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Khuzdul

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Fictional languages are the subset of constructed languages (conlangs) that have been created as part of a fictional setting (e.g. for use in a book, movie, television show, or video game). Typically they are the creation of one individual, while natural languages evolve out of a particular culture or people group, and other conlangs may have group involvement. Fictional languages are also distinct from natural languages in that they have no native speakers . By contrast, the constructed language of Esperanto now has native speakers .

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60-458: Khuzdul ( pronounced [kʰuzˈdul] ) is a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien , one of the languages of Middle-earth , specifically the secret and private language of the Dwarves . He based its structure and phonology on Semitic languages , primarily Hebrew , with triconsonantal roots of words. Very little is known of the grammar. Tolkien began developing Khuzdul before

120-542: A gliding vowel or a vowel glide , is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable . Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech apparatus ) moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. In most varieties of English , the phrase "no highway cowboy" ( / n oʊ ˈ h aɪ w eɪ ˈ k aʊ b ɔɪ / noh HY -way KOW -boy ) has five distinct diphthongs, one in every syllable . Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs , where

180-418: A CV(C(C)) syllable structure. Words that begin with a vowel or diphthong have a glottal stop at the beginning to fill the place of an initial consonant. Words can not start with a consonant cluster, but these are found in medial or final positions in a word. The language was said to be "cumbrous and unlovely" to the elves; Tolkien described it as having a cacophonous quality. Tolkien wrote most of Khuzdul in

240-652: A broken plural. In compound words, the adjective usually precedes the noun, as in sigin-tarâg , "longbeards". Only four verb words are known. The exact tense or use of these verbs are unknown: Seen in Tumunzahar in 'Hollowbold', with 'bold' as an obsolete term for dwelling. Assimilates to 'D' when precedes one, e.g. d-t = d-d : Khazad-dûm Khuzdul's word stems are as in the Semitic languages not full words but groups of consonants, most often in threes. Fictional language Fictional languages are intended to be

300-487: A diphthong differently than when those sounds are produced in hiatus. For example, due to English diphthong raising , many North American English speakers pronounce /aɪ/ with closer vowels than /a.ɪ/ , and, among a subset of those, the diphthong /aʊ/ may be similarly raised as compared to /a.ʊ/ . In words coming from Middle English , most cases of the Modern English diphthongs [aɪ̯, oʊ̯, eɪ̯, aʊ̯] originate from

360-471: A diphthong, they can be transcribed with two vowel symbols with a period in between. Thus, lower can be transcribed ⟨ ˈloʊ.ɚ ⟩, with a period separating the first syllable, / l oʊ / , from the second syllable, ⟨ ɚ ⟩. The non-syllabic diacritic is used only when necessary. It is typically omitted when there is no ambiguity, as in ⟨ haɪ kaʊ ⟩. No words in English have

420-496: A diphthong. Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds ( phonemes ). In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), monophthongs are transcribed with one symbol, as in English sun [sʌn] , in which ⟨ ʌ ⟩ represents

480-424: A monophthong becomes a diphthong. Monophthongization or smoothing is a vowel shift in which a diphthong becomes a monophthong. While there are a number of similarities, diphthongs are not the same phonologically as a combination of a vowel and an approximant or glide. Most importantly, diphthongs are fully contained in the syllable nucleus while a semivowel or glide is restricted to the syllable boundaries (either

540-434: A monophthong. Diphthongs are transcribed with two symbols, as in English high /haɪ/ or cow /kaʊ/ , in which ⟨ aɪ ⟩ and ⟨ aʊ ⟩ represent diphthongs. Diphthongs may be transcribed with two vowel symbols or with a vowel symbol and a semivowel symbol. In the words above, the less prominent member of the diphthong can be represented with the symbols for the palatal approximant [ j ] and

600-521: A more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as [ɪə̯] , [ɛə̯] , and [ʊə̯] in Received Pronunciation or [iə̯] and [uə̯] in Irish . Many centering diphthongs are also opening diphthongs ( [iə̯] , [uə̯] ). Diphthongs may contrast in how far they open or close. For example, Samoan contrasts low-to-mid with low-to-high diphthongs: Narrow diphthongs are the ones that end with

