

feminine name. *Varda

An Adûnaic name for a goddess with the title Gimilnitîr “Star-kindler” (SD/428). Though Tolkien never made it explicit, it is clearly the Adûnaic name of Varda (S. Elbereth). This name is curious, since [v] is not one of the phonemes used in Adûnaic (SD/418). Mostly likely it is pronounced [awradī]. Tolkien said that to represent the sound [w], he sometimes “used ‘v’ in the Anglicanizing of Adunaic names” (SD/434). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/12) that it may be a derivative of Primitive Elvish ✶Baradā.

katha

adjective. all

A word translated “all” in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/288, VT24/12). This word appeared in the form kâtha in the final typescript version of the Lament (SD/247), but in all other instances appeared as katha. If the final typescript is later than the final manuscript, kâtha may be its final form, but I believe that the manuscript was later, and katha better matches its appearance as an element in kathuphazgân “conqueror” (SD/429). This last example is interesting in that it is an example of an adjective declined into the objective case.

mîk

noun. *baby boy

An unglossed word that it is apparently the masculine equivalent of mîth “baby girl”, using the masculine suffix -k (SD/427).

sûla

noun. trump

A noun translated “trump” illustrating the development of Primitive Adûnaic palatals, or c-series (SD/419). Perhaps its meaning is the older sense of the English word: “trumpet”; it seems unlikely it would refer to a suit of cards .

ulbar

masculine name. Ulbar

An otherwise untranslatable name of a Númenórian commoner (UT/195).

dâur

noun. gloom

A noun translated as “gloom” derived from the root √DAWAR (SD/423). It is an example of how primitive [[ad|[w] and [j] became [u] and [i] before consonants and finally]], thereby producing diphthongs.

pharaz

noun. gold

A noun meaning “gold”, the only Adûnaic word defined in The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1114).

Conceptual Development: This noun also appears in “Lowdham’s Report on the Adunaic Language” from the 1940s (SD/426).

îbal

masculine name. Îbal

An otherwise untranslatable name of a Númenórian commoner (UT/194).

adrahil

masculine name. Adrahil

There were two men with this name in Tolkien’s legendarium. Adrahil I was a Gondorian prince who fought with King Ondoher against the Wainriders (UT/293-4, 319 note #39). Adrahil II was the 21st prince of Dol Amroth and the father of Imrahil (LotR/1056, PM/223). Since Tolkien said that “Imrahil is a Númenórean name” (LotR/1113), it is likely Adrahil was also Adûnaic. It seems that Adûnaic names were traditional for the princes of Dol Amroth: many of the known names (such as Adrahil, Imrahil and Imrazôr) are Adûnaic in form. It is not clear what the elements of these names might mean, however.

Conceptual Development: In the drafts of the Lord of the Rings appendices, Tolkien listed Adrahil as a Lemberin (Nandorin) name, along with Imrahil (PM/36). Probably when Imrahil became Adûnaic, Adrahil switched languages as well.

belzagar

masculine name. Belzagar

The 18th ruler of Númenor, whose Quenya name was Tar-Calmacil “Light-sword” (UT/222). If his Adûnaic and Quenya names have the same meaning, the second element zagar of his name most likely means “sword”. The first element might mean “light”, as suggested by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/BAY’L), but the element bel- is attested elsewhere as a verbal element meaning “to love”. It is possible the two meanings coexisted, or that Tolkien changed the meaning of bel* from “love” to “light”.

This name violates the original phonetic rules of Adûnaic, which said that the vowels [ē] and [ō] could only be long in Adûnaic (SD/423). See the discuss of conceptual-changes-in-late-Adûnaic for more information.

kadar-lâi

noun. city folk

A compound noun translated “city folk” given as an example of an adjectival-genitive relationship between nouns (SD/435).

gimilkhâd

masculine name. Gimilkhâd

Younger brother of Ar-Inziladûn (Q. Tar-Palantir) who was the 24th ruler of Númenor (S/269). His son Ar-Pharazôn usurped the throne to become the 25th (and final) ruler of Númenor. The first element of his name, gimil means “stars”, but it is not clear what last element means.

