This would be a good thread to hear from
Elthir or our new member,
Elaran.
In
Sauron Defeated, in “Part Three: The Drowning of
Anadûnê”, “(vi) Lowdham’s Report on the
Adûnaic Language”, Tolkien’s notes (writing as the character “Alwin Arundel Lowdham”) say that
Adûnaic … came under some different influence [than “Avallonian”, Elvish, that Lowdham surmises the root source of Adûnaic]. This influence I call Khazâdian; because I have received a good many echoes of a curious tongue, also connected with what we should call the West of
the Old World, that is associated with the name
Khazâd. Now this resembles Adûnaic phonetically, and it seems also in some points of vocabulary and structure; but it is precisely at the points where Adûnaic most differs from Avallonian that it approaches nearest to Khazâdian.
Later under the heading “General Structure”,
The majority of the word-bases of Adûnaic were triconsonantal. This structure … [bears] affinity with Khazâdian rather than with Nimrian [i.e., “Avallonian”, Elvish]. For though Nimrian has many triconsonantal stems (other than the products of normal suffiction), … these are rarer in Nimrian…
So Tolkien (writing as his character “Lowdham”) proposes a history of Adûnaic beginning with
Elvish [“Avallonian”/“Nimrian”], then taking on Dwarvish [“Khazâdian”] influence, and finally another layer of Elvish influence so that “modern” or “complete” Adûnaic arises.
In
the Third Age and early
Fourth Age, when the Appendices to
Return of the King are feigned to be written, I’ve no doubt that Dwarves were secretive about their language and taught it to few or none.
Silmarillion says the Eldar “could understand no word of the tongue of the
Naugrim, which to their ears was cumbrous and unlovely; and few ever of the Eldar have achieved the mastery of it.” (“Of the
Sindar”) Eöl the Dark
Elf learned it, as did
Curufin, the son of
Fëanor. In
War of the Jewels, “Part Four: Quendi and Eldar”, Appendix D, following a discussion of Elvish communication by gestures rather than vocalization, that discussion goes on to mention Dwarvish means of communication by gesture, which the Dwarves used “for secrecy and the exclusion of strangers.” It then continues,
[The Dwarves] understood and respected the disinterested desire for knowledge, and some of the later Noldorin
loremasters were allowed to learn enough of both their [spoken language] and their [gestures] to understand their systems.
In
Peoples of Middle-earth, “Part Two: Later Writings”, “Of Dwarves and
Men”, “Relations of the Longbeard Dwarves and Men”, there is this passage:
[T]he Alliance of Dwarves and Men in the North came early in the
Second Age to command great strength, swift in attack and valiant and well-protected in defense, and there grew up in that region between Dwarves and Men respect and esteem, and sometimes warm friendship.
… [The Dwarves] were not unwilling to teach their own tongue to Men with whom they had special friendship, but Men found it difficult and were slow to learn more than isolated words, many of which they adapted and took into their own language.
Akhôrahil is correct that Tolkien’s “concept[s of Adûnaic] kept changing and some of the
Adunaic names of
Kings of
Numenor do not seem to be compatible with his earlier Adunaic,” but I think we can safely surmise that some of the ideas presented in
History of Middle-earth were retained, or at least reflected notions that Tolkien retained of
Khuzdul and its relationship to Adûnaic.
In short, I am comfortable with the notion that Khuzdul influenced early Adûnaic before the
Edain crossed into
Beleriand. It seems a perfectly natural idea; after all, even the
Elves accepted some words of Dwarvish into their language:
Finrod Felagund is mixed
Sindarin and Khuzdul for “Finrod Hewer of
Caves”, Khuzdul
kheled for “glass” in retained in Sindarin as
heledh, and Khuzdul
Khazâd for “Dwarves” enters into
Quenya as
Casar.
But I am not one of the
Lambengolmor, the Loremasters of Tongues. I hope that someone more astute on these matters than I will contribute to this thread.
