eihiljaa

Eihiljaa is a constructed language created for speculative fiction and world-building. It is described as the ancestral tongue of the fictional archipelago of Nyrill, spoken by the seafaring Eihil people. The design emphasizes nuance in evidential and stance marking, with a compact phonology and a flexible word order intended to convey social relations and speaker attitude as clearly as content.

Etymology and writing: The name combines elements from the conlang’s hypothetical early stage, loosely interpreted as “not quiet” or “unspoken truth.” The writing system comprises a 26-letter alphabet and a syllabary used in ceremonial inscriptions. In everyday use, the alphabet is common, while the syllabary appears on navigational charts and official decrees.

Phonology and grammar: Eihiljaa has a phoneme inventory with five vowels and about 20 consonants, featuring vowel harmony and a modest allowance for consonant clusters. The canonical word order is subject–verb–object, but the language employs postposed case markers and enclitic particles to indicate tense, aspect, evidentiality, and mood. It is described as agglutinative, with affixes attached to nouns and verbs to convey grammatical relations and nuance.

Usage and variation: In the fictional setting, eihiljaa is associated with maritime communities and ritual speech. Dialects vary in vowel quality and lexicon, reflecting regional identities and trade networks. Linguistic resources for fans include grammars, dictionaries, and translation guides that document pragmatics and ceremonial registers, as well as sample dialogues illustrating formal and informal styles.