* -ak

preposition. away

A suffix in the word êphalak “far away”, a derivative of êphal “far” (SD/247). Some authors have suggested that -ak is an intensive suffix “very” instead of suffix meaning “away” (LGtAG, NBA/32). However, the corresponding Quenya word vahai(y)a “far away” is a combination va “(away) from” and haiya “far”, so it seems to me that the literal translation “away” is more likely to be correct (this translation of va was published after LGtAG and NBA were written).

aglahad

proper name. Aglahad

The 19th prince of Dol Amroth (PM/223). The language and meaning of this name are not clear, but based on the idea that the princes of Dol Amroth took Adûnaic names (as discussed in the entry for Adrahil), this entry assumes the name is Adûnaic. David Salo attempted to analyze it as a Sindarin name instead (GS/340).

* zôr

noun. ?fire, ?foam

An element in the names Gimilzôr and Imrazôr. Imrazôr is difficult to translate, but Gimilzôr is equated to two different Quenya names at different periods of Tolkien’s writing: Elros “Star-foam” in the unfinished “Notion Club Papers” story from 1946 (SD/380), and Telemnar in the list of Adûnaic kings in The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1035). The name Telemnar is unglossed, but a likely translation would be “Silver-fire”. Assuming the element zôr has the same meaning as its Quenya equivalents, could mean either “foam” or “fire”. There is a different Adûnaic word for foam: rôth or roth in Rothinzil* “Foam-flower”, so perhaps “fire” is a more useful interpretation, albeit quite speculative.

* adûnâ

noun. Númenórean, (lit.) Westerner

The Adûnaic word for the Númenóreans themselves, clearly related to adûn “west” (PE17/18, SD/240). It is attested only in plural forms Adûnâi (normal plural) and Adûnâim (subjective plural). The final vowel of its singular form must be a long â; if it were short, its plural form would be **Adûnî instead of the attested Adûnâi.

* -iyê

suffix. language suffix

A suffix used for the names of languages, appearing only in Nimriyê, the languages of the Nimir (SD/414). My best guess for the form of this suffix is -iyê with Nimir reduced to Nimr- by the Adûnaic syncope. If the first element is instead Nimri* (perhaps an adjective meaning “Elvish”), the suffix could be *-yê or even -ê, with the y inserted as the usual glide-consonant after the final -i*.

* anazûli

adjective. eastern

A reconstruction; cp. #azûl "east" and anadûni "western" (SD/426, 435).

* bên

noun. servant, ?person

A noun attested only in its plural form bênî “servants” as an element in the term Êru-bênî “Servants of God” (SD/341, 357). This noun resembles the Sindarin word pen “person”, especially in the Sindarin lenited form -ben. The Adûnaic noun may be related, having undergone phonetic development similar to that discussed for Ad. bêth “word”, so that bên is ultimately derived from Primitive Elvish ✶kwēn “person”, which could be its archaic meaning. Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/BIN) that it is derived from a root *BIN, possibly related to Ed. Bëor “Vassal, Servant”.

* nakh-

verb. to come

A verb translated in the past tense as “came” (SD/247, 311), so probably meaning “to come”. Like kalab-, this is one of the few Adûnaic verbs attested in more than one conjugation. As such, it is useful in the study of Adûnaic verbs, in this case biconsonantal-verbs as opposed to triconsonantal kalab-.

It is attested in two forms, unakkha “he-came” and yanākhim “are at hand”. The initial elements in these forms are the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u- and the 3rd-pl neuter pronominal prefix ya-, respectively, while the latter form has the plural verbal suffix -m. Removing these elements leaves the conjugated forms nakkha and nākhi, which are the past and continuative-present tenses according to the theories used here. If the second form is the continuative-present, its literal meaning may be “are coming”.

Conceptual Development: In the draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth, this verb stem was apparently nek-, with past forms hunekkū >> unekkū “he-came”, with Tolkien vacillating on the proper form of the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u-.

