Black Speech
| Black Speech | |
|---|---|
| Created by | J. R. R. Tolkien |
| Date | c. 1945 – 1973 |
| Setting and usage | Mordor in Middle-earth |
| Users | None since J. R. R. Tolkien. |
| Purpose |
constructed language
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
The Black Speech is a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien.
One of the languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien in Tolkien's legendarium, it was spoken in the realm of Mordor. Tolkien describes the language as being created by Sauron as an (in-universe) constructed language to be the sole language of all the servants of Mordor, thereby replacing (with little success) the many different varieties of Orkish, Common Speech and other languages used by his servants. Tolkien describes the language as existing in two forms, the ancient "pure" forms used by Sauron himself, the Nazgûl, and the Olog-hai, and the more "debased" form used by the soldiery of the Barad-dûr at the end of the Third Age.
The Black Speech is one of the more fragmentary languages in the novels. Unlike Elvish, Tolkien did not write songs or poems in the Black Speech, apart from the One Ring inscription. Tolkien stated
The Black Speech was not intentionally modeled on any style, but was meant to be self consistent, very different from Elvish, yet organized and expressive, as would be expected of a device of Sauron before his complete corruption. It was evidently an agglutinative language. [...] I have tried to play fair linguistically, and it is meant to have a meaning not be a mere casual group of nasty noises, though an accurate transcription would even nowadays only be printable in the higher and artistically more advanced form of literature. According to my taste such things are best left to Orcs, ancient and modern.
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