qollanish

Qollanish is a term used to refer to a family of constructed or imagined languages that appear in speculative fiction and linguistic experiments. It has no single canonical form; different authors or projects describe distinct systems under the same name.

Origins and naming: The word qollanish is a constructed label, typically formed from a fictive root qoll- plus the suffix -anish to evoke natural-language naming patterns common in conlangs.

Phonology and phonetics: Across various depictions, qollanish variants share a moderate consonant inventory, five vowels, and syllable structures such as CV, CVC, or CCV. Some versions include phonemic glottal stops or occasional ejectives; stress patterns vary, but many descriptions place primary stress on the penultimate syllable.

Writing systems: There is no universal script for qollanish. In many fan-made descriptions it is rendered with a Latin-based alphabet; other authors imagine unique scripts or syllabaries.

Grammar: Descriptions range from agglutinative to isolating; word order shifts among versions, with SOV or SVO being reported. Case marking, tense or aspect affixation, evidentiality, and mood markers appear in different portrayals.

In fiction, qollanish often serves to convey cultural identity and historical depth, while for conlang researchers it offers a flexible framework for exploring typology and phonology.

See also: Constructed language, conlang, linguistics in fiction.