* ya

noun. *they (neuter)

A pronominal prefix, most likely the neuter/common plural pronoun “they”. It appears in the verb yanâkhim “[they] are at hand” in the sentence narîka ’nBâri ’nAdûn yanâkhim and in the verb yakalubim “[they] lean over” in the sentence urîd yakalubim (SD/251), both sentences having plural subjects. See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

* tabad-

verb. to touch

A verb translated “touch”, attested only in the phrase bâ kitabdahê “Don’t touch me!” (SD/250). The initial element ki is perhaps the 2nd person pronoun “you”, and the final element hê is perhaps the object pronoun “me”. This leaves the middle element tabda “touch”, which looks like the aorist tense of a triconsonantal verb tabad-. Most authors agree with this decomposition of the verb (EotAL/TAB’D, NBA/18, AL/Adûnaic), though Thorsten Renk suggested (NBA/18) the final element is a marker of the imperative.

* nitir-

verb. to kindle

A verb attested only as an agental-formation in the names Gimilnitîr “Star-kindler” and gimlu-nitîr “kindler of a (particular) star” (SD/428). Thorsten Renk suggested (NBA/32) the base verb is nitir-, and this seems to me to be the likeliest possibility. Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/NIT’Y) that the verb stem may be nit-, and that the -îr is some kind of feminine agental suffix.

* yi

pronoun. they (feminine)

A hypothetical feminine plural pronoun “they”, assuming it follows the same pattern as masculine yu and neuter ya, as suggested by several authors (AL/Adûnaic, NBA/14, LGtAG).

* hê

pronoun. me

This element appears to be the object pronoun “me” in the phrase bâ kitabdahê “don’t touch me” (SD/250). It is not clear whether it could also serve as a subject pronoun “I”. Thorsten Renk instead suggested (NBA/18) that -hê may be a marker for the imperative, and proposed the invented word Ad. !ni for “I, me”, a hypothetical cognate of Q. ni.

* lôkho

adjective. bent, crooked

An adjective variously glossed as “bent” or “crooked”, attested only in its plural form lôkhî (SD/247, VT24/12). Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/LUKH) it may be related to the Elvish root √LOK “bend, loop”.

Conceptual Development: In its first appearance, this adjective had the plural form rōkhī, suggesting an earlier singular form *rôkho (SD/312).

* nimruzîr

noun. Elf-friend

A noun meaning “Elf-friend”, attested only in the (subjective) plural form Nimruzîrim (PM/151). It is identical to the Adûnaic name Nimruzîr of Q. Elendil, which had the same meaning.

Conceptual Development: An earlier name for the faithful Númenóreans was Avaltiri (SD/347).

* nê

pronoun. us

A first person plural object pronoun “us” attested only in the prepositional phrase “on us” in the Lament of Akallabêth, developing though the various drafts as nēnum >> nēnu >> nēnud (SD/247, 312). Most authors identify the element nê as the pronoun (AAD/20, LGtAG, NBA/14), which seems likely since the prepositional element is probably -num/nu/nud related to Q. nu “under”. It is not clear whether this pronoun can also be used as a subject pronoun “we”, or if it must always be an object “us”.

* ob

preposition. fore, *before

A prepositional element only attested in the late (1968) word obroth “fore-cutting” (PM/376), referring to the wake before a boat, so perhaps meaning “*before”. It appears only as a suffix, but in the earlier Adûnaic grammar of Lowdham’s Report from the 1940s, Adûnaic prepositions are used as suffixes (SD/435). This preposition also differs from the earlier phonetic rules of Lowdham’s Report, which allow only long [ō] in Adûnaic words. If this preposition were used in the grammatical and phonetic context of Lowdham’s Report (Middle Adûnaic), it might be the suffix *-ôb. See the entry on conceptual-changes-in-late-Adûnaic for further discussion.

* bêl-

verb. *to befriend, love

A verb stem bel- attested only in the explanations for the agental-formation -bêl in the name Azrubêl “Friend of the Sea, Sea-lover” (SD/305, PM/373). The form bel- violates Adûnaic phonetic rules given in Lowdham’s Report, which state that [ē] can only be a long vowel in Adûnaic (SD/423). See the discussion of its root form ✶Ad. √BEL for possible explanations. The Classical Adûnaic verb form might be bêl-, while bel- may instead be its most primitive (early Elvish?) form.

