mellomalang

Mellomalang is a constructed language developed for the Melloverse, a fictional world featuring the archipelago of Mellos and its inhabitants. It is described as the main lingua franca of the Mellon people and is central to worldbuilding projects in fiction and game design. The name blends elements from mell- meaning harmony and malang meaning speech in the language’s own etymology.

Phonology: Mellomalang has about 22 consonants and five vowel phonemes /a e i o u/. It features vowel harmony on suffix vowels and allows syllables of the form CV, CVC, or CCV. Stress is typically on the penultimate syllable. Consonants include a glottal stop in some dialects; aspirated stops appear in loanwords.

Grammar: The default word order is SVO, with adjectives following nouns. The language is largely analytic but uses agglutinative suffixes for tense, aspect, and mood on verbs, and for plurality and case on nouns. Pronouns distinguish inclusive and exclusive "you." Noun plurals are marked by the suffix -el, while possession is shown with a possessive suffix on the noun.

Writing system: Mellomalang is written primarily in a Latin-based script with diacritics to indicate vowel quality and stress. A traditional Mellon script appears in in-universe inscriptions, often used in ceremonial contexts. Transliteration conventions map sounds to letters for learners and outsiders.

Usage and status: In its in-universe setting, mellomalang is spoken by tens of thousands in the Mellos region and surrounding islands, appearing in literature, folklore, and media within the Melloverse. It is studied by conlang communities and language enthusiasts, with online dictionaries and grammar guides published by fans and the creators.