Principles of ThergerimTaal - Revised and Expanded

This is intended as an expansion to the page "Principles of The Dwarven Language", which should be a lot more helpful than it currently is. Here are some concepts about ThergerimTaal that will really help those looking to write or translate simple sentences, and might help you get a feel for dwarven culture as well!
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“ThergerimTaal is a very old language, spoken in nearly all known dwarven communities. Like a dwarf's life, Thergertaal in general isn't a very complicated tongue. Once the principles are known it is in fact very easy to learn. Characteristic for Thergertaal is the deep tone the spoken words produce, mainly because the language uses many hollow sounds and concentrates on vocals like "o" und "u", representing the echoing and deep sound voices generated in tunnels mined by the dwarves. Also very typical of this language is the fact that there are hundreds of different words for only slightly different kind of stones, ores, minerals, and other elements."

Grammar Principles (exists on site)

Plurals:+ erons     Rotrum (mountain)
Rotrumerons (mountains)
Present
Participle:   + inn
+ yeh   Wiral (talk) => Wiralinn (talking)
Anyeh (bath, wash) from Anul, water + yeh, doing
Past   Ver + rest of sentence    . Ver BokVoPra KhirilMur Kul HuunGer DenArilerons Pri AvwarLok . ({Yesterday} Bok went to the Jewel-Mine and dug up seven gems in the ‘Right-Down’ tunnel)
Future   Ave + rest of sentence   . Ave Oe Drummet Hunolun Mithmez Ke . ( I will draw her portrait in gold.)
Questions   Kho + questionword + rest of sentence.   ? Ave Kho Uhn KoTaal HuUrten Wi ? (Do you think she will like it?)

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Suffixes / Prefixes

   Morphemes added either before or after the root word to modify it. Location is not as important as euphony and does not change meaning. Some of the most commonly used ‘alpalerons’, or ‘fixes’, are given here.

Pe - with, -ly Kul - and Vani - or Muut - but Bari - if Ep - as Ze - of

(examples to be included in the table)

8. The woman was waiting in the house.
.Ver Eenbar Reardyeh Pri Mukkot.
Literally: PAST mother wait-ing in cavehome.

9. The boy gave the girl a flower.
.Ver Yabarra Kagoz Shaln PraYehurra.
Literally: PAST unwed male give flower to maiden

10. The woman whom I saw was reading a book.

11. The girl to whom the boy gave a flower was reading a book.
.Ver Yehurra KhouhnPra Yabarra Kagoz Shaln VerMetinn Mettoth.
Literally: PAST maiden who towards boy give flower PASTread-doing book.

12. The girl's book. Mettoth ZeYabarra
Literally: book of maiden. One could also say “ Mettoth Hun” - (the) book (is) hers - or “Hiwi Mettoth PeYabarra” - this book with/together maiden. - or simply “Huu Mettoth” - her book - depending on context.   There are often a lot of specific words where we would use a general one (‘aunt’ for example) and dwarves prefer titles - a person is a mother, a miner, a teacher, etc - to personal names. You’d need to specify WHAT woman was waiting… (Note: ReardenYeh has been elided. Also, if you meant a human female in a human house, it would be Ver HuVothuten Reardyeh Pri Hund. )

this – Hiwi
that - Holwi
other - Kahiron

she - Hu (‘she likes me’)
her - Huy (‘I like her’)
her - Huu (‘her knife’)
hers - Hun (‘it is hers’)

The syllable ‘pe’ carries connotations of belonging, posession. When used between two sentient beings it is always considered mutual; “Hu PeBaun” - she is his - means just as validly ‘he is hers’...

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Formation of Sentences: ! DradikTaal Wiralyehyim! “He’s a frank speaker!” (lit. ‘rough language talk-ing-er’)

Morphemes, or units of meaning, are capitalized, then run together to form a complete concept, often creating compound words in the process. Capitals and double letters are eliminated from morphemes when the concept forms a name or a complete new word sanctioned by long usage. YehLithInn - do + passion + ing = Yehlithin => lovely, loved one (often used as an endearment among Dwarven couples) or Enn - love, Eninn - loving Enoeuim (‘en-NOY-oo-eem’ - “beloved”) . Where capitals still remain in common names it often indicates an archaic usage ( UnSthommErons, those like stone - the Dwarven Fathers) Spaces separate the different parts of speech as necessary to distinguish meaning and provide a visual break: Ylaoth Khirildrum - the Isle of the Glimmering Stones
(mistranslated. Literally, “Island - Jewel - Story”, or the Mythical Island of Jewels.)

Tenses and Conjugation: … Ave Kul Oe Ona Uhny… “And I will always love you….” (song lyric)

ThergerimTaal does not conjugate verbs – they remain regular, or in simple root form. Tenses are formed by adding an Averet (AveVerEt), ‘time-marker’ at the front of the sentence, thus immediately clarifying what the dwarf is speaking about. Past sentences start with Ver, future sentences start with Ave. Non-marked sentences are always assumed to be present tense; an action that is actually taking place at the time (present participle, ‘-ing’) has inn added to the verb to emphasise its immediacy.