660-416: A pre-existing natural language, many are independently designed conlangs with their own lexicon (some more robust than others) and rules of grammar . Some of the latter are fully formed enough to be learned as a speakable language, and many subcultures exist of those who are 'fluent' in one or more of these fictional languages. Often after the creator of a fictional language has accomplished their task,

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720-623: A similar length. In languages with only one phonemic length for pure vowels, however, diphthongs may behave like pure vowels. For example, in Icelandic , both monophthongs and diphthongs are pronounced long before single consonants and short before most consonant clusters. Some languages contrast short and long diphthongs. In some languages, such as Old English , these behave like short and long vowels, occupying one and two morae , respectively. Languages that contrast three quantities in diphthongs are extremely rare, but not unheard of; Northern Sami

780-507: A slight raising of both forefingers simultaneously. The acknowledgment "I am listening" involved a slight raising of the right-hand forefinger, followed by a similar raising of the left-hand forefinger. The following phonemes are attested in Tolkien's Khuzdul vocabulary. Only one diphthong is attested in Khuzdul: ai [ ai ], as seen in ai-mênu . Often at the start of words that begin with

840-563: A vowel which on a vowel chart is quite close to the one that begins the diphthong, for example Northern Dutch [eɪ] , [øʏ] and [oʊ] . Wide diphthongs are the opposite – they require a greater tongue movement, and their offsets are farther away from their starting points on the vowel chart. Examples of wide diphthongs are RP/GA English [aɪ] and [aʊ] . Languages differ in the length of diphthongs, measured in terms of morae . In languages with phonemically short and long vowels, diphthongs typically behave like long vowels, and are pronounced with

900-879: A vowel, European Portuguese has 14 phonemic diphthongs (10 oral and 4 nasal), all of which are falling diphthongs formed by a vowel and a nonsyllabic high vowel. Brazilian Portuguese has roughly the same amount, although the European and non-European dialects have slightly different pronunciations ( [ɐj] is a distinctive feature of some southern and central Portuguese dialects, especially that of Lisbon). A [w] onglide after /k/ or /ɡ/ and before all vowels as in quando [ˈkwɐ̃du] ('when') or guarda [ˈɡwaɾðɐ ~ ˈɡwaʁdɐ] ('guard') may also form rising diphthongs and triphthongs . Additionally, in casual speech, adjacent heterosyllabic vowels may combine into diphthongs and triphthongs or even sequences of them. In addition, phonetic diphthongs are formed in most Brazilian Portuguese dialects by

960-859: A vowel, often not written in the Latin alphabet, but has its own rune in Angerthas Moria. Supposedly in Azaghâl , 'gh' [ ɣ ] is used to represent this sound in Black Speech and Orcish, but wasn't said of Khuzdul. Could also be [ ɡh ] or [ ɡʰ ]. Alveolar trill [ r ] a later variant in pronunciation, the uvular trill [ ʀ ] being the original Khuzdul pronunciation. No examples found, Tolkien explicitly states these were frequent in Khuzdul, and have their own Cirth runes. Possibly in between incompatible consonant formations or current vowels in known corpus. Khuzdul features

1020-434: Is a less precise or broader transcription, since these diphthongs usually end in a vowel sound that is more open than the semivowels [j w] or the close vowels [i u] . Transcribing the diphthongs as ⟨ aɪ̯ aʊ̯ ⟩ is a more precise or narrower transcription, since the English diphthongs usually end in the near-close vowels [ɪ ʊ] . The non-syllabic diacritic , the inverted breve below ⟨◌̯⟩ ,

1080-441: Is known of Khuzdul grammar to even construct a sentence, but the language was known to have its morphology based mainly on Hebrew, and other Semitic languages. Tolkien states that Khuzdul was complicated and unlike the other languages of Middle-earth at the time in its phonology and grammar. It has been said the grammar of Khuzdul influenced the basic grammar of Adûnaic , but little material is given to show these influences other than

1140-411: Is known to contrast long, short and "finally stressed" diphthongs, the last of which are distinguished by a longer second element. In some languages, diphthongs are single phonemes , while in others they are analyzed as sequences of two vowels, or of a vowel and a semivowel. Certain sound changes relate to diphthongs and monophthongs . Vowel breaking or diphthongization is a vowel shift in which

