Kiltin

Kiltin is a Kindalic language of the central branch, spoken on the world of Maleka as a lingua franca across Kindal, where it is native to the central plains region, and some surrounding nations.

Classification and dialects
Kiltin is a member of the Kindalic language family. It is traditionally been classified as part of the central branch, which is one of the three branches that descend from the Tanamiya language.

The Tanamiya-descended Kindalic languages form a dialect continuum, and it is often unclear where languages begin and end, and often the distinction may be political. For example, the Cingadia dialect of Kiltin and the Ka'shtanda language are nearly identical (and they were both once regarded as the same Kiltin dialect), but since Cingadia and Ka'shtanda were controlled by different factions during the civil war, one continued to be regarded as a dialect of Kiltin while the other became regarded as a different language.

The current standard form, which is used as the official language of Kindal and a lingua franca in the surrounding region, was established after the founding of the Republic of Kindal and is known as New Standard Kiltin (liuta zhanshkala kiltin, LZhK) to distinguish itself from the older standard form which was used by the Kiltin dynasty. Unless otherwise specified, the following content in the article refers to LZhK.

History
The central plains vernacular has been used as a lingua franca in Kindal since the 9600's.

The name "Kiltin" comes from the Kiltin dynasty, which took control of most of Kindal in the mid 10100's. The Kiltin dynasty took their name from the word kilti meaning gold. They imposed a standardized form of the vernacular of the central plains region as the official language when they took control, replacing the classical Tanamiya language. While at first the rulers only referred to the standardized vernacular as mintiu jenna (common language), the commoners soon adopted the name kiltiniu jenna (language of the Kiltin) for this language.

The name kiltiniu jenna originally referred to the standardized official variety, but later it also came to refer to the non-standard local dialects which are closest to the official language. During the Kiltin dynasty many people took pride in "speaking Kiltin", so the term was also adopted by some dialects which are somewhat farther from the official language. As the Kiltin dynasty became a regional power and globalization trends begin, other nations in the region adopted Kiltin as a lingua franca for wider communication.

After the collapse of the Kiltin dynasty and the beginning of civil war in the 10700's, regionalism increased and some varieties formerly seen as dialects of Kiltin are then regarded as distinct languages.

When the Republic of Kindal was established in 10825, it adopted Kiltin as its official language, but it was restandardized to be closer to the vernacular at that time, which had changed noticeably, and to introduce words for new concepts. The standard form established by the Republic is now referred to as "New Standard Kiltin" (liuta zhanshkala kiltin).

Consonants
Kiltin has 20 basic consonant phonemes:

Most consonants can be palatalized (with the exception of ' and y) and/or glottalized (with the exception of b, d, g, z, zh, j, and '). Palatalized consonants are indicated with an i after the base consonant in the romanization, and while most of them are realized as the palatalized form of the base consonant, there are some exceptions:


 * ni - /ɲ/
 * ngi - /ɲ/
 * si - /ɕ/
 * shi - /ɕ/
 * zi - /ʑ/
 * zhi - /ʑ/
 * ci - /tɕ/
 * ji - /dʑ/
 * li - /ʎ/
 * wi - /jʷ/

Glottalized consonants are indicated by a ' before the base consonant in the romanization; most of them are realized as a cluster of the glottal stop /ʔ/ followed by the base consonant, but the following are realized as ejectives instead:


 * 'p - /pʼ/
 * 't - /tʼ/
 * 'k - /kʼ/
 * 'c - /tsʼ ~ tʃʼ/

In addition, the consonant clusters kl and gl are usually realized as /kʟ̥/ and /gʟ/, respectively.

Kiltin also has sibilant harmony, meaning that "hissing" sibilants (s, z) and "hushing" sibilants (sh, zh) cannot occur within the same word. Sibilant harmony also affects the pronunciation of the affricates (c, j), which are pronounced as /ts/ and /dz/ in words containing s or z, and /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ otherwise.

Vowels
Kiltin has 9 basic vowel phonemes (5 monophthongs and 4 diphthongs):

All of the vowel phonemes can be realized in 2 or 3 different ways depending on where they occur in a word due to vowel reduction:

The "mode" of a given vowel is determined by its position in a word:


 * Penultimately stressed words: ...-1-2-1-2-1-3
 * Ultimately stressed words: ...-2-1-2-1-3-1

All vowels can be nasalized, which is indicated by a m, n, ng, or l (depending on the following consonant) after the base vowel in the romanization. Nasalized vowels are realized as the oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant, depending on the following consonant:


 * m, p, b - /m/ (represented by m)
 * n, t, d, s, z, sh, zh, c, j - /n/ (represented by n)
 * ng, k, g, x, w, ' - /ŋ/ (represented by n, except for g, where it is represented by ng)
 * l - /l/ (represented by l, technically not a nasal consonant)
 * y - /ɲ/ (represented by n)
 * no following consonant: /ŋ/ (represented by n)

Stress
Generally, for root words, primary stress falls on the last syllable if the word ends in a consonant, or on the second-last syllable if the word ends in a vowel, with secondary stress falling on alternating syllables before the primary stress. There is a small set of words that end with a vowel but are stressed on the last syllable.

Inflectional affixes do not affect the stress of a word; the stressed syllable in an inflected word is the same as the stressed syllable in the root word. For inflected words with multisyllabic suffixes, secondary stress also falls on alternating syllables after the primary stress.

Syllable structure
Kiltin syllable structure is (C)(C)V(C), or more accurately, (ʔ)(C)(C)V(N)(C) since most glottalized consonants are realized as a sequence of /ʔ/ and the base consonant, and nasalized vowels are realized as the oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant.

All single consonants are permitted in the onset of a syllable, while the permitted consonant clusters are: kl, gl, pl, bl, shk, sht, shp, shng, shn, shm, shl, shc, ck, ct, cp, cng, cn, cm, cl, sk, st, sp, sng, sn, sm, sl, sc, zhg, zhd, zhb, zhj, jg, jd, jb, zg, zd, zb, zj. In a consonant cluster, only the first consonant can be glottalized, while only the second consonant can be palatalized.

The following consonants are prohibited in the coda of a syllable: g, d, b, w, y, zh, j, z. Glottalized and palatalized consonants are also prohibited in the coda, Although it is not uncommon to find consonants written as if they were palatalized in the coda of a syllable, however, they are pronounced the same as their base consonants and merely serve as an indication that they are to be palatalized if a vocalic suffix is added.