Prtoku

Prtoku is a fictional ethnolinguistic term used in world-building contexts to describe a people and their language in a fictional archipelago known as the Narai Islands. In common usage within the setting, Prtoku refers both to the cultural group and to their language, sometimes distinguished as Prtokian.

Etymology and history: The name Prtoku appears in in-world chronicles as an exonym recorded by neighboring communities. Some lore attributes its origin to an ancestral phrase meaning “to speak together,” but no single authoritative origin is agreed within the fiction. The Prtoku are described as establishing coastal villages during the early medieval period of the Narai archipelago.

Language: Prtoku is described as a morphologically agglutinative language with postpositional grammar and a subject–object–verb word order. The phoneme inventory is modest, with five vowels and around twenty consonants. The writing system, called the Prtok script, combines a syllabary with occasional logograms for frequent words, and is usually taught to children in the communities.

Cultural and contemporary notes: The Prtoku have a maritime-based economy, with kin-based social structures and a rich tradition of storytelling, weaving, and carved woodwork. In modern adaptations, Prtoku features in tales of trade networks and inter-island diplomacy, serving as a narrative device to explore cultural exchange and identity within the fictional world.