Lessons
• Lesson I – Background information
• Lesson II – Black Speech Sounds and Pronunciation
• Lesson III – Nouns
• Lesson IV – Verbs: Infinitive and Present Tense
• Lesson V – Verbs: Future Tense
• Lesson VI – Adjectives and Word Order
• Lesson VII – Pre- and Postpositions, Noun Cases, Phrase Verbs
• Lesson VIII – Verbs: Past Tense
• Lesson IX – Numbers
• Lesson X – Pronouns and Commands (Imperatives)
• * Lesson XII – Comparisons
• * Lesson XIII – Suffix Order and Indirect Objects
• * Lesson XIV – Questions
• * Lesson XV – Participles and Passive Voice
• * Lesson XVI – Conditional and Subjunctive Moods
• Appendix A: Prefixes and Suffixes
• Appendix B: Grammar quick overview
• Appendix C: Measures, Directions, Army Ranks
• Appendix D: List Of Abbreviations
• Appendix E: Canonical Tolkien's Black Speech
* Lesson XII – Comparisons
This lesson will be easier than previous ones.
Adjectives
Sometimes, as in the first statement of this lesson, we need to compare some properties. Using LOS equivalent to english word 'more' makes statements too complex. There is more laconical way to compare something by using suffix -ar. The superative degree is formed by suffix -az.
Examples
| hîs (quick) | hîsar snû (quickier than) | hîsaz (the quickiest) |
| bûrz* (dark) | bûrzar snû (darker than) | bûrzaz (the darkest) |
| gothûrz** (powerful) | gothûrzar snû (more powerful than) | gothûrzaz (the most powerful) |
* Note that -ûrz here isn't an adjective's suffix but a part of word's stem.
** It is a suffix here but -ar and -az are accumulated to -ûrz. Note that despite the syllabe count degrees of comparsions always form the same way.
Adverbs
Adverbs are compared identically to adjectives, but they don't have a superative degree of comparsion. Here is an example:
| hîsarz (quickly) | hîsarzar snû (more quickly than) |
Exercise
Try to translate the first sentence of this lesson using the dictionary.
Other degrees of comparison
There are some adverbs used with adjectives for better description: very, greatly, slightly etc. Also English has negative degree of comparison expressed with words “less” and “least”. When translating such construction always write adjective (even if it's short) separately from the noun, and these descriptive words should follow them. Vocabulary contains some special forms for degree of comparison (like mentioned little–less–least, good–better–best, bad–worse–worst, etc.), which are the copy of English grammar. I insist on avoiding them in Black Speech and using regular forms with suffixes -ar and -az.
Examples
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