Nuktaq

Setting
Nutavik is the language of the Nutavik dwarves who number just over 1000 and live in the mountains of Mazarkhut. Nutavik is a language isolate, unrelated to any other language. Nutavik is a head-initial language that is strongly isolating. Word order is SVO.

Phonology
Nutavik has 27 consonants and three vowels. The consonant system and vowel system of Nutavik are similar to that of Arabic. Nutavik has a series of pharyngealized coronal consonants that contrast with plain counterparts. Nutavik has a basic three vowel system consisting of the vowels /i/, /a/ and /u/. The vowels /i/ and /u/ become allophonically lowered to [e] and [o] respectively when adjacent to a pharyngeal or pharyngealized consonant, and this is indicated in the orthography by writing [e] and [o] as  and  respectively. There is very little allophony in the consonant system. The voiceless plosives are aspirated word-initially and at the beginning of non-initial stressed syllables, and are unaspirated elsewhere. The consonants /d/ and /dˤ/ may be realized as taps ([ɾ] and [ɾˤ]) intervocalically. Nutavik has no phonemic vowel length, stress or tone, and there are no diphthongs.

Consonants
The 27 consonants of Nutavik are listed below in the standard orthography, with IPA notation in brackets:

Vowels
Nutavik has the following three vowels: Note that /i/ and /u/ have allophones [e] and [o] respectively when adjacent to a pharyngeal or pharyngealized consonant.

Phonotactics
Nutavik words are subject to a number of strict phonotactic constraints. Words do not begin in a vowel or in a pharyngeal or pharyngealized consonant, and words do not end in a bilabial, labiodental or glottal consonant. Consonant clusters can occur word-initially and word medially but not word-finally. Consonant clusters do not exceed two consonants in length except when occurring across morpheme boundaries, in which case they can be three consonants in length. Vowel clusters are not permitted. Root words do not exceed three syllables in length. The structure of monosyllabic roots is C(C)V(C). The structure of disyllabic roots is C(C)VC(C)V(C), and the structure of trisyllabic roots is C(C)VC(C)VC(C)V(C). The only consonant clusters that can occur word-initially are those of type 'fricative + approximant'. A large variety of consonant clusters can occur word-medially.

Stress
Stress is very weak. Stress is predictable, always falling on the penultimate syllable of a word.

Orthography
Nutavik is written using the Latin alphabet. The alphabet is completely transparent and so is easy to learn. The spelling of each consonant phoneme is shown in the table of consonants in the phonology section (see above). The alphabet has five vowels, pronounced as /a e i o u/ respectively.