1200-400: Is more close than the first (e.g. [ai] ); in opening diphthongs, the second element is more open (e.g. [ia] ). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling ( [ai̯] ), and opening diphthongs are generally rising ( [i̯a] ), as open vowels are more sonorous and therefore tend to be more prominent. However, exceptions to this rule are not rare in the world's languages. In Finnish , for instance,

1260-399: Is not clear which symbol represents the syllable nucleus, or when they have equal weight. Superscripts are especially used when an on- or off-glide is particularly fleeting. The period ⟨ . ⟩ is the opposite of the non-syllabic diacritic: it represents a syllable break. If two vowels next to each other belong to two different syllables ( hiatus ), meaning that they do not form

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1320-460: Is placed under the less prominent part of a diphthong to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a vowel in a separate syllable: [aɪ̯ aʊ̯] . When there is no contrastive vowel sequence in the language, the diacritic may be omitted. Other common indications that the two sounds are not separate vowels are a superscript, ⟨ aᶦ aᶷ ⟩, or a tie bar, ⟨ a͡ɪ a͡ʊ ⟩ or ⟨ a͜ɪ a͜ʊ ⟩. The tie bar can be useful when it

1380-415: Is possible for languages to contrast [ij] and [iː] . Diphthongs are also distinct from sequences of simple vowels. The Bunaq language of Timor, for example, distinguishes /sa͡i/ [saj] 'exit' from /sai/ [saʲi] 'be amused', /te͡i/ [tej] 'dance' from /tei/ [teʲi] 'stare at', and /po͡i/ [poj] 'choice' from /loi/ [loʷi] 'good'. Some languages or dialects also articulate the component sounds of

1440-465: The English and Italian languages, among others, many phoneticians do not consider rising combinations to be diphthongs, but rather sequences of approximant and vowel. There are many languages (such as Romanian ) that contrast one or more rising diphthongs with similar sequences of a glide and a vowel in their phonetic inventory (see semivowel for examples). In closing diphthongs, the second element

1500-523: The Middle High German diphthongs than to standard German diphthongs: Apart from these phonemic diphthongs, Bernese German has numerous phonetic diphthongs due to L-vocalization in the syllable coda, for instance the following ones: Yiddish has three diphthongs: Diphthongs may reach a higher target position (towards /i/ ) in situations of coarticulatory phenomena or when words with such vowels are being emphasized. There are five diphthongs in

1560-401: The fandom of that fictional universe will pick up where the creator left off and continue to flesh out the language, making it more like a natural language and therefore more usable. Fictional languages are separated from artistic languages by both purpose and relative completion: a fictional language often has the least amount of grammar and vocabulary possible, and rarely extends beyond

1620-666: The vocalization of /l/ in the syllable coda with words like sol [sɔw] ('sun') and sul [suw] ('south') as well as by yodization of vowels preceding / s / or its allophone at syllable coda [ ʃ ~ ɕ ] in terms like arroz [aˈʁojs ~ ɐˈʁo(j)ɕ] ('rice'), and / z / (or [ ʒ ~ ʑ ] ) in terms such as paz mundial [ˈpajz mũdʒiˈaw ~ ˈpa(j)ʑ mũdʑiˈaw] ('world peace') and dez anos [ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nu(j)s ~ ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nuɕ] ('ten years'). Phonetically, Spanish has seven falling diphthongs and eight rising diphthongs. In addition, during fast speech, sequences of vowels in hiatus become diphthongs wherein one becomes non-syllabic (unless they are

1680-672: The Dwarves used a sign language , or iglishmêk , which was also just as secretive as Khuzdul. According to The War of the Jewels , it was learned simultaneously with the aglâb from childhood. The Dwarvish sign language was much more varied between communities than Khuzdul, which remained "astonishingly uniform and unchanged both in time and in locality". Tolkien described its structure and use: "The component sign-elements of any such code were often so slight and so swift that they could hardly be detected, still less interpreted by uninitiated onlookers. As

1740-469: The Dwarves" the axes belong to the dwarves, Khazad-dûm 'Dwarves + Delving' "Dwarrowdelf", a Dwarvish delving. Khuzdul appears to have case endings with nominative and accusative/genitive cases, and perhaps an adjectival suffix. Nouns and adjectives may have had different declensions for formation and number. Tolkien stated plural formations were similar to Arabic's broken plurals , which would make for many irregular plurals; two examples are known: baruk ,

