a e Ni-bitha Aduny

an introduction to Adnaic u
Thorsten Renk Version 1.0 (August 15, 2006)

Concerning copyright:
This text is published under the assumption that teaching and use of a language, even if it is an invented one, does not violate the copyright of the inventor. Any violation of copyright regarding yet unpublished texts by Tolkien about the grammar of Adnaic are unintended these texts are u not accessible to me and this course contains only conclusions based on published texts. No claim is made that Adnaic is taught correctly: The presentation is only based on my assumption about the u best reconstruction of Adnaic grammar given the published material. u Some of the persons and locations appearing in texts are loosely based on persons and places described in Tolkiens works. This is supposed to create some atmosphere only none of the texts is intended as a reinterpretation of Tolkiens works but only as an illustration of the language at work. Similarly, behaviour and thoughts of persons and descriptions of places are more driven by the question what grammatical ideas are presented in a lesson and therefore deviate frequently from the original characters. As for my part of the work: This course has been written to provide rather easy access to Adnaic u for interested readers. It may be downloaded, printed and used for non-commercial purpose without any additional permission. Any commercial use without prior permission is explicitly forbidden, as well as offering the course for download without prior permission. Should anyone nd his copyright violated by this text, please contact me at thorsten@sindarin.de.

C ONTENTS

1 Noun classes, Subjective and Normal 1.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.1 Nouns and gender . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.2 Noun inection, Normal and Subjective 1.2.3 Neuter noun classes . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.4 Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.5 Postpositional afxes . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The verb in present tense, Pronouns 2.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Types of verbs . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Present tense . . . . . . . . . 2.2.3 Pronominal prexes . . . . . 2.2.4 The Subjective case with verbs 2.3 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3 Aorist and Imperative, non-Neuter Noun Classes 3.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 The Aorist tense . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 The Imperative . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.3 The Innitive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.4 Gender-expressing noun classes . . . 3.3 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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4 Objective and other Genitives, Negation 21 4.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4 4.2.1 Function of the Objective case . . . . . . . 4.2.2 The Objective for Neuter nouns . . . . . . 4.2.3 The Objective for Gender-expressing nouns 4.2.4 Genitive compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.5 The Genitive prex . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.6 Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.7 The verb to be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 22 22 23 23 24 24 24 25 25 26 26 26 27 29 29 30 30 31 32 32 32 33 33 34 34 34 34 35 37 37 38 38 38 39 39

4.3

5 The past tense 5.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1 The past tenses of Adnaic u 5.2.2 Formation of the past tense 5.3 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . .

6 The dual, participles 6.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1 The Dual . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.2 The perfect passive participle . 6.2.3 An intensied form of adjectives 6.2.4 Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Subjunctive and Passive 7.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . 7.2.1 The Subjunctive 7.2.2 The Passive . . . 7.2.3 Plural nouns . . 7.3 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8 Phonology and Word Formation 8.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1 A little phonology . 8.2.2 Agental sufxes . . . 8.2.3 Relative sentences . 8.3 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . .

P REFACE

Adnaic is one of Tolkiens lesser languages certainly not as well known as Sindarin u or Quenya, and certainly as far as the vocabulary goes, not as far developed. On the other hand, unlike for the Elvish languages, we have an extremely detailed account on some u u aspects of Adnaic grammar by Tolkien himself: Lowdhams Report on the Adnaic language in Sauron Defeated p. 413-440 is a coherent description of the historical development and the case structure of the language, something which is not available for Sindarin or Quenya. Very little material is found outside this essay. Does any of this mean it would be a good idea to cast the material into the form of a language course? This certainly depends on the point of view. For someone interested in a u scholarly study of Adnaic, Tolkiens own account is certainly sufcient and almost nal. Very little can be deduced beyond Tolkiens account unless heavy speculation is involved. On the other hand, maybe you are one of the people like me who need to see the language in use, even in the clumsy assembling of baby-sentences to make sense of Tolkiens tables and descriptions. If so, you will probably nd that this course is a nice and amusing introduction to a language which is otherwise difcult to access with the available material. It is not, u and never was intended to be, a scholarly discussion of Adnaic or the absolute truth. u u Often, it is rather Adnaic how the author of these lines thinks it could be than Adnaic as Tolkien envisioned it. If you nd this unacceptable, please stop reading here and refer to Lowdhams Report instead. u Clearly, the biggest obstacle to writing in Adnaic is the lack of vocabulary. In this course, the texts sometimes heavily rely on extrapolated and reconstructed material. Often Comu mon Eldarin roots are used to coin Adnaic roots or Quenya words are assumed to appear u u as Adnaic loanwords. This is not as crazy as it may sound the origin of Ad naic vocabulary from Elvish roots is well established by Tolkien, and several loanwords are described in Lowdhams report. However, neither is it clear that a particular loanword should come u out in exactly the shape it appears here, nor is it clear that the resulting Neo-Adnaic language is not characterized by an unusually large amount of loanwords. While some parts u of Adnaic are said to be derived from Khuzdul, the lack of Khuzdul vocabulary is quite a problem for appropriate inspiration from this angle.

6 In view of this situation, the following scheme has been adopted to mark questionable vocabulary: A # is used to mark forms which are derived from an actually observed form, but which cannot be identied with certainty. For example, the observed plural form bal ships is presumably from #balak ship, but since the nal vowel is replaced k by - in Plural, the underlying form could in principle as well be balik or baluk. Formes derived within the scheme of Adnaic forms are marked with a *. For exu ample, in analogy with ugru shadow ugrud- overshadow the pair huzun ear a *huznud to hear has been coined. a Finally, a ? is reserved for forms which are nothing but wild guesses based on Elvish roots, for example ?sapan cloud is assumed to be the Adnaic version of Quenya u fanya and Telerin spania from the root SPAN. Quite clearly, such forms do not deserve to be taken very seriously. All longer passages containing deduced or speculative material are greyed out as a whole.

With many thanks to Helge Fauskanger whose article on Adnaic grammar I have often u used in the preparation of this course and to Roman Rausch for his help in tracking mistakes.

