An otherwise untranslatable name of a Númenórean commoner (UT/195).
Adûnaic
u
pronoun. he
ulbar
masculine name. Ulbar
urud
noun. mountain
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).
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.
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.
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).
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.
ûrinîluwat
Sun and Moon
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.
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”.
huzun
noun. ear
A noun translated as “ear” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).
Ulbar
Ulbar
Ulbar's name appears to be Adûnaic, but of unknown definition.
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.
-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”.
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).
asdi
?. [unglossed]
A word Tolkien used to illustrate Adûnaic pronunciation (pronounced [azdi]) without giving its meaning (SD/421).
sapda
?. [unglossed]
A word Tolkien used to illustrate Adûnaic pronunciation without giving its meaning (SD/421).
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.
ûriyat nîlô
sun and moon
ûrî
feminine name. (Lady of the) Sun
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.
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.
-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).
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.
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-.
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-.
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”.
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.
-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”.
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
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).
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.
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.
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”.
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).
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).
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.
kali
noun. woman
A noun translated “woman” (SD/434).
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).
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.
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).