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.
Adûnaic
obroth
noun. fore-cutting
ob Reconstructed
preposition. fore, *before
-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.
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(n) “with, by”
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).
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.
-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).
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).
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).
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.
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.
asdi
?. [unglossed]
A word Tolkien used to illustrate Adûnaic pronunciation (pronounced [azdi]) without giving its meaning (SD/421).
bâr
noun. 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.
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.
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).
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.
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”.
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”.
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”.
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.
sapda
?. [unglossed]
A word Tolkien used to illustrate Adûnaic pronunciation without giving its meaning (SD/421).
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).
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).
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.
urud
noun. mountain
kali
noun. woman
A noun translated “woman” (SD/434).
raba
noun. dog
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).
zadan
noun. house
A noun translated “house” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).
-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”.
-nud Reconstructed
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”.
aglar Speculative
noun. glory
An element of the name Aglarrâma that might be a noun meaning “glory”; see the entry for that name for further discussion.
khôr Reconstructed
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.
sakal Reconstructed
noun. shore
-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).
-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.
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
anadûni
adjective. western
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.
azra
noun. sea
The Adûnaic word for “sea” (SD/429), appearing as azar in some early texts (SD/305). It is fully declined on SD/431.
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).
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
kadar
noun. city
A noun appearing only as an element in kadar-lâi “city folk” (SD/435).
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.
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).
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).
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.
pharaz
noun. sea
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).
pûh
noun. breath
A noun translated “breath” and fully declined as an example of a Weak I noun (SD/431).
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).
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).
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.
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).
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.
êphal
adjective. far
An adjective (or adverb?) translated as “far” (SD/247, SD/312).
ûri
noun. sun
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.
huzun
noun. ear
A noun translated as “ear” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).
khibil
noun. spring
A noun translated “spring” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).
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).
-ak Reconstructed
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).
azga Reconstructed
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.
nê Reconstructed
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”.
yô Reconstructed
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).
zimra Reconstructed
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).
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.