View source for Old Izhkut

{{construction}}
{{infobox language
| name=Old Izhkut
| altname = Pokht-Izhkut, Old Ishcot
| nativename = dean
| pronunciation = ˈdʲɛn
| creator = User:Jukethatbox
| created = 2025
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| fam1 = [[Taskaric languages|Taskaric]]
| fam2 = Iskeric
| fam3 = Ilyic
| setting = Radael
| ethnicity = Pokht-Izhkut people
| state = Pokht-Izhkutrëa
| era = As a native language,<br>500 UH—10 BH
| ancestor1 = [[Proto-Taskaric]]
| ancestor2 = Proto-Iskeric
| ancestor3 = Proto-Ilyic
| notice = ipa
}}
'''Old Izhkut'''(''dean'', <small>Old Izhkut:</small> [[Help:IPA|[ˈdʲɛn]]]; [[Izhkut]]: ''mëja izhkut'', [[IPA for Izhkut|[ˈmɛɟa iʒkut] [ˈmɛd͡ʒa iʒkut]]]), also called '''Pokht-Izhkut''' or '''Old Ishcot''', is a [[w:Classical language|classical language]] of the Ilyic branch of the [[Taskaric languages]]. It originally developed in the Petrum region, where it was the official language of most of the Petrucian city-states, and was the native language of most of the "Proto-Izhkut" peoples that would later become the [[Izhkut]], [[Pokht]] and [[Ilyod]].

Old Izhkut began to diverge into the Pokht-Izhkut languages around 10 UH; [[Ilyod]] was the first to be attested separately from Old Izhkut, when it was declared the [[w:National language|national language]] of the emerging Kingdom of Ilyod(Old Izhkut: ''Iliodreag''; [[Ilyod]]: ''Myerilyud''). The growing [[Izhkut|Izhkutrëa]] followed suit shortly after at the turn of the BH, declaring [[Izhkut]] the administrative language of Izhkutrëa. [[Pokht]], historically known for more conservative dialectology, took longer to be recognised as a separate language from Old Izhkut; this only occurred through Izhkut occupation, which, after invading and establishing Izhkut control over the former Pokht city-states, enforced a [[Izhkutifisation|ban on the use of the Pokht language]], which logically required an actual [[Pokht#Dialectology|definition of a "Pokht" language]].

Although spoken Old Izhkut is not intelligible with any modern descendant of the language, it still holds high prestige in Izhkut society; Old Izhkut is taught at a compulsory level from the start of middle school onwards, and prose was historically written almost exclusively in Old Izhkut until the publication of ''Blue Coasters'' in 222 BH. Although Izhkut [[w:Modernism|modernists]] have rejected the use of Old Izhkut and championed the use of modern Izhkut, Old Izhkut still takes an important part in Izhkut society.