Durinkhâld
Spoken In: Dwôrven communities across Adamah; origin homeland of Norv-Na
Evolved From: No recorded ancestor language; predates written dwôrven history
Script: Bold angular glyphs with deep vowel markers, carved left-to-right along the grain of stone
Type: Fusional (4 cases), SOV
Common Use: Ceremonial speech, oaths, and traditional craft; spoken among dwôrves as an ancestral tongue
Durinkhâld is the ancestral tongue of the dwôrves. It has no recorded ancestor. The written record of the language begins with itself. It was carried out of Norv-Na, where water was wealth and shade was sanctuary, and it still carries the weight of that land in every vowel. The script was built to survive the chisel. Its deep vowel markers and guttural consonants are cut to be legible centuries after the hand that cut them is gone.
"Durinkhâld has forty-seven words for shade. Every one of them is still in use. We don't live in the desert anymore, but we remember exactly what it cost."
— Ghorûn Threkis, dwôrven elder, Ardentmere
Grammar
Noun Case. Paradigm: khral (stone). Four cases.
| Case | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | khral | /xral/ |
| Accusative | khralin | /xralin/ |
| Genitive | khralâk | /xralɑːk/ |
| Dative | khralon | /xralon/ |
Verb Paradigm. Root: drok- (to craft).
| Tense | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Present | drok | /drok/ |
| Past | droked | /droked/ |
| Future | drokel | /drokel/ |
| Imperative | drokû! | /drokuː/ |
Pronouns.
| English | Durinkhâld | IPA | English | Durinkhâld | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | mûn | /muːn/ | We | mûrn | /muːrn/ |
| You | thûn | /θuːn/ | You (pl) | thûrn | /θuːrn/ |
| He | ghûr | /ɣuːr/ | She | ghîr | /ɣiːr/ |
| It | khûz | /xuːz/ | They | ghûrn | /ɣuːrn/ |
Numbers (0–10).
| Number | Durinkhâld | IPA | Number | Durinkhâld | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | zûn | /zuːn/ | 6 | Khôkh | /xoːx/ |
| 1 | ûn | /uːn/ | 7 | zakh | /zax/ |
| 2 | dra | /dra/ | 8 | orn | /orn/ |
| 3 | thril | /θril/ | 9 | ghul | /ɣul/ |
| 4 | vâr | /vɑːr/ | 10 | drûn | /druːn/ |
| 5 | kîr | /kiːr/ |
Vocabulary
| English | Durinkhâld | IPA | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hello | Ghârûn | /ɣɑːruːn/ | ⍴⍟⍩⍣⍯ |
| Goodbye | Khêzûn | /xeːzuːn/ | ⍳⍠⍪⍣⍯ |
| Craft | Drok | /drok/ | ⍦⍩⍝⍤ |
| Water | Ulra | /ulra/ | ⍞⍭⍩⍚ |
| Oasis | Otar | /otar/ | ⍝⍨⍚⍩ |
| Desert | Brûzrak | /bruːzrak/ | ⍧⍩⍣⍪⍩⍚⍤ |
| Sun | Zôn | /zoːn/ | ⍪⍢⍯ |
| Oath | Varkh | /varx/ | ⍌⍚⍩⍳ |
| Wind | Vat | /vat/ | ⍌⍚⍨ |
| Food | Fral | /fral/ | ⍱⍩⍚⍭ |
| Strength | Rur | /rur/ | ⍩⍲⍞⍩ |
| Forge | Nokh | /nox/ | ⍯⍝⍳ |
| Path | Trek | /trek/ | ⍨⍩⍛⍤ |
| Night | Zûlkhûr | /zuːlxuːr/ | ⍪⍣⍭⍳⍣⍩ |
| Shade | Khur | /xur/ | ⍳⍞⍩ |
| Shelter | Tran | /tran/ | ⍨⍩⍚⍯ |
Common Phrases
| English | Durinkhâld | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| How are you? | Ghârûn trak? | /ɣɑːruːn trak/ |
| I am fine | Mûn ghârûn. | /muːn ɣɑːruːn/ |
| Thank you | Trazûk îfurn | /trazuːk iːfurn/ |
| Please help me | Khêlûn mûn. | /xeːluːn muːn/ |
| Safe travels | Khêzûn trûz. | /xeːzuːn truːz/ |
| I don't understand | Mûn î traz | /muːn iː traz/ |
| Water is life | Ulra î rîk | /ulra iː riːk/ |
| The desert is harsh | Brûzrak î traz | /bruːzrak iː traz/ |
| Keep the shade | Khûz tran | /xuːz tran/ |
| Follow the stars | Trek î ghildr | /trek iː ɣildr/ |
| Trust the path | Trek î khur | /trek iː xur/ |
| The sun is rising | Zôn î tarak | /zoːn iː tarak/ |
| Strong as stone | Khral trond. | /xral trond/ |
| May your forge burn bright | Nokh î zark | /nox iː zark/ |
| Till the night comes | Zûlkhûr î zark | /zuːlxuːr iː zark/ |
| Craft is life | Drok î rîk | /drok iː riːk/ |
Writing System
| Symbol | Sound (IPA) |
|---|---|
| ⍚ | /a/ |
| ⍛ | /e/ |
| ⍜ | /i/ |
| ⍝ | /o/ |
| ⍞ | /u/ |
| ⍟ | /ɑː/ |
| ⍠ | /eː/ |
| ⍡ | /iː/ |
| ⍢ | /oː/ |
| ⍣ | /uː/ |
| ⍤ | /k/ |
| ⍥ | /ɡ/ |
| ⍦ | /d/ |
| ⍧ | /b/ |
| ⍨ | /t/ |
| ⍩ | /r/ |
| ⍪ | /z/ |
| ⍫ | /ks/ |
| ⍬ | /q/ |
| ⍭ | /l/ |
| ⍮ | /m/ |
| ⍯ | /n/ |
| ⍌ | /v/ |
| ⍱ | /f/ |
| ⍲ | /h/ |
| ⍳ | /x/ |
| ⍴ | /ɣ/ |
| ⍨⍲ | /θ/ (Th digraph) |
Word Order
Durinkhâld is SOV (Subject-Object-Verb): the verb falls at the end of the clause, and the object, carrying its case suffix, sits before it. This supersedes the order noted above; the case, verb, pronoun, and number tables are unchanged.
- I craft stone: Mûn khralin drok (I stone-ACC craft)
- I keep the shade: Mûn khurin drok
Verb-final order suits a tongue carved for oaths and inscriptions: the doing lands at the end of the line. (The Common Phrases below are idiomatic set-phrases and short greetings, many using the linking particle î, "is", so they are not all rigid S-O-V; the verb-final rule governs full transitive clauses like the examples here.)
Phonology & Prosody (Stone-Carved)
Consonants: /b d t k r l m n v f x ɣ z θ/ in active use, plus /ɡ/, /h/, /q/, and /ks/ (x) which sit in the alphabet but appear in no surviving word. The guttural core, /x/ (kh) and /ɣ/ (gh), with the dental /θ/ (th), gives Durinkhâld its hard, chiselled sound. No /p/; no voiceless sibilants /s ʃ/ (the lone number that used "sh" has been re-cut to the guttural Khôkh); the only sibilant is the voiced /z/.
Long "held" vowels: the circumflex set â /ɑː/, ê /eː/, î /iː/, ô /oː/, û /uː/ are long, deep, and drawn out, the weight of the desert homeland carried in every vowel, contrasting with the short /a e i o u/.
Prosody: verb-final (SOV) and unhurried; the doing lands at the end of the line, like the last strike of a chisel.