tilini

Tilini is a constructed language featured in a fictional setting used across speculative fiction and related media. It was designed to reflect the culture, history, and social structure of the Tilin people, a fictional community described in novels, games, and companion guides.

Phonology: Tilini has five vowel phonemes (a, e, i, o, u) and a compact consonant inventory including p, t, k, m, n, s, l, r, and b, g. Vowels display a light degree of harmony across roots, and stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable. Word-internal clusters are restricted, and syllables generally follow a CV or CVC pattern.

Grammar and syntax: Tilini is largely analytic with agglutinative morphology. The basic word order is subject–object–verb (SOV). It uses postpositions instead of prepositions, and nouns take case markers as suffixes to indicate subject, object, and other relations. Verbs carry tense, aspect, and mood through chains of suffixes, while pronouns are often dropped and inferred from verb forms. Negation is expressed with a dedicated particle preceding the verb.

Writing system and lexicon: Most texts use a Latin-based alphabet; some ceremonial or fictional scripts are described in ancillary materials. Core vocabulary emphasizes kinship, natural phenomena, and ritual terms, with frequent borrowings from neighboring fictional languages within the same world. New terms are often formed through stem-and-suffix construction.

Cultural role and reception: In its fictional universe, Tilini functions as a marker of identity and social practice, and as a tool for world-building. Among fans, Tilini is studied as an example of conlang design and used in role-playing and fan fiction. There are no real-world communities that use Tilini outside of its fictional setting.