Iskel

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Phonology

Consonants

Consonants in parentheses currently do not occur in any words, but may appear in the future.

		Labial		Coronal						Palatal		Uvular		Glottal
				Sibilant		Median		Lateral
Stop	Nasal	m	⟨m⟩			n	⟨n⟩			ɲ	⟨ñ⟩	ɴ	⟨ng⟩
	Oral	p b	⟨p b⟩	t͡s d͡z	⟨ds dz⟩	t	⟨t⟩					q	⟨q⟩
Fricative		ɸ β	⟨f v⟩	s z	⟨s z⟩	θ̠ ð̠	⟨sh zh⟩	ɬ	⟨lh⟩	ç ʝ	⟨jx jj⟩	χ	⟨x⟩	h	⟨h⟩
Trill						r	⟨rr⟩					ʀ	⟨gg⟩
Glide	Oral	w	⟨w⟩			ɾ	⟨r⟩	l	⟨l⟩	j	⟨y⟩
	Nasal	w̃	⟨ẇ⟩					l̃	⟨ŀ⟩	j̃	⟨ẏ⟩
Click	Nasal			ᵑʇ	⟨dn⟩	ᵑǃ¡	⟨cn⟩	(ᵑǁ)	⟨łn⟩	ᵑǂ	⟨jn⟩
	Aspirated			ᵏʇʰ	⟨dh⟩	(ᵏǃ¡ʰ)	⟨ch⟩	(ᵏǁʰ)	⟨łh⟩	(ᵏǂʰ)	⟨jh⟩
	Tenuis			ᵏʇ	⟨dk⟩	ᵏǃ¡	⟨ck⟩	ᵏǁ	⟨łk⟩	ᵏǂ	⟨jk⟩
	Glottalized			ᵏʇˀ	⟨d'⟩	(ᵏǃ¡ˀ)	⟨c'⟩	(ᵏǁˀ)	⟨ł'⟩	(ᵏǂˀ)	⟨j'⟩

Vowels

	Front		Central		Back
Close	i	⟨i⟩	ʊ	⟨û⟩	ɯ u	⟨ı u⟩
Close-Mid	e	⟨e⟩	ə	⟨ŷ⟩	o	⟨o⟩
Open-Mid	ɛ	⟨ê⟩			ɔ	⟨ô⟩
Open	a	⟨a⟩			ɑ	⟨â⟩

Iskel has syllabic forms for all of its sonorants.

		Labial		Alveolar				Palatal		Uvular
				Median		Lateral
Nasal		m	⟨m⟩	n	⟨n⟩			ɲ	⟨ñ⟩	ɴ	⟨ng⟩
Trill				r	⟨rr⟩					ʀ	⟨gg⟩
Glide	Oral	w	⟨w⟩	ɾ	⟨r⟩	l	⟨l⟩	j	⟨y⟩
	Nasal	w̃	⟨ẇ⟩			l̃	⟨ŀ⟩	j̃	⟨ẏ⟩

Stress

Iskel has 3 stress levels: primary, secondary, and extra stress, all of which are phonemic. A word can have any number of any type of stress, though words with extra stress have only been observed to have one. If a word does have extra stress, however, it cannot have primary stress. Primary and secondary stress involve increase in syllable pitch and length to a stronger and less strong degree, respectively. Extra stress involves lower pitch, noticeably greater airflow resulting in higher volume, lengthening, and the visible scrunching of the nose during every phone in the syllable. Extra stress has only been observed to occur in syllables beginning with fricatives, and is confirmed to occur in syllables with consonant nuclei.

Primary stress can be written with ⟨»⟩, secondary stress with ⟨›⟩, and extra stress with ⟨!⟩ after the nucleus. Primary and secondary stress are rarely written, but extra stress is written more often. Word-initial primary stress is not written unless there is another primary stress in the word.

Some affixes may make otherwise unstressed syllables stressed. When monosyllabic words become polysyllabic through inflection, primary stress is placed on the syllable of the root. This only does not occur in the case of part of speech suffixes, which do not influence the primary stress placement of the words they inflect.

Allophony

Aside from elisory allophony, discussed in the Phonotactics section, and epenthetic allomorphy, discussed in the Morphology section, Iskel has two allophonic rules.

1. Bilabial articulation during extra stress becomes labiodental.
2. /j/ lowers and retracts from preceding uvulars^{[controversial]}.

These rules exist due to biological limitations. All other articulations are identical to their phonemic form. There is no voicing assimilation anywhere, no nasal assimilation, no retraction from click tongue shape, no place assimilation, etc. The /j/ lowering/retracting rule is debated with many prominent opposers claiming failure to produce a true palatal immediately after a uvular is a "skill issue".