This verb seems to have a sense similar to that of zîr- “to love, desire”. Perhap it is distinct from zîr- in that it has more to do with friendship than desire, so that the verb means “to befriend” or “to love (as a friend)”.

* aphana

noun. ?bliss

An element of the name Aphanuzîr (SD/389), possibly meaning “bliss”; see the entry for that name for further discussion.

* bith-

verb. to say

A verbal form of Ad. bêth “expression, saying, word” attested only as an agental-formation as part of the noun izindu-bêth “true-sayer” (SD/427); see that entry for further discussion of its phonetic development. As suggested by Thorsten Renk suggested (NBA/24, 26), the verb stem is probably bith-, consistent with its primitive root ✶Ad. √BITH. Since agental forms generally have a lengthened or fortified vowel, the verb stem bith- could have the fortified agental form -bêth.

* miya

noun. infant

A noun attested only in its dual form miyât “(infant) twins” (SD/427). Its masculine and feminine equivalents are mîk and mîth.

* khay-

verb. to lie (down)

A verb appearing only as akhaini “lay” in the first draft of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). In later versions of the Lament it was change to the verb yad- “to go”, but since this replacement has a different sense, perhaps khay- remains valid.

This verb is only attested in the form akhaina “lay” and like all the draft verbs is difficult to analyze. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne analyze its initial element as the 3rd-singular pronominal suffix a- and its final element -ni as a past tense marker (VSH/34, 37), also suggesting it may be derived from the Elvish root √KAY “lie (down)” (AAD/10). This Elvish derivation seems likely to me, but I think the form of the verb may instead be the draft-perfect.

Thorsten Renk suggested (NBA/35) the verb stem may instead be khain-. While he could be right about its use in the draft Adûnaic language, this doesn’t fit the later phonetic rules of Lowdham’s Report, which allow only long diphthongs in Classical Adûnaic (SD/423).

* saphad-

verb. to understand

A verb attested only in the form usaphda “he understood”, an aorist inflection with the 3rd person masculine pronominal prefix u- (SD/421). Archaically its aorist form underwent phonetic changes to become †saptha, but it was later reformed to be consistent with other inflections of the verb (such as the past tense *sapphada).

* phazag-

verb. ?to rule, conquer

A hypothetical verbal element in the noun kathuphazgân “conqueror” (SD/429), whose literally meaning might be “all-ruler” (kathu-phazg-ân). Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/PHAZ) that it may be related to phazân* “prince” and have the meaning “to rule”, whereas Thorsten Renk suggested (NBA/27) that it might mean “to conquer”.

* zabath-

verb. to (be) humble

A hypothetical verbal element in the participle adjective zabathân “humbled” (SD/247). According to Andreas Moehn (EotAL/ZAB’TH), Aleš Bičan suggested that the initial element za- is some kind of verbal prefix, similar in function to nu- in ᴹQ. nukumna “humbled”, which would help explain why it does not undergo the Adûnaic syncope in its participle form.

* urud

noun. mountain

A noun attested only in its plural form urîd “mountains” (SD/251). Several authors have suggested it is related to S. orod “mountain”, either borrowed directly or derived from the same Elvish root ᴹ√OROT (AAD/24, EotAL/ÓROT).

* êruhin

proper name. Child of God

A title for the race of men as the children of Êru “God” (SD/247). It is only attested in the plural Êruhîn (SD/311, 358) and subjective plural Êruhînim (SD/247-8) forms “Children of God”. The suffix -hin seems to have been a general patronymic in Adûnaic used for lines of descent, also appearing in Indilzar Azrabêlôhin “*Line of Elros [son] of Earendil”.