Lesson 1

N OUN CLASSES , S UBJECTIVE AND N ORMAL

1.1

T EXT
o lmi. Kad Imrazrun azra-z. Ephal z an Anadn. Zira burda Id o o o e r u e a o Imrazr-nud. Tid bal baw a azra-z Anadnn, o a o ka b-m e u e o don azr a ugru-dalad.

Azra-z e

At the sea
Now is night. And so Imrazr is at the sea. Far is beloved N menor. o u Longing is heavy upon Imrazr. Once ships were with the winds on the o sea from N menor. now the sea is under shadow. u

1.2

G RAMMAR

1.2.1 Nouns and gender

While Adnaic has no grammatical gender as such (for example, there is no gender agreeu ment of adjectives), it is useful to make a distinction between four different noun genders (or better sexes) nevertheless. These genders are Masculine, Feminine, Common and Neuter. The Masculine and Feminine gender applies to proper names of persons, for example Imrazr is a male name (and the rules for Masculine apply), Zam is a female name o n

10 (and rules for Feminine apply). In addition, nouns which explicitly denote a gender distinction fall into this group, for example tamar smith is Masculine whereas nithil girl is Feminine. The Common gender applies to words denoting persons or animals which could in principle have a gender distinction, but the speaker is not making it. Consider for example nimir elf which could denote a male or female elf. It is not uncommon to nd triples of nouns in Common, Masculina and Feminine, cf. karab horse (c), karb stallion (m) and karb u mare (f). The Neuter gender nally applies to all nouns which do not denote persons.

1.2.2 Noun inection, Normal and Subjective

The Adnaic noun is inected for case and number. There are three cases, Normal, Subu jective and Objective and three numbers, Singular, Plural and Dual. The precise choice of the inection depends on gender and noun class, and we will go into details later. The basic form of the noun (i.e. the form nouns are listed in a dictionary) is called Normal. Somewhat unusual, this is not the form a noun takes when it is the subject of a sentence. Instead, one of the functions of the Normal is to denote the object. The subject of the sentence is usually expressed by an inected form, aptly named Subjective. For a Masculine, the usual inectional ending denoting the Subjective is -un, for a Feminine -in. As we said, this ending marks the subject of the sentence. Since the word to be is usually only implied, not written, this means that using the Subjective on one word and the Normal on another word, we can form simple sentences using to be: Imrazrun tamar. Imrazr is a smith. o o Zam nithil. Zam is a girl. nin n When the subject is given by several nouns, only the last of them gets the Subjective ending: Imrazr tamrun Adn. Imrazor the smith is a D nadan. o u a u

1.2.3 Neuter noun classes

We can classify nouns as strong (case inexion is done by altering the last vowel of the stem) and weak (cases are marked by an ending only). This essentially depends on the shape of the noun. Nouns with two syllables, a short second syllable and a consonant ending form the class Strong I. Here, the Subjective Singular is formed from the normal by lengthening the nal vowel with the shifts i and u . The Normal Plural is formed by replacing the nal e o vowel (whatever it is) by and the Subjective Plural adds another -a. Hence, we nd for zadan house khibil spring and huzun ear the following forms: N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. zadan zadn a zad n zad na khibil khibl e khib l khib la huzun huzn o huz n huz na

The second strong neuter class of nouns (Strong II) is characterized by having two syllables but a short vocalic ending. Here, this ending is lengthened with the shifts i and u e in Subjective Singular. It is replaced by in Normal Plural and in Subjective plural an o additional ending -ya is appended. We discuss here azra sea, gimli star and n moon: lu

11 N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. azra azr a azr azr ya gimli giml e giml giml ya n lu n o l n l n ya l

The weak class of nouns (Weak) consists, maybe not entirely surprisingly, of those nouns in which the last vowel cannot be lengthened or strengthened because it is already long or because the noun has only one syllable. In these cases, the Subjective is marked by an ending -a, the Normal Plural by an ending - and the Subjective Plural by - Consider as ya. examples ph breath, abr strength, endurance and batn road, path: u a a N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. ph u pha u ph u ph u ya abr a abra a abr a abr a ya batn a batna a batn a batn a ya

These are the three main inection pattern for Neuters. There are slight differences in the inection of gender-distinguishing nouns. We will return to this topic later.

1.2.4 Adjectives
There is not too much known about the Adnaic Adjective. Adjectives dont distinguish u between the four noun genders. If they are used to describe a noun, they usually come before the noun, for example burda zir a heavy longing o a burda tamar a heavy smith o Adjectives do show agreement in number (at least in Plural). Presumably, the inection pattern more or less follows the noun classes: phal bal faraway ships e k burd zir heavy longings o a Adjectives can also be used predicatively. In this case they usually follow the noun (which is then in Subjective). There is no agreement in case, but number still has to agree: zira burda the longing is heavy a o bal phal the ships are far away ka e If the adjective is used to describe a noun which in turn is subject of a sentence, there is still no case agreement between adjective and noun, simply because the adjective comes rst and the subjective ending goes to the last element of the subject: dulgu balk phal the black ship is far a e Thus, in summary, the adjective always agrees with the noun in number, never in case or gender.

1.2.5 Postpositional afxes

Positions and directions, along with other information about relations between things are expressed in Adnaic using endings. These endings are not real case inections and should u rather be seen as postpositions. Sometimes they are joined to the Normal form of nouns by a hyphen, sometimes they are directly appended. It is rather rare that the new consonant cluster created in joining noun and afx is impossible, we will treat these cases separately later. We nd:

12 -z: at e azra-zat sea e -m: with a balak-m with a ship a -dalad: under ugru-dalad under shadow *-nad: behind Imrazr-nad behind Imrazr o o ?-b: as, like e n e like the moon lu-b In two cases the afx starts with a vowel. In this case, there is a minor complication - if the noun ends with -u, a -v- is introduced between noun and afx; if the noun ends with -i, a -y- is used instead. Same vowels are commonly contracted and lead to a long vowel. It is possible that a vocalic ending is separated from a nel - by the insertion of -n-. e -ad(a): towards, against batnad towards the road a azrd towards the sea a azr yad towards the seas -: from o batn from the road a o n ofrom the moon luv u u e o Anadnn from N menor *-ob: before n luvob before the moon

