Wiktionary:About Ashkun

Ashkun (Aṣkuňu) is a Nuristani language spoken in Afghanistan.

Sound changes

Ashkun is defined primarily by the unconditioned change of Proto-Nuristani *c (*ts) to s (but *sc (*sts) > ć (ts)) and *č > ć (ts), compared to all other Nuristani languages, and secondarily by the change of Proto-Nuristani *ř to ẓ.

Dialects

Ashkun has four dialects: Badzaigal (Baźaigël), Kolatan (Kolatã), Masegal (Masēgël), and Sanu (Sëňu). The Masegal dialect is defined by the change of *ř to l after a consonant.

Prosody

In Ashkun, words are generally stressed at the end of the syllable, reflecting common Nuristani penultimate stress (per Strand 2007 and Halfmann 2023). Stress is not marked.

Orthographic notation

When notating Ashkun, a unified orthography system by Jakob Halfmann is used. Transcription conventions compared to Richard Strand include (V = any vowel):

a > ë
â > a
Vː > V̄
V˜ > Ṽ
Vi > Vy
Vu, Vv > Vw
ǰ > j
J̣ > ḍẓ
ŋ > ṅ

References

Jakob Halfmann (2022) Advances in the historical phonology of the Nuristani languages, in International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction
Jakob Halfmann (2023) Lād "law": a Bactrian loanword in the Nuristani languages, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, United Kingdom
Richard Strand (1973) Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic Languages, Brown University
Richard Strand (2007) Transcription and Pronunciation of the Nûristânî Languages
Richard Strand (2011) Saňu-vi:ri Lexicon
Richard Strand (2012) Nuristâni Etymological Lexicon