Conceptual Development: This name first appeared as Eruhil(di) (SD/341, 399), probably incorporating ᴹQ. hilde “men”. In these early appearances Tolkien may have conceived of this as a Quenya word before introducing its Adûnaic form Êruhîn. In its early appearances the latter name sometimes had a short initial E: Eruhîn (SD/358), possibly another transitional form resembling later Sindarin Eruchîn. In still later writings, Tolkien coined a Quenya word Q. Eruhin of the similar meaning, encompassing both Men and Elves.

* -râ-

suffix. causative suffix

A possible element in the verb azgarâ- “to wage war”, perhaps a causative suffix, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/24).

* -ân¹

suffix. participle suffix

A suffix that appears in some adjectives, and may be used to form a participle in Adûnaic, that is an adjective formed from a verb. Helge Fauskanger suggested (AL/Adûnaic) that it may be a cognate of Q. -ina, derived from Primitive Elvish ✶-nā. There are two examples: zîrân “beloved” ← zîr- “to love” and zabathân “humbled” ← *zabath- “to humble”. Both cases seem to be passive participles (also called “past participles” in English grammar), describing a noun that is the object of the verbal action: that which is loved, that which is humbled.

Unlike other Adûnaic adjectives, these participle forms appear after the noun they modify instead of before. See the entry on the participle for further discussion.

* -hin

suffix. child, patronymic

A patronymic suffix appearing in Êruhîn “Children of God” (SD/247) and in the early phrase Indilzar Azrabêlôhin “Line of Elros [son] of Earendil” (SD/382). It apparently means “child”. A possible feminine variant -hil appears in the early name Zimrahil (SD/373), later changed to Zimraphel*.

Andreas Moehn suggested (LGtAG) that -hin might have been replaced by the suffix -thôr appearing in the later name Sakalthôr “?Shore-son”. However, the suffixes -hin and -thôr (along with -phel “daughter”) could have co-existed in the same way that Quenya suffixes Q. -ion “-son” and Q. -iel “-daughter” co-existed with the use of Q. hína “child” as a patronymic in names like Q. Eruhin.

As suggested by several authors (AAD/15, EotAL/KHÍN), -hin is almost certainly related to Q. hína, S. hên “child”, either a direct loan or derived from the same root √KHIN. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/16) that the variant -hil in Zimrahil actually means “heir”, related to S. hîl, Q. hildë, and that this element also appears in Ad. Imrahil.

* Inziladûn

Inziladûn

The word inziladûn is an Adûnaic word meaning "flower of the west", derived from inzil, "flower", and adûn, "west". However, as inzil comes first, it is standing in object position; the meaning actually is "West of the Flower".

* hi

pronoun. she

A pronominal prefix, the feminine singular pronoun “she” (SD/247). It appears in the pseudo-phrase hi-Akallabêth “She-that-hath-fallen” in the sentence êphal êphalak îdô hi-Akallabêth and in the verb form hikalba “[she] fell” in the sentence Anadûnê zîrân hikalba “Númenor beloved fell (down)”. See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

* zen

noun. land (draft)

An earlier version of zâyan “land” attested in a few early compounds (SD/378, 385), as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/25).

* Akallabêth

Akallabêth

Akallabêth is an Adûnaic word meaning "She that hath Fallen" (from the verb kalab, meaning 'fall down'). The Quenya translation of this word is Atalantë, derived from the verbal stem talat. Akallabêth/Atalantë was also a general name for the island of Númenor after its Downfall. The Exiles became reluctant to speak of the land by any other name, or indeed much at all; but at times "they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts" and remembered Akallabêth, their former home

* -dâ-

suffix. verbal suffix

A possible causative verbal suffix in ugrudâ- “to overshadow”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/24). It may be related to Primitive Elvish causative suffix ✶-tā. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne instead suggested (VSH/24) it may be related to the Adûnaic prepositional suffix -ada “to, toward”.

* -thôr

suffix. ?-son

An element appearing only in the name Sakalthôr (UT/223). Though unglossed, his Quenya name Falassion seems to be falassë “shore” + -ion “son”, so perhaps -thôr is a patronymic meaning “son”, the masculine equivalent of -phel “daughter” appearing in Zimraphel “*Jewel-daughter”, as suggested by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/THUR).