1.3

VOCABULARY
Adnaic u Anadn u e azra #balak #bawb a burda o #dulug phal e o1 d kad o lmi o tid a o ugru zir a z an r English N menor u sea ship wind heavy black far now and so night once (upon a time) shadow longing beloved

1 d o

seems to become n before vowels and semi-vowels y-, w-. d o

Lesson 2

T HE VERB IN P RONOUNS

PRESENT TENSE ,

2.1

T EXT N d ur-dalad lu a

Imrazr utdi azra. Bawb ankhi phal ka azra azgr zyanada. o o a a e o aa a Roth aphurusi azra-z ka roz akalubi. Dulg sap ugrudm sakal. e na a Imrazr uhuznud rkh hunad. Nithil inkhi. Giml o a u a nzilin nkhi. a u Giml nzil: E att! Amm idri. a Imrazr: Ni-nkhi zadanad. o a

The moon under gloom

Imrazr is watching the sea. Wind is coming from far away and the o sea is making war against the land. Foam gushes on the sea and rain is falling. Black clouds are overshadowing the beach. Imrazor is hearing a shout behind him. A girl is coming. It is Giml nzil who is coming. Giml nzil: Oh father! Mother is waiting. Imrazr: I am coming to the house. o

2.2

G RAMMAR

2.2.1 Types of verbs

The information about the Adnaic verb is somewhat sketchy, so the following scheme u is more an attempt to render verbs usable than to provide actual information based on

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14 Tolkiens writings. We can identify three main classes of verbs: Monosyllabic primary verbs, disyllabic primary verbs and derived verbs. They are most conveniently listed according to their stems. As a member of the rst class (P1), we nd yad- to go. The second class (P2) can be exemplied by kalab- to fall, and an example for derived verbs (D) would be ugrud- to a overshadow. This is clearly derived from ugru shadow using a derivational sufx -d. a

2.2.2 Present tense

The present tense is used to describe actions which happen in the moment. It is not used to make statements which are generally true, in Adnaic another tense is used for that u purpose, the Aorist. It seems best to translate the Adnaic present tense with the English u present progressive. For verbs of class P1, the present tense is formed with vowel lengthening (with the shifts i and u ) and an ending -i. Hence e o nakh- to come nkhi is coming a bith- to speak bthi is speaking e zir- to love zri is loving e For verbs of the second class of primary verbs (P2), the present tense is formed by replacing the vowel of the second syllable with an -u-. In addition, presumably the ending -i has to be appended. Thus, we nd #tabad- to touch tabudi is touching kalab- to fall kalubi is falling There is no information available how the present tense of derived verbs might look like. In the absence of such information, we could guess that it resembles the stem: azgar- to make war ?azgar is making war a a ugrud- to overshadow ?ugrud is overshadowing a a

2.2.3 Pronominal prexes

Pronouns appear in the inexion of verbs as prexes, sometimes joined with a hyphen, sometimes added without a gap. The tentative table of such prexes is Singular ?ni#kihu-, uhi-, *i*ha-, aPlural #ne ?liyu*yiya-

1st 2nd 3rd m 3rd f 3rd n

Whenever a plural prex is used, the verb has to be marked for plural as well. This is done by the ending -m. Hence wed nd: ni-bthi I am speaking e hu-kalubi he is falling yukalubim they are falling ne-azgarm we are making war a

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2.2.4 The Subjective case with verbs

When a sentence contains a noun as subject, there are two possible ways to form the sentence. They differ in emphasis. The normal way has the noun in Normal case. In this case, the verb must carry an appropriate pronominal prex (presumably the short variants u-, i-, a- are used here in Singular). Hence Imrazr ukalubi. Imrazr is falling. o o Zam izri kar Zam is loving horses. n e b. n Bal yatabudim azra. Ships are touching the sea. k The second possibility is that the noun is in Subjective case. In this case, the verb may carry a pronominal prex, but this is merely optional. This wording implies emphasis: Imrazrun kalubi. It is Imrazr who is falling. o o Zminin zri kar It is Zam who is loving horses. a e b. n Bal tabudim azra. Ships are what is touching the sea. ka

2.3

VOCABULARY
Adnaic u amm att u azgar a ?dardur a *huznuda #ka kalabnakhn lu nithil phurus#roth ?roz rkh u #sakal ?sapan *tudugruda zadan zyan a English mother, mom father, dad to make war to wait gloom to hear and to fall to come moon girl to gush foam, cut1 rain shout beach cloud to watch to overshadow house land

1 According to Lowdhams report, Adnaic has neither short o nor short e. However, later attested material u includes words like obroth and Zimraphel which show these short vowels. It is possible that Tolkien relaxed Adnaic phonology later, but it is also possible that there is an implicit convention that any o and e must be read u long.

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Lesson 3

AORIST AND I MPERATIVE , NON -N EUTER N OUN C LASSES

3.1

T EXT Imrazr Sakalaban-z o e

Hi-Akallabthin azra-dalad. Tid Imrazr, banth ka phel Giml e a o o a nzilin nakham sakalabanad. o ktha bal yadam phalad. Y ir Id a ka e a . Zadan-nad batna yada thurushad ka ur a dad. Raban tuda thurush. Urkim ur e. d-z Giml nzil: Kitudah batn! Naru! e a Imrazr: Kiyadah zadanad! Ni-zri kan zagar... o e e Giml nzil: Ask naru-nud! a

Imrazr in Middle-Earth o
She-that is fallen lies under the sea. Once ago, Imrazr, his wife and o daughter Giml nzil came to the shore to Middle-Earth. Now all ships went far away. They are alone. Behind the house, a road goes to fenland and mountains. A dog watches the fenland. Orks are in the mountains. Giml nzil: Look at the road! A man! Imrazr: Go into the house! I wish to hold a sword... o Giml nzil: A wound is upon the man!