Questions (Khoalerons): ? Ver Khotaph Papraz Eenjuvig Huun EenjuvigPuveen? “Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? (lit: who bad-take small-cake out of small-cake-pot?)

Khor - What Kholou - Where Khoaver - When Khouhn - Who Khotaph - Why Khohun - How Uu - Yes Paa - No - Khordispor – Whatever – lit. ‘thing-unknown’

Questions are also indicated by a Koporet (KoPorEt) , ‘doubt marker’, before the subject and verb. Question words are based on the doubt prefix and the appropriate root; eg : When - Khoaver, literally “ unsure - time”. These markers always come after the time-marker, thus:

  ? Ver Khotaph Hu Kaenul ? Question – Past – Why – She – Cry (Why did she cry?)
? Khouhn Pra Hu Kaenulinn ? Question – (Present )- Who – Towards – She – Crying (For whom is she crying? or, depending on context, To whom is she crying ?)
? Ave Khordispor Hu Kaenul ? Question – Future – Whatever – She – Cry (For what reason will she be crying?)

Punctuation: !Hutpu Duterons! “Sh-tty Arse-oles!” (curse-word, often heard when accidentally hammering one’s thumb)

Dwarves have their own script, and thus their own punctuation. As in tenses, punctuation is put at the very beginning of a sentence to indicate with what emotion the sentence should be read. The convention in translating or transliterating ThergerimTaal is for scribes to use human punctuation marks, but set them at the beginning and end of sentences to more closely approximate dwarven style.

   Statement .   Used to frame ordinary sentences   Excitement !   For strong emotion
Question ?   Unsure, doubt, request   Joke *   meant lightly, amusingly
Emphatic /    Indicates absolute certainty   Sarcasm <   Inverts meaning of sentence


People Words( Therge Aleron): . Ver Aveveryim Barbartol Korek Som. “My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf…” (lit ‘Time-er of Grandfather large-er (than) ledge…’

Barol - Father Huttol - Mother Eenbar - Brother Eenhu - Sister Thereen - Baby Unbol - Son Hunol - Daughter

Huenbar, Huenhu - Aunts Barenhu, Barenbar - Uncles Hubarol - Grandmother on Father’s Side Barhutol - Grandfather on Mother’s Side (You can figure out the rest from here., right? Gender of individual usually comes first, then the relationship.) Huenegrin – ‘aunties’ Barenegrin – ‘uncles’ - an affectionate way to refer to the senior dwarves of the cavern

   Oe - I Uhn - you Uhnegrin - you all Ba - he (male) Hu - she (female) Theh - we Distheh - they Uth - us Negrin - all KoNegrin - none Wi - it (thing or genderless)

Yabarrah - Bachelor (unwed male dwarf) Yehurra - Maiden (unwed female dwarf) Lekunn - Child (1 to 10 human-years of age, not yet weaned) Shorr - Adolescent (young dwarf under the age of Hu/Baregozar) Kavoninn Yabarrah – Travelling Bachelor
(Yabarerons / Yehurerons / Lekunerons / Shorerons are the appropriate plurals)

Race Titles: / Konaver Sprukthu UrtBerav Pra Harrenja/ (never waste a good joke on an elf!) – dwarven proverb

Dwarf      Thergerim – untranslatable, but carries the meaning of ‘our people’, ‘loyalty’ and ‘unbreakable bond’.
All clan names contain the last morpheme ‘erim’/’arim’ , which is believed to mean ‘the dwarven people’.
Elf       Alaverimin - “Long-Living” . (Alternately, Harrenja - literally, “Leaf-Eared”, or Caorprioon, “Woods-Dweller”.
Human       Vothuten - “Sunlover” or, less courteously, Kegertheren - “Surface Folk”, even Gerrezt - “Ground-Scratcher”!
Orc       Dragrum - “Rough-Toothed” or, disparagingly, Covikgrupu - “Rude Eater”
Hobbit        Barzilmutten – “Halflings” (literally, “half-body”!)
Gnome      Undegolz - “Clever-handed” or Undwirreli – “Craftsmen/Artificers”
Brownie    Eenwit - “The Smallest Ones” (“small-thing-most”)
Mullog       Anushona - “Swamp-folk”, “Wetlanders” (wet-place-ones)
Troll      Nedzoluun - “The Bitterfaced”

Directions ( Kholou Aleron) : !Shu-Theu Thelonerons! (By our beards!) – ancient dwarven warcry

Direction words are used as prefixes or suffixes. Dwarves don’t distinguish between the two in terms of meaning. Neither do they distinguish prepositions of movement, though we have sorted them separately below.

Nol - north Sol - south Eol - east Wol - west   Coincidentally, the acronym for the compass directions is the same as the Human (Morelsche) tongue. It is believed by scholars that the earliest human settlers borrowed dwarven usages to describe the country around them, and a consonant shift occurred in many words to make the sounds easier on the human tongue.

