hose of the Edain who went to Numenor brought their own language with them, and it was known as Adunaic.
It had many Elvish influences from Quenya and Sindarin, as Men often mingled with Elves in Beleriand. It also had some Dwarvish influence. In Numenor, all place names in official state documents were written in Quenya, as is shown in the map of Numenor in Unfinished Tales. However, the nobles did not speak Quenya, but Sindarin in their daily speech. The common people only used Adunaic, though they must have known Sindarin as well.
After the Faithful came to Middle-earth, it became the fashion to follow the trends of Royalty, and Adunaic slowly died out in general use, though it was remembered. The Faithful only spoke Westron and Sindarin as the rebel Kings had used Adunaic and it's use became associated with support for them, which the Faithful of course did not want to associated with. Now Andunaic is almost a forgotten language, and only a fragment of the language is now remembered. However Eldarion has collected what information we have on the language, and has brought it to be displayed, and kept here in our library for future generations, and of course yourselves.

It is practical to distinguish various genders of the Adûnaic noun, as in many Germanic languages: Masculine, Feminine and Neuter. However, Adûnaic also has common nouns. Masculine nouns denote words applying to male beings and their functions, Feminine nouns are the same for female beings, and the Neuters apply to inanimate objects. The only exceptions involve inanimate objects being personified. For instance, the Neuter word for sun, ûrê, turns into feminine Ûrî if the Sun is considered a female being. The Common gender is used in the case of nouns that are not characterized as to sex, such as anâ "human being" and names of animals (when not specially characterized; karab "horse" is Common, but karbû "stallion" and karbî "mare" are logically Masculine and Feminine, respectively). Masculine gender is often associated with the final consonants -k, -r, -n, -d. Feminine gender is associated with -th, -l, -s, -z;(But these rules are not absolute, especially in the case of personal names; Azrubêl, the Adûnaic translation of Eärendil "Sea-lover", is obviously not a feminine name.)

Adûnaic has no true genitive (a form of noun which shows a relationship between one thing or another). Instead, compounds are often used - The Land of Aman may be expressed by what corresponds to - The Aman-land. Possession is typically expressed by the prefix an- to, of, often reduced to 'n : as in Bâr 'nAnadûnê - Lord of Anadûnê, Narîka 'nBâri 'nAdûn - The Eagles of the Lords of the West.

Prepositions

There are quite a few prepositions in Adûnaic. Ô - from; ad, ada - to, toward; mâ - with; zê - at. Also, dalad - under, as in ugru-dalad - under [the] Shadow. Dalad may incorporate -ad - to, for the context shows that the meaning is not stationary position under the Shadow, but movement to the position under it: Êruhînim dubdam ugru-dalad - The Eruhíni fell under the Shadow.

The Adjective

Attested adjectives include words like izindi - straight, burôda - heavy, êphalak - far away, and also anadûni - western. It appears that the adjective agrees with the noun it describes in number: The adjectives dulgî - black; and lôkhî - crooked; show the ending î, an Adûnaic plural marker. The nouns they describe are also plural: bawîba dulgî - black [were the] winds, kâtha batîna lôkhî - all roads [are] crooked.

A little can be learnt about adjective formation. The adjective anadûni "western" is formed from the noun adûni - the West. As an is a meaning "of", anadûni is literally - of the West; but it may be taken as an adjective and inflected as such. King Ar-Pharazôn was called "the Golden", and pharaz means gold. If pharazôn is the word for "golden", the ending -ôn must be an adjective former.

We are also told that adjectives always precede nouns.

The Participle

We have two examples of a past participle in -ân: zabathân "humbled" and zîrân "loved, beloved". This ending has the same origin as Primitive Quendian -nâ, Quenya -na or -ina. Both of the participles follow the word they describe.

Numerals

Only two numerals are known. Satta - two; and hazid - seven.

Pronouns

Adûnaic distinguishes gender (or rather sex) in the pronouns of the third person, and u and i are the stems for 'he' and 'she' - but it is not clear what the actual words for "he" and "she" are. Hi-Akallabêth is translated "She-that-hath-fallen", suggesting that "she" is hi. May 'he' be hu? (Compare Hebrew hu' "he", hi' "she".) The word nênud is translated "on us"; perhaps "we" or "us" is *nên?

Word List.