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3.2

G RAMMAR

3.2.1 The Aorist tense

The Aorist tense is used for making statements without an explicit time reference. It can be translated using the English present tense. Compare for example Imrazr is speaking o Adnaic. with Imrazr speaks Adnaic. While the rst example implies that Imrazr u o u o is speaking the language at the moment, the second is a timeless statement it merely implies that he is able to speak the language and may have done so in the past and may yet do so in the future. This pretty much captures the essence of the Aorist tense. Due to this timelessness, it is a tense which is in Adnaic also much used in narratives as u historic present or past. So in fact, while in English it is common to tell stories in the past tense, Adnaic story tellers would usually use the Aorist for the same purpose (which u in the translation to English needs then be changed into past tense). This is the reason we will frequently also nd the Aorist rendered with past tense as well as present tense in the following, the difference being apparent from the context. Due to the ability of the Aorist to disguise itself as past tense, it is not clear which forms in Tolkiens works should be identied as true past tense and which as Aorist. The following is a tentative classication. For verbs of class P1, we have to make a guess as to how the Aorist is formed. It is conceiveable that simply an -a is appended to the verbal stem and no lengthening takes place. Hence wed have e.g.: nakh- to come ?nakha comes yad- to go ?yada goes We have some more information about the class P2. Here, the second vowel appears to be dropped while an ending -a is appended. Thus we nd: #tabad- to touch #tabda touches kalab- to fall kalba falls Again, there is no information as to how the derived verbs may behave. Based on the close similarity of Aorist and present tense in Quenya for derived verbs, one may speculate that there is not much of a change: azgar- to make war ?azgar makes war a a

3.2.2 The Imperative

The imperative is the form used to give commands to someone. It seems that the imperative in Adnaic is formed by appending a sufx -h to the Aorist form of a verb. In addition, a u e pronominal prex denoting the person who is addressed has to be used. Thus, kinakhah! come! (to one person) e linakhah! come! (to several persons) e hutabdah! he shall touch! e yanakhah! they shall come! e It is somewhat unclear if, like in Sindarin, wishes can also be expressed with the Imperative. If so, maybe in this case the imperative would be impersonal, i.e. not receive a pronominal prex? In any case, the following is highly speculative: kanh zagar! wish that Id hold a sword! e

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3.2.3 The Innitive

Truth to tell, we have no clear idea how the innitive in Adnaic is formed. However, kan u is glossed hold and kalab fall down by Tolkien. It is possible that these are merely the stem forms, but it is also possible that these forms represent actual innitives. We will simply make this assumption in the following. Hence perhaps: ni-zira yad sakalad I desire to go to the beach hu-zri azgar he is desiring to make war e a

3.2.4 Gender-expressing noun classes

The main difference between Neuter nouns and gender-expressing nouns is the Subjective Singular. Here, the latter group prefers an afx -un (Masculine) -in (Feminine) and -(a)n (Common). Otherwise the classication is rather similar, for example as in the Neuter classes we have strong forms (modication of the stem vowel) and weak forms (an ending is appended). The Strong I class is again characterized by words with two syllables and a short vowel in the last syllable. In Subjective Singular, the last vowel is dropped and the endings -un (Masculine) -in (Feminine) and -(a)n (Common) are appended. The Normal plural works just as for Neuter nouns by replacing the last vowel with . The Subjective plural is again different: Here, as in Singular, the last vowel is dropped and an ending -im appended for all three Genders. We exemplify this with tamar smith (m), nithil girl (f), nimir elf (c) and uruk orc (c): N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. tamar tamrun tam r tamrim nithil nithlin nith l nithlim nimir nimran nim r nimrim uruk urkan ur k urkim

There is a variant to this class in which the second vowel is long (Strong Ib). Since for gender-expressing nouns the Subjective is always formed by an ending and not by strengthening of the syllable, those nouns are very similar to the above (only the loss of the nal syllable doesnt take place, it remains in Singular and is changed to in plural). We show this with the examples phazn prince (m), banth wife (f) and zigr wizard (m): a a u N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. phazn a phaznun a phaz n phaz nim banth a banthin a ban th ban thim zigr u zigrun u zig r zig rim

The counterpart of the Strong II nouns is very straightforward: Since u must be the nal vowel of such nouns if they are Masculine, i if Feminine and a if Common, the Subjective Singular just needs to add the ending -n. In Normal plural, the nal vowel is replaced by - and in Subjective plural by - for all genders. We show this with the examples naru m male, zini female and raba dog: N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. naru narun nar nar m zini zinin zin zin m raba raban rab rab m

The rst weak class consists of monosyllabic nouns. It has the endings -un (Masculine) -in (Feminine) and -(a)n (Common) in Subjective singular, in Nomrmal Plural and - in m

20 Subjective plural for all genders. As an example, we show br lord (m), m little girl a th (f) and n ph fool (c): u N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. br a brun a br a br a m m th m thin m th m m th nph u nphan u nph u nph u m

The second weak class is a little more complicated since it has a long nal vowel. This vowel cannot be replaced by in Normal plural, thus an already present - is changed into u -w , an - is allowed to remain unchanged, is changed to -i and - into n . To these u o o e e endings, -m is appended in Subjective plural. As examples, we discuss nard soldier u (m), zr nurse (f), mn spirit (c) and izr beloved (f). o a o e N. Sg. S. Sg. N. Pl. S. Pl. nard u nardn u nardw u nardw u m zr o zr o n zr o zr o m mn a o mnn a o mni a o mnim a o izr e izrn e izrn e izrn e m

3.3

VOCABULARY
Adnaic u #Aban ?aska banth a batn a Hi-Akallabth e *iri ktha a naru #phel raban *sakalaban #thurush #urud uruk #zagar #zirEnglish Arda, realm wound wife road, path she-that-is-fallen, N menor u alone all male, man daughter dog shore realm, Middle-Earth fenland 1 mountain orc sword to wish, to desire, to love

1 The form thurush does not agree with Adnaic phonology as outlined in Lowdhams report, but Agathurush u as Adnaic translation of Sindarin Gwathlo is attested. u

Lesson 4

O BJECTIVE AND OTHER G ENITIVES , N EGATION

4.1

T EXT Urkim nnud! e

Narun d zadan-z. Hu-bthi: o e e Ulbar: Ni-na Ulbar. Ni-nkhi kadar-. Dolg kalubi! Urkim nnud, a o o e kadar-li agan Ni-na l nard, ni-na zagur-tamar. Liyadah a . a u e kar b-m! B lidarah! Liyadah nim a a e e r-ada! Giml nzil: Att, Bth n Ulbar saphd u e ya . Imrazr: L kisaphudi. L n-polam yad Nim o a a e r-ada. Nard-b n Aru e Pharazn ni-nakha sakalabanad ka l ni-na nimruz o a r. Giml nzil: L nisaphda. L ni-na agnubl! a a e

Orks are upon us!

