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.
Adûnaic
zigûr
noun. wizard
sapthân
noun. wise man, 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.