Neo-Black Speech

Neo-Black Speech or Neo-Orkish is a series of creations by either profesional linguists or fans expanding the Black Speech of Mordor by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Context

First instance of the Ring-inscription written by Tolkien. Manuscript published in The Art of The Lord of the Rings

Neo-Quenya and Neo-Sindarin, are relatively easy to create without too much speculation, thanks to Tolkien's extensive development of them in theory and practice. However, outside of the Elvish languages, Tolkien only developed the languages of the other races as a complement, based on the needs of the narrative (much like languages for films and TV series are created today). The exception would be Adûnaic, for which Tolkien spent a lot of time creating a grammar, but not a vocabulary, so for practical purposes it's a similar situation: Khuzdul, Black Speech, Entish, Westron, etc., are very recognizable, but we only know names or, if we're lucky, a few stray phrases, and therefore it is technically impossible to write even a single sentence using only the material we have.

Of course, this did not prevent fans and scholars from developing these languages, but under different rules. In Neo-Elvish, one can reuse old material or create a lot of new vocabulary from the etymological roots. Starting from a phonetic base that makes the neo-language always recognizable, the creators use different techniques, such as going back to Tolkien's sources of inspiration or applying new derivation rules to existing roots in other languages of Middle-earth (after all, there was always some linguistic influence between the races).

History

The Black Speech of Mordor has a couple of very interesting peculiarities when it comes to expanding it: first, it is an invented language within the narrative itself, created by Sauron to serve as a common tongue for his Orcs. And since "the Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own", their language is not an original creation of Sauron, but something practical (very cohesive) and the fruit of corruption. For example, one of the most recognizable words is nazg ("ring"), present both in the famous inscription of the One Ring and in nazgûl ("Ringwraith"), which, although not explained by Tolkien, could derive from the Valarin naškâd (meaning "ring"; present in Mâchananaškâd, the Valarin term for the Mahanaxar). This dynamic of corruption provides a wealth of scope for those who wish to imagine what the Black Speech might be like beyond what we have.

Another peculiarity of the Black Speech is that its speakers, the Orcs, evolved very quickly if left alone. Therefore, although Sauron taught them and forced them to use Black Speech, they were not very concerned with preserving it: "From the Black Speech, however, were derived many of the words that were in the Third Age wide-spread among the Orcs [...], but after the first overthrow of Sauron this language in its ancient form was forgotten by all but the Nazgûl." This is a major problem for the study of the Black Speech, because there is no way of knowing which Orkish word is faithful to the language created by Sauron, and not just a later alteration among many others.

This, while an obstacle for scholars, is a breeding ground for those who have decided to create their Black/Orcish neo-language. Since the very analysis of this language leads to different interpretations of what the original language might have been like, the way they are expanded will be even more diverse; but this is in line with the Orcs' dynamic of changing their own language. Over the years, different Neo-Black Speech/Orkish have been created in various parts of the world, by both amateurs and professionals. Now that their creators can share and compare them, the reaction has not been to fight over which is most faithful to Sauron's language, but rather to group them together as different Orkish dialects that might have arisen in different tribes, some including their own lore.

Notable "dialects"

• Based on MERP: The earliest evidence of an attempt to expand the Orcish language is found in the Middle-earth Role Playing modules by ICE, specifically in Lords of Middle-earth: Vol. III (1987). In its 1995 edition, more Neo-Black Speech material was added, serving as the primary reference for fans eager to give voice to their orcs, primarily in role-playing games or creating their own dialect of this language.
  • Svartiska: This is an Orkish dialect created by a LARP group in Sweden. It is the single largest to date
  • Shadowlandian: probably the most elaborate to date. The best-known fruit of Shadowlandian is the song "Mirdautas Vras" by the Austrian band Summoning. An excellent online dictionary comparing several of these "early" dialects is available on their website http://blackspeech.de/.

