Descris

Descris is a fictional language and writing system created for linguistic illustration and storytelling. It is used in conlang communities and educational materials to demonstrate how descriptive grammars can be modeled without tying them to real-world languages. The name descris combines a root related to description with the common conlang suffix -is, giving it a language-like appearance.

Phonology is described as having a compact inventory: five vowels (a e i o u) and about twenty consonants including stops p t k, fricatives s z f h, nasals m n, and liquids l r. Syllable structure is typically CV or CVC, with stress often on the penultimate syllable. The phonotactics favor clear vowel-rich syllables and avoid complex clusters.

Grammar and syntax are designed to be approachable for demonstration. The canonical word order is subject–verb–object, but descris allows topic-fronting and occasional object-verb inversion to illustrate information structure. It is described as moderately analytic, with affixes marking tense and aspect on verbs and case-like markers on nouns, while modifiers precede the nouns they modify.

Writing system and orthography: the descris script is an alphabet based on Latin letters, augmented with diacritics to mark vowel quality and stress. In-universe, the script is taught in schools and used in official texts, while fan works sometimes experiment with alternative scripts or calligraphic styles.

Status: descris is a fictional construct, not a natural language and has no native speakers. It is used primarily for teaching, world-building, and as a sandbox for experimenting with linguistic ideas.