The man is now in the house. He speaks: Ulbar: I am Ulbar. I come from the town. Darkness is falling! Orks were upon us, the town-folk are dead. Im not a soldier, Im just a sword-smith. Go by horse! Dont wait! Go to the Elves! Giml nzil: Father, the words of Ulbar are wise. Imrazr: You dont understand. We cannot go to the Elves. As a soldier of o Ar-Pharazn I came to Middle-Earth and I am not an elf-friend. o Giml nzil: I cannot understand. Im not a death-lover!

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4.2

G RAMMAR

4.2.1 Function of the Objective case

The objective is the last case an Adnaic noun can be inected for, and it only exists in u Singular. It is only used in compounds or compound expressions, and there it has a rather peculiar function: Before verbal nouns or verbal adjectives, it denotes the object on which the noun action is performed. For example, magn builder is a noun associated with the a action build. Thus, in the compound ship-builder (or the genitive builder of ships) the action build is performed on the ship, thus in Adnaic the noun ship has to be placed in u Objective. Thus, the compound is not **balak-magn but balku-magn with balku being a a the Objective for balak.

4.2.2 The Objective for Neuter nouns

For the class Strong I, formation of the objective is straightforward the last vowel of the noun is replaced by -u-. If this vowel already is an -u-, there is a variant form in which the vowel is lost and an -u is appended. Thus, N. Sg. O. zadan zadun khibil khibul huzun huzun, huznu

In the class Strong II, the Objective is formed by an -u replacing any nal vowel: N. Sg. S. Sg. azra azru gimli gimlu n lu n lu

Finally, in the Weak noun class an ending -u is simply appended to the noun: N. Sg. S. Sg. ph u phu u abr a abru a batn a batnu a

Hence we nd e.g. zadun-magn house-builder a azru-bl sea-lover e batnu-magn road-builder a a zagur-tamar sword-smith

4.2.3 The Objective for Gender-expressing nouns

The objective is not substantially different for gender-expressing nouns. Whenever possible, the nal vowel is replaced by -u- (or as a variant omitted and an ending -u appended. Thus, the Strong I class appears as: N. Sg. O. tamar tamur (tamru) nithil nithul (nithlu) nimir nimur (nimru) uruk uruk (urku)

In the variant strong class Strong Ib, in modern Adnaic an ending -u is actually more u common than the strong replacement of the last vowel by -. u N. Sg. O. phazn a (phazn) phaznu u a banth a (banth) banthu u a zigr u (zigr) zigru u u

The Strong II class is again very simple: -u replaces all nal vowels in Objective:

23 N. Sg. O. naru naru zini zinu raba rabu

In the Weak I class, again the common ending is -u. If the noun is Feminine, -i is also an acceptable variant or sometimes even preferred: N. Sg. O. br a bru a m th m (m thi thu) nph u nphu u

Only the class Weak II is somewhat different: Here, usually the last vowel is kept, although in some cases archaic forms are known: N. Sg. O. nard u nard u zr o zr (zr o o yu) mn a o mn a o izr e izr (izryu) e a

4.2.4 Genitive compounds

The rst element in a compound can also be in Normal case. This changes the meaning of the compound, in this case, the relationship is adjectival, i.e. the last noun is somehow associated with the rst, or the rst describes the last. Consider as an example nimir-z and nimru-z which might both be translated as elfr r friend in English. But while the latter means a lover of elves, the rst implies that the friend is an elf (as opposed to a friend who is a dwarf). So it might also be translated as elvish friend. Thus, one can form for example kadar-li city folk a sakal-zadan a beach house No plural form can be in front position in these expressions, as this always takes the objective meaning. bal k-magn a builder of (some) ships a There is some ambiguity in such expressions with the use of the objective singular.

4.2.5 The Genitive prex

When the connection between two nouns in a Genitive relationship is not quite as tight as to indicate a compound, Adnaic uses the prex an instead. This is often shortened to n (and u has even become merged with the subsequent noun to form an adjective in a few cases). If this prex is used, the genitive follows the noun (note that in compound both with objective and normal, the genitive precedes the noun it describes). Thus, one has: u izr an nph the loved one of a fool e u e u a nard n br n Anadn a soldier of the lord of the west o o phel n Imrazr Imrazrs daughters It is possible that this can be used to form possessives at least it seems a promising workaround given the lack of attested forms. Thus, one might speculate that zagar n hu his sword banth an ni my wife a would be understood by a N men rean. u o

24

4.2.6 Negation
A negative imperative can be used with th particle b dont!. a b kitabdah! dont touch! a e Since the above particle is well known in Elvish, we may infer that Adnaic could have a u particle l used to deny fact (note that b only denies intentions). If so, this could simply a a be in front of a sentence to negate it: Giml nzil l hiydhi kadarad. Giml a a nzil does not go into town.

4.2.7 The verb to be

An explicit word for to be seems to be na-. Not much is known about this, but we may assume that it works just like other verbs, hence ki-na br you are a lord a n-nam nardw we are soldiers e u It would appear that the implicit form of to be using a noun in Subjective is vastly preferred, so in this course we use the form only for pronouns where we dont know the subjective.