1800-576: The Eldar eventually discovered in their dealings with the Naugrim, they could speak with their voices but at the same time by ‘gesture’ convey to their own folk modifications of what was being said. Or they could stand silent considering some proposition, and yet confer among themselves meanwhile." Tolkien only gave a few examples of the Iglishmêk sign language in his unpublished notes. The command to "Listen!" involved

1860-669: The Latin alphabet, and in Cirth within Middle-earth. The dwarves had adopted the Cirth from the elves by the end of the first age, and made changes to their liking to represent the sounds of Khuzdul. There were two methods known of writing Khuzdul, Angerthas Moria when the dwarves still lived in Khazad-dûm before its fall, and Angerthas Erebor once they fled and further developed the Cirth when they settled at Erebor , The Lonely Mountain. Too little

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1920-700: The Middle English long monophthongs [iː, ɔː, aː, uː] through the Great Vowel Shift , although some cases of [oʊ̯, eɪ̯] originate from the Middle English diphthongs [ɔu̯, aɪ̯] . The dialect of Hamont (in Limburg ) has five centring diphthongs and contrasts long and short forms of [ɛɪ̯] , [œʏ̯] , [ɔʊ̯] , and [ɑʊ̯] . The Afrikaans language has its origin in Dutch but differs in many significant ways, including

1980-581: The Oslo dialect of Norwegian , all of them falling: An additional diphthong, [ʉ͍ɪ] , occurs only in the word hui in the expression i hui og hast "in great haste". The number and form of diphthongs vary between dialects. Diphthongs in Faroese are: Diphthongs in Icelandic are the following: Combinations of semivowel /j/ and a vowel are the following: In French , /wa/ , /wɛ̃/ , /ɥi/ and /ɥɛ̃/ may be considered true diphthongs (that is, fully contained in

2040-507: The absolutely necessary. At the same time, some others have developed languages in detail for their own sake, such as J. R. R. Tolkien 's Quenya and Sindarin (two Elvish languages), Star Trek ' s Klingon language and Avatar 's Na'vi language which exist as functioning, usable languages. By analogy with the word "conlang", the term conworld is used to describe these fictional worlds, inhabited by fictional constructed cultures . The conworld influences vocabulary (what words

2100-660: The fictional setting of Middle-earth, little is known of Khuzdul (once written Khuzdûl ), the Dwarves kept it secret, except for place names and a few phrases such as their battle-cry and Balin 's tomb inscription in Moria , which read respectively: According to the Lhammas , Khuzdul is a language isolate , the sole member of the Aulëan language family, not related to the Oromëan languages spoken by Elves (all of which are akin to Quenya ). Aulëan

2160-532: The following contexts: There are also certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in the Majorcan dialect so that /ˈtroncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal plosive) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtrojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtronʲc] ). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (part of Catalan's segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for

2220-718: The heptapod's written language, which is distinct from their spoken language, from the 2016 film Arrival . Internet-based fictional languages are hosted along with their " conworlds " on the internet, and based at these sites, becoming known to the world through the visitors to these sites. Verdurian , the language of Mark Rosenfelder 's Verduria on the planet of Almea, is an Internet-based fictional language. Diphthong A diphthong ( / ˈ d ɪ f θ ɒ ŋ , ˈ d ɪ p -/ DIF -thong, DIP - ; from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos)  'two sounds', from δίς (dís)  'twice' and φθόγγος (phthóngos)  'sound'), also known as

2280-417: The labiovelar approximant [ w ] , with the symbols for the close vowels [ i ] and [ u ] , or the symbols for the near-close vowels [ ɪ ] and [ ʊ ] : Some transcriptions are broader or narrower (less precise or more precise phonetically) than others. Transcribing the English diphthongs in high and cow as ⟨ aj aw ⟩ or ⟨ ai̯ au̯ ⟩

2340-698: The language belongs. Commercial fictional languages are those languages created for use in various commercial media, such as: While some languages are created purely from the desire of the creator, language creation can be a profession. In 1974, Victoria Fromkin was the first person hired to create a language ( Land of the Lost 's Paku). Since then, notable professional language creators have included Marc Okrand ( Klingon ), David Peterson ( Dothraki and others in Game of Thrones ), and Paul Frommer ( Na'vi ). A notable subgenre of fictional languages are alien languages ,