* azûl

noun. east

A noun for “east” attested only in the prepositional phrase azûlada “eastward, to the east” = azûl + -ada* “to(ward)” (SD/247, 312).

* bawab

noun. wind

The noun for “wind”, attested only in the plural (bawîb) and subjective plural (bawîba) forms (SD/247, SD/312). Its plural form indicates that it is a strong-noun (Strong I), so its final vowel must be short, but in theory it could be any of a, i or u, each of which would be replaced by long î in plural nouns. Nouns with identical vowels are more common, however, so *bawab is the most likely singular form, though as Helge Fauskanger points out (AL/Adûnaic) the normal form could also be the weak noun *bawâb with a poetic strong plural (SD/435).

* kulbu

noun. root

A noun appearing only in its plural form kulbî “roots”, corresponding to the collective-noun kulub “roots, edible vegetables that are roots not fruits” (SD/431). As such, it most likely refers to root vegetables only, rather than other senses of the English word “root”.

* nad

preposition. hind, *behind

A prepositional element only attested in the late (1968) word nadroth “hind-track”, referring to the wake behind a boat, so perhaps meaning “*behind” (PM/376). It appears only as a prefix, but in the earlier Adûnaic grammar of Lowdham’s Report (1946), Adûnaic prepositions are used as suffixes (SD/435).

* yô

noun. gift

An element in the name Yôzâyan “Land of Gift” (UT/184, SD/241). The final element of this name is zâyan “land”, so its initial element yô most likely means “gift”, as suggested by several authors (AAD/24, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/YAW), though Andreas Moehn points out this word could have the form yôz instead (EotAL/YAW).

* -ân²

suffix. agental suffix

A suffix that is used in some examples for agental-formation: creating nouns from verbs that indicate the agent who performs the verb’s action. The clearest example is sapthân “wise man” derived (after some ancient sound modifications) from saphad- “to understand”. This formation means “*one who understands”. Less clear examples are magân “wright, builder”, perhaps from a verb mag- “to build”, and kathuphazgân “conquerer”, perhaps a combined of katha “all” and a verb ?phazag- “to take”, meaning “one who takes all”.

It is not clear how this suffix related to the similar participle suffix -ân used for form adjectives from verbs. See the entry on participle for further discussion. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/TAN) that -ân as an agental formation may be related to anâ “human being”.

* adûnâiyê

noun. Adûnaic

A hypothetical word for the Adûnaic language, modeled after Nimriyê “Elvish”. Other authors have suggested similar words: *Adûnaiyê (Andreas Moehn, EotAL) and *Adûnâyê (Thorsten Renk, NBA/1). As further evidence for this or a similar name, Westron speakers called their language Adûni (PM/316).

* inzil

inzil

inzil is similar to Valarin iniðil "lily, or other large single flower".

* narak

noun. eagle

A noun attested only in the plural subjective form Narīka “eagles” (SD/251). This formation is peculiar, because it seems to be a neuter subjective form, but the names of animals are generally common-nouns, as pointed out by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/NAR’K). If it were declined as a common noun, the subjective plural should be *narkim: compare Nimir “Elf” whose subjective plural form is nimrim (SD/436). Perhaps when Narīka was written, Tolkien had not finished working out the Adûnaic gender and case system.

* sakal

noun. shore

This word is attested only in Sakalthôr, whose Quenya name is Falassion (UT/223). The first element of the Quenya name seems to be falassë “shore”, so the first element of his Adûnaic name probably has the same meaning, as suggested by several authors (AAD/22, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/SAK’L).

* yad-

verb. to go

A verb appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth in the form ayadda “(it) went” (SD/247, VT24/12). Its initial element is the 3rd persons neuter plural suffix a- “it”. This leaves the basic verb form yadda, which is the past tense according to the theories used here.

Conceptual Development: It appeared in the form yadda in the first draft version of the Lament, and this form was also briefly considered as a replacement for unakkha “he-came” in the first sentence of the Lament (SD/312).