4.3

VOCABULARY
Adnaic u agan #agani bithbl e bth e dolgu kadar karab li a nanard u nimir ?pulsapdi saphadz r English death dead to speak lover word, saying night (evil) town, city horse people to be soldier elf to be able to wise to understand lover, friend

Lesson 5

T HE

PAST TENSE

5.1

T EXT Anadn azra-dalad u e

Imrazrun bthi Giml o e nzilad: Imrazr: Ar-Pharaznun br n Adni. Huphazzaga ktha zin n sakalo o a u a a a aban ka uzabbatha Zigr. Nlu anakkha Anadn-ad. Aru a u e Pharaznun z n Zigr. Hu-azaggara avaliyada n Amatthni. o r u o a Agan anakkha nimruz yada. Azr phurrusa ka Anadn hir ya u e kallaba akhsada. o n-yada azlada. Zagar-m n ni nimruz a Id e u a r yakallabam. Nim l yatarkam n . r a e Giml nzil: L n-plim dar! Sibth-m ni-ydi ur a e o a e a a d-ada. Imrazr: Ni-zira, phel n ni. o

N umenor under the sea

Imrazr speaks to Giml o nzil: Imrazr: Ar-Pharazn was lord of the N men reans. He conquered all o o u o lands of Middle-Earth and humbled the Wizard. Shadow came to N menor. Ar-Pharazn became a friend of Sauron. He made u o war against the powers of the land of Aman. Death came to the elf-friends. Seas gushed and Nmenor fell into a chasm. Now we u go eastward. By my sword, elf-friend fell. The elves wont help us. Giml nzil: We cannot stay! With your assent I am going to the mountains. Imrazr: I love you, my daughter. o

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5.2

G RAMMAR

5.2.1 The past tenses of Adunaic

Adnaic has two distinct past tenses, a continuative past tense (was doing) and a true u past tense (did). Unfortunately, we dont know which of the attested forms is which. Therefore, for the purpose of this introduction, we will throw all forms into one group which we refer to in the following simply as past tense. Since the Aorist is often used in historical accounts in the role of the English past tense, the u Adnaic past tense is then free to take the role of the plusquamperfect: Ar-Pharazn azaggara avaliyada nad, Yzyan akalba akhsada. o o o a a After Ar-Pharazn had warred against the Valar, N menor fell into a chasm. o u When the Aorist is used to refer to the future, the past tense can be used as future perfect: Lmiz kinakha kh -urud-ada, ni-yadda. u e o By the time you will come to crow-mountain, I will have gone. In summary, the past tense denotes a time relative to the current use of the Aorist.

5.2.2 Formation of the past tense

For the verbs of class P1, the past tense closely resembles the Aorist, with the difference that the second vowel is doubled. Here, doubling of -ph- leads to -pph-, doubling of -khto -kkh- and doubling of -th- to -tth-. Thus we nd: nakh- to come nakkha came yad- to go yadda went #bith- to speak *bittha spoke For the disyllabic class P2 of primary verbs, the formation is a little different: Here, the full stem is realized, the middle consonant is doubled and an ending -a is appended. For example, we nd kalab- to fall kallaba fell phurus- to gush phurrusa gushed *tarak- to support tarraka supported Finally, for the derived verbs (D) all consonants are separated with the characteristic vowel and the middle consonant is doubled while the ending is shortened. Hence he have: azgar- to make war azaggara made war a ugrud- to overshadow ugurruda overshadowed a Of course, these forms must all still be supplemented by the appropriate pronominal prexes in actual use. o o Imrazr uyadda sakalad. Imrazr went to the beach. Giml nzilin ikallaba nnad. It was Giml e nzil who fell into the water. Sap ugurrudam zyan. Clouds overshadowed the land. n a

27

5.3

VOCABULARY
Adnaic u akhs a Amatthni a avali o azl u br a nlu a *phazagsibth a e *tarak#zabathzigr u English chasm Aman the powers, Valar east lord shadow to conquer assent to support, to help to humble wizard

28

Lesson 6

T HE

DUAL , PARTICIPLES

6.1

T EXT Agan ankhi! a

Uriyat n nimram minal-z. Batna thurush-z lkhi. Ktha an yatulu e a e o a dam ur phalak. Ur tr e . Imrazrun kana zagar. Ph n Ulbar d e da a k-b o u burda. o e Ur anuta ka ya-nakham ugruwad n ur Imrazr unituri zr. d. o o Ulbar: B kinitrah zr! Batna tdn! a e o a u a Imrazr: Huznt n ni l bthim ur o. . . o a a e k- o rkh ka urkim hazid yanud. Giml Id u nzil iyda izindi nluwad. Z an a u r nuphrt n hi agan a .

Death is coming!
Sun and moon shine in the sky. The way through the fenland is curvy. All watch the mountains far away. The mountains are like pillars. Imrazr holds a sword. Ulbars breath is heavy. o The sun sinks and they come under the shadow of the mountains. Imrazor kindles a re. Ulbar: Dont light the re! The path is watched! Imrazr: My ears dont tell me of orks. . . o Now are cries and seven orcs are upon them. Giml nzil is running straight into the night. Her beloved parents are dead.

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6.2

G RAMMAR

6.2.1 The Dual

Besides Singular and Plural, Adnaic has a third number, the Dual. The Dual is used for u natural pairs of things (body parts for example), not just for two arbitrary things. Therefore, its translation would be rather a pair of. . . or both. . . than just two. . . . A noun in Dual can be inected for Subjective, but not for Objective (as the Objective case exists in Singular only). The basic dual ending is -at in Normal and -t in Subjective. a For the Neuter class Strong I, these endings are appended to the noun after loss of its nal vowel: N. Sg. N. D. S. D. zadan zadnat zadnt a khibil khiblat khiblt a huzun huznat huznt a

In the Neuter class Strong II there are two variants of the dual. The original forms would involve a contraction of the ending when the nal vowel of the noun is -a to -t and the a insertion of -w- and -y- when the nal vowel is -u or -i. However, there are also variant forms for which the nal vowel is simply dropped and replaced by the endings -at/-t. a N. Sg. N. D. S. D. azra azrt (azrat) a azrt a gimli gimliyat (gimlat) gimliyt (gimlt) a a n lu n luwat (n lat) n at (n at) luw l

