Pokht

Pokht
bokhtjoeğ
Pronunciation	[ˈb̥ɔxddʒøːw] [ˈb̥ɔxddʒøːj]
Created by	Jukethatbox
Date	2024
Setting	Radael
Native to	Pokhtreg
Ethnicity	Pokht peoples
Language family	Taskaric Iskeric Ilyic Pokht-Izhkut Pokht
Early forms	Proto-Taskaric Proto-Iskeric Proto-Ilyic Old Izhkut
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Ingdikh
Regulated by	Pokhtjoesrenyeğ (unofficial)

Pokht (Pokht: bokhtjoeğ, pronounced: [ˈb̥ɔxddʒøːw, ˈb̥ɔxddʒøːj]; Izhkut: jënn pokht) is a Taskaric language or group of languages spoken by various Pokht peoples in the region of Pokhtreg, namely in southern Izhkutrëa and parts of northern Ingdikh. It is also spoken by a significant diasporic community on the island of Etzeán, especially in Néekh territories such as Arkhûz and the greater Tûznam Basin.

Linguistically, Pokht is a descendant of Old Izhkut, making it a sister language of Izhkut and the now-extinct Ilyod language. However, unlike other Old Izhkut descendants and its ancestor itself, Pokht is much more inflectional than the more isolating Izhkut, and incorporates a rich verbal paradigm that conjugates on person, tense and aspect. Pokht also retains the masculine-feminine gender of Old Izhkut, which Izhkut dropped.

Pokht varieties historically constitute a dialect continuum, which once encompassed the entire Pokhtreg; the notion of a singular Pokht language was primarily introduced by Izhkut colonial segregatory practices which distinguished the Pokht peoples(hitherto not recognised as a single people) as different from the supposedly superior Izhkut. As such, the contemporary classification of Pokht is incredibly controversial among the Pokht peoples, as its classification as one language evokes the lingering effects of Izhkut colonialism but also contradictingly evokes the antithetical Pokht independence movement, which has advocated for unity among Pokht peoples against a common Izhkut aggressor.

Dialectology

WIP

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	b̥	t d		c	k g	(ʔ)
Affricate			dʒ
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Tap or flap			ɽ
Fricative	f v	s z	ʃ ʒ		x ɣ	h
Semivowel	(w)			j
Lateral approximant		l		(ʎ)	ɫ

/f v/ vary between bilabial and labiodental depending on the dialect.

/j w ɣ/ are all allophones of the phoneme /ğ/; its pronunciation varies on position. After vowels /u o ø/ at the end of a word, it extends the vowel and alternates between /j~w/ depending on the speaker, as in bokhtjoeğ. In the medial position of a compound word, it typically only extends the vowel and is unwritten, as in Pokhtjoesrenyeğ [ˈb̥ɔxddʒøːˌsɽeɲə]. After word-final /e/, it simply turns /e/ into /ə/, as in srenyeğ [ˈsɽeɲə], though in some dialects it may also be pronounced with a /w/, hence the preservation of the letter. Before voiceless plosives it becomes /k/; before voiced, it becomes /g/. In either way, it is written ⟨g⟩. In all other places, it is pronounced as velar fricative /ɣ/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	(ə)	ɔ
Open		ɑ