Ad. biconsonantal-verb grammar.

Ad. biconsonantal-verb grammar.

Tolkien states that “a few of the commonest verbal notions are expressed by biconsonantal forms, though the verb form in Adunaic is usually triconsonantal” (SD/416). Despite this statement, there are quite a few attested biconsonantal verbs, though the majority are only attested in an agental-formation: bêl-, bith-, zîr- and more ambiguously mag- and bat-. Since the vowel of verb stem is often lengthened or fortified in such formations (SD/427), it isn’t clear in all cases what the vowel of the verb stem is.

The only unambiguous biconsonantal verbs with inflections are nakh-, yad-, and in the draft Adûnaic grammar khay- and nek- (an earlier form of nakh-). Based on these forms, my best guess for the conjugations of biconsonantal verbs is as follows:

Tense Formation Examples
aorist Add an -a to the verb stem nakh- → *nakha; yad- → *yada
continuative-present Lengthen the vowel, add an -i to the verb stem nakh-nâkhi (SD/251); yad- → *yâdi
past Double the last consonant, add an -a to the verb stem nakh-nakkha (SD/247); yad-yadda (SD/247)
continuative-past ? ?

There are no attested examples of the aorist form of a biconsonantal verb and the rules above are an educated guess based on formations for the triconsonantal-verb. There isn’t enough information on the continuative past to make even a wild guess as to its formation. See the entries for the individual verb tenses for further discussion.

Examples (biconsonantal-verb)
*bat- “to walk”
#bêl- “*to befriend, love”
#bith- “to say”
kan- “to hold”
#khay- “to lie (down)”
?mag- “to build”
#nakh- “to come”
#yad- “to go”
zîr- “*to love, desire”

Reference ✧ SD/439 ✧ for example: kan “hold”

Element In