However, the degree of allophonic variation within Iskel exists on a spectrum. More formal speech requires the speaker to make maximum effort to never allow characteristics of one phone to bleed into the articulation of another. More informal speech allows for more lax and natural pronunciations such as plosives including a nasal release when followed by a nasal or nasalized vowels near nasal consonants. Though, even informal speech retains a relatively strict pronunciation. Voicing assimilation in obstruent clusters can create ambiguity since mixed voice obstruent clusters are phonemically distinct from their homogenous counterparts, so it does not occur even in the most informal speech. Similarly, nasal assimilation in approximants will also lead to phonemic ambiguity.

Phonotactics

Clusters

Iskel follows a (C)(C)(C)V(V)(V)(C)(C)(C) structure. A consonant cluster and vowel cluster each may only have a maximum of three, regardless of if it exists within the same syllable or across syllables in a word. When affixes are added to a word, violations of this cluster limit involving 4 members of a cluster result in the deletion of one member at the stem boundary from the longer stem. Violations involving 5 members result in the deletion of one member at the stem boundary from each stem. Violations involving 6 members result in the deletion of one member from the shorter stem and two members from the longer stem, again at the stem boundary.

For example, the prefix ang- /aŋ/ attaching to the root sqwôa /sqwɔa̯/ would create the illegal cluster of 4 consonants *angsqwôa /aŋsqwɔa̯/. Therefore, the longer stem sqwôa must delete the consonant at the stem boundary, creating the word angqwôa /aŋˈqwɔa̯/ with a legal cluster of 3 consonants.

Syllabic Consonants

A nucleus with a syllabic consonant can never contain another syllabic consonant or vowel. Syllabic consonants cannot occur next to vowels. Affixes that pair a vowel and syllabic consonant result in the consonant becoming nonsyllabic. Syllabic consonants have never been observed to have more than one consonant in their syllable's coda or nucleus. Nasalized approximants have never been observed to be syllabic.

Periodic Table

In Iskel, the periodic table is arranged in terms of 7 periods and 19 groups instead of 7 periods and 18 groups, counting the third group as containing all the f-block elements.

Elements' root words are one syllable long and determined based on five categories: block, period, metallicity, proton number within a block, and electron shell occupation.

1. S-block elements have monophthongs. F-block elements have diphthongs. D-block elements have long diphthons. P-block elements have triphthongs with a middle -u-.
2. Elements in periods 1-7 begin with h+, l+, ç+, s+, k+, j+, and cn+, respectively.
3. Metals have a mid tone on their root while nonmetals have no tone on their root.
4. Within a block, elements are ordered with one of their vowels being in alphabetical order (i.e. A Â Ô Ê E O U Û Î I), with the vowels A and I excluded as they mark whether an element has an odd number of protons or an even number of protons per alphabetized letter. S-block elements are not written with alphabetization since they are monophthongs. F-block elements have the alphabetized letter precede the odd-even marker in the diphthong, while p- and d-block elements have the alphabetized letter at the end of the polyphthong.
5. Elements with an open electron shell are unmarked, while those with a closed shell end in --. This ending, however, is removed when referring to ions of an element that do not have a closed shell.

