iroí

Iroí is a term used in several domains to denote distinct, unrelated concepts. It appears in some speculative fiction as the name of an island nation or city-state, in linguistics as a proposed name for a constructed language, and in anthropology or cultural studies as the designation for an imagined or ethnolinguistic group. Because there is no single canonical definition, the meaning of iroí depends on context.

In fictional settings, iroí commonly refers to a coastal or insular society with maritime trade and a tradition of sailing. Descriptions vary, but narratives may depict a federation of port towns or a principal city-state governed by councils or monarchs, with cultural practices centered on seafaring, music, and craftwork.

Within linguistic literature, the iroí language is presented as a constructed language with features such as agglutinative morphology and flexible word order. Phonology is often described as having a small consonant inventory and vowel harmony, to distinguish it from neighboring languages in the imagined world.

Origin and etymology: The term iroí may derive from a root meaning "shore" in some fictional tongues, or may be an acronym in an academic project. In some uses, iroí is the name of a river, a clan, or a district within a larger fictional geography.

See also: disambiguation practices would link to similarly named terms and to broader collections of related subject material.