-Lesson
X. Pronouns and commands-
Pronouns
are rarely used in Black Speech. The most common
uses for pronouns are for giving an order, boasting about
oneself, or administering an insult. Generally,
apart from those three purposes, you would only use a
pronoun when absolutely necessary to avoid confusion.
Sauron would not have wanted to encourage the use of the
first person singular or plural among his servants or
slaves, so "I" or "we" are only used as modifiers.
(This probably also explains the placement of adjectives,
adverbs, etc., after the words they modify since descriptive
words can e said to indicate a kind of creative thought
process.)
In
most cases, then, pronouns are attached to the verb:
Shelob
calls them = Shelob bugdat-taz. (An orc might slur
all this together and say “Shelob bugdataz.”)
The
elves kill him = Golug azut-ta (in spoken orcish, “Golug
azuta.”) To put this into the past tense, “the elves
killed him,” you would say “Golug azuzuta.” In future
tense, you would say, “Golug azubuta.” (The elves
will kill him.)
**The
first person singular (-izg) and plural (-izgu) are always
suffixed to the verb. For example, kul-izg = I am;
“kul-izgu.” = we are; “thrak-izg,” I bring;
“prakh-izgu,” we lure.
Normally,
you can skip pronouns unless they are required to make
sense of the sentence. For example:
Saruman
rules us = Saruman durbat-izishu. But if you wanted
to say, “He rules us”: Durbat-izishu. (You
don’t need the “he.”)
He
brings the orc to us = Thrakat urûk-izishû.
Note the long “û” at the end. This is a little
tricky, because you would have to add the preposition
“u” to “izishu” in order to say, “to us.” That means
that the final “u” has to become a long “u.” This
would be correct Black Speech, but naturally orcs would
probably not bother with this kind of fine distinction.
Personal
and Possessive Pronouns
-izg
I
-izgu
we
-izish
me
-izishu
us
-izub
mine
-izubu
ours
lat
you (sing.)
latu
you (plural)
lab
your (sing.)
latub
yours (plural)
ta
he, she, it
ulu
they
ta
him, it
ul
them
tab
his, its
ulub
theirs
to
her
tob
hers
Exercise
Translate the following into Black Speech:
I
brought hers.
Grishnaakh
will find us.
Morgoth
will kill me.
Saruman
called his ugly orc.
I
brought mine to Morannon.
They
devoured theirs.
(*note:
if you do this correctly, you should end up with one long
word.)
Uglûk
will rule ours by blood (blood = "grish").
I
am from Lugbûrz.
(*remember
to attach the first person suffix to the verb 'to be'!)
Ashlûk
bound me.
Lagduf
called them all from Lugbûrz.
(*attach
the word for "all" to the pronoun "them"!)
Commands
Commands
are quite simple: they consist of the verb stem.
So, to tell someone to bring something, you simply say:
Thrak! To say, “Find him theirs”: Gimb ta
ulub. Bring them! = Thrakul!
Exercise
Translate the following into Black Speech:
Bring
me the ring.
Find
the three stupid trolls.
Give
her the worthless orc.
Find
my twenty-eight orcs.
Call
me.
Kill
them.
Devour
the forty-two elves.
Lure
him to Mordor.
Gather
my old orcs in Isengard.
Lure
them to us.
(*Note*
this one is tricky, so here’s the answer: Prakh
ishuzu-u, or Prakh ishuzû).