-a - Ending for Plural Neuters
abâr - Strength, endurance, fidelity.
-ad, -ada - To, towards
adûn - West, westward
Adûnâim - Númenóreans, or perhaps rather *"Dúnedain" (426)
agan - death, personified Agân(masculine).
Akallabêth - She-that-is-fallen(also hi-Akallabêth), name of the sunken Númenor.
akhâs - chasm
Amatthâni - Land of Aman
ammî, ammê - mother
an - of, often reduced to 'n: Narîka 'nBâri 'nAdûn - The Eagles of the Lords of the West
-an - Ending for Common nouns (also -n)
anâ - homo, human being; masculine anû - a male, man, feminine anî - a female
Anadûnê - Westernesse, Númenor
anadûni - Western
Âru - King, Âru n'Adûnâi - King of the Anadunians
attû, attô - Father
Avalê - Goddess, Valië
Avalôi - The Valar, Powers; plural Avalôim;
Avallôni - Avallónë
Avradî - Varda
ayadda - went
azgarâ - wage war
azra - sea; Plural azrîya
azûl - eastward
bâ - don't
balak - ship; Plural balîk
banâth - wife
Bâr - Lord
batân - road, path; Plural batîna
bawâb - wind
bêth - expression, saying, word, but more commonly as sayer.
bith - say
burôda - heavy
dâira - Earth
dâur - gloom
dolgu - night (with evil connotations - contrast lômi)
dubdam - fell (Plural verb)
dulgî - black
êphalak - far away; êphal êphalak - far far away
Êru - The One, God; Êruvô - from Êru; Êruhînim - the children of God
gimil - stars, a collective referring to the starry sky in general. Gimilnitîr - Star-kindler (Varda); Gimlu-nîtir - kindler of a (particular) star
gimli - star; Plural gimlî
hazad - seven.
hi-Akallabêth - She-that-hath-fallen, Númenor.
hikallaba - she fell down
huzun - ear, dual huznat - two ears
idô - now, evidently idôn when the next word begins in a vowel, cf. English a/an
igmil - star-shaped figure; Plural igmîl
-im - Plural ending for all other nouns than Neuters
inzil - flower, isolated from Inziladûn - Flower of the West
izindi - straight
izindu-bêth - true-sayer, prophet
izrê (< izrêi < izrêyî) - sweetheart, beloved
kadar - city; kadar-lâi - city folk
kadô - and so
kalab - fall; kalab - fall down
kali - woman
kallaba - fell, a form of kalab
kan - hold
karab - horse (Plural karîb)Masculine karbû - stallion, feminine karbî - mare
kâtha - all
kathuphazgân - conqueror
khâu, khô - crow; Plural kwâwi(m), khôi
khibil - spring
kulub - roots, edible vegetables that are roots not fruits; Plural kulbî - roots of a definite number of roots of plants.
lôkhî - crooked
lômi - night, with no evil connotations - contrast dolgu
-mâ - with
manô - spirit; Plural manôi
mîk - baby boy
minal - heaven, sky, objective minul in Minul-Târik - Pillar of Heaven.
mîth - baby girl, maid-child, little girl
miyât - (infant) twins
miyi - small
-n - Ending for Common nouns (also -an)
nadroth - hind-track, the wake of a boat; hence nad - hind, back
nakh - come, approach
nâlo - shadow
narâk - eagle
nardu - soldier
narîka - the Eagles
naru - man, male
nênud - on us
nîlo - moon, personified Nîlû (masculine when personified, otherwise neuter).
nimir - shine
nimir - Elf; Plural Nimîr, Objective nimru- in Nimruzîr
Nimruzîr - Elendil, Elf-lover.
Nimruzîrim - Elf-friends
nîph - fool, also nûph
nithil - girl
nitîr - kindler, isolated from Gimilnitîr.
nûlu - night, with evil connotations
nuphâr - parent, dual nuphrât - father and mother as a pair
-ô - from
obroth - fore-cutting, the curling water at the prow of a ship
pâ - hand; Plural pâi
pharaz - gold
phazân - prince, king's son
pûh - breath
raba - dog, masculine rabô, feminine rabê
roth - cutting, track. Roth was also used of the track of boats on water and could therefore be used to mean "foam"
Rôthinzil - Foam-flower - Vingilot, Eärendil's ship
rûkh - shout
ruth - scar, score, furrow, stem yielding words for plough and ploughing, but when applied to boats it referred to their track on water
saphad - understand
saibêth - assent; saibêth-mâ - with assent
sapthân (p often being pronounced f) wise-man, wizard
satta - two
sûla - trump
sulum - mast
tâidô - once (not "one time", but "once upon a time")
tamar - smith
târik - pillar, in Minul-târik - Pillar of Heaven. Dual târikat
ugru - shadow. Verb ugrudâ - overshadow
ûrê -sun, personified Ûrî (feminine when personified, otherwise neuter);
urîd - the mountains
urud - mountain
urug - bear, urgî - female bear
uruk - goblin, orc
yakalubîm - lean over
yanâkhim - are at hand, approach
yurahtam - broke
zabathân - humbled
zadan - house
zâin - lands; Plural of zâyin.
zâira - longing
zâyan - land
-zê - at zigûr - wizard. Subjective Zigûrun - the Wizard, referring to Sauron.
zini - female (noun)
zir - love, desire
zirân - beloved
zôrî - nurse

