Hengityssl

Hengityssl is a term used in speculative linguistics and world-building to denote a class of breathing-related phonetic or prosodic features in constructed languages. It is not an established term in real-world linguistics, and the concept is primarily found in fictional or experimental contexts.

Etymology: The word is described as a compound, drawing on the Finnish hengitys meaning "breathing," combined with a fictional suffix -ssl used by conlang writers to label phonological phenomena.

Definition and characteristics: In the source material, hengityssl features are produced by consciously coordinating inhalation and exhalation with syllable boundaries. This coordination can influence consonant voicing, vowel quality, length, or tone, yielding breath-associated phonation effects. Proponents describe it as affecting prosody, giving languages a distinctive rhythmic or timbral profile. It is typically treated as a design feature rather than a physiological phenomenon.

Usage and context: Hengityssl appears in discussions of constructed language design, phonology experiments, and some fictional worlds where language and physiology are tightly linked. It is used as a rhetorical device to explore how breath can influence speech structure.

See also: phonology, phonetics, conlang, world-building.