Orkish

Orkish (Or.) was a collection of tribal dialects spoken among the Orcs. While the eldest Orkish tongues derived from the language of Angband and Melkorin of Utumno, later Orkish was largely influenced by the Black Speech of Mordor. Other tribal dialects, however, might be closer to Westron or the tongues of the Northrons, Easterlings, and Haradrim.

Written Orkish[]

While the more civilized and educated (often mannish rather than Orkish) upper classes of Mordor or Dol Guldur relied on a mordorian , slightly modified, variant of the Tengwar to write in the Black Speech, in everyday life most orcs and other members of the military class who were literal used "Uruk runes", a number of related but quite distinct, slightly modified variants of the Cirth derived either from the Angerthas Moria or even the older Doriathrin Cirth. A far lesser known script, developed originally among the the goblin-tribes of the north, was the so called "Goblin letters", which were believed to have originally been simple pictograms, later arranged into a proper phonemic alphabet by some unknown goblin-sage or loremaster.

Orkish dialects[]

Bal-gûyâb - Gorgoroth Orkish
Cardolandren Orkish - heavily influenced by Dunael.
Daumaprap - barter dialect; Westron interspersed with loanwords from the Black speech and Easterling dialects.
Gûyûb - Angmarean Orkish
Guldur Orkish - closely related to mordorian Orkish, strongly influenced by the Black Speech but with some Rhovanian influence.
Ice-Orkish - archaic Orkish, still very close to Angbandian-Orkish and Melkian.
Isengard dialect - heavily influenced by Dunlandish
Yûgflash - Núrnean Orkish
Lufûshflash - War-speech
Mirkwood Orkish - related to both northern Orkish and Guldur Orkish.
Morbeth or Murmog - the Black Speech
Mordorin or Zîflash - Mordorean Orkish or Mordor Common Speech, Westron with elements of the Black Speech and Nûradja.
Mosh-Gûyâb - middle-Orkish or Hill-Orc-dialect.
Nalt-Gûyâb - high-Orkish, or Mountain-Orc-dialect.
Nî-gûyâb - Mordor Orkish
Northern Orkish - degenerated Westron with Black Speech and Melkorin influences
Ûl-Gûyâb - low-Orkish or lowland-orc dialect.

Orkish wordlist[]

Afûkhaush - Commander

Albai - Elves

ash - one, the one, "He" (reverent term for Sauron)

bag - rank

bag(h) - dung, feces, urine (also used as curse or profanity see "shrak" and "garn")

bagronk - cesspool, dung-pit

Bol - mighty, might

Bolg - wild, cruel

bolwag - curse

bûb - pig, warthog

bûbhosh - pig-guts (literally), great (informal figure of speech or phrase)

Bukra - large claw

Bûrdrasak - Orc liquor

Burgûl - shadow

Burz - black, dark, night

Burzum - darkness

htol- - to copulate with

Dagalush - imp, Orc child

Dog, Daug - soldier

Doraz - gate

Doryabu - adolescent

Drartûl - Sergeant

Dur - land, rule

Durub-atha - master craftsman

Durub - ruler, lord

Dush - sorcery, sorcerer

Dushgoi - Minas Morgûl

Fha, Fla - great

Fimbûl - great, giant, powerful

Foshnu - imp, Child

Gayutar - hunter

Garn - dung, feces (also used as curse or profanity)

Gazat - Dwarf

Ghâsh - fire

gimb - find

Gimba - finder, tracker

Glob - filth, fool

Goi - city

Gol - knowledge

Goll - shout, din

Golug - Noldor

Gong - lesser goblin

Gor, Gur - horrible

Goth - Master, Lord, Morgoth

Gothmog - voice of the Master

Gothsnaga - literally "slave lord", leader of a confederation or legion

Gothûl - lieutenant

Gru - female Orc

Gûl - ghost, wraith

Guyub, Guyab - tongue, language

Gurz - death, dead

Hai - tribe, people, race

Hank - broad

Hankshar - an Orkish broad sword

harri - go!

