凱薩德語─矮人的秘語

• 發展史
• 創作史(以下待譯)
• 語言結構
• 文法總成
• 字詞總集

發展史

在《精靈寶鑽》第二章之中，我們知道當主神奧力(Aulë)創造出七位矮人始祖的時候，祂「開始將自己為矮人設計的語言教給他們。」他們稱自己的語言為凱薩德語（Khuzdul），意思很明顯地就是「矮人語」，而矮人們稱自己為凱薩德（Khazad，單數可能是庫茲德Khuzd）。我們讀到「根據他們的傳說，他們的父神主神奧力為他們創造了這個【語言】，並將這種語言傳授給七位元矮人始祖，七位始祖隨後便陷入長眠之中，直到他們甦醒的時刻到來。在他們甦醒之後，這種語言（如同阿爾達所有其他的語言和事物一樣）隨著時間的進行產生了變化，在各地出現了分歧。但這種變化是如此緩慢，而分歧的差別又是如此之小，以至於即使第三紀元，矮人之間還是能夠輕易地用自己的語言交流。正如他們所說的，凱薩德語的變化與精靈語及更常拿來被比較的人類語相比，『就像是拿岩石的風化與雪的融化做比較。』」（《中土世界民族錄》：323）。彭格洛（Pengolodh）也曾經評論道：「他們的傳統……是奧力在開始時為他們設計了語言，因此從那時起就幾乎沒有發生改變。」（《珠寶之戰》：402）。與之相比，矮人們由自己發明、人稱iglishmêk的手語，倒是出現了更多的變化。

不過無論保存的多完整，幾乎沒有其他種族學習到凱薩德語。後來的傳說中記載著，在維林諾（Valinor），奧力曾經將這個祂為矮人創造的語言傳授給費諾，但托爾金指出這並不一定是事實；也許這由於費諾王子(Fëanor)名氣太大，而產生的一個故事（VT39：10）。在中土世界，精靈對矮人語沒有什麼興趣，至少他們並不很重視這種語言：「他們完全聽不懂瑙格林（Naugrim）【矮人】的話，他的話在他們耳朵裡的都是沈重而粗糙的聲音，幾乎沒有艾爾達族能精通它。」（《精靈寶鑽》第十章）即使托爾金自己也表明了這個事實：「矮人語難以理解，而且發音很不和諧。即使早期的精靈語言家也會避開這種語言」（《托爾金書信集》：31）。不過就算真的有人想學習凱薩德語，矮人們也不太願意把它教導給外人。他們自己「甚至不願意在朋友面前揭露這種語言。」（《魔戒》附錄F）。有一個理論認為他們覺得凱薩德語是他們種族專屬的語言，而且其他種族沒有權利去理解它。當他們想和其他種族交流時，比如說貿易，矮人們寧可學習其他種族的語言，也不會教導其他種族凱薩德語－－即使另一方願意學。在中土世界的歷史中，只有過兩、三次矮人們願意將凱薩德語教導給同盟的種族。在第一紀元，當哈多的家族從東方第一次進入貝爾蘭，遇到這些大鬍子們時，這兩個種族之間建立起一種特殊的友誼，因為騎術高超的人類能夠為矮人提供保護，抵擋半獸人的入侵。那時的矮人實際上「並非不願意將自己的語言教給和他們有特殊友誼的人類，但人類發現這種語言實在是晦澀難懂、學習成效不彰，只能學到幾個單字，這些單字大多數都被人類改編，收入自己的語言中。」（《中土世界民族錄》：303。但是，看起來凱薩德語已經影響了阿登奈克語的基本結構，這是一種早期伊甸人使用語言的後裔。）在第一紀元中，精靈對凱薩德語沒什麼興趣，但至少有一個例外：「身為唯一贏得矮人友誼的諾多精靈，克魯芬（Curufin）對這種矮人族的外國語興趣十分濃厚。精靈的學者們就是從他的口中竭盡所能地汲取凱薩德語的知識」（《中土世界民族錄》：358）。至少有一個凱薩德語單字成為辛達語：kheled「玻璃」，在灰精靈語中是heledh （見《精靈寶鑽》附錄，khelek-）。凱薩德語的單字凱薩德（Khazâd）「矮人們」改編為昆雅語及辛達語，分別成為Casar「矮人」和Hadhod（矮人種族被稱為Hadhodrim，《珠寶之戰》：388）。相反的，矮人似乎也至少引入了一個辛達語單字：kibil「銀」，這個單字一定與灰精靈語的celeb有關。

