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A Grammar of Nyar

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Nyar language (the 937th one produced by the Language Creator), outlining its sound system, word formation and syntactic structure, with the aim of presenting a coherent account of the language as an integrated whole. Attention has been paid to both regular patterns and minor irregularities, as these together define the internal balance of the language.

The grammar is accompanied by a bilingual dictionary and a collection of illustrative texts, offering material for further study and comparison. The examples have been selected to demonstrate typical constructions and to give a sense of the language in extended use. The description is intended as a reference work for linguists and language enthusiasts alike, and as a foundation for any future research, teaching or creative adaptation of Nyar.

Typological Profile

It has four genders and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Nyar has 21 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a markedly rich set of labial consonants.

The table below presents the full inventory of consonant phonemes in Nyar. The chart lists all places and manners of articulation attested in the language.

labialalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
fricativef s ʃ h
approximantʋ ɾ j ɰ
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ

Vowels

Nyar has 6 vowel qualities. This places it within the broadly common range of mid-sized vowel inventories. The vowel chart shows the full set of contrasts employed in the language’s phonology.

It has a vertical vowel system in which backness distinctions are largely absent, phonologically distinctive back unrounded vowels, a modest but genuine inventory of nasal vowels and a partially contrastive system of vowel length.

The table below presents the full inventory of vowel phonemes in Nyar. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

central
closeɨ
midə ə̃
opena

Stress and Tones

Nyar has neither phonemic stress nor lexical tone. Prosodic prominence and pitch variation are determined by pragmatic and discourse factors rather than by lexical contrasts.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Nyar is normally written using the Latin alphabet, whose familiarity makes it straightforward for most readers. For clarity and precision, phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are also provided throughout this grammar.

Orthography

Here are the various components of the orthography:

Simple letters

a /a/b /b/d /d/e /ə/
f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/j /j/
k /k/m /m/n /n/p /p/
r /ɾ/s /s/t /t/w /ʋ/
y /ɨ/ñ /ɲ/ŭ /ɰ/ẽ /ə̃/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
ch /t͡ʃ/ee /əː/ng /ŋ/
sh /ʃ/ty /t͡ɕ/yy /ɨː/
ẽẽ /ə̃ː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Nyar does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Nyar has the following genders:

Gender cl.1 – for instance: cheb ‘sound’, dychysh ‘machine’, faap ‘wife’, few ‘daughter’, hakeem ‘umbrella’, kaig ‘mother’, mesh ‘east’, mẽp ‘knife’, pak ‘speech’, pypañ ‘box’, pyteng ‘cloud’, pyyt ‘ear’, sagaush ‘binoculars’, señẽẽb ‘dialect’, tash ‘child’, tyach ‘tongue’, tyak ‘girl’, tyñan ‘rope’, ñeeñ ‘wind’, ŭachẽñ ‘breast’.

Gender cl.2 – for instance: bashag ‘tower’, daus ‘star’, faar ‘dog’, fabaak ‘sand’, fadaun ‘wild boar’, gejaish ‘worm’, jaun ‘day’, jyg ‘father’, jyys ‘fish’, kychaw ‘snow’, nekaad ‘smoke’, neñek ‘fat’, ngygẽẽf ‘lamb’, paity ‘son’, rakaip ‘lion’, rẽẽñ ‘boy’, shẽs ‘cat’, waab ‘heart’, ñaus ‘mouth’, ŭytyẽb ‘tiger’.

Gender cl.3 – for instance: daif ‘colour’, fagys ‘cheese’, gaaf ‘nose’, gygẽẽj ‘student’, haad ‘meat’, heshar ‘bank’, kedeeh ‘school’, kẽẽg ‘manner’, ngaid ‘south’, ngybaif ‘breath’, pachaad ‘medicine’, pyng ‘eye’, rabeet ‘religion’, ryneek ‘market’, shangauw ‘ice’, shawẽẽj ‘court’, tyanyñ ‘wheat’, wakaaf ‘neck’, wẽẽñ ‘name’, ŭaug ‘egg’.