Ho La! - Hi!, Hello

Hoi - shouts

Hrizgthrakî - literally "pain bringer", slave overseer, slave master

Huka - squat

Hûr - master, chief

-i; -ai - Group, Plural ending (some dialects use other plural forms like Sindarin -rim)

Iarn, yarn - iron

Kapûl - goblin

Karg-Kragor - chieftain

Kopak - an Orkish club

Korlash, Korlagz - maw, jaw

Kra, Krah - claw

Kragash - fang, tooth warrior, soldier

Kragashard - Tooth-Sabre, Tooth-Sword

Kragnif - Tooth-Knife

Krag, Kragor - fang

Kri-krishur - chieftain

Krir - slash, slasher, troop leader

Krîtar - leader, Chief

Kû - old, ancient

Kûz - Halberd

Lag - Hill, Mountain

Lak - Bow

Laugash - Priest (lit."Law-one" or "law-man)

Lob - spider

Lug - tower, fortress

Lûgât - Vampire

Lugburz - Barad-dûr

Lurg - squad, pack

mat - die

Mikog - heal, Orc medicine

mog - voice, language

Mur - black

Murdur - Mordor

Nadak - fighter

Nar - not, no

Naz - hill

Nazburz - Dol Guldur

Nazg - ring

Nif, gnif - knife, dagger, blade

Oghor-Hai - Drúedain

Olog - troll

Ong - iron

Ongushar - iron mine

Orgabu - Bodyguard

pushdug - stinking, dung-filth

ra - claw

Rim, Grim, Ri - group, troop (plural Ending)

Rog - fast, guard

Ronk - pit, hole

Ruk, Rog - demon

Rum, Rûm, Grûm - skull

, Shard, Shar - sword, scimitar

Shauruk - literally "dread demon"; Sauron

S(h)aur - dread, terror, abhorrent

Shakhburz - Sauron

ska(r) - green

skara - green claw, wolf

Skara-Gûl - Fell Warg

Shagît - Arrow

Shara - human, man, mortal

Sharog - heal, Orc medicine

shataz - a brute

she - female

Shiruk - sergeant, captain, leaper

shrakh - literally "gathering" or "collection", but commonly used as profanity (though probably meaning "hustle","mass" or "Awkward" or simply "stuff, thing" but not, as often proposed, "dung, feces", except perhaps figuratively speaking)

shurr - urine

skai - gah! (Orkish curse; expression of anger or irritation)

Snaga - slave, lesser Orc

Srûtaru - Captain

straiull - Flintstone

Tark - Dúnadan, man of Gondor

Thrak - to bring, bringer, messenger

Thrug - murderer

Tûtûl - smith

Uglúk - murderer, killer, defeater

Uyâk - troop leader

ûk - all

Ûl - servant

Ûn - death

Uruk - great warrior Orc

Ushar - mine, hole

Wir - star

Warg - great wolf, wolf-demon

ya - when, now

Yîk - "Squeaker";a weak Lesser Orc or Snaga

yoi - boys

Zangur - Obsidian

Notes[]

Original forms in MERP:

Bal-Gujab = Bal-gûyâb
Gujub = Gûyûb
Jug-flas = Yûgflash
Lufus-flas = Lufûshflash
Morbeth = Murmog
Ziflas = Zîflash
Mos-Gujab = Mosh-Gûyâb
Nalt-gujab - Nalt-Gûyâb
Ni-Gujab =
Ul-Gujab = Ûl-Gûyâb

The few known Orkish words suggest that, like the Black Speech, Orkish, or at last the most common dialects, did not know the letters "c", "ch", "e", "j", "q", "s" (except for the combinations "sk", "sh" and "sn"), "v" and "x". "C" was usually substituted by "k", "ch" by "kh", "j" by "y" or "i", "q" by "ku" or "kw", "v" by "w" or "fh", and "x" by "ks", though it is not known if this was true for all of it´s dialects, as Orkish used to be an umbrella term for a number of pidgins the opposite seems more likely, though the dialects of Mordor, Angmar and Dol Guldur probably were still pretty close to Black speech. It remains unknown if the sound "e" was omitted or substituted by "ai" or another syllable, it is also unclear if Orkish knew the vowels "f" and "ph" or if these were regularly substituted by "fh".

A lot of the "neo-Orkish" used on this project is based, though often slightly modified, on Lugrekh's excellent "red hand Orkish wordlist", which is in itself a compilation of Tolkien, MERP, and Orkish from mixed other sources.

References[]

Middle-Earth Roleplaying Game: Gorgoroth
Middle-Earth Roleplaying Game: Lords of Middle-Earth III
Black Speech Wordlist compiled by Red Hand Orcs, a live-action roleplaying society
A Second Opinion on the Black Speech by Craig Daniel
Ardalambion - Orkish and the Black Speech
Uruk Runes at Omniglot

Editorial Note: This entry contains speculative or fan-based material — such as fanon, fanfiction, or theory constructs — that may not be directly supported by canonical texts. Interpretations offered here are part of the NNCA’s speculative corpus and should not be mistaken for primary Tolkien sources.