chuové

Chuové is a fictional ethnolinguistic term used in speculative anthropology and world-building. It refers to both the Chuové people and their language, within a hypothetical continental setting.

Origin and name: The autonym is believed to be “Chuó,” meaning “river” in their language. The form “chuové” arises in external scholarship to denote the people and the language, with the -é suffix used to mark plural or demonym.

Geography and demographics: They inhabit the Chuó Delta, a vast network of riverine lowlands in the mid-latitudes, characterized by wetlands and seasonal floods. Population estimates vary among sources, typically in the tens of thousands.

Language: The chuové language is described as part of a speculative language family. Typical features include agglutinative morphology, subject–object–verb order, extensive case marking, and an evidential system. It has two primary dialects, Northern Chuové and Southern Chuové.

Culture: They are riverine traders and boat builders; social organization is clan-based with a council of elders. Crafts include pottery and reed weaving; religious practices center on river spirits and ancestor veneration. Daily life revolves around river cycles, seasonal floods, and intercommunity exchange.

History and reception in scholarship: The status of chuové as a distinct language versus a dialect of a neighboring tongue is debated. The concept is widely used in fictional studies and in world-building exercises, and it functions as a flexible framework for exploring cultural and linguistic variation in a hypothetical setting.