Period ▶	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Period ▶	6	7
Group ▼								Group ▼
1	1 Hi (Hydrogen)	3 Lĭ (Lithium)	11 Çĭ (Sodium)	19 Sĭ (Potassium)	37 Kĭ (Rubidium)	55 Jĭ (Caesium)	87 Cnĭ (Francium)
2		4 Lă (Beryllium)	12 Çă (Magnesium)	20 Să (Calcium)	38 Kă (Strontium)	56 Jă (Barium)	88 Cnă (Radium)
4				21 Sĭĭâ (Scandium)	39 Kĭĭâ (Yttrium)	71 Jĭĭâ (Lutetium)	103 Cnĭĭâ (Lawrencium)	3	57 Jãi (Lanthanum)	89 Cnãi (Actinium)
5				22 Săăâ (Titanium)	40 Kăăâ (Zirconium)	72 Jăăâ (Hafnium)	104 Cnăăâ (Tantium)		58 Jãa (Cerium)	90 Cnãa (Thorium)
6				23 Sĭĭô (Vanadium)	41 Kĭĭô (Niobium)	73 Jĭĭô (Rutherfordium)	105 Cnĭĭô (Dubium)		59 Jõi (Praseodymium)	91 Cnõi (Protactinium)
7				24 Săăô (Chromium)	42 Kăăô (Molybdenum)	74 Jăăô (Tungsten)	106 Cnăăô (Seaborgium)		60 Jõa (Deodymium)	92 Cnõa (Uranium)
8				25 Sĭĭê (Manganese)	43 Kĭĭê (Technetium)	75 Jĭĭê (Rhenium)	107 Cnĭĭê (Bohrium)		61 Jẽi (Promethium)	93 Cnẽi (Neptunium)
9				26 Săăê (Iron)	44 Kăăê (Ruthenium)	76 Jăăê (Osmium)	108 Cnăăê (Hassium)		62 Jẽa (Samarium)	94 Cnẽa (Plutonium)
10				27 Sĭĭe (Cobalt)	45 Kĭĭe (Rhodium)	77 Jĭĭe (Iridium)	109 Cnĭĭe (Meitnerium)		63 Jĕi (Europium)	95 Cnĕi (Americium)
11				28 Săăe (Nickel)	46 Kăăe (Palladium)	78 Jăăe (Platinum)	110 Cnăăe (Darmstadtium)		64 Jĕa (Gadolinium)	96 Cnĕa (Curium)
12				29 Sĭĭo (Copper)	47 Kĭĭo (Silver)	79 Jĭĭo (Gold)	111 Cnĭĭo (Roentgenium)		65 Jŏi (Terbium)	97 Cnŏi (Berkelium)
13				30 Săăo (Zinc)	48 Kăăo (Cadmium)	80 Jăăo (Mercury)	112 Cnăăo (Copernicium)		66 Jŏa (Dysprosium)	98 Cnŏa (Californium)
14		5 Lĭuâ (Boron)	13 Çiuâ (Aluminum)	31 Sĭuâ (Gallium)	49 Kĭuâ (Indium)	81 Jĭuâ (Thalium)	113 Cnĭuâ (Nihonium)		67 Jŭi (Holmium)	99 Cnŭi (Einsteinium)
15		6 Lauâ (Carbon)	14 Çăuâ (Silicon)	32 Săuâ (Germanium)	50 Kăuâ (Tin)	82 Jăuâ (Lead)	114 Cnăuâ (Flerovium)		68 Jŭa (Erbium)	100 Cnŭa (Fermium)
16		7 Liuô (Nitrogen)	15 Çiuô (Phosphorus)	33 Sĭuô (Arsenic)	51 Kĭuô (Antimony)	83 Jĭuô (Bismuth)	115 Cnĭuô (Moscovium)		69 Jũi (Thulium)	101 Cnũi (Mendelevium)
17		8 Lauô (Oxygen)	16 Çauô (Sulfur)	34 Sauô (Selenium)	52 Kăuô (Tellurium)	84 Jăuô (Polonium)	116 Cnăuô (Livermorium)		70 Jũa (Ytterbium)	102 Cnũa (Nobelium)
18		9 Liuê (Fluorine)	17 Çiuê (Chlorine)	35 Siuê (Bromium)	53 Kiuê (Iodine)	85 Jĭuê (Astatine)	117 Cnĭuê (Tennessine)
19	2 Ha- (Helium)	10 Lauê- (Neon)	18 Çauê- (Argon)	36 Sauê- (Krypton)	54 Kauê- (Xenon)	86 Jauê- (Radon)	118 Cnăuê- (Oganesson)

The name of a period starts with the same letter all elements in that period begin with, followed by -êŋa. The name of a group has the same syllable nucleus as all the elements in that group followed by -ŋa, and the first syllable is given high tone. The s-block, f-block, d-block, and p-block are called eŋa, êeŋa, eeêŋa, and euêŋa, respectively. Lanthanides and actinides are called jĭŋa and cnĭŋa, respectively.

Elements are most often talked about regarding a specific form, whether that be an atom, a molecule, a composition, etc. The form in discussion is a suffix containing the part of speech marker and a high tone.

• Element as an atom: +yá
  • Atoms are called yaŋa.
  • Closed-shell atoms are called ya-ŋa.
• Element as a homonuclear molecule: +ttá
  • Molecules are called ttaŋa.
  • Closed-shell molecules are called tta-ŋa.
• Element as a molar quantity: +vvá
• Object that is purely an element: +ría
• Object that is mostly an element: +ššá

Ions are written by suffixing the difference between the number of protons and electrons in the atom to the root word. Anions are suffixed with number suffixes denoting the difference. Cations are suffixed with the number difference and an antipositive infix +ne+ between the number and root word. For example, a sodium cation is called çĭneqyá (sodium-antipositive-one-atom) and a chlorine anion is called çiuêqyá (chlorine-one-atom).

Isotopes are written by infixing the difference between the number of protons and neutrons between the group marker and the proton number marker. A plain number difference is for a greater number of neutrons than protons, and a negative number difference is for a fewer number of neutrons than protons. For example, Uranium-235 is called cndsõayá and Helium-3 is called hneqa-yá.

Nuclides without specification for isotope and/or ion are written with the number affix +č in place of a number of neutrons or electrons. For example, Neon with an unspecified number of electrons is lauêčyá, lead with an unspecified number of neutrons is jčăuâyá, and copper with an unspecified number of electrons and neutrons is sčĭĭočyá.

Molecular formulae are written by combining atom root words and suffixing each atom with -- and suffixing the whole word with -wá. For multiple instances of an atom, the beginning of the root receives a number affix. For example, the word for glucose, which has the formula C₆H₁₂O₆, is šlauâ-lhi-šlauô-wá, and the word for sodalite, with the chemical formula Na₈(Al₆Si₆O₂₄)Cl₂, is xçĭ-višçiuâ-šçăuâ-ltlauô-ivtçiuê-ššá.