Fhaatch is a language sketch I use primarily for naming, individual words, and short phrases in my Third Realm world. The people who speak Fhaatch, Goshites, are viewed as a mysterious and arcane people by outsiders, and I tried to emphasize that feeling by first giving them a language that appears difficult to pronounce, and second, in the prose, having them pepper their dialogue with Fhaatch words. Because the Goshites are supposed to be hard to understand, I also wait a while before explaining what any of their unique words mean, and many of their words I don’t define in the book because the reader not knowing accomplishes the feeling I want to evoke more effectively than knowing.

For this language I provide the romanized version of words first, followed by the IPA translation when I don’t think I will remember how the word is intended to be pronounced. I also provide how I want to romanize each sound in parentheses in the consonant sound chart. In the vowel sound chart, words in parentheses help me to remember what that vowel sounds like.

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Basics

Language Name: Fhaatch — ɸxɑ̃ːtʃ

Writing System: Glyphs

Quick Notes: Loosely inspired by ancient Egyptian (the Coptic language) and intentionally made with being a real tongue-breaker in mind.

Consonant Chart

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
						Palatalized	Plain
Nasal		m (m)	n (n)
Plosive	Voiceless	p (p)	t (tt)			kʲ (kjh)	k (kk)
	Ejective		t’ (tt)				k’ (k)
Affricate	Voiceless			tʃ (ch)
	Ejective			tʃ’ (ch)
Fricative	Voiceless	ɸ (f)	s (s)	ʃ (sh)		xʲ (hh)	x (hh)	h (h)
	Voiced	β (bv)
Approximant		w	l (l)		j (y)
Tap			ɾ (dd)

Vowel Chart

		Front		Back
		Unrounded	Rounded
Close	Short	i (feet)	y	u (boot)
	Long	iː	yː
Mid	Close-Mid Long	eː (fate)
	Open-Mid Short	ɛ (net)		o (boat)
	Open-Mid Long	ɛː		ɔ (bra)
Open	Short			ɑ̆ (short)
	Long			ɑ̃ (nasalized)

Syllable Structure

C(C)(C)V(C) — Note that the “C” not in parentheses means that every syllable must, at the minimum, have a consonant followed by a vowel.

Special Rule: Even though having two consonants before a vowel is possible (in a syllable), this is rare and usually limited to names. Syllables are normally preceded by either one consonant or three.

Example Words

• Kihwsydd — kʲwsyɾ: Ritually/spiritually unclean. Used only religiously in Goshen, but Goshites that have travelled for many years have begun to use it non-religiously to refer to outsiders and strangers.
• Nyuch — njyːtʃ’: An indicator of a bond-lord.
• Muu — my: Wood or stone that is faulty for building.
• Shahh — ʃɑ̃ːxʲ: Dislocate.
• Kihebvoat — kʲɛːβout’: An extremely offensive curse that insinuates someone humps animals for warmth—or worse, pleasure.

Names

Male: Tchyhhaash — tʃ’yːxɑ̃ːʃ (outsiders say “Choohash”)

Female: Bvletna — βlɛːt’nɑ̆ (outsiders say “Vletna”), Hhsaaka — xsɑ̃ːkɑ̆ (outsiders say “Jacka” or “Hacka”)

Basic Grammar

O(IO)VS

Masculine words end in a consonant. Feminine words end in a vowel.

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_{Copyright © 2023 by David Ludlow}