Drúadan

This article is about the language. For the Race of Men, see Drúedain.

Drúadan was the name of the Mannish "tongue of the Drúedain" in Middle-earth.

Drúedainic has been commonly used by many scholars and fans to refer to Drúadan.

Origins

Drúadan was a unique language long descended from the ancient tongues of Men, originating in the First Age. As years progressed, the language became known for belonging to the southern Mannish branch that included the languages of the Men of Bree, Men of the Mountains, and the Dunlendings.

Because they retained their independence and rarely interbred with others, none of the Drúedain's words ever entered into the Common Speech, and so the language retained its uniqueness.

Characteristics

Not much is known of Drúadan, as the language was alien those who spoke other languages as it was unrelated to Westron, which many languages were related to. According to Meriadoc Brandybuck, the words sounded strange and throaty, though it is unknown if this was just a dialectal variant of the Drúedain of the Drúadan Forest. It is more likely unique to the language as a whole since the voices of the Drúedain were said to be "deep and guttural". It is possible that gorgûn derived from one of the Elvish words for Orcs.

In adaptations

Middle-earth Role Playing

In the second edition of the main Middle-earth Role Playing supplement, Drúadan is referred to by the name Pûkael, and the language is "ideally suited to their voices and... alien to that of other Men". It is almost impossible for non-native speakers to pronounce words in Pûkael, though it is further hindered because the Drúedain are often unwilling to allow others to learn Pûkael.