-Lesson X.  Pronouns and commands-

 

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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).