很久之後，在第二紀元中，矮人不情願地讓少數幾個精靈為研究的目的，學習了一些凱薩德語，「他們理解並尊重這種無私的求知慾，而後來的一些諾多精靈學者終於被允許得以學習相當多的矮人lambe（aglâb）【昆雅語和凱薩德語中『語言』之意】，以及他們的iglishmêk 【手語】，以了解矮人的語言系統。」據說貢多林學者彭格洛「曾經在凱薩督姆矮人(Dwarves of Casarrondo, DKhazad-dûm)中生活過一段時間。」（《珠寶之戰》：395，396）。這些後期的學者們明顯地沒有他們前一紀元的學長們的那種傲慢的態度，除了克魯芬之外，那些學者都刻意「避開」了凱薩德語（《托爾金書信集》：31）。

然而，矮人語在某一點上都「嚴格的保密……歸因於一些精靈和人類都無法完全了解的原因。他們決不將自己的真名告訴外族人，而當他們後來擁有書寫能力時，也從沒有將名字雕刻或書寫出來。因此他們對盟友使用的名字都是使用人類語言的形式。」（《中土世界民族錄》：304）。《魔戒》中的附錄F證實了這一點：「他們自己的祕密真名則是從來不對外族透露，甚至也不會刻寫在墓碑上。」因此，像巴林(Balin)和方丁(Fundin)這樣的名字，雖然是以凱薩德文字出現在巴林的墳墓上，但並不是他們的凱薩德語名。那是人類語的名字，僅僅只是有非矮人族在場時，巴林和其父方丁的替代名。

在《精靈寶鑽》第二十章，我們看到了一個矮人語名字：阿薩格哈爾(Azaghâl)，那是矮人王貝磊勾斯特堡（Belegost）的名字。這可能不是他的「真名」，而只是他的頭銜或綽號。有人認為它的意思是「戰士」，與努曼諾爾人的動詞azgarâ-「開戰」有關（《索倫的覆滅》：439）。還有一個矮人鐵匠的名字：加姆利•西拉克（Gamil Zirak），他是諾格羅德城(Nogrod)鐵匠鐵爾洽(Telchar)的師父（《未完成的故事》：76）。這可能只是一個綽號，或是偶然間洩露的矮人真名，讓他抱憾終生。另一方面，小矮人（Petty-Dwarves）從來不會隱藏他們的凱薩德語名字。在《精靈寶鑽》第二十一章，小矮人密姆（Mîm）不只是迫不及待地將他的凱薩德語名字告訴了圖林(Túrin)，也將他兩個兒子的名字奇姆（Khîm）和伊邦（Ibun）告訴了他。也許正是這種輕率的舉動，讓一般的矮人討厭這些小矮人。

然而，矮人並不認為凱薩德語的地名需要保密。金靂就曾主動告訴遠征隊成員矮人們是如何稱呼摩瑞亞上方的山脈及摩瑞亞：「我早就熟記它們的名和外型。因為山峰底下就是凱薩督姆，矮人故鄉……那裡矗立的三座山峰就是巴拉辛巴(Barazinbar)，紅角(the Redhorn)……在它之後則是銀峰(Silvertine)和雲頂(Cloudyhead)……在矮人的語言中則是西拉克西吉爾(Zirakzigil)和龐都夏瑟(Bundushathûr)。」（《魔戒首部曲》第二章第三節）。如果其他人知道一點凱薩德語地名，矮人們也不一定會感到冒犯。當金靂到達羅瑞安，還在因為精靈要他蒙住雙眼而生氣時，凱蘭崔爾對他說：「卡雷德－薩姆(Kheled-zâram)之水幽黑，奇比利－那拉(Kibil-nâla)之水冰寒，在古王駕崩之前，凱薩督姆的眾柱之廳美麗無雙……」我們得知「矮人一聽到有人說出他自己的語言，他立刻抬起頭，和凱蘭崔爾的目光交會。突然間，他仿佛看進了敵人的心內，發現了愛和理解；他的臉上冰霜化解，也露出了笑容。」（《魔戒首部曲》第二章第七節）。凱蘭崔爾使用了古凱薩德語地名，金靂認為那是友好的表示。回到第一紀元，小矮人密姆提到他居住的山丘時：「現在那座山叫路斯山（Amon Rûdh）了，因為精靈把所有的名字都改了。」─他一定很不爽吧。

