selgetesse

Selgetesse is a constructed language created for the Selge Chronicles series. It is spoken by the fictional Selget people in the highlands of the southern continent of Norva. The name Selgetesse derives from the autonym Selget and the suffix -esse, meaning language.

Linguistic features: It is agglutinative with SOV word order. Nouns take suffixes for number (singular/plural) and cases; verbs add suffix clusters for tense, aspect, mood, and evidentiality. There is a system of vowel harmony and postpositions rather than prepositions. Pronouns have inclusive and exclusive forms.

Writing: The Selgetic script, an alphabet of about 24 letters, is used for most texts. It is written left to right. The language has several dialects, notably Northern Selgetesse and Southern Selgetesse, with dialectal lexicon and sound changes.

In-fiction context and reception: In the fiction world, Selgetesse appears in inscriptions, legal texts, poetry, and dialogue. Outside the series, it has a small community of conlang enthusiasts who study its grammar and compile dictionaries. It is not a natural language and has no official status outside fiction.