In the Weak Neuter class, the dual inectional endings are simply appended: N. Sg. N. D. S. D. ph u phat u pht u a abr a abrat a abrt aa batn a batnat a batnt a a

In the gender-marking noun classes, the Dual is always identical in form in Normal and Subjective. In the strong I class of nouns, the last vowel of the noun is again lost, then the ending -at is appended. Thus we nd: N. Sg. D. tamar tamrat nithil nithlat nimir nimrat uruk urkat

In the variant class Strong Ib, the loss of the last vowel cannot happen. Thus, the Dual is formed just with the ending -t. a N. Sg. D. phazn a phaznt a a banth a bantht a a zigr u zigrt ua

In the Strong II class, the Duals are formed by loss of the vowel ending in Normal and a new ending -t. Thus, we have a N. Sg. D. naru nart a zini zint a raba rabt a

In the Weak I class, the ending is simply appended: N. Sg. D. br a brt aa m th m at th nph u npht u a

Perhaps not entirely surprisingly, the Weak II class has the most complicated development with original forms involving the insertion of consonants -w- and -y- between noun and dual ending -t in addition to simplied later forms. We have a

31 N. Sg. D. nard u narduwt a zr o zriyt o a mn a o mnt (mna wt) a o a a izr e izrt (izrayt) e a

We have to assume that verbs and adjectives just show Plural if number agreement with a Dual is required. Thus, one may see e.g. Gimlt nimram. Both stars shine. a N-nam npht. We are both fools. e u a Some things can also be viewed as a pair although they are rather different and have differu ent names, such as sun and moon. In this case, Adnaic uses the Dual as well, however there are several possibilities how this may be realized. Either both nouns are compounded and the Dual ending is added to the compound, or one of them is left out (and the other understood) or one is put in Dual, the other follows in Singular. Thus, sun and moon can be rendered as: rin u luwat sun and moon riyat sun and moon u riyat n sun and moon u lu

6.2.2 The perfect passive participle

The perfect passive participle is an adjective formed from a verb which describes a thing on which the action of a verb has been performed (thus, if hearing has been performed on a word, the word is heard). Very little is known in Adnaic about the participles, but we can draw a few tentative u conclusions from the attested forms. For the verbs of class P1, the participle seems to be formed by lengthening the vowel and adding the ending -n. Thus, a zir- to love z an beloved r tud- to watch tdn watched u a The verbs of class P2 seem to append the ending -n to the full verbal stem. For example a zabath- to humble zabathn humbled a tabad- to touch tabadn touched a We may assume that the derived verb class does not work drastically different and that the ending -n can be used here as well, although there is no attested example to conrm this a conjecture. If so, wed have ugrud- to overshadow ugrudn overshadowed a a huznud- to hear huznudn heard a a We do not know if any of these participles can be pluralized or not. Formally, the participles are not adjectives in Adnaic. This is apparent from the fact that u they appear after the noun they describe (not like adjectives before it). Thus we nd Anadn z an hikallaba. Beloved N menor fell down. u e r u Zigrun zabathn unakkha brad n Anadn. u a a u e The wizard came humbled to the Lord of N menor. u

32

6.2.3 An intensied form of adjectives

It is possible that the sufx -ak is used to intensify an adjective. For example phal far phalak very far e e izindi straight izindiyak very straight Based on the usage of intensied forms in Elvish, this might give a clue how to express superlatives, i.e. with the use of a Genitive in front of an intensied form. Thus, one could think of batn izindiyak the straightest road, lit. very straight from among the roads a Needless to say, this is highly speculative.

6.2.4 Numbers
In Adnaic, numbers formally count as nouns, thus the English seven stars must be transu u formed into a seven of stars in Adnaic. This in essence means that the number follows the noun it counts, as this is in Genitive, and the Genitive has to precede the noun it refers u to. Since we only know two Adnaic numbers, hazid seven and satta two, this should not be a big issue in practice though. gimli hazid seven stars ur satta two orcs k

6.3

VOCABULARY
u Adnaic an a hazid izindi #lkhi o minal nimir#nitirnlu u nuphr a ?nutph u trik a r ue #zr o English man, human being seven straight crooked heaven to shine to kindle night parent to sink breath pillar sun re

Lesson 7

T HE S UBJUNCTIVE

AND

PASSIVE

7.1

T EXT Ur d-z e

Kad Giml o nzilin nahka ur dad. Tid khazdim yagunnudam zimr a o ur o. o Giml d Id nzilin iri. Sap khainam thurush-nud. Gimil yanimram minalz ka zarm n e a o kheled-b. Inz sakalz. L huznad bth. e la e a a e Giml nzil: Att du-zir tud kheled-zarm... o tudam mn... Ni du-bith o a a Id a o a huwad... Tudam Giml nzil. Nimir-zini iydi batnad. Giml a a nzil idri. a

In the mountains
And so Giml nzil comes to the mountains. Once dwarves dug jewels out of the mountains. Now Giml nzil is alone. Clouds lie upon the fenlands. The stars shine in the sky and from a lake like glass. Flowers are at its rim. No word is heard. Giml nzil: My father would like to see the mirror-lake... Now his spirit is watched over... I would speak to him... Giml nzil is watched. An elf-woman is stepping onto the path. Giml nzil holds.

