ldowych

Ldowych is a fictional language variety created for world-building and speculative fiction. In the imagined universe, it is spoken by communities in the highlands of the region known as Kestria. The term is used by writers and designers to explore linguistic diversity and cultural contact within a consistent fictional setting.

Phonology and writing conventions: Ldowych has a modest phoneme inventory, with five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and about sixteen consonants, including p, t, k, m, n, l, r, s, h, w, y, and a glottal stop. Vowel harmony affects suffix vowels, and stress is typically on the penultimate syllable. The language does not rely on phonemic tone. Overall, it favors clear syllable structures that support its agglutinative morphology.

Morphology and syntax: Its grammar is largely agglutinative with a subject–object–verb base order. Nouns take case endings for nominative, accusative, and oblique roles, while verbs encode tense, aspect, mood, and evidentiality through affixes. Plurals are marked on nouns by a suffix, and possessive relations are shown with genitive suffixation. The system integrates suffix chains that connect noun phrases to predicate structures, allowing relatively free word order in complex sentences.

Writing system and orthography: Historically, ldowych texts used a syllabary called the ldo script. A later romanization system was developed for easier transcription. Contemporary ldowych literature and media often present a mix of the traditional script and the Latin alphabet, with loanwords from neighboring languages reflecting long-standing contact.

Usage and community: In-world, ldowych is taught in regional schools and used in ceremonial poetry, folklore, and contemporary media, serving as a marker of local identity. It exists in a diglossic relationship with a regional lingua franca, and a small but active community of learners and conlang enthusiasts maintains resources and fan works. Example sentence: ldowych: Sari-ta mako neren. Translation: We will meet tomorrow.