Pkalho-Kolo

I started creating languages in my teens; a little later I found out that Tolkien's fictional world had begun with creating languages. I was relieved: I wasn't the only person crazy enough to do this. His favourite language was Finnish, also my favourite language. For years I just took it up off and on, pursuing one idea, then another. In the 1990's, at the height of popularity of the Fantasy genre, friends, who knew I had always been good at writing, suggested that I try my hand at writing a book. I did, and the result was terrible beyond all telling, but it did make me settle on one phonological and grammatical system. At that time I created fewer than a hundred words; but a few years ago I had a period of illness and passed the time by adding to the vocabulary. I quite seriously intended to make up about 20,000 words, but fatigue set in after about 4,500.

I had a few definite aims: one was to create a language without distinction of parts of speech; another was to create an agglutinative language with quite a modest number of affixes (there are 32.) In phonology I wanted to create at least a couple of sounds not found in any natural language; to have no sibilants; and to have an abundance of labial or labialised consonants. These are the consonants of Pkalho-Kölo:

p m ph  pk v fh   pkw pw  pr rl   t lh th   c l   cw y fw   kw w hw   k n h

There are four unrounded vowels: a ë e i   and four rounded vowels: ä ö o u.

A brief sample text, in Latin letters (Pkalho-Kölo has its own writing system, alphabetic and written from top to bottom and right to left, though a few of the literate prefer left to right.) This is the beginning of a translation of the Grimm Brothers story called "The Seven Ravens":

Fhalhvo Nikö

Täthumä atäla lemäi tonun lamo niköli akäto teina eali. Cimekoäkuto cwëllen e wöhela icwiyi löipë nörövafheila eto iturë ölvu thena-mäyupiela yuli. Oto cwinli pintörë eali lamovon atähi kwellapkwe poucahwäli ewan valarikurë lumphë nälmen. Epkëväiloto nöweiwë poucamöli, e hëfworë nilneripë fhampon nömäihi kovo nälhmulemä. Waweto pkäpkweyearë lhaun kanlöla vayi haulato emäin thopala muriphili.

The English is:

There was once a man who had seven sons, and last of all one daughter. Although the little girl was very pretty, she was so weak and small that they thought she could not live but they said she should at once be christened. So the father sent one of his sons in haste to the spring to get some water, but the other six ran with him. Each wanted to be the first at drawing the water, and so they were in such a hurry that all let their pitchers fall into the well, and they stood foolishly looking at one another, and did not know what to do, for none dared to go home.

Sometime I will probably upload some grammar and samples of the writing system, if I can figure out how to do so.