* zimra

noun. jewel

An element appearing in the names Zimraphel (UT/224) and Zimrathôn (UT/222) and also the Hadorian name Zimrahin (WJ/234). The corresponding Quenya names Q. Míriel and Q. Hostamir both seem to contain mírë “jewel”, so this is the likely meaning of the Adûnaic word as well, as suggested by most authors (AAD/25, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/ZIM’R).

* magân

noun. wright, *builder

A noun meaning “wright” attested only as an element in the name Balkumagân “Shipwright” (PM/151). It seems to be an agental-formation of a verb ?mag- “build” with the agental suffix -ân. Therefore, its literal sense might be “*builder”.

* Zamîn

Zamîn

Zamîn's name appears to be Adûnaic, but its meaning is impossible to determine.

* bat-

verb. to walk

A hypothetical verb, perhaps meaning “walk”, that may appear as an element in the noun batân “road, path, way”.

* mag-

verb. to build

A hypothetical verb from which the agental-formation magân “wright, builder” is derived, itself attested only as an element in the name Balkumagân “Shipwright”. It may be related to the Elvish root ᴹ√MAG* “use, handle”, as suggested by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/MAG).

* -phel

suffix. ?-daughter

An element appearing only in the name Zimraphel (UT/224). Though unglossed, her Quenya name Míriel seems to be mírë “jewel” + -iel “daughter”. The Adûnaic element zimra appears elsewhere as the Adûnaic equivalent of Q. mírë: in Zimrathôn whose Quenya name is Hostamir. These leaves the -phel to be “daughter” as suggested by several authors (AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/PHIL), perhaps the feminine equivalent of -thôr “son” appearing in Sakalthôr “*Shore-son”.

Phonetically, this element does not fit the earlier Adûnaic phonetic rules of Lowdham’s Report, which state that only a long [ē] was allowed in Adûnaic (SD/423). When Tolkien wrote Lowdham’s Report, Zimraphel’s Adûnaic name was instead Zimrahil, so perhaps -hil was an earlier form of this suffix. If the suffix -phel were to be used in the phonetic context of the Adûnaic of Lowdham’s Report (Middle Adûnaic) it might have the form *-phêl. See the entry on conceptual-changes-in-late-Adûnaic for further discussion.

* Adûnaic

Adûnaic

Adûnaic is an Anglicized name of the language.

* Imrazôr

Imrazôr

The meaning of the name is not known, however it includes Adûnaic zôr which means "flame" or "foam". The first element imra (perhaps from *imar) is not translated but it also appears in the name Imrahil and perhaps Imâr.

* Adrahil II

Adrahil II

Adrahil presumably is an Adûnaic name of unknown meaning. The second element -hil (also seen in the name Imrahil) perhaps is related to the Westron ending -kil (cf. banakil, Tarkil) meaning "man", ultimately related to Elvish "follower".

* Gimilzagar

Gimilzagar

Gimilzagar seems to mean "Star-sword" in Adûnaic (from gimil, 'star' and zagar, 'sword').

* balâ

noun. *Vala (draft)

An earlier version of the Adûnaic word for Q. Vala (SD/344), later replaced by Avalâi >> Avalôi. It is only attested in its plural form Balâi.

* Ar-Pharazôn

Ar-Pharazôn

Pharazôn means "Golden" in Adûnaic, and is derived from the word pharaz, 'gold'.

* -nud

preposition. on

A preposition attested only in the phrase “on us” in the Lament of Akallabêth, changing through the drafts as nēnum >> nēnu >> nēnud (SD/247, 312). Most authors identify -nud as the prepositional element (AAD/20, LGtAG, NBA/14), perhaps related to Q. nu “under”. If so, it may be a derivative of the Elvish roots √NŪ/UNU “under” or √NDU “down”, with a semantic shift to the meaning “on”.

* u

pronoun. he

A well-attested pronominal prefix, the masculine singular pronoun “he” (SD/433). See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion. Tolkien said that it had another variant hu- (SD/433), but this variant was only appears in the early and rejected hunekkū, which was changed to unekkū (see nakh-). Tolkien further indicated that the form u- primitively had an initial consonant [ɣ] or [ʔ] that was lost (SD/433).

