High Kzholtag

High Kzholtag is a language created by njirf for the world of the Great Continent. (Name in progress.) It was the lingua franca of the First Kzhol Empire until their collapse at O AC. The population that spoke High Kzholtag, and the language from which it descended, were almost exclusively Golkh - humanoid procyonids similar to hairless bipedal raccoons. This accounts for some phonological peculiarities.

Setting

The First Kzhol Empire originated around 1500 BC (Before Collapse) in a loose confederation of city-states in the swampland of the northeastern coastline. Over the course of its 1500-year history, it survived several invasions and internal schisms, some of which led to near-collapse, but continued to grow in size and power. By 200 BC, its territory extended to the tropics, and it was recognized universally as one of the greatest powers on the Great Continent.

The level of technological innovation by about 100 BC can be said to be medieval. However, this is somewhat misleading; in the city centers, the level and type of technological advancement is comparable to Baghdad during the 12th and 13th centuries.

The First Kzhol Empire was a matriarchal oligarchy. Policy was decided by a consensus of the matriarchs of a few noble families. While Kzholite religion was traditionally a polytheist animist religion, in 200 BC the practice of ancestor veneration and the abandonment of god-worship began to rise. (It was in part a schism between god-worshipping and ancestor-venerating sects that led to the ultimate collapse of the Empire.) Outside of politics, Kzholtag was matriarchal, and notable for the strictness of its gender roles.

Phonology

Inventory

High Kzholtag Consonant Inventory

Prosody

Stress

Kzhol allows any sequence of phonemes with one exception: no more than four voiceless phones may be adjacent. Arbitrarily long strings of voiced consonants are allowed, and handled by syllabification: