Dirbsiu

Dirbsiu is a fictional language family and associated culture created for world-building projects by authors and game designers. It is used in speculative fiction and role-playing settings to illustrate linguistic diversity and cultural history.

The term Dirbsiu is constructed from elements meaning sea and sound in the in-world language. The earliest written references appear in a fictional archive from the island realm of Narlia, dated to the fifth era in the setting.

Dirbsiu is an agglutinative, polysynthetic language with ergative alignment. It uses a complex evidential mood marking verbs to indicate the source of knowledge. Noun incorporation is common in verb-led clauses. Phonology favors vowel harmony with a limited consonant inventory.

The Dirbsiu writing system is a syllabary with several variants. There are two major dialects: Dirbsiu Inland and Dirbsiu Coastal, which differ in phonology and morphosyntax; tertiary dialects appear in trade centers and among seafaring communities.

In the fictional world, Dirbsiu literature includes epic poetry and oral traditions; it is studied by scholars within the setting and by conlang communities online. Fan-created dictionaries and grammars exist in fan networks, and the language serves as a common reference point for storytelling, world-building discussions, and linguistic experimentation.