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

Phonotactics

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.

In addition to vowels, Kzholtag allows any voiced consonant to act as a syllable nucleus. It divides these into four categories based on behavior.

Note that Kyol syllabification operates on a clause-wide basis. When two syllabic consonants are placed adjacent in a clause, the first one will fuse with the syllable onset.

Voiced Plosives: /b/, /d/, /ɟ̟/, /g/ Voiced plosives become syllabic only when surrounded by other plosives, voiceless consonants, or clause boundaries. They take an epenthetic [ə̆] beforehands when syllabic. kdaag [kə̆.daːg]

Nasals: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ Nasals become syllabic when surrounded by clause boundaries, plosives, voiceless consonants, or other nasals. Syllabic nasals are ellided if they are word-initial and followed by an identical nasal, or word-final and preceded by one.

Front Continuants: /z/, /ð/, /l/, /r/ Front continuants become syllabic when they are surrounded by other consonants or clause boundaries. They behave similarly to nasals.

Back Continuants: /ʑ/, /ɣᵓ/, /ʎ/ Back continuants become syllabic when they are surrounded by other consonants or clause boundaries. When they are syllabic, /ʑ/ and /ɣᵓ/ mutate into [ʝ̞] and [ɣ̞ᵓ].

Note that /ʑ/ is considered a back continuant because it evolves from Old High Kzholtag /ʝ/. This form is retained in syllabic position and adjacent to alveolar consonants.

Sequences of back and front continuants can behave extremely irregularly because of syllabification. For instance:

zhğğzh zhğğljzh e.
[ˈʑɣ̞̍ᵓ.ɣᵓʝ̞̍. ʑɣ̞̍ᵓ.ˈɣᵓʎ̍.ʑə]
“Zhğğzh (a type of fermented broth) is bubbling.”

dja zhğğzh zhzhğğljzh e.
[ɟ̟aʑ.ˈɣᵓɣ̞̍ᵓ.ʑʝ̞̍.ˈɣᵓɣ̞̍ᵓ.ˈʎ̍.ʑə]
“That zhhğğzh is bubbling.”

Note in the second example that [ˈʑɣ̞̍.ˈʎ̍.ʑi] is accurate and not [ˈʑɣ̞̍.ˈʎʝ̞̍.i] - syllabic consonants cannot occur next to syllabic resonants. This will only alter pronunciation within the word, its effects will not extend throughout the clause:

na zhzhzhoor.
[na.ʑʝ̞̍.ˈʑʌᵓːr]
“The woman spins it.”
NOT *[naʑ.ˈʑʝ̞̍.ʌᵓːr]