發展史

Regarding Khuzdul, Tolkien stated that "this tongue has been sketched in some detail of structure, if with a very small vocabulary" (PM:300). It evidently came into being in the thirties. The Khuzdul names Khazaddûm and Gabilgathol turn up in an early Silmarillion version; see LR:274. Here we also find Khuzûd as the Dwarves' name for their own kind, later changed to Khazâd. The name Khazaddûm Tolkien first applied to Nogrod, not to Moria. Christopher Tolkien comments: "Khazaddûm is the first occurrence of the celebrated name. It is interesting to observe that it existed - but as the Dwarvish name of Nogrod - already at this time. Later the Dwarvish name of Nogrod was Tumunzahar... Gabilgathol, now first appearing, remained as the Dwarvish name of Belegost." (LR:278)

語言結構

Of the Dwarvish language we are told that "structurally and grammatically it differed widely from all other languages of the West at that time" (PM:316-317). It seems that it was widely regarded as the proverbial "difficult language", like many Westerners think of Chinese today.

The phonology was in some respects peculiar compared to other contemporary languages. There were at least two aspirated stops, kh and th, i.e k and t followed by h. (Note that kh and th do not here denote German ach-Laut and th as in English thin, as these digraphs often do in Tolkien's spelling.) Initial English k and t are also aspirated, but probably not as strongly as in Khuzdul. Khuzdul also possesses unaspirated stops, like French and Russian k and t, but unlike the situation in both English, French and Russian, Khuzdul k and t are phonemes in their own right, that must be distinguished from kh and th. As we know very few Khuzdul words, it is hardly surprising that we have no minimal pairs, but k vs. kh and t vs. th are seen to contrast initially: Kibil-nâla vs. Khazad-dûm and Tumunzahar vs. Tharkûn. Other consonants include the voiced plosive b, the unvoiced spirants f and s, the voiced spirants z and gh, the lateral l, the vibrant r (some Dwarves used a uvular R, others evidently trilled R), the nasals n and m, and one semi-vowel, y.

If some consonants were somewhat peculiar, the vowel system was pretty ordinary. The short vowels seem to form a classical five-vowel system, a, i, e, o, u. According to Tolkien's notes on Daeron's Runes, reduction vowels like the ones heard in butter were also common, but they are not directly attested (unless some of the u's and e's represent such vowels). Four long vowels are attested, â, ê, î and û. The apparent absence of *ô may well be due to our small corpus. Long vowels may be shortened when unstressed (?), compare Khazâd with Khazad-dûm. (Actually we know nothing about how Khuzdul words are accented.)

The basic structure of Khuzdul resembles that of the Semitic languages, like Arabic and Hebrew. The stems from which words are derived are not by themselves pronounceable words, but consist of consonants only. Nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. are derived not only by prefixes and suffixes (if such devices are used at all), but also by inserting certain vowels between these consonants, sometimes also by doubling one of the consonants. Often the words are actually inflected by internal vowel-changes instead of adding affixes: Rukhs means "Orc", but plural "Orcs" is Rakhâs. The root consonants - the so-called radicals - remain the same, like *R-Kh-S in this case. In Khuzdul as well as in Semitic languages, there are usually three radicals in the root; several such roots are mentioned in TI:174 and RS:466: B-R-Z "red", B-N-D "head", K-B-L "silver", N-R-G "black". An example of a biconsonantal root is Z-N "dark, dim" (RS:466). Of course, vowels will be added when these roots appear as actual words, e.g. baraz "red" or bund "head" from B-R-Z, B-N-D. The radicals Kh-Z-D contain the general idea of "dwarvishness" and can be observed in such words as Khazâd "Dwarves" and Khuzdul "Dwarvish" ("Orkish" would presumably be *Rukhsul). The same radicals Kh-Z-D are evidently present in the ancient Khuzdul name of Nargothrond, Nulukkhizdîn, but the precise meaning of this name is unknown (note that Nulukkizdîn in the Silmarillion ch. 21 is a misspelling; see WJ:180). The most basic meaning of Kh-Z-D may have something to do with the number "seven", compare Adûnaic hazid (SD:428). The Dwarves were descended from Seven Fathers and were divided into Seven Kindreds - and as we know, dwarfs (sic!) are still associated with the number seven even in very late and very childish Mannish mythology.

