Slúian

Slúian is a term used in speculative fiction and role-playing contexts to refer to a fictional language and the people who speak it. It is not a real-world language, but rather a construct developed across various works and settings.

In-universe context, Slúian-speaking communities are depicted in a range of environments, from river valleys and highlands to coastal trading towns. The language often functions as a cultural marker and may play a role in diplomacy, trade, and traditional storytelling. Societal organization associated with Slúian speakers varies by author, from clan-based structures to federations, and its use can reflect social status, regional identity, or ritual practice.

Linguistic characteristics attributed to Slúian differ across works, as there is no single canonical grammar. Some depictions describe Slúian as an agglutinative or fusional language with rich morphological marking, including affixes that indicate tense, aspect, mood, and case. Other portrayals present a more analytic system with flexible word order. Features such as honorifics, evidential markers, or verb aspect are sometimes included to convey social nuance or narrative function. Phonology is likewise variable, with authors granting Slúian a range of consonant and vowel inventories.

Writing systems associated with Slúian likewise vary. Some authors describe an indigenous script tailored to Slúian phonology, while others use adaptations of existing alphabets or syllabaries. Orthographies are rarely standardized across different works, reflecting the diverse creative estates that include Slúian in their worlds.

See also: constructed language, conlang, fictional ethnolinguistic groups.