A thoughtful and wonderfully specific question — just the kind I enjoy most. And one that invites us to peer into both the linguistics and lore of Dwarven life. Let’s dig in.
🧭 Where (and When) Were Fíli and Kíli Born?
Both brothers were born after the fall of Erebor and raised in the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin) — far from the halls of their ancestors.
- Fíli was born in T.A. 2859
- Kíli followed in T.A. 2864
This places their births nearly 90 years after the refugees of Erebor had fled Smaug’s attack. By then, Ereborian speech patterns were still very much present — but largely maintained by older generations. For young Dwarves like Fíli and Kíli, day-to-day speech would have already been shaped far more by the local Blue Mountains Dwarves, among whom they were raised.
🗣️ What Form of Khuzdul Did They Speak?
They would certainly have been taught Sutumkhuzdul ("Stable Dwarvish") — a.k.a Classical Khuzdul — which remained the prestige variety of the Longbeards, used in formal documents, oaths, and instruction. This was especially likely given their royal lineage as sons of Dís, sister to Thorin Oakenshield.
But just like in our world, a noble education doesn’t override regional influence.
Fíli and Kíli would have spoken Classical Khuzdul with a slight Blue Mountains accent — shaped by their surroundings, their peers, and everyday use.
Fíli and Kíli as seen in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit
🏔️ Features of the Blue Mountains Accent (CK-BM)
This refers specifically to the accent of Classical Khuzdul as spoken in the Blue Mountains — not the separate dialect (more on that below).
Key CK-BM accent features include:
- Omission of articles in casual speech (influenced by local dialect)
- Velar nasal [ŋ] replacing final “n” — e.g. mann (“letter”) = [mɑnəŋ]
- Open vowels, such as long “e” being pronounced as [ɛ:] instead of [e:]
So a sentence like "The letter has arrived at my house" (mann nekha zai zaharê) might come out as:
[mɑnəŋ nɛkʰɑ zɑɪ zʌhɑrɛ:] — softened vowels, nasal ending, and omitted article
🧓 What About the Ereborian Accent?
The Ereborian variant of Classical Khuzdul (CK-ERE) had distinct features:
- [z] becoming a stressed [s:] in the onset of words
- e.g. zanâtdiya (“her hair”) = [s:ɑnɑ:t.dɪjɑ]
- Shifting placement of the schwa in consonant clusters
- e.g. imnhu (“his name”) = [ɪmnəhʊ] (Ereborian) vs. [ɪmənhʊ] (Standard)
By the time of the Quest of Erebor (T.A. 2941), those speaking this variant were largely elders, and even among them, it may have been fading. Fíli and Kíli, having spent their entire lives in the Blue Mountains, would very likely not have spoken with Ereborian pronunciation natively — though would very likely have been continuously exposed to it through their mother, uncle and other refugees.
As a side note, in The Hobbit, Thorin refers to Fíli as “the youngest,” though Appendix A reveals that Kíli was in fact five years younger. Whether this is a narrative oversight or simply Thorin forgetting in the moment (neither dwarf had reached 85 at the time of the quest), it’s a charming reminder of generational distance.
🏔️ Accent vs. Dialect — Not the Same Thing!
It’s worth pausing here to make an important distinction: Fíli and Kíli would not have spoken the Blue Mountain Dialect (BMK), also known as Khagalkhuzdul.
This dialect is spoken primarily by Firebeards and Broadbeams — the ancient clans native to the Blue Mountains — and it represents the greatest divergence from Classical Khuzdul across all Dwarven speech.
- Complete lack of articles
- Distinct verb conjugations in all tenses
- e.g. “You walk” is sabsini (CK) vs. ubzûnzu (BMK)
- Presence of additional vowels ([ø], [æ]) and unique consonants (“v,” “p,” “zh”)
- Use of velar nasal [ŋ] and voiced glottal fricative [ɦ]
- Significantly extended vowels in compound words
While Fíli and Kíli would likely have heard this dialect spoken frequently — especially in markets or cross-clan events — it was not their native speech. Their royal education, Longbeard heritage, and cultural context anchored them firmly in Classical Khuzdul, albeit with a slight local accent.
Blue Mountains and Dwarf Hall
🌍 A Shared Tongue, with Subtle Shifts
While regional accents and minor variations exist across Dwarven clans and holds, it’s important to remember that Khuzdul changes very slowly — far more slowly than the tongues of Men or Elves.
Tolkien himself wrote (HoME X – Of Dwarves and Men):
“The change in Khuzdul… was like the weathering of hard rock compared with the melting of snow.”
Even in the late Third Age, all Dwarves could converse with ease in their ancestral tongue — and often adjusted their speech to suit their audience.
Motivations for shifting speech could include:
- Formality or ritual
- Quoting from written texts
- Cross-clan communication
- Clarifying a point
- Seeking approval or making an impression
As noble heirs, Fíli and Kíli would no doubt have been trained in this linguistic adaptability — likely slipping into more polished, “neutral” Classical Khuzdul in official or diplomatic contexts, while speaking in a softer, (even BM-accented) register at home.
🧱 In Summary:
- Fíli and Kíli were born in the Blue Mountains decades after Erebor’s fall
- They very likely would have spoken Classical Khuzdul with a Blue Mountains accent
- They did were not native Blue Mountain Dialect speakers, which is a separate linguistic tradition
- The Ereborian accent was fading and mainly spoken by elder exiles
- All Dwarves still understood one another easily in Khuzdul, and speech could be adjusted as needed
- As royal sons of Durin’s line, they would have been taught to speak with precision, pride, and adaptability
📜 An Important Note on Source and Speculation
While much of what we’ve discussed above is grounded in Tolkien’s writings, especially in The War of the Jewels, Of Dwarves and Men, and various Appendices, it’s important to acknowledge that the details on dialects and pronunciation — such as those related to Blue Mountain speech — are extrapolations.
- Patterns Tolkien established
- Real-world linguistic evolution (especially Semitic languages)
- Earlier versions of Neo-Khuzdul that had to be consolidated with more recent updates
- Cultural distinctions among the Dwarven clans
- Descriptive phonology inferred from Khuzdul roots and root clusters
So while this reconstruction is informed and consistent with Tolkien's world, it remains largely speculative — a scholarly guess, if you will, crafted with care, rather than direct canon.
Ever at your service,
The Dwarrow Scholar