文法總成

As has already been mentioned, our Khuzdul corpus is very small. There are a few names, like Khazad-dûm and Zirak-zigil, the inscription on Balin's tomb, and a battle cry: Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-mênu! "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!"

Baruk Khazâd! is said to mean "Axes of the Dwarves!" Baruk is usually taken to be an example of something similar to the Hebrew "construct state": the state a word is said to be in when it is placed in front of a noun to express a genitival relationship: X Y meaning "X of Y" or "Y's X". (Compare Hebrew sûs "horse", hammelekh "the king", sûs hammelekh "the king's horse, the horse of the king".) Of course, we cannot be certain that baruk is the normal plural "axes" and not a specialized form meaning "axes of". It may be significant that all the other attested plurals contain a long vowel: Khazâd "Dwarves", Rakhâs "Orcs", tarâg "beards", shathûr "clouds", ûl "streams", dûm "excavations, halls". Could the normal plural "axes" be *barûk? Shathûr "clouds" may represent a plural pattern in -a-û-. In Hebrew, the vowels of words in the construct state are often shortened. Or, given that u is clearly a Dwarvish element meaning "of" (Bund-u-shathûr "Head in/of Clouds", TI:174), is it incorporated in baruk, inserted between the second and third radical? Words with three simple radicals (1-2-3) seem to have singular forms in 1u23 (bund "head", Rukhs "Orc" - radicals B-N-D, *R-Kh-S) and plurals in 1a2â3 (Rakhâs "Orcs", compare Khazâd "Dwarves" and tarâg "beards" from *Kh-Z-D and *T-R-G). As baruk seems to have a similar radical structure of three consonants (*B-R-K), we may perhaps add a construct state plural in 1a2u3 to the paradigm and inflect B-R-K "axe" as follows: Singular *burk "axe", normal plural *barâk "axes", construct state plural baruk "[the] axes of" (and similarly e.g. *tarug Khazâd "the beards of the Dwarves" from the attested form tarâg "beards"?) The construct state singular may have the form 1u23u (*burku Khazâd "the axe of the Dwarves"), if Bundushathûr is simply *Bundu Shathûr "Head of Clouds" being written in one word when used as the name of a mountain (B-N-D "head").

The second part of the battle-cry is Khazâd ai-mênu! "The Dwarves are upon you!", our only real sentence. Ai-mênu is "upon you", ai being a short form of aya "upon" and mênu being accusative plural "you". This is evidently a nominal sentence, containing no actual Khuzdul equivalent of the verb "are". Sentences like this - "X Y" meaning "X is/are Y" - are common in Russian and many Semitic languages. This may support the theory of a distinct construct state of nouns, to distinguish "X Y" meaning "X of Y" from "X Y" meaning "X is Y".

Then there is the text that appears if one deciphers the runes on Balin's tomb: Balin Fundinul uzbad Khazaddûmu, "Balin son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." The names Balin and Fundin are Mannish, so their etymologies are irrelevant. What remains is the ending -ul, here used to form a patronymic, uzbad "lord" and the well-known name Khazad-dûm "Dwarrowdelf, Moria" (though there is no equivalent of the hyphen in the Runic inscription). It here occurs with an ending -u, that is evidently a genitive of some sort. But why is an ending required here when none is present in Baruk Khazâd "axes of the Dwarves"? (It does not matter whether baruk is a specialized form meaning "axes of" or is simply "axes"; even if it incorporates an element meaning "of", this inflection still affects the first word in the construction, not the second as in uzbad Khazaddûmu.) Evidently this is a kind of objective genitive, denoting that Moria is ruled by the lord, not simply that the lord somehow "owns" Moria (might that be *uzbud Khazaddûm, following the pattern of baruk Khazâd???) This theory finds strong support in Adûnaic, the Númenorean tongue, that descended from a Mannish tongue influenced by Khuzdul (SD:414). This language has a so-called "objective" form incorporating u that is used in compounds, e.g. gimlu-nitîr "kindler of a star" (gimlu- being the objective of gimli "star", SD:428 cf. 427). Though this Númenorean objective is used in compounds only and not independently as in uzbad Khazaddûmu, it may in origin be related to the Khuzdul objective.