Huun - out Pri - in Ke - over Tol - under Ber - next to Pripra - to, towards, into Shu - by Ket - on Disket - off

Ner - up Waar - down Av - right Bar - left Wer - front Guul - back

Dimensional Directions: !Disvo Ner Hiwi Waarlok! “Don’t go up the down tunnel!” (signboard in Mithrilite excavation)

These are unique dwarven directions for working in three dimensions, possibly in low - or no-light conditions. They are relative to the Thergerim body’s ‘earth-sense’ only.

WerAv - for’right (45 degrees to the right of the body’s front )
WerBar - for’left
GulAv - ast’right (135 degrees to the right of front, or 45 degrees left from the dwarf’s back)
GulBar - ast’left
AvWaar - right (90 degrees) and down 45 degrees
WerAvNer - like a straight-arm salute, pointing 45 degrees up and out from the shoulder)
and so on

Numbers(Takeleron): *Gor, Bar, Berbar, Ave Oe Uhny* One, two, three, I seek thee! (Dwarven childrens’ counting chant)

0 - Koneg (Nothing) 1 - Gor (Onething) 2 - Bar (Male) 3 - Berbar (NextToMale) 4 - Werhut (BeforeWoman 5 - Hut (Woman) 6 - Etinn (Marking) 7 - Den (Holy) 8 - Thergetyr (Clan) 9 - Dishun (Incomplete) 10 - Golzeron (Hands). Fractions are known as Warzilerons ( from Warzilyeh - to divide, partition equally) . ½ - Barzil 1/3 - Berzil ¼ - Werzil 1/8 – Gezil ... and so on. Numbers must be inferred from context and intonation when spoken, as each number word also has its own meaning. (For example, does ‘Den Mettotherons’ mean ‘seven books’ or ‘holy books’? ) When written, of course, they are scribed as number runes rather than words and thus this difficulty does not apply. N.B. Since dwarves do not believe in the concept of 0 as a number/placeholder (how can you count nothing?) their large numbers get nasty, e.g. 2673 = BarEgri'EtinnOltgyr'DenGol'Berbar.... But it's a very exact system, and for a race that is as long-lived as the Thergerim, I suppose they don't mind the extra time taken to say their age!

Shapes (Oonerons): / Holwi DisOon Ze OeuOng / “That’s not the shape of my heart…” (song lyric)

Oon - Circle (the essential shape to a Thergerim – also used for ‘shape’, ‘group’, ‘community’ depending on context)
Wheroon = square; Berbaroon = triangle, Hunoon = rectangle Eyroon = oval Kaenoon = teardrop

Note that two-dimensional shapes end in 'oon', while their adjectival form ends with 'un' or 'on', thus, ‘triangular’ – Berbarun.
Three-dimensional constructs are usually distinguished by 'een' or 'ene' suffixes. For example: Oonene – Sphere, Berbarene = Pyramid, Taareen = Pillar, Sohaareen = Arch – and so on.

Connectors (EenAleron): !EpEen EpEenwit! “As small as a Brownie!” (lit. As small as the Smallest Thing!)

Pe - with, -ly Kul - and Vani - or Muut - but Bari - if Ep - as Ze - of Ra – for Vev - so, therefore
Karnula : from Ka – away Re- hold, keep back

Pre- and Suffixes (Alpalerons): An alpal (pre- or suf-fix) modifies the root word. The only logic of placement appears to be aesthetic - if the word is more euphonious to the dwarven ear by placing the ‘fix’ after the root, thus it shall be done. Position does not modify meaning.

ka   away from, from   KaVerOon - travel (leaving) Kavon, to travel
pra   towards, to   Pratheron, to meet pripra – into
re   hold, keep back   Reardenim - waiting Rearden, to wait
pu   open, release   CoPuGolzeron - fists, literally “not-open-hand-plural”
dis   negative, reversed   DisPor - lost, literally “not - located”
huun   remove, out of     HuunGer, - dig, Hunsthomm - excavate
guun   after   as in guul, back. GuunNolWerfer - Gunolwerf - resettle
wehrn   before   as in wer, front KhorimWehrn - old age
ta   again, repeat   TaHuhn - forge, strike
ko   do the opposite of   KoThergerim - undwarven ways, discourteous
pe   with, together   as in peNegrinUth, surrounding (lit. “with - all - us”)
tol   below, under   as in tol, underground
ke   above   as in kerrin, high
un   like, same, resembling   UnSthommErons - those like stone
ber   next to, beside   BerKerryim - subordinate (next to high one)
yeh   do, doing   Yeh-Gerinn - farming YehMith - metalworking
ek    More, -er   Thus: unarilek, ekunaril - prettier (no ‘than’ is required in a dwarven sentence of comparison)
it    Most, -est   unarilit, itunaril - prettiest (no ‘the’ is required in a dwarven sentence of comparison)
yim   One who does something, -er, -ist   a suffix used for a person or title, such as ‘Muryim’, Miner – from ‘mur’, meaning ‘mine’ (also Hunyim, ‘dig-person’)