All - kathâ
Aman, land of Aman - Amatthâni
And so - kadô
Approach - nakh; are at hand - yanakhim
Arda - abatta
Assent - saibêth; with assent - saibêth-mâ
At - -zê
Avallónë - Avallôni

Baby boy - mîk
Back - nad
Bear - urug; female bear - urgî
Before - ob
Beloved - zirân
Black - dulgî
Breath - pûh
Broke - yurahtam

Chasm - akhâs
City - kadar
City folk - kadar-laî
Come - nakh
Conqueror - kathupazgân
Crooked - lôkhî
Crow - khâu

Daughter - phel
Death - agan
Dog - raba; masculine rabô; feminine rabê
Don’t - bâ

Eagle - narâk; Eagles - narîka
Ear - huzun; two ears - huznat
Earth - dâira
Eastward - azûlada
Elf - nimir
Eru - Êru
Expression, saying - bêth

Fall - kalab
Far - êphal; far away - êphalak
Father - attû, attô
Fell - ukallaba, kallaba, dubdam
Female - zini
Flower - inzil
Fool - nîph, nûph
From - -ô
Furrow, score, scar - ruth

Gift - yô
Girl - nithil
Gloom - dâur
Goblin, orc - uruk
Goddess - Avalê
Gold - pharaz
Gush; so as to gush - du-phursâ

Hand - pâ
Heavens - minal
Heavy - burôda
Hold - kân
Horse - karab
House - zadan
Human - anâ
Humbled - zabathân

Kindler - nitîr
King - âru

Lands - zâin
Lean over - yakalubîm
Longing - zâira
Lord - bâr
Love - zir

Man, male - naru
Mare - karbî
Mast - sulum
Moon - nîlo
Mother - ammî, ammê
Mountain - urud
Mountains - urîd

Night(with no evil connotations) - lômi
Night(with evil connotations) - dolgu
Now - idô
Númenór - Anadûnê, Yôzâyan - Land of Gift
Númenóreans - Adûnâim
Nurse - zôrî

Of - ‘n
Once(upon a time) - tâidô
On us - nênud
Overshadow - ugrudâ

Parent - nuphâr; parents - nuphrât
Pillar - târik
Prince - phazân
Prophet - izindu-bêth

Road - batân
Roads - batîna
Roots(edible) - kulub

Say - bith
Sayer - bêth
Sea - azra
Seven - hazad
Shadow - nâlo
Shadow(that befell Numenor) - ugru
Shine - nimir
Ship - balak
Ships - balîk
Shore - sakal
Shout - rûkh
Sky - minal
Small - miyi
Smith - tamar
Soldier - nardu
Spirit - manô
Spring - khibil
Stallion - karbû
Star - gimli
Stars - gimil, referring to the starry sky in general
Star-shaped figure - igmil
Straight - izindi
Strength - abâr
Sun - ûrê
Sweetheart - izrê
Sword - zagar

Touch - tabad
Towards - -ada
Track - roth
Trump - sûla
Twins - mîyat
Two - satta

Understand - saphad
Us - nen

Valar - Avalôi
Varda - Avradî

Wage war - azgarâ
Went - ayadda
West, westward - adûn
Western - anadûni
Wife - banâth
Wind - bawâb
Winds - bawîba
With - -mâ
Wizard, wise-man - sapthân
Woman - kali
Wright - magân

Eldarion