tilviki

Tilviki is a constructed language (conlang) developed for a fictional setting by linguist and writer Mira Vek. It is spoken by the Tilvi, a maritime people of the archipelago of Yalara in the imagined world of Valoria. The name tilviki derives from roots meaning sea and song, reflecting its cultural context.

Phonology: Tilviki has a five-vowel system (a, e, i, o, u) and a modest consonant inventory (p, t, k, m, n, s, l, r, g). Syllables are typically CV or CVC, with stress usually on the penultimate syllable. Affixes often show vowel harmony, and suffixal vowels may alternate to preserve phonotactic well-formedness.

Morphology and syntax: Tilviki is predominantly agglutinative. Nouns inflect for number (singular, plural) and case (nominative, accusative, dative) via suffixes. Verbs encode aspect and mood through chained suffixes, while tense is indicated by auxiliary particles or context. The basic word order is SOV, but flexibility is possible due to explicit case marking. Postpositions are used instead of prepositions.

Writing system: Tilviki uses a Latin-based alphabet of 22 letters, with diacritics marking vowel harmony and stress. Punctuation follows conventions similar to English.

Varieties and usage: There are regional varieties with minor lexical differences. Documentation includes grammars, dictionaries, and sample texts produced by the conlang community. Tilviki is commonly employed in speculative fiction, worldbuilding projects, and language-learning exercises, and it has a small but active following among language hobbyists.