fnévi

Fnévi is a constructed language developed for linguistic pedagogy and speculative fiction. It is used as an illustrative example of typological features such as agglutinative morphology, vowel harmony, and flexible word order.

Phonology: Fnévi has a five-vowel system (a, e, i, o, u) and a relatively small consonant inventory that includes stops p, t, k, s, m, n, l, r, and a few fricatives. The language exhibits vowel harmony in suffix vowels, with rounding and frontness patterns that tend to mirror the root vowels.

Writing system: Fnévi is typically written in a Latin-based script augmented with diacritics to mark vowel quality and nasalization. The orthography is designed to be phonemic, with most letters representing a single sound.

Grammar: The language is predominantly agglutinative. Nouns carry markers for number and case, while verbs attach suffixes for tense, aspect, mood, and agreement. Adjectives usually follow the nouns they modify, and postpositions convey spatial and temporal relations. The canonical basic word order is SOV, though case marking allows some flexibility.

History and usage: Fnévi was created in the early 21st century as an educational tool for illustrating typological variations. It appears in textbooks, online courses, and conlang communities, where it is used to generate practice texts and exercises.

Reception: Among conlang enthusiasts, Fnévi is praised for its systematic design and clear demonstration of vowel harmony and agglutination. Critics note that, as a constructed example, it may prioritize descriptive regularity over historical evolution and naturalism.