Gender cl.4 – for instance: chaih ‘friend’, chaish ‘moon’, chait ‘leaf’, fẽng ‘bone’, gygeer ‘lake’, gyrew ‘seed’, hagyn ‘forest’, haij ‘tree’, hyn ‘house’, jatyẽn ‘knee’, najef ‘urine’, ngataañ ‘grass’, nym ‘table’, patyyñ ‘faeces’, rydysh ‘mountain’, sewag ‘fingernail’, shaam ‘chair’, syfach ‘anus’, syyñ ‘stone’, tyasaap ‘feather’.

The Nominal Phrase

Nominal phrases in Nyar can be exemplified by the following example:

Gyman mẽpan chyshyb baf kaj ngañ tysh darẽnanej sẽẽjety.

[ɡɨman mə̃pan t͡ʃɨʃɨb baf kaj ŋaɲ tɨʃ daɾə̃nanəj sə̃ːjət͡ɕ]

ɡɨm
woman -an
def mə̃p
knife -an
def t͡ʃɨʃɨb
COMIT baf
catch kaj
PAST ŋa
yon -ɲ
cl.2 tɨʃ
three daɾə̃n
mouse -an
def -əj
ACC sə̃ːj
blind -ət͡ɕ
plur

“The woman with the knife caught those three blind mice.”

 (1)

In the following, we shall look at the various components in more details.

There is one type of clitic in the nominal phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing possessor. a clitic expressing possessor, comprising shew /ʃəʋ/ ‘1incl.sing’, rang /ɾaŋ/ ‘1excl.sing’, shan /ʃan/ ‘2.sing’, sad /sad/ ‘3.sing.cl.1’, fyn /fɨn/ ‘3.sing.cl.2’, tyaj /t͡ɕaj/ ‘3.sing.cl.3’, jyd /jɨd/ ‘3.sing.cl.4’, kag /kaɡ/ ‘1incl.plur’, ches /t͡ʃəs/ ‘1excl.plur’, pyj /pɨj/ ‘2.plur’, gañ /ɡaɲ/ ‘3.plur.cl.1’, gam /ɡam/ ‘3.plur.cl.2’, pat /pat/ ‘3.plur.cl.3’ and mes /məs/ ‘3.plur.cl.4’.

The morphology of the elements of the nominal phrase, i.e., nouns, adjectives, numerals and pronouns, is described below, as is the way that possession is expressed in Nyar.

The Noun

The noun in Nyar consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing def, comprising -ech /-ət͡ʃ/ ‘not.def’ and -an /-an/ ‘def’; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -ej /-əj/ ‘ACC’, -ys /-ɨs/ ‘DAT’, -ych /-ɨt͡ʃ/ ‘INS’, -em /-əm/ ‘VOC’, -ek /-ək/ ‘ALL’, -yk /-ɨk/ ‘LOC’, -ap /-ap/ ‘ABL’ and -es /-əs/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -an /-an/ ‘little’ and -ag /-aɡ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

In Nyar, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -ety /-ət͡ɕ/ ‘plur’.

Numerals

The numeral in Nyar stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Determiners

In Nyar, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -n /-n/ ‘cl.1’, -ñ /-ɲ/ ‘cl.2’, -m /-m/ ‘cl.3’ and -f /-f/ ‘cl.4’.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Nyar has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -k /-k/ ‘sing’ and -r /-ɾ/ ‘plur’.

In Nyar, both subject and object pronouns are dropped unless they are stressed. Here is an example where neither of the pronouns are stressed:

Jaug.

[jauɡ]

jauɡ
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Shyyk jaug.

[ʃɨːk jauɡ]

ʃɨː
3.sing.cl.2 -k
sing jauɡ
love

“He loves her.”

 (3)

And here, it is the one translated as her that is stressed:

Jaug nek.

[jauɡ nək]

jauɡ
love nə
3.sing.cl.1 -k
sing

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

Sadauman ñechaup Nyjychanej.

[sadauman ɲət͡ʃaup nɨjɨt͡ʃanəj]

sadaum
Sadaum -an
def ɲət͡ʃaup
hate nɨjɨt͡ʃ
Niyich -an
def -əj
ACC

“Sadaum hates Niyich.”

