kuivav

Kuivav is a constructed language (conlang) created for linguistic exploration and world-building. It was developed by the linguist Mara Kelsar and first described in online forums in the early 2010s. The language is intended as a typological experiment, combining a relatively small phoneme inventory with a flexible, agglutinative morphology. It has since attracted a small core of learners and contributors who document its grammar, lexicon, and sample texts.

Phonology and writing are designed to be approachable for learners. Kuivav has five vowel phonemes and about seventeen consonants, with no consonant clusters permitted mid-syllable. Syllables are typically CV or CVC, and stress falls on the penultimate syllable. The language is written with a Latin-based script, using diacritics to mark long vowels and secondary stress when needed.

Grammar centers on a subject–object–verb (SOV) word order and a mainly suffixing morphology. Nouns indicate number with modest suffixes, while verbs encode aspect and evidential mood through affixes. Possession is expressed by a prenominal noun plus a possessive suffix on the possessed noun, and adjectives generally follow the nouns they modify. Function words are largely postpositional.

Current usage remains largely within conlang communities, with occasional interdisciplinary studies. There are online grammars, lexicons, and translated texts that illustrate typical constructions. Kuivav is not an established natural language and has no official speaker community, but it serves as a case study in phonology, morphology, and typology for language enthusiasts and scholars.