• From Peter Jackson's adaptation: The Lord of the Rings film trilogy featured David Salo in the linguistic department, not only for the Elvish languages. However, the use of Neo-Black Speech was quite limited in the script, except for a phrase from the Nazgûl on Amon Sûl and Orc war cries. His greatest contribution to this topic was in Howard Shore's soundtrack, specifically the epic track "The Treason Of Isengard" in The Fellowship of the Ring, in which Salo recreates the entire Ring poem in Neo-Black Speech. This translation has widely circulated online, even more so after Sauron recites almost the entire poem to Galadriel in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Shre nazg golugranu kilmi-nudu
Ombi kuzddurbagu gundum-ishi
Nugu gurunkilu bard gurutu
Ash Burz-Durbagu burzum-ishi
Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul
Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu.

"The Treason Of Isengard" track. Translated into Black Speech by David Salo. Tolkien's text is given in bold.

The pamphlet in the Neo-Orkish dialect Yrksk in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: "Khobdi khozd-bir, kodi Ekinskeld yazish, shirzayi kibul ishor-pog".

• Yrksk: In The Hobbit (film series), David Salo returned as a linguist, and this time he actually composed several of the dialogues. Respecting what we saw in the Appendix above, he created his own Orkish dialect, called Yrksk, instead of having the Orcs speak the language Sauron had lovingly created for them. To create it, he decided to start from the idea that this dialect is the evolution of a proto-Orkish language directly related to Elvish, so he derived his vocabulary by corrupting Elvish roots. Unfortunately, the author never expanded it beyond the films, and his blog disappeared years ago, so the only thing that survives is the analysis on Zhâburi's website.
  • Complementing the dialogue, it is worth highlighting the work of Daniel Reeve, the artist responsible for everything related to calligraphy and cartography in both of Peter Jackson's adaptations and The Rings of Power series. For The Hobbit trilogy, Reeve created a unique alphabet for the Orcs, which can be seen in the sets. As he himself puts it, its crown jewel is the bounty on Thorin's head, which appears in the foreground of the opening scene of The Desolation of Smaug. We linguists are pleased that he did not simply choose to write English in another script; rather, the text is Yrksk; and what's more, he created the alphabet by stealing from the Elvish and Dwarvish scripts.
• Nûrlâm: https://blackspeech.de/new/wiki/doku.php?id=start
• Zhâburi: https://zhaaburi.wordpress.com/
• In the The Rings of Power: This series has a few phrases and words that seem to have opted to create a new Orkish "dialect." Unfortunately, Amazon is not very transparent about the creative aspect of the languages in its series. The most accurate source I've been able to find on the dialogue in Neo-Black/Orkish Speech is a short post on the Black Speech School blog, but it is limited to the first season. More up-to-date and closer to home is the series' affable composer, Bear McCreary, who details both his melodies and lyrics on his website: we have his translations of war songs ("Nampat") and his epic choruses in the vein of Howard Shore ("Sauron's Design").
• Yambúrz/Zîmaryam: Yambúrz is one of the newest dialects to date. It has a radically different approach as it focuses on creating dialect centered upon a non-canonical Corsair culture and has little to do with Sauron's Dark Speech. It has over 2800 words as of now. Grammatically, it seems closely related to the aforementioned Zhaaburi.

Khî nûzȝu ȝoluȝnuranûzumûr, Ombi kuzddurbûȝun₂ûr dûmu-ob-ishi ȝund-ob, Drî mbatûrzûȝura makžhanuz nampat, Ash shakhbûrzûr maȝâlbúrzoȝr, Kan bandun-ob burzumþanıj-ob-ishi makha burȝûlu-n₂ darya, Ash nazg'szh durbatulûk, Ash nazg'szh ȝimbatul, Ash nazg'szh þrakatulûk, Aȝ û burzum-ishi krimpatulâ, Kan bandu-ob burzumþanıj-ob-ishi makha burȝûlu-n₂ darya,

"The Ring Poem" text on Yambúrz/Zîmaryam's webpage.

Example

Skai! lûr-zash lûmput gâthu mod-ishi,
kûzut ânrothu shanar zash skoiru ornobu
Ânrothu ukhuzut snaku akr-zashu
mâth gabhîk-ob grumbullu ru-shiz Ânud-thu,
ulbu nût-lataz Vardab
amal ilzu gûrut kang-ishi mog-ob tob, mad agh gothûrz.
Mirz rad gûkub zân izish-ûr?

First verses of the Namárië in Shadowlandian