Ac'talul

Ashthalul is a fictional language by Polka Dot.

Ashthalul is the language of the ancient Ashth civilization, it was originally spoken in the then called Limbra "continent", it is believed that Limbra continent was actually a continental fragment or microcontinent (today's modern Ashthian Archipelago), near the south-eastern coastal region of Phwaim. Ashthalul, while being a Phwaim language, is unrelated to the other languages of Phwaim and any other known language, therefore, it is deemed as a language isolate.

The form of the language presented below is the dialect of Limbra, the greatest of the Ashth city-states, where the congress and the treasury of the Limbra league of free city-states stood, and way later became the capital of the Limbra Commune.

Phonology & Orthography

The consonant inventory of Ashthalul is as follows:

/m n ŋ/ <m n ñ>
/p b t d k g q/ <p b t d k g q>
/t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/ <c ç>
/f v θ s z ʃ ʒ x h/ <f v th s z sh j x h>
/j w r l/ <y w r l>

The following group of consonants /n t d k g q θ s z ʃ ʒ x h r l/ become palatalized to [nʲ tʲ dʲ kʲ gʲ qʲ θʲ sʲ zʲ ʃʲ ʒʲ xʲ hʲ rʲ lʲ] when following the close front unrounded vowel /i/ and as well the palatal approximant /j/. In the (mainland) dialect of Ásvà, this process is accompanied with the affrication of the stops [tsʲ dzʲ kxʲ gɣʲ qχʲ].

All plosives /p b t d k g q/ are pronounced aspirated [pʰ bʰ tʰ dʰ kʰ gʰ qʰ] as syllable onsets and unreleased [p̚ b̚ t̚ d̚ k̚ g̚ q̚] as syllable codas.

When following the rounded back vowels /o u/ and the labio-velar approximant /w/, all non-labial plosives /t d k g q/ become labialized [tʷ dʷ kʷ gʷ qʷ]. In the (mainland) dialect of Ásvà, this process also unrounds the back vowels /o u/ to [ɯ ɤ] and the delabializes the labio-velar approximant /w/ to [ɰ].

When preceding a consonant, the voiced labial fricative /v/ lenites to [w].

The two glides /j w/ show little allophonic variation by themselves.

The alveolar lateral approximant /l/ is pronounced pharyngealized [lˤ] and does not become palatalized as syllable coda.

The alveolar trill /r/ is pronounced as [ɾ] in clusters and as syllable coda. The same is true for its palatalized allophone [ɾʲ]. The vocalic inventory of Ashthalul is as follows:

/i˧ u˧ e˧ o˧ a˧/ <i u e o a>
/i˦ u˦ e˦ o˦ a˦/ <í ú é ó á>
/i˧˥ u˧˥ e˧˥ o˧˥ a˧˥/ <ï ü ë ö ä>
/i˨ u˨ e˨ o˨ a˨/ <ì ù è ò à>
/i˥˩ u˥˩ e˥˩ o˥˩ a˥˩/ <î û ê ô â>