The only noun that is attested both in the plural and the singular has already been mentioned, Rukhs "Orc", pl. Rakhâs. As we speculated above, Khazâd "the Dwarves" and tarâg "beards" may be plurals formed according to the same pattern, so that the singular nouns "Dwarf" and "beard" are *Khuzd, *turg. The word shathûr "clouds" evidently belong to another plural pattern than Khazâd and Rakhâs, and we cannot reconstruct the singular form. It would probably have the same radicals *Sh-Th-R, but different vowels. Other plural nouns are ûl "streams" and dûm "excavations, halls" (the latter may also be a collective). Is it significant that they both contain the same vowel û as shathûr?

Only three verbs are attested: gunud "delve underground, excavate, tunnel" (stated to be a root), felek "hew rock" and the related word felak, meaning to use a tool like a broad-bladed chisel, or small axe-head without haft. Felak may also be used as a noun denoting such a tool. Cf. English "hammer", noun or verb. This example indicates that Khuzdul verbs cannot always be distinguished from other parts of speech by their form alone.

We have a few adjectives: There is the word Khuzdul itself, apparently meaning "dwarvish", being derived from *Khuzd "dwarf" with the ending -ul that is also used to form patronymics: Fundinul, son of Fundin. We also have sigin "long" in Sigin-tarâg, the Longbeards. If Khuzdul adjectives agree in number, sigin may be a plural form. (On the other hand, the basic, uninflected form of the adjective may be used in compounds.) Zirak (pl. *zirik???) may be the adjective "silver" according to TI:174, but on the next page it is suggested that it means "spike" instead. It is possible that an adjective follows the noun it describes (though not in compounds like "Longbeards"); see below.

In compounds, the order of the elements is the same as in English: Khazad-dûm "Dwarrowdelf", Kibil-nâla "Silverlode", Kheled-zâram "Glass-lake" (concerning this translation rather than "Mirrormere", see wordlist), Gabilgathol "Great Fortress", Sigin-tarâg "Longbeards". The name Zirak-zigil "Silver-spike" (Celebdil, Silvertine) fits this pattern (TI:174), but Tolkien later seems to have decided that zirak means "spike" and zigil means "silver" rather than vice versa. In that case, this word may be a "construct state" connection just like baruk Khazâd seems to be: *Zirak zigil "Spike (of) silver" (a construction that Frodo, naturally ignorant of Khuzdul, took to be a compound and spelt Zirak-zigil, Zirakzigil). If zigil is an adjective "silver" rather than a noun, this construction may suggest that adjectives follow the noun they describe.

Only one pronoun is attested: mênu, plural accusative "you" (WR:20).

We have only two prepositions, aya "upon" (WR:20, reduced form ai in ai-mênu "upon you"), and u "in, of" (only attested in the middle of a compound, Bundushathur = "Head in/of Clouds", name of the mountain Cloudyhead, Sindarin Fanuidhol).

There is not much we can say about derivation. One derivational pattern seems to be of the form 1a23ûn, where 1, 2, 3 represent the three radicals. The meaning seems to be simply "person, thing or place characterized by the root meaning": Nargûn "Mordor, *Black Land", from the radicals N-R-G "black", and Tharkûn "Staff-man", Gandalf's Dwarvish name (radicals *Th-R-K "staff"?) If the consonants Z-Gh-L really are the radicals of the verb "to war" and Azaghâl means "warrior", we have an agentive pattern a1a2â3. The word Khuzdul "Dwarvish" may argue the existence of an adjectival pattern 1u23ul. But as stated above, -ul may be simply an adjectival ending added to the singular form of the noun (*khuzd "Dwarf"). Compare the patronymic Fundinul. If so, there is no need to establish a pattern 1u23ul that involves the original radicals.

Adjectives like baraz "red" (B-R-Z) or sigin "long" (*S-G-N) clearly represent adjectival patterns 1a2a3 and 1i2i3 (though kibil "silver" seems to be a noun).

The word Mazarbul, as in "the chamber of Mazarbul" (Chamber of Records), seems to represent some more complex derivation. If -ul is simply the adjectival ending discussed above (which would mean that the "of" in the translation is strictly superfluous), we are left with mazarb "record(s?)". Could this be a kind of past participle, or the corresponding noun, of a verb "record" (radicals probably *Z-R-B)? If so, we have a pattern ma1a23.