Word.ws English Dictionary

Black Speech

Black Speech proper noun: a constructed language designed by J. R. R. Tolkien, intended to be associated with evil.

Proper noun

Black Speech

  1. A constructed language designed by J. R. R. Tolkien, intended to be associated with evil.
    • Generally speaking, the articulation in Black Speech is quite violent. Diphthongs are practically absent and due to the relatively small number of sonorants, the transitions between particular sounds are sharp and abrupt.2007, Joanna Podhorodecka, “Is lámatyáve a linguistic heresy? Iconicity in J.R.R. Tolkien’s invented languages”, in Elżbieta Tabakowska et al., editors, Insistent Images, →ISBN, page 109
    • Many later scholars have agreed with Tolkien on his general declarations about his languages (for example, that the Elvish languages are ‘beautiful’, while the Black Speech is cacophonous or that the languages originated Tolkien’s mythology) and skipped the whole issue of the role of the langauges...2009, Dimitra Fimi, Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits, →ISBN, page 75

Questions about Black Speech

What does Black Speech mean?
Black Speech means a constructed language designed by J. R. R. Tolkien, intended to be associated with evil.
What part of speech is Black Speech?
Black Speech is a proper noun.

Words near Black Speech in the dictionary

  1. black soup
  2. Black Sox
  3. Black Spanish
  4. black speargrass
  5. black speargrasses
  6. Black Speech
  7. black spot
  8. black spots
  9. Black Springs
  10. black spruce
  11. black spruces

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Black Speech (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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