2400-437: The language will have for flora and fauna, articles of clothing, objects of technology, religious concepts, names of places and tribes, etc.), as well as influencing other factors such as pronouns, or how their cultures view the break-off points between colors or the gender and age of family members. Sound is also a directing factor, as creators seek to show their audience through phonology the type of race or people group to whom

2460-563: The languages of a fictional world and are often designed with the intent of giving more depth, and an appearance of plausibility, to the fictional worlds with which they are associated. The goal of the author may be to have their characters communicate in a fashion which is both alien and dislocated. Within their fictional world, these languages do function as natural languages, helping to identify certain races or people groups and set them apart from others. While some less-formed fictional languages are created as distorted versions or dialects of

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2520-420: The languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…". Tolkien commented of the Dwarves that "their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic." Although a very limited vocabulary is known, Tolkien mentioned he had developed the language to a certain extent. A small amount of material on Khuzdul phonology and root modifications has survived which is yet to be published. In

2580-576: The languages of the region "but with an accent due to their own private tongue...". Dwarves were however willing to reveal the names of places in Khuzdul, such as the names of the landmarks of Moria: "I know them and their names, for under them lies Khazad-dûm , the Dwarrowdelf... Yonder stands Barazinbar , the Redhorn...and beyond him are Silvertine and Cloudyhead:...that we call Zirakzigil and Bundushathûr ." Besides their aglâb , spoken tongue,

2640-471: The latter as ⟨eeu⟩ . In diminutives ending in /ki/ formed to monosyllabic nouns, the vowels /u, ɪə, ʊə, ɛ, ə, œ, ɔ, a, ɑː/ are realised as closing diphthongs [ui, ei, oi, ɛi, əi, œi, ɔi, ai, ɑːi] . In the same environment, the sequences /ɛn, ən, œn, ɔn, an/ are realized as [ɛiɲ, əiɲ, œiɲ, ɔiɲ, aiɲ] , i.e. as closing diphthongs followed by palatal nasal. Phonemic diphthongs in German : In

2700-470: The loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs [ˈajns] ('years'). The dialectal distribution of this compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal plosive (whether it is velar or palatal) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it is extended to palatals). The Portuguese diphthongs are formed by the labio-velar approximant [w] and palatal approximant [j] with

2760-453: The mention of where Adûnaic's grammar differs from Quenya . Nouns and adjectives had singular and plural forms and, like the Semitic languages , can be in the absolute or construct state . The construct state indicates a connection with the following noun, being a quality, belonging or part of that noun. The construct comes before the absolute noun e.g.: Baruk Khazâd! 'Axes + Dwarves' "Axes of

2820-606: The ones that are used or might be used by putative extraterrestrial life forms. Alien languages are subject of both science fiction and scientific research. Perhaps the most fully developed fictional alien language is the Klingon language of the Star Trek universe – a fully developed constructed language . The problem of alien language has confronted generations of science fiction writers; some have created fictional languages for their characters to use, while others have circumvented

2880-435: The onset or the coda). This often manifests itself phonetically by a greater degree of constriction, but the phonetic distinction is not always clear. The English word yes , for example, consists of a palatal glide followed by a monophthong rather than a rising diphthong. In addition, the segmental elements must be different in diphthongs [ii̯] and so when it occurs in a language, it does not contrast with [iː] . However, it

2940-456: The opening diphthongs /ie̯/ and /uo̯/ are true falling diphthongs, since they begin louder and with higher pitch and fall in prominence during the diphthong. A third, rare type of diphthong that is neither opening nor closing is height-harmonic diphthongs, with both elements at the same vowel height. These may have occurred in Old English : A centering diphthong is one that begins with

3000-410: The plural of bark "axe", and Khazâd , the plural of Khuzdul . Other noun declension types likely exist, but little detail is provided to show any full declensions or identify any broken plurals. Of these, the only hints that point to their existence is in compounded attested words and single words: The word baruk is both the absolute and construct plural form of bark , likely the result of being