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7.2

G RAMMAR

7.2.1 The Subjunctive

Apart from the four inected tenses, Adnaic has a number of other verb forms which are u expressed by auxiliary constructions. Two of them can be reasonably well identied. The rst form is the subjunctive. It is used to make contrary to fact statements, i.e. to describe situations which are not real. Often it is used along with a conditional, like If I would see an orc, I would ght. where the real situation, i.e. seeing an orc and ghting does not actually happen. The Adnaic subjunctive is expressed using the auxiliary du-. The following form of the u verb is not inected for plural. For verbs of class P1, it is presumably just the verbal stem with - appended. a du-yad would go a du-nakh would come a For the class P2, it resembles the Aorist, albeit with a long ending: du-phurs would gush a du-tabd would touch a Finally, for the derived verbs, we have to resort to guesswork again. It seems reasonable to assume that the relevant form is simply given by the unmodied stem: du-ugrud would overshadow a All these forms still have to be inected for person (but not for number): Ur du-kalb . The mountains would fall down. d a Ni du-tud uruk. I would see an orc. a

7.2.2 The Passive

The Adnaic passive is expressed by an impersonal construction. This means that the u verb does not receive a pronominal prex and is only inected for number whereas the English subject of the sentence follows the verb and is in accusative. This is somewhat equivalent to recasting I am seen into someone sees me with the difference that the Adnaic expression has no word for someone. u The following examples will perhaps make this more clear: o Tdi ni. I am being watched. lit. someone watches me Tabda zagar. The sword is touched. lit. someone touches the sword

7.2.3 Plural nouns

u Adnaic has a number of nouns which are formally in Singular but have plural meaning. In particular, these nouns refer to collectives. For example, while gimli means star and giml denotes some stars, all stars in the sky are referred to by the distinct word gimil. The only other known example of this type is kulub roots, edible vegetables with Singular #kulbu and Plural kulb .

35

7.3

VOCABULARY
Adnaic u ?gunud inzil khain?khazad ?kheled mn a o ?zarm a #zimra zini English to excavate, to dig ower to lie dwarf glass spirit lake jewel woman, female

36

Lesson 8

P HONOLOGY F ORMATION

AND

W ORD

8.1

T EXT Nimr -z e

Elloth: Giml nzil: Elloth: Giml nzil: Elloth: Giml nzil: Elloth:

Daro! Mae govannen, friel! L nisaphda Nimriy! a e Kidarah! Kinkhi agat-thniy. e a a o Nuphrt agan Urkim ya kitdi ninad. Kitarkah! a . o e Ni l sapthth. L ki-pli yad sibeth-m n ni iri. a e a o a a Ni-na nithil. L ni-na bn n Zigr. a e u Ki-bthi izindi. Ki-nakhah! e e

With the Elves

Hold! Well met, mortal maiden! I do not understand the Elvish tongue! Hold! You come from a land of death. My parents are dead. The orcs that you see are behind me. Help me! Elloth: Im not a wise-woman. You cannot go by my assent alone. Giml nzil: I am only a girl, I am not a servant of the wizard. Elloth: You speak true. Come then! Elloth: Giml nzil: Elloth: Giml nzil:

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8.2

G RAMMAR

8.2.1 A little phonology

Usually, Adnaic is very tolerant of consonant clusters, nearly all combinations are allowed u in compounds or when endings are appended. Notable exceptions are combinations in which words ending in -n or -m are involved. The combinations -nt-, -nth-, -np-, -nph-, -nk- and -nkh- are all changed to -tt-, -tth-, -pp-, -pph-, -kk- and -kkh- respectively. This is even done across a hyphen in somewhat more loose compounds, thus Amn + thni Amt-thni land of Aman a a a a Amn + karab Amkkarab a horse of Aman a a sapthn + khu sapthkkhu crow of a wise man a a a a The fate of -mt-, -mth-, -mk-, -mkh- and -ms- is very similar these clusters become -pt-, -pth-, -pk-, -pkh- and -ps- respectively in compounds. sulum + trik sulup-trik mast-supporter a a In addition, -nr- and -nl- tend to develop into -rr-, -ll-, though this is not always realized. Another peculiarity is the development of combinations of spirants and voiced stops, such as -ph-d- or -kh-b-. For such clusters, there is the tendency that the second element is unvoiced (thus -ph-t- or -kh-p- and that the aspiration is transferred to the second element (-p-th- and -k-ph- respectively). Thus one nds sapthn wise man from the root a SAPHAD. Such changes, however, often occur in spoken Adnaic only and the writing is u unchanged. There are also (relatively few) peculiarities in the contact of vowels in compounds or when endings are appended. The rule is that if one of the vowels is long, the result is either a long vowel or a long diphthong. If the vowels are the same, they are simply contracted. However, if the vowels are different, after an -u a consonant -w- is always inserted, after an -i an -y-. Thus, against powers translates avaliyada, not avaliada. o o Furthermore, the combination -au- usually develops into -- and -ai- usually into --. o e

8.2.2 Agental sufxes

While we dont know too much about how words are formed from bases, there are a few examples which show us how to make agental nouns from verbs (an agental noun which describes the person doing the action described by a verb, for the verb to watch for example the agental noun is watcher). For masculine agents, the ending is often composed of a long vowel -- or -- together with o u one of the Masculine consonants -k, -r, -n or -d. For female agents, the ending would be - or -- together with a Feminine consonant -th, e -l, -s or -z. Common agents nally would involve - and consonants -n or -r. a Thus, we nd e.g. saphdn sapthn from sapad- + -n. This reveals that verbs of a a a class P2 shed the last vowel before the ending is appended. We could probably make this gender-specic by appending sapthth wise woman or sapthr wise male. e u

39 If that is true, we could e.g. analyze zigr wizard as one who does magic from a verb u *zig- to do magic. The same endings also seem to apply to nouns, so would pharaz gold lead to pharazn o golden one.

8.2.3 Relative sentences

It would appear that the relative pronoun in Adnaic is a with possible plural ya. Thus, hiu Akallabth can be analyzed as she-that-downfell-one, involving the pronoun hi she, the e relative pronoun a that, the past tense kallaba down-fell and the female word formation ending -th. If this example holds true, we can nd e.g. e nard a nkhi the soldier who is coming u a

8.3

VOCABULARY
u Adnaic *agat-thni a bn e *sapthth e English death-land servant wise-woman

Suggested further reading: Lalaiths Guide to Adnaic Grammar by Andreas Moehn u http://lalaith.vpsurf.de/Tolkien/Grammar.html Adnaic - the vernacular of Numenor by Helge Fauskanger u http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/adunaic.htm Lowdhams Report on the Adunaic Language by J. R. R. Tolkien Sauron Defeated, p.413-440