 (5)

Possession

rẽẽñan chakaawan fyn

[ɾə̃ːɲan t͡ʃakaːʋan fɨn]

ɾə̃ːɲ
boy -an
def t͡ʃakaːʋ
apple -an
def fɨn
3.sing.cl.2.POSS

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)
shyyk chakaawan fyn

[ʃɨːk t͡ʃakaːʋan fɨn]

ʃɨː
3.sing.cl.2 -k
sing t͡ʃakaːʋ
apple -an
def fɨn
3.sing.cl.2.POSS

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)
chakaawan rang

[t͡ʃakaːʋan ɾaŋ]

t͡ʃakaːʋ
apple -an
def ɾaŋ
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

 (8)
Jysaidan fewan fyn ñychaur kaj fechaashan shan paityanej jyd.

[jɨsaidan fəʋan fɨn ɲɨt͡ʃauɾ kaj fət͡ʃaːʃan ʃan pait͡ɕanəj jɨd]

jɨsaid
hunter -an
def fəʋ
daughter -an
def fɨn
3.sing.cl.2.POSS ɲɨt͡ʃauɾ
kiss kaj
PAST fət͡ʃaːʃ
neighbour -an
def ʃan
2.sing.POSS pait͡ɕ
son -an
def -əj
ACC jɨd
3.sing.cl.4.POSS

“The hunter’s daughter kissed your neighbour’s son.”

 (9)

Derivation

Nyar has a few derivational processes. To illustrate this, let us start with a simple noun phrase:

ngygẽẽfech

[ŋɨɡə̃ːfət͡ʃ]

ŋɨɡə̃ːf
lamb -ət͡ʃ
not.def

“a lamb”

 (10)

In the following, the word for little becomes an affix attached to lamb:

ngygẽẽfanech

[ŋɨɡə̃ːfanət͡ʃ]

ŋɨɡə̃ːf
lamb -an
little -ət͡ʃ
not.def

“a little lamb”

 (11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Nyar are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising kaj /kaj/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising sash /saʃ/ ‘imperative’, wyb /ʋɨb/ ‘conditional’ and wam /ʋam/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising hes /həs/ ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising jad /jad/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising dyj /dɨj/ ‘Q’.

The verb itself does not have any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ny /-nɨ/ ‘begin’ and -ja /-ja/ ‘stop’

Jaug.

[jauɡ]

jauɡ
love

“I love you.”

 (12)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

There is one type of clitic in the adpositional phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing root.

nyman kydan my

[nɨman kɨdan mɨ]

nɨm
table -an
def kɨd
surface -an
def mɨ
in

“on the table”

 (13)
pypañan daatyan shaiñ

[pɨpaɲan daːt͡ɕan ʃaiɲ]

pɨpaɲ
box -an
def daːt͡ɕ
inside -an
def ʃaiɲ
to

“into the box”

 (14)
waik chyshyb

[ʋaik t͡ʃɨʃɨb]

ʋai
1excl.sing -k
sing t͡ʃɨʃɨb
COMIT

“with me”

 (15)

Syntax

Basic Clause Structure

Constituent Order

Constituent order describes the typical arrangement of the subject (S), verb (V) and object (O) in simple declarative clauses. It is a fundamental parameter in grammatical description and forms one of the clearest ways of characterising the overall structure of a language’s clause system.

Nyar employs Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) as its basic word order. The subject is followed by the verb, with the object occurring in post-verbal position. This ordering is widely attested across the world’s languages.

The following examples illustrate the basic, unmarked, constituent order in Nyar.

Wenauñan heg kaj jysaidanej.

[ʋənauɲan həɡ kaj jɨsaidanəj]

ʋənauɲ
jaguar -an
def həɡ
kill kaj
PAST jɨsaid
hunter -an
def -əj
ACC

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)
Rakaipan naish kaj jysaidan fewan fyn faaranej sad.