* azga

noun. war

A hypothetical noun for “war” appearing as an element in the verb azgarâ- “to wage war”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VSH/24), though as others have suggested (AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/ZAG’R) it could equally well be azgar.

* aban

noun. ?world

An element in the name Abattârik, whose Quenya equivalent Ardamin seems to mean “World Tower” (UT/222). Since the last element of this name is târik* “pillar”, it is possible that the first element means “world”. This first element could be *abat, but it could also be *aban with the last n becoming t according to the Adûnaic rules for assimilation, as suggested before by several authors (AAD/9, EotAL/BAN¹). Andreas Moehn further suggested (LGtAG) it may have replaced earlier dâira “Earth”, though the two words could also co-exist with slightly different meanings.

* balak

noun. ship

The noun for “ship”, attested only in the plural (balîk) and objective (balku) forms (SD/247, PM/151). Its plural form indicates that it is a strong-noun (Strong I), so its final vowel must be short. In theory its final vowel could be any of a, i or u, each of which would be replaced by long î in plural nouns. However, its attested objective form uses the variant objective-with-syncope form balku instead of ordinary *baluk. Since the Adûnaic syncope seems only to occur for nouns with two identical short vowels, this indicates the singular form of this word is balak.

* khôr

noun. lord

An element meaning “lord” appearing only in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”, though a similar form appears in the earlier names Kherû “Lord” and Mulkhêr “Lord of Darkness”. It isn’t clear whether this element is *akhôr or *khôr, but khôr resembles the Primitive Elvish root √KHER “rule, govern, possess”, to which it may be related.

This possible relationship has been suggested by various authors (AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/KHUR). Andreas Moehn rejected the relationship, pointing out that Primitive Elvish ✶khēru “lord” would have developed phonetically into Ad. **khîru (EotAL). However, khôr may be derived from some more ancient Avari loan word, which underwent different phonetic developments than those of the Eldarin languages, perhaps ✶kher- > khar > khaur > Ad. khôr.

* Ulbar

Ulbar

Ulbar's name appears to be Adûnaic, but of unknown definition.

* aglar

noun. glory

An element of the name Aglarrâma that might be a noun meaning “glory”; see the entry for that name for further discussion.

* zagar

noun. ?sword

An element appearing in the names Gimilzagar (UT/227) and Belzagar (UT/222). The Quenya name of Gimilzagar is Calmacil, the final element of which means “sword”, so perhaps this word means the same thing. Most authors have suggested this interpretation (AAD/24, AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/ZAG’R, NBA/20) as well as its possible relationship to azgarâ- “wage war”.

* ban(a)

ban(a)

The word seems to come from and Adûnaic element, like osme root *BAN. Ad. banâth "wife" means "the half of the couple"

* nâlu

noun. shadow

A noun attested only in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow [is]” (SD/247, VT24/12). The first element of the compound, agan “death”, as identified elsewhere (SD/426), so the remaining element must mean “shadow”. The compound is the subject of the sentence agannâlô burôda nênud “death-shadow [is] heavy on us” and is therefore in the subjective case. According the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, the only possibly normal form producing this subjective is nâlu: compare nîlu “moon” to its subjective form nîlô (SD/431).

Conceptual Development: In early writings, the compound was (non-subjective) agannūlo, so that the apparent draft form of this noun was nūlo. A similar form nūlu appears on SD/306, described only as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’”. It could be a separate word or another variation of this word, with the development nūlo >> nūlu >> nālu. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) that the earlier forms may be related to ᴹQ. nulla “dark, dusky, obscure”.

* Îbal

Îbal

Îbal's name appears to be Adûnaic, but of unknown definition.

* -m

suffix. verb-plural

A suffix appearing in Adûnaic verbs that have plural subjects. See plural verbs for further discussion.

* Ar-Gimilzôr

Ar-Gimilzôr

Gimilzôr in Adûnaic means "star flame" (gimil "silver" and zôr "flame"); which in Quenya is Tar-Telemnar Gimilzôr is also given as the Adûnaic name of Elros "star-foam" Since zôr also means "foam".