3060-539: The problem through translation devices or other fantastic technology. For example, the Star Trek universe makes use of a " universal translator ", which explains why such different races, often meeting for the first time, are able to communicate with each other. Another more humorous example would be the Babel fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , an aurally-inserted fish that instantaneously translates alien speech to

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3120-402: The publication in 1936 of The Hobbit , with some names appearing in the early versions of The Silmarillion . Tolkien based Khuzdul on Semitic languages , primarily Hebrew , featuring triconsonantal roots and similarities to Hebrew's phonology and morphology . Tolkien noted some similarities between Dwarves and Jews: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking

3180-460: The speaker's native language. While in many cases an alien language is but an element of a fictional reality, in a number of science fiction works the core of the plot involves linguistic and psychological problems of communication between various alien species. A further subgenre of alien languages are those that are visual, rather than auditory. Notable examples of this type are Sherman's Circular Gallifreyan from BBC's Doctor Who series and

3240-612: The syllable nucleus: [u̯a], [u̯ɛ̃], [y̯i], [y̯ɛ̃] ). Other sequences are considered part of a glide formation process that turns a high vowel into a semivowel (and part of the syllable onset) when followed by another vowel. Diphthongs Semivowels In Quebec French , long vowels are generally diphthongized in informal speech when stressed . Catalan possesses a number of phonetic diphthongs, all of which begin ( rising diphthongs ) or end ( falling diphthongs ) in [j] or [w] . In standard Eastern Catalan, rising diphthongs (that is, those starting with [j] or [w] ) are possible only in

3300-492: The terms "falling" and "rising" are used, instead, to refer to vowel height , i.e. as synonyms of the terms "closing" and "opening". See below.) The less prominent component in the diphthong may also be transcribed as an approximant , thus [aj] in eye and [ja] in yard . However, when the diphthong is analysed as a single phoneme , both elements are often transcribed with vowel symbols ( /aɪ̯/ , /ɪ̯a/ ). Semivowels and approximants are not equivalent in all treatments, and in

3360-403: The tongue or other speech organs do not move and the syllable contains only a single vowel sound. For instance, in English, the word ah is spoken as a monophthong ( / ɑː / ), while the word ow is spoken as a diphthong in most varieties ( / aʊ / ). Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables (e.g. in the English word re-elect ) the result is described as hiatus , not as

3420-433: The use of diphthongs in the place of several non-diphthong Dutch double vowels, or double-vowels being pronounced differently. Examples include: The long diphthongs (or 'double vowels') are phonemically sequences of a free vowel and a non-syllabic equivalent of /i/ or /u/ : [iu, ui, oːi, eu, ɑːi] . Both [iu] and [eu] tend to be pronounced as [iu] , but they are spelled differently: the former as ⟨ieu⟩ ,

3480-570: The varieties of German that vocalize the /r/ in the syllable coda , other diphthongal combinations may occur. These are only phonetic diphthongs, not phonemic diphthongs, since the vocalic pronunciation [ɐ̯] alternates with consonantal pronunciations of /r/ if a vowel follows, cf. du hörst [duː ˈhøːɐ̯st] 'you hear' – ich höre [ʔɪç ˈhøːʀə] 'I hear'. These phonetic diphthongs may be as follows: The diphthongs of some German dialects differ from standard German diphthongs. The Bernese German diphthongs, for instance, correspond rather to

3540-440: The vowel sequences *[a.ɪ a.ʊ] , so the non-syllabic diacritic is unnecessary. Falling (or descending ) diphthongs start with a vowel quality of higher prominence (higher pitch or volume) and end in a semivowel with less prominence, like [aɪ̯] in eye , while rising (or ascending ) diphthongs begin with a less prominent semivowel and end with a more prominent full vowel, similar to the [ja] in yard . (Sometimes, however,

3600-732: Was named from the Dwarvish tradition that it had been devised by Aulë the Smith, the Vala who created the Dwarves. Later, Tolkien dropped the origins of Elvish being taught by Oromë , but kept the origins of Khuzdul the same. It is said in The Silmarillion that Aulë created the dwarves, and taught them "the language he had devised for them", making Khuzdul, both in fiction and reality, a constructed language . Dwarves were unwilling to teach outsiders Khuzdul, even to their non-dwarf friends. Dwarves would speak

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