Talk:Black Speech

ergation
How do we know it's ergative? —Tamfang (talk) 06:26, 28 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Because it's reliably cited to a well-known Tolkien scholar. I've not read of any other path to establishing facts in Wikipedia's voluminous policy documents. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:07, 28 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Weirdly, the page cited bases the inference of ergativity only on the use of clitic object pronouns, which are hardly unknown in non-ergative languages. Oh well, I won't press the issue. —Tamfang (talk) 03:40, 8 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Well we could relegate it to a footnote I suppose. It'd be best if another scholar wrote a rebuttal. Chiswick Chap (talk) 04:05, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Irish word for "ring"
"Tolkien stated that when coining the Black Speech word nazg, he might have been influenced by the Irish word for "ring", nasc (Scottish nasg)" Nasc isn't the Irish word for "ring"; it's a verb that means "to bind". Fáinne is Irish for ring. 78.152.225.141 (talk) 22:07, 22 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Many thanks. I've edited the statement. Chiswick Chap (talk) 12:48, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
 * This gives Old Irish meanings "chain, link, tie". Chiswick Chap (talk) 12:51, 23 January 2024 (UTC)