[ɾakaipan naiʃ kaj jɨsaidan fəʋan fɨn faːɾanəj sad]

ɾakaip
lion -an
def naiʃ
eat kaj
PAST jɨsaid
hunter -an
def fəʋ
daughter -an
def fɨn
3.sing.cl.2.POSS faːɾ
dog -an
def -əj
ACC sad
3.sing.cl.1.POSS

“The lion ate the hunter’s daughter’s dog.”

 (17)

The language has a fixed constituent order, and major phrases normally appear in a predictable position in the clause. Movement for discourse reasons is highly restricted: topics and foci are expressed not by rearranging elements, but through dedicated constructions such as clefts, focus clauses or topic–comment frames. Constituents remain continuous, and both the relative order of phrases and the internal structure of each phrase are stable. As a result, significant deviations from the basic word order are ungrammatical, and discourse structure is managed through these specialised constructions rather than through word-order variation.

Noun Phrases

Structure and Order

The internal structure of noun phrases in Nyar reveals typologically significant preferences in the ordering of nominal constituents. This includes the position of adjectives, numerals, and possessors relative to the noun, each of which can offer clues to the overall headedness of the language.

Possessive constructions are head-final: the possessor precedes the possessed noun. For example, Nyar expresses “the child’s toy” with the equivalent of “child toy”. This ordering is found in many SOV and postpositional languages and aligns with a broader tendency towards modifier-first structures.

paityan shan chaihan fyn ŭygeehan jyd

[pait͡ɕan ʃan t͡ʃaihan fɨn ɰɨɡəːhan jɨd]

pait͡ɕ
son -an
def ʃan
2.sing.POSS t͡ʃaih
friend -an
def fɨn
3.sing.cl.2.POSS ɰɨɡəːh
book -an
def jɨd
3.sing.cl.4.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Nyar uses nominative–accusative case marking. The subject of an intransitive verb and the subject of a transitive verb are treated alike and take the nominative case, while the object of a transitive verb is marked with the accusative case. This is the familiar pattern from many European languages: the grammar groups together the participants that function as subjects and marks the participant affected by a transitive action separately.

Shẽsan bẽd.

[ʃə̃san bə̃d]

ʃə̃s
cat -an
def bə̃d
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)
Shẽsan tyẽs.

[ʃə̃san t͡ɕə̃s]

ʃə̃s
cat -an
def t͡ɕə̃s
run

“The cat is running.”

 (20)
Shẽsan chyjyyd darẽnanej.

[ʃə̃san t͡ʃɨjɨːd daɾə̃nanəj]

ʃə̃s
cat -an
def t͡ʃɨjɨːd
chase daɾə̃n
mouse -an
def -əj
ACC

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)
Shẽsan baf kaj darẽnanej.

[ʃə̃san baf kaj daɾə̃nanəj]

ʃə̃s
cat -an
def baf
catch kaj
PAST daɾə̃n
mouse -an
def -əj
ACC

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Jysaidan heg kaj wenauñanej ken ŭytyẽbanej ken rakaipanej.

[jɨsaidan həɡ kaj ʋənauɲanəj kən ɰɨt͡ɕə̃banəj kən ɾakaipanəj]

jɨsaid
hunter -an
def həɡ
kill kaj
PAST ʋənauɲ
jaguar -an
def -əj
ACC kən
and ɰɨt͡ɕə̃b
tiger -an
def -əj
ACC kən
and ɾakaip
lion -an
def -əj
ACC

“The hunter killed the jaguars, the tigers and the lions.”

 (23)

Modifiers and Determiners

The ordering of demonstratives, articles (if present), and other modifiers in Nyar provides further insight into the structure of the noun phrase. These elements frequently exhibit fixed positions and may reveal whether the language favours head-initial or head-final patterns.

Complex Sentences

Relative Clauses

Nyar forms relative clauses by placing them before the noun they modify. The modifier takes the form of a finite clause that precedes the head noun without any relative pronoun. The clause shows ordinary clausal structure, with the role of the head noun recoverable from the syntactic position inside the clause.

To illustrate how relative clauses work, let us begin with a simple sentence:

Keñauch kaj shẽsanej.

[kəɲaut͡ʃ kaj ʃə̃sanəj]

kəɲaut͡ʃ
pat kaj
PAST ʃə̃s
cat -an
def -əj
ACC

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Keñauch kaj baf kaj darẽnanej pefas shẽsanej.

[kəɲaut͡ʃ kaj baf kaj daɾə̃nanəj pəfas ʃə̃sanəj]

kəɲaut͡ʃ
pat kaj
PAST baf
catch kaj
PAST daɾə̃n
mouse -an
def -əj
ACC pəfas
COMP ʃə̃s
cat -an
def -əj
ACC

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Keñauch kaj baf kaj naish kaj fagysanej pefas darẽnanej pefas shẽsanej.

[kəɲaut͡ʃ kaj baf kaj naiʃ kaj faɡɨsanəj pəfas daɾə̃nanəj pəfas ʃə̃sanəj]

kəɲaut͡ʃ
pat kaj
PAST baf
catch kaj
PAST naiʃ
eat kaj
PAST faɡɨs
cheese -an
def -əj
ACC pəfas
COMP daɾə̃n
mouse -an
def -əj
ACC pəfas
COMP ʃə̃s
cat -an
def -əj
ACC

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese.”

 (26)

Finally, here is an example containing several layers of embedding:

Keñauch kaj baf kaj naish kaj waik mẽẽr kaj pefas fagysanej pefas darẽnanej pefas shẽsanej.

[kəɲaut͡ʃ kaj baf kaj naiʃ kaj ʋaik mə̃ːɾ kaj pəfas faɡɨsanəj pəfas daɾə̃nanəj pəfas ʃə̃sanəj]

kəɲaut͡ʃ
pat kaj
PAST baf
catch kaj
PAST naiʃ
eat kaj
PAST ʋai
1excl.sing -k
sing mə̃ːɾ
buy kaj
PAST pəfas
COMP faɡɨs
cheese -an
def -əj
ACC pəfas
COMP daɾə̃n
mouse -an
def -əj
ACC pəfas
COMP ʃə̃s
cat -an
def -əj
ACC

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese that I bought.”

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Nyar introduces complement clauses with a dedicated complementiser, similar to English that. The complementiser appears at the beginning of the embedded clause and signals that the clause functions as a syntactic argument. The embedded clause is fully finite and displays the same tense, aspect and agreement patterns as independent clauses.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

Rẽẽñan mad kaj tyakanys chakaawechej pefas ngasam kaj shydyydanys.

[ɾə̃ːɲan mad kaj t͡ɕakanɨs t͡ʃakaːʋət͡ʃəj pəfas ŋasam kaj ʃɨdɨːdanɨs]

ɾə̃ːɲ
boy -an
def mad
give kaj
PAST t͡ɕak
girl -an
def -ɨs
DAT t͡ʃakaːʋ
apple -ət͡ʃ
not.def -əj
ACC pəfas
COMP ŋasam
surprise kaj
PAST ʃɨdɨːd
teacher -an
def -ɨs
DAT

“It surprised the teacher that the boy had given the girl an apple.”

 (28)

Quotes

Nyar expresses quoted or reported speech without a dedicated quotative particle. Quotations appear as ordinary clauses, distinguished only by the surrounding syntactic context or by the use of verbs of speaking.

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

Rẽẽñan ŭet kaj tyakanys waik jaug haak pefas.

[ɾə̃ːɲan ɰət kaj t͡ɕakanɨs ʋaik jauɡ haːk pəfas]

ɾə̃ːɲ
boy -an
def ɰət
tell kaj
PAST t͡ɕak
girl -an
def -ɨs
DAT ʋai
1excl.sing -k
sing jauɡ
love haː
2.sing -k
sing pəfas
COMP

“The boy told the girl that he loved her.”

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Nyar. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 16 July 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/0JE5V

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-0JE5V,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Nyar}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/0JE5V}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 16 July 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Nyar / Nyar–English) accompany this grammar. The complete work – comprising the grammar, dictionary and texts – may also be downloaded in ODT or DOCX format.

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