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.

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.

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”.

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.

-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.

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.

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.

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”.

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”.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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).

khibil

noun. spring

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

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”.