Objectives of Nûrlâm

Below are listed main targets which Nûrlâm is trying to achieve.

• Try to find additional canonical information about Black Speech published in “History of Middle-Earth” and various journals on Tolkien's linguistics;
• Get rid of linguistic calques of English, Russian or any other real unrelated language, keeping translation into them easy and avoiding too exotic grammar;
• Create reference pages and lessons for new dialect, because current are inconsistent;
• Make emphasis on grammar rather than on dictionary;
• Make grammar reflect history of language without creating actual Proto-, Ancient-, Old-, Middle- etc. languages.
• Avoid using the name “Black Speech” for new words, instead refer the language by it's name “Nûrlâm” as often as possible or call it “Neo Black Speech”.

• Separate case postpositions, other postpositions and prepositions;
• Make rules for prepositions (which case of noun is used)

• Define quite big but restricted number of cases (about 20) similar to Finno-Ugric and some Caucasian languages;
• Replace plural suffix -u with -û or deny plural at all

• Limit using of personal pronouns even further by introducing verb’s category of person

• Add separate verb endings for every person;
• Replace suffix -at for 3rd person with some other;
• Add aspects of Perfect and incomplete action;
• Make more clear rules for various subjunctive-like moods

• Deny English clichés;
• Possibly change suffixes

Make pronunciation easier but sounding “scarier” at the same time by following ways:

• Replace “th” and specially “dh” sounds where they are almost impossible to pronounce, leaving only patterns th-V, dh-V, thr-V, V-th, V-dh (where V is any vowel);
• Replace long vowels with short in unstressed syllables, if stressed syllable has short vowel. Thus long vowels should be left only in first syllable or if all vowels in word are long. Suffixes are not touched by this rule. “Nazgûl” and some other compound words will also be exceptions;
• Changing the length of vowel should not drastically change the meaning of word (compare “burzum” and “bûrz”)
• Replace some of “l”, “ll”, “m”, “n”, “ng” sounds with stops, especially in words borrowed from Quenya;
• Replace “qu” with “kh”;
• Either replace y+vowel or make more words with “y”, especially after consonants

• Make separate vocabulary only for this dialect;
• Provide more etymology information;
• Provide more information on usage of each word, specially verbs, pre- and post-positions;
• Borrow words from other dialects and languages of Arda according to phonetical objectives;
• Basic roots for the most common words should consist only of one syllable;
• New words should not became homonyms with existing words of any other popular dialect, except when Tolkien's etymology found;
• Replace some words that are already homonyms in different dialects.

• if word consist of two or more (which is highly deprecated) syllables it should not end the same as any grammar suffix (case, gender, plural, derivative), possessive pronoun

• short words should not be the same as noun suffixes or pronouns

• should not end with vowel
• if word consist of two or more syllables it shouldn't end the same as any grammar suffix or personal pronoun