Dwarvish Grammar, Volume 6

Chapter 16: Passive Voice

Dwarves are a people who believe in actions. This attitude is expressed in their language. In dwarvish there is no passive voice. To quote a famous dwarf linguist, "Passive voice is for wussies."

Chapter 17: Additional Grammar Constructions

‘Foddecht’ is an adverb meaning ‘maybe’ or ‘perhaps.’ When placed before a verb it gives the meaning ‘may ___’ or ‘might ___.’

He may come to Galdos tomorrow.
Ee foddecht dlommoch Galdos nairlag.

I might buy that new shield in the store.
Foddecht caufoch din nudh washelg ain tighmann.

‘Moyemb’ is a noun meaning ‘recommend,’ which comes from the verb ‘moyemboch,’ which means ‘to recommend.’ When ‘moyemb’ precedes a verb it creates the construction ‘should ___.’

You should buy a new shield.
Daibh moyemb caufoch nudh washelg.

I ought to go to Elysia next week.
Mich moyemb roisoch Elysia nairwoach.

‘Verpaich’ is a noun meaning ‘obligation.’ When it precedes a verb it creates the construction ‘must ___’ or ‘have to ___.’

I must buy a new axe, because my axe is dull.
Verpaich caufoch nudh tuxt, wegoir michtuxt aeoch flamh.

We must learn the way of Gorethar.
Wair verpaich leornoch Gorethar ov weg.

‘Zwos’ is a noun meaning ‘purpose.’ It can be used to connect to statements to show that one is the purpose of the other. For example:

Mich roisoch Karak Zvidurat zwos caufoch nudh washelg.
Literal translation: I went Karak Zvidurat purpose buy new shield.
I went to Karak Zvidurat for the purpose of buying a new shield.
I went to Karak Zvidurat to buy a new shield.

I bought Thorrim a sharp axe for his birthday.
Mich caufoch biorarf tuxt cal Thorrim zvos ee ov ferdochlag.

Chapter 18: Using the verb ‘ferdoch’

‘Ferdoch’ means simply ‘to make.’ But dwarves rarely use the verb in its naked form. Being a race of smiths, dwarves almost always combine the verb ‘ferdoch’ with the noun for the material used in whatever was made. For example:

Mich staidhferdoch washelg.
I made a shield (out of steel).

Mich mitbelferdoch faircham nairlag.
I will make a mithril hammer tomorrow.

Cor iarsenferdoch nudh ambnean?
Who made the new (iron) anvil?

Chapter 19: Common Expressions

A list of common expressions in dwarvish for general use:

Hello - Gorr!! (this is an abbreviation of a phrase that means ‘Gorethar bless you’)
Goodbye - gudein rois (lit. trans. - ‘journey well’)
How are you? - chart faircham? (lit. trans. - ‘is your hammer hard?)
I am well - lichaba! (abbr. of ‘cealich ababel’, ‘like adamantium!’)
Thank you - altach
You’re welcome - kleinmerz (‘it’s just a small ore’)
Holy smokes, great scott! - ach!
Damn! - verlooghlag! (‘forsaken day’)
Excuse me - vercalwoarg (lit. trans. - ‘lose your anger’)

Chapter 20: Advanced Dwarvish

One thing that confuses many foreigners about dwarvish is that when it is spoken, and sometimes even written, many words are combined into one long compound word. This makes it hard for non-dwarves to pick out words to translate in their heads, as the dwarves string multiple words into a single one. This is often the case for adjectives and the nouns they modify, or in cases of possession. This happens even more frequently in gnomish.

Another thing that occurs often is that the subject is omitted from a sentence. Put together, these two things can make spoken dwarvish very difficult for non-dwarves to understand. Even gnomes are often confounded by dwarvish when dwarves omit the subjects from their sentences.

Let’s take some example sentences from the above text and put them into ‘spoken dwarvish’:

I bought two old shields yesterday.
Mich caufoch dwei beddegh washelg voromlag.
Caufoch dweibeddeghwashelg voromlag.

I will not buy a small shield tomorrow. I will buy a big shield.
Mich nae cauloch klein washelg nairlag. Mich cauloch grobbi washelg.
Naecauloch kleinwashelg nairlag. Cauloch grobbiwashelg.

I don’t want to kill you.
Mich nae wofel mabtoch daibh.
Naewofelmabtoch daibh.

I sold my steel axe because it was dull.
Verifoch michtuxt ov staidh wegoir edh aeoch flamh.
Verifoch michstaidhtuxt wegoir aeoch flamh.

My mother’s beard is black like iron.
Michmadeugh ov feubart aeoch wabh cealich iarsen.
Michmadeughfeubart aeoch wabhcealichiarsen.