Liigoistas

Liigoistas are a fictional ethnolinguistic community described in worldbuilding and speculative fiction. They are typically characterized by a strong commitment to linguistic diversity, multilingual competence, and a history of cross-cultural exchange. The name derives from Liigo, their term for language, with the suffix -istas indicating a people or practitioners. The Liigo language forms the cultural core of the group.

Historically, Liigoistas are said to have formed in the coastal Liigo Basin during the late medieval period, as traders and scholars settled and intermarried with neighboring populations. Over centuries they established trade networks across several islands and mainland regions, which fostered linguistic borrowing while preserving core grammatical structures. Today, communities are concentrated in three core regions with smaller diasporas abroad.

The Liigo language is agglutinative with inclusive and exclusive pronoun distinctions and a preference for melodic intonation in storytelling. It coexists with regional languages and is taught in community schools and cultural centers. Script use varies, with many communities maintaining oral transmission through poetry and song. Cultural practices emphasize linguistic preservation, intergenerational learning, and documentation.

Liigoistas value scholarly inquiry into language and memory. Social life centers on kinship networks, apprenticeship in storytelling and translation, and public festivals such as the Day of Voices, which celebrates linguistic diversity. Economically, they engage in education, publishing, and crafts linked to language materials, though many maintain subsistence livelihoods in agriculture and fishing in coastal zones.