Khuzdul

Khuzdul

Khuzdul is the fictional language of the Dwarves in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. It appears to be structured, like Semitic, around triconsonantal roots: kh-z-d, b-n-d, z-g-l. Not much is known of the language, as the Dwarves kept it to themselves, except for their battle-cry: Baruk Khaz�d! Khaz�d ai-menu! meaning Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!

Among the languages of Middle-earth, Khuzdul is unique in belonging to a separate language phylum, not related to the languages of Elves or Men.

The Dwarvish language sounds much like Hebrew, and indeed Tolkien noted some similarities between Dwarves and Jews: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…".

For the The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, the linguist David Salo used what little is known of the Khuzdul to create enough of a language for use in the movies. This is usually referred to as neo-Khuzdul by Tolkienists.