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A Grammar of Ghih

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Ghih language (the 1031st 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 Ghih.

Typological Profile

It has a highly marked collection of glottal, uvular, pharyngeal or epiglottal contrasts, a maximally developed dental–alveolar opposition, a richly developed retroflex subsystem and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Ghih has an extremely large consonant inventory, totalling 93 phonemes. Such a system is exceptional in scale.

It has a maximally developed dental–alveolar opposition, a richly developed retroflex subsystem, an extensive and fully contrastive palatal series, a highly marked collection of glottal, uvular, pharyngeal or epiglottal contrasts and an exceptionally large and contrastive labial series.

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

vel. labialpal. labialvel. dentalpal. dentalphar. dentalvel. alveolarpal. alveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolarvel. lateralpal. lateralpalatalvel. retroflexpal. retroflexvel. velarpal. velarlab. velarvel. uvularpal. uvularlab. uvularvel. pharyngealpal. pharyngealvel. epiglottalpal. epiglottalglottal
stoppˠ bˠ pʲ bʲ dˠ tˠ dʲ tʲ dˤ tˤ ɖˠ ʈˠ ɖʲ ʈʲ kˠ ɡˠ kʲ ɡʲ kʷ ɡʷ qˠ ɢˠ qʲ ɢʲ qʷ ɢʷ ʡˠ ʡʲ ʔ
ejective stopkˠʼ kʲʼ kʷʼ qˠʼ qʲʼ qʷʼ
nasalmˠ mʲ nˠ nʲ nˤ ɳˠ ɳʲ ŋˠ ŋʲ ŋʷ ɴˠ ɴʲ ɴʷ
trill/tap/flapɽˠ ɽʲ ʜˠ ʜʲ
fricativefˠ vˠ fʲ vʲ ðˠ θˠ ðʲ θʲ ðˤ θˤ sˠ zˠ sʲ zʲ sˤ zˤ xˠ ɣˠ xʲ ɣʲ xʷ ɣʷ ʕˠ ʕʲ h
approximantʋˠ ʋʲ ɾˠ ɾʲ j
affricatet͡sˠ t͡sʲ t͡sˤ d͡ʒ t͡ʃ
implosiveɓˠ ɓʲ ɗˠ ɗʲ ɗˤ

Vowels

Ghih has 5 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 and a maximally “square” vowel system balancing heights across backness.

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

central
closeɨ
midə
opena

Stress and Tones

Ghih 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

Ghih is an unwritten language. For that reason, all examples in this grammar are given exclusively in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which offers a precise and widely recognised means of recording its sounds.

Orthography

Ghihis an unwritten language, so it does not make any sense to discuss its orthography.

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Ghih does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Ghih does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

[xʲaupˠəfʲ mʲaɗʲəfʲ xˠəvˠaiɾʲ ʋʲamʲ ʋˠaikˠəfʲ kˠasʲ ʡʲaŋʲ ɗʲasʲɨɣʷɨsˤ vˠanˠ vˠɨmˠ]

xʲaupˠ
woman -əfʲ
sing mʲaɗʲ
knife -əfʲ
sing xˠəvˠaiɾʲ
COMIT ʋʲamʲ
ACT ʋˠaikˠ
blind -əfʲ
sing kˠasʲ
yon ʡʲaŋʲ
three ɗʲasʲɨɣʷ
mouse -ɨsˤ
plur vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS vˠɨ
catch -mˠ
PAST

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

 (1)

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

All nominal phrase clitics in Ghih are enclitics (placed finally), and there are two types: a clitic expressing possessor, comprising θʲɨfˠ ‘1incl.sing’, zˤɨʕˠ ‘1excