Conlangs! Constructed languages in literature discussion

Whether you've invented a language for your book, or are fascinated by one you've read about, say something about what makes that conlang, unique, interesting, beautiful sublime ... whatever.

First, I am a little disappointed to find that this discussion is not active, but I suppose it is very very hard to find people that are truly interested in conlangs.


On to Two... my first conlang
The Heater and The Hack

Hadokai Tubatonona is a language born not of dialogue, but of divinity—etched first as glyphs surrounding ancient artifacts in my novel The Heater and The Hack.

It began as script, unknowable, carved into relics humming with balance and mystery. But as the artifacts gained lore, they demanded origin. And thus, a people emerged: the Tubatonona, tasked by cosmic forces to forge the instruments that hold the universe in check. They would need a language as precise and profound as their purpose.

What makes Hadokai Tubatonona unique is its philosophical architecture. It follows an OSV structure—Object, Subject, Verb—because for the Tubatonona, outcomes matter more than agents. In their worldview, it is the thing created, not who created it, that carries cosmic weight.

Phonologically, it is a pure syllabary: one glyph, one sound—no exceptions. This simplicity in sound contrasts with the complexity in syntax, and mirrors the race’s belief that while the universe is fundamentally simple, its expressions can be infinitely layered.

Grammatically, the language has no verb tense—only explicit temporal indicators—because the Tubatonona did not “conjugate time.” They located it. They marked it. They respected it.

Perhaps most beautiful to me is that the language is dead within the world of the novel. Misunderstood by scholars. Ritualized, echoed, half-remembered. Like Latin, or Sumerian, it becomes a mirror through which modern characters glimpse forgotten truths—while inadvertently distorting them.

Hadokai Tubatonona is not meant to be spoken fluently. It's meant to be unearthed. Slowly. Reverently. It is not just a conlang. It is a cipher for myth, memory, and the mythmakers who left behind their fire-forged words.

Three, a deeper dive:
Hadokai Tubatonona is a constructed language I built to support the world of my novel,
The Heater and The Hack. It started as visual glyphs carved into artifacts, but once
those artifacts became central to the plot, I needed a working language behind them.

I structured the language around several design principles:

1. One glyph = one sound. This is a strict syllabary. No diphthongs, no clusters.
Each syllable fits one of these formats: V, CV, VC, CVC, or standalone 'h'.
The following syllable forms are explicitly disallowed: CCC, CCV, VCC, CVV, VVC, VVV.

2. Glyph Count. With strict phonotactic limits and no consonant clusters or diphthongs,
the total number of usable syllables (and thus glyphs) falls around ~160, including
all valid CVC, CV, VC, V forms. I created a custom font using FontForge and exported
it as a TTF. It's mapped into the Unicode Private Use Area for compatibility, and
can be typed directly in Windows.

3. Phoneme Inventory:
Consonants: /b d f g h ʤ k l m n p r s ʃ t v z ʒ/
Vowels: /a e i o u ʌ ɪ/
Special: h functions alone as a syllable (glottal 'air' consonant)

4. Word Order: OSV (Object–Subject–Verb). This was chosen to emphasize results or
outcomes over actors. The subject is structurally minimized and verbs are
heavily suffix-based. There is no conjugation for tense. Instead, temporal
context is supplied with dedicated time indicators like 'zubava' (the past).

5. Morphology is suffix-driven. Words are formed from compound morphemes, using
a root + suffix structure. Plurality, negation, possession, and modifiers are
all expressed through ordered suffixes. For example:
-na = singular/plural indicator
-ku = negation
-va / -val = nounizing: object / agent

6. Lexicon size: ~550+ defined entries across three curated dictionaries.
These include parts of speech, root identification, pronunciation, and usage context.
Many Common Tongue words in my world are evolved or misused forms of original HT roots.

7. Syntax & Parsing: Verbs appear at the end of clauses. Suffix chains encode
plurality, subject match, and negation. Sentence formation follows this model:
[Object Phrase] [Subject Phrase] [Time Marker, optional] [Verb Phrase] [Punctuation]

8. In-world status: Hadokai Tubatonona is a dead language. Its script appears on
ancient artifacts, monuments, and a few trilingual cliffside inscriptions alongside
the world’s “Common” and “Draconic” languages. Most modern scholars misinterpret
its structure, believing it to be poetic or symbolic rather than literal and rule-based.

9. Example sentence (literal & interlinear):
zubava bana zufova pensam
past write future know
"Inscribe the past and know the future."

This is not just narrative prose; it's valid multi-clause OSV grammar:
[zubava] (object: "the past") [bana] (verb: "to inscribe") –
[zufova] (object: "the future") [pensam] (verb: "to know")

Each clause independently follows the OSV pattern, joined as parallel statements.

10. Tools and Materials:
- Font: Custom HT syllabary, built with FontForge
- Lexicons: 500+ entries
- Grammar: Modeled using Chomsky hierarchy notation with derivational recursion
- Orthography: Dot-based syllable separation for parsing in latin and romanized text; strict 1:1 glyph:sound ratio
- Writing style: Suitable for inscriptions, formal texts, and ritualistic statements
(not meant for modern spoken fluency, but fully writable and translatable)

Overall, Hadokai Tubatonona was built to be a fully-structured, rule-driven conlang.
It’s designed for literary and archaeological use within the narrative, but all rules
are internally consistent and complete. It's not decorative—it is a functioning system
that underpins the identity and cosmology of a lost people.

The conlang I created is called "wan khu". I developed this language with the intent of adding another layer of complexity and realism to the stories I tell. Here's a brief background:

https://www.maliscash.com/wankhulanguage

I first sketched out a basic grammar and phonology, as well as several hundred words. A few years later I decided to translate a children's book my brother wrote, The Legend of Poo Panties the Cat: Poo Panties and Froggy, into wan khu. This exercise was to help flesh out the wan khu language a bit more, though it wasn't really the reason for me creating the language.

I developed wan khu to be used in stories, whether it be literature that I write or in some video games that I have developed. For example, wan khu appeared in a demo I made for a NES video game titled "HouYi Shot the Suns". The game is based loosely around the legend of Chang'E. When the protagonist makes it to the moon, the rabbits are speaking in wan khu! I wanted to make the dialogue on the moon feel exotic and foreign, no matter what the origin of the gamer was.

Later, I used wan khu as the language in a full game, titled "Kearf ze Haenaekh", which I then translated as "Dark Cave Legend". The whole text in the game is in wan khu language, once again to add another layer of depth to the game. Once again, for those interested in seeing more about this, feel free to check below.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...