Pategian

Sapkhan is the official language of Sapkha in Bjeheond.

Introduction

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

Phonology

Oddly enough, the only nasal sounds present in Sapkhan 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

Finals

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

Tones

There are four tones in Sapkhan 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 after final stops

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