Adûnaic

Adûnaic was the native Mannish tongue ancestral to and used by the Dúnedain of Númenor.

The word Adûnaic derives from adûn - 'west' - and means 'The-Speach-of-the-West'.

It was, in origin, the ancestral speech of the House of Hador, related to the tongues of the Edain and the Men of the Vales of Anduin.

Adûnaic's development in the First Age was strongly influenced by contact with the Moriquendi in the East, and the Eldar in Beleriand.[1]

In the days of the power of Númenor (SA2899-3319) it was the language used at the Royal Court. Except for Tar-Palantir, the names of all the Kings and Princes of Númenor after Tar-Calmacil, as well as the downfall - the Akallabêth - are examples of Adûnaic.[2]

In its own turn, particularly through the forts and havens kept on the western coasts of Middle-earth, Adûnaic was spoken and mingled with words of the languages of lesser men, and became the Common Speech that spread along the coasts to all who had dealings with Westerness, becoming the Westron speech, which the Dúnedain enlarged with many words drawn from the elven tongues, and it slowly spread far and wide, even among their enemies.[3]

Most Men of the northern regions of the West-lands were descended from the Edain of the First Age, or their kin. Their languages were therefore related to Adûnaic.
These included the people of the upper vales of Anduin, Beornings, Woodmen of Western Mirkwood, the Men of Long Lake and Dale, and also the Rohirrim.

Adûnaic is mentioned in The Lord of The Rings, The Silmarillion, The Shaping of Middle-earth, The Lost Road, The War of the Ring, Sauron Defeated, Morgoth's Ring, The War of the Jewels, and The Peoples of Middle-earth. (List may be incomplete.)

1. ^The Complete Guide to Middle Earth: Robert Foster - entry Adûnaic
2. ^The Complete Tolkien Companion: J.E.A. Tyler - entry Adûnaic
3. ^Lord of The Rings: Appendix F - Of Men