Pategian

Tsapkhan (Tsap Khah vaam) is the official language of Tsapkha in Bjeheond.

Introduction

Tsapkhan is a tonal language and is unrelated to the Hlou-Ku languages.

Phonology

Oddly enough, the only nasal sounds present in Tsapkhan are retroflex, as the others have undergone mergers. /m n ɲ/ merged with /ʋ l j/ while /ŋ/ disappeared. Historical /z/ merged with /dʰ/.

Initials

p pʰ t tʰ ʈ ʈʰ c cʰ k kʰ bʰ dʰ ɖʰ ɟʰ gʰ

pɳ ʈɳ kɳ pʰɳ kʰɳ pɬ kɬ pr kr pr̥ kr̥

ɳ~ɭ̃ ɳʰ

ts s tɬ ɬ l tʳ r̥ r j ʋ

Medials

a e i o u (e and i are realized as /ə/ and /ɨ/ after retroflex consonants; o and u are realized as /ø/ and /y/ after palatals)

Finals

Ø (null), p, t, ʔ, ṃ (realized as nasalization and lengthening of the previous vowel)

Tones

There are four tones in Tsapkhan in addition to the unstressed tone:

1) high level (ā /a˥˦/)

2) mid level (a or ạ /a˧/); not used with breathy initials or final stops

3) low dipping (ǎ /a˨˩˦/); realized as a low level tone with final stops

4) mid rising (á /˧˥/); not used with final stops

Orthography

The consonants are written:

p ph t th nt nth c ch k kh b d nd j g

pn tn kn phn khn phl khl pr kr phr khr

n nh

ts s thl hl l thr hr r y v

The vowels are a e i o u. Finals are written p t k m.

The high level tone is written with an h after the vowel if the final is null, or by doubling the final.

The mid level tone is unmarked.

The dipping tone is written by doubling the vowel. If the final is a stop, the dipping tone is unmarked.

The rising tone is written with an acute accent.

Syntax

Tsapkhan syntax is strictly head-final.