esitano

Esitano is a constructed language created for the fictional Esita universe. It was developed by linguist and author Linora Kestrel in 2003 to accompany the Esita archipelago setting. In the series, Esitano is spoken by the Esitans, a coastal people whose culture centers on seafaring and markets. The language aims for naturalism while supporting consistent worldbuilding.

Esitano follows a subject–object–verb order and is largely agglutinative. The phonology uses a 22-letter Latin alphabet designed to evoke a maritime atmosphere. Nouns inflect for four cases—nominative, accusative, genitive, and locative—plus plural marking. There is no grammatical gender, and pronouns may function as independent words or clitics attached to nouns or verbs.

Adjectives follow nouns, with no agreement markers. Verbs indicate aspect and mood through affixes, while tense is expressed mainly by auxiliary particles and context. Negation uses a particle before the verb. Questions are marked by a sentence-final interrogative particle. Word order remains strict, though discourse focus can be shown with particles rather than reordering.

Writing uses a Latin-based alphabet of 22 letters, with diacritics for vowel quality and stress. A ceremonial script, Esit, appears in inscriptions within the Esita corpus.

Within the Esita canon, Esitano is taught in schools and used in official and literary contexts. Dictionaries, phrasebooks, and fan grammars circulate widely, supporting translation projects and fan engagement. The language serves worldbuilding by exploring themes of trade, identity, and community.