Aeldic

Aeldic is a term used in fantasy and speculative-fiction to denote both a language and the culture associated with speakers of that language in several fictional worlds. In most settings, Aeldic belongs to the family of the Aeldari-like peoples, who inhabit forested highlands and coastal regions. The language is often depicted as ancient or ceremonial, with a variety of dialects across different city-states or tribes.

In phonology, Aeldic is described as agglutinative with a rich system of consonant clusters, occasional vowel harmony, and a phoneme inventory including glottal stops and a set of aspirated consonants. The grammar commonly features case markers, verbal prefixes indicating aspect and mood, and a flexible word order that allows emphasis through inflection rather than fixed syntax. The writing system is sometimes described as runic or alphabetic, with characters representing syllables or phonemes, and active use in stone inscriptions and ceremonial manuscripts.

Historically, Aeldic-speaking communities are portrayed as keen navigators and stewards of ancient lore, with a tradition of oral poetry and star calendars. In many works, the language is used in spellcasting or ritual invocations, and proficiency in Aeldic is a sign of scholarly or magical training. The language features prominently in fictional lexicons, dictionaries, and in-universe grammars produced by authors or game designers.

Variants commonly include Ancient Aeldic, High Aeldic, and Common Aeldic, a more widespread or simplified form. In fan and scholarly circles, resources such as lexicons and grammars are created to aid study, while some settings treat Aeldic as a living, evolving tongue with ongoing development by authors and players.