IIIen

IIIen is a constructed language created for a contemporary science fiction and fantasy franchise. It serves as the lingua franca used by three allied planetary cultures within the fictional setting, enabling diplomacy, trade, and cultural exchange. The language is presented as deliberately regular and learnable, with a phonology designed to be pronounceable by speakers of diverse linguistic backgrounds.

Origins and design: IIIen was designed by a linguistic team working for the franchise, first described in official guide material released in 2018. The design emphasizes regular morphology and three-way phonemic balance to reflect its triadic role. Phonology features a five-vowel system and a modest consonant inventory: p, t, k, m, n, l, s, r, h, and a sibilant sh. Syllable structure is generally CV(C), with stress typically on the penultimate syllable.

Grammar and syntax: Grammar is largely agglutinative, with suffixes marking tense, aspect, number, and mood. The default word order is subject–verb–object, but the language allows flexible arrangements for emphasis. Nouns take postpositional case markers rather than inflection. Pronouns exist as independent words and also attach as proclitics to verbs for clusivity and focus. Adjectives precede nouns and agree in number via suffixes.

Script and usage: IIIen has a native syllabary script used in in-world inscriptions, alongside a romanization system for learning materials. In the franchise's canon, IIIen is taught in schools on the allied worlds and used in diplomatic treaties, literature, and ceremonial contexts, making it a central symbol of interstellar cooperation.