There are only very few words known in the hobbit-language because they spoke a dialect of Westron, the common language, which tolkien represents using English. He also "altered" the real names of the characters to more english-like forms or those that sound european - like samwise gamgee or Pippin (Pippin was the name of many members of an important family living about the same time as the merovingians, I think). The real Hobbit-name for the Shire for example is Sûza, Merry is in fact called Kalimac (short form "Kali" which means "merry", too) and so on. This is not a language you can really learn;
www.ardalambion.com gives a list of all known words which are
Adûni "Westron" (PM:316)
ba-, ban(a) "half" (PM:51), banakil, "halfling, hobbit" (Appendix F, final notes)
balc "horrible" (UT:313)
Ban "Sam", often held to be short for Bannâtha just like Sam is short for Samuel, but in Sam Gamgee's case his name was short for Banazîr. (PM:51)
Banazîr "half-wise, simple" (Appendix F)
bara- "quick?" Isolated from Barabatta "Quicktalker" (PM:52)
-bas "-wich" (PM:48, Appendix F, final notes)
batta "talker"? Isolated from Barabatta "Quicktalker" (PM:52)
Bilba "Bilbo" (PM:50)
Bophîn "Boffin" (meaning forgotten; the name is simply Anglicized) (Appendix F)
bolg- "bulge" (PM:48)
Bralda-hîm "heady ale", pun of the name of the Baranduin (or Branda-nîn) river, translated "Brandywine" (Appendix F, final notes)
branda- "border, march"; Brandagamba "Marchbuch", Branda-nîn "Border-water", "Marchbourn" (Appendix F, final notes)
Bunga "Bungo", Bunga Labingi "Bungo Baggins" (PM:48)
castar a coin of some sort, of which a tharni was the fourth part (PM:45)
gad- "stay". In Ranugad, q.v.
galap, galab- "game" (PM:48/Appendix F, final notes)
Galbasi "Gamgee" (Appendix F, final notes)
gamba "he-goat", in Brandagamba "Brandybuck" (Appendix F, final notes)
gul "valley?" (tentatively isolated from Karningul "Rivendell"😉 (Appendix F)
hamanullas unidentified small blue flower, tentatively translated "lobelia" (PM:47)
hîm(a) "ale, beer" (PM:54) In Bralda-hîm, q.v. (Appendix F, final notes.)
hloth(o) "cot", two-roomed dwelling (PM:49)
hloth-ram(a) cottager, "cotman" (PM:49). Hlothram "Cotman", the name of Farmer Cotton's grandfather. (Appendix F, final notes)
Hlothran "Cotton"; see Lothran.
kali "merry, jolly, gay"; Kalimac a name of forgotten meaning but inevitably associated with kali; hence Tolkien rendered Kalimac by Meriadoc and the short form Kali by Merry. (Appendix F)
karnin "cloven?" (tentatively isolated from Karningul "Rivendell", Appendix F)
kast "mathom" (from Rohirric kastu; this word was probably used only in the Hobbit dialect of Westron)
kuduk "hobbit", used in the hobbit dialect only; other speakers of Westron used the term banakil "halfling" (Appendix F, final notes)
laban "bag"; Labingi "Baggins" (PM:48); Laban-neg "Bag End" (PM:83)
Lothram "Cotman" (PM:49)
Lothran "Cotton", Hobbit village name (PM:49). It contains of hlotho + rân, q.v. Spelt Hlothran in Appendix F, final notes.
luthur, luthran "down, fluff" (PM:49)
Maura "Frodo" (PM:50) There was no word maur- in contemporary Westron, but in archaic Rohirric it meant "wise, experienced"; hence Tolkien rendered Maura by a Germanic name of similar sense.
narag- "dwarf" (PM:58), archaic gen.pl. nargian as in Phurunargian "Dwarf-delving, Dwarrowdelf". (Appendix F)
nas "people". In tudnas, q.v. Borrowing from Quenya nossë or Sindarin nos, "kindred, family". (PM:320)
neg "end" (noun) (PM:83)
nîn "water". In Branda-nîn, q.v.
Ogmandab "Gorhendad" (an Oldbuck) (PM:83)
phârë "speech"; Sôval Phârë "Common Speech"
phur- "delve"; phûru, "delving" (archaic); Phurunargian "Dwarrowdelf".
pûta "blower" (*pût- "blow"?) In Raspûta, q.v.
rân "a village, a small group of dwellings on a hill side" (PM:49), ran(u) "home, village" ("ham"😉 Ranugad = "Hamfast, Stay-at-Home" (Appendix F)
râph(a) "burr" (noun) (PM:60). In Zilbirâpha.
ras- "horn"; Raspûta "Hornblower" (PM:45, 47)
raza "stranger"; razan "foreign" (PM:51)
Razanur Tûc "Peregrin Took" (PM:51); cf. Razar.
razar a small red apple; Razar "Pippin", associated with the apple-word but actually short for Razanur. (PM:51)
ribadyan "byrding", one celebrating a birthday (Letters:290)
sôval "common"; Sôval Phârë "Common Speech" (PM:55) (Actually we cannot be absolutely certain which part means "common" and which means "speech"😉
sûza sphere of occupation; division of a realm; Sûza "Shire", Sûzat "the Shire" (PM:45)
tapuc "rabbit, coney" (PM:49)
tarkil "person of Númenórean descent" (Appendix F)
tharantîn "quarter, fourth part" (PM:45)
tharni "quarter, farthing" (the fourth part of a coin, but also used of the farthings of the Shire) (PM:45)
trah- a Hobbit stem that apparently has to do with creeping through a hole; see PM:54.
trân "smial" (probably unique to the Hobbit dialect; cf. Rohirric trahan). (Appendix F)
TUD "watch, guard" (stem) (PM:320)
tudnas "guard" (a body of men acting as guards). Later tunnas, also so spelt; even later pronounced with a short (single) n, but still normally spelt with double nn; the incorrect spelling tunas occurred in the original Book of Mazarbul and was rendered by the equally incorrect spelling gard in Tolkien's reconstruction of this page (that did not make it into the published LotR). See PM:320 and TI:458.
Tûk (so spelt in Appendix F, Tûc in PM:46) "Took" (According to the tradition of the Tooks, tûca "was an old word meaning 'daring', but this appears to be a wholly unfounded guess"; hence, Tolkien simply anglicized the spelling).
zara- "old"; Zaragamba "Oldbuck" (Appendix F, final notes)
zîr(a) "wise"; Banazîr "Half-wise, Samwise" (Appendix F, PM:51)
zilib, zilbi- "butter"; Batti Zilbirâpha "Barney Butterburr" (PM:60, 52)
It's similar with dwarvish, but here are more known words because of the dwarvish names of places (though it was a secret language in middle-earth); but David Salo, who made all the elvish language constructions for the film, invented some new language called "neo-khuzdul" (khuzdul is dwarvish) which he also used for the film (in both lyrics and dialogues): he used all the words and the grammar given by Tolkien but adds new similar-sounding words and new grammar structure which enables you to create real sentences in dwarvish. Yet we also here dont know really much, so these two languages arent really very good for speaking... just some sentences.
Originally posted by Kitoky
A true saint indeed.
@melani: about the books... main source is still LoTR... and the Silmarillion. Then there are the Unfinished Tales Of Númenor And Middle-earth and the twelve History Of Middle-Earth - books. For further information also the Letters, a collection of letters written by Tolkien, or his Biography (by Carpenter; interesting also the one by Shippey); there are also different books directly about elvish, some perfectly well-written, some less well researched. But for languages, the best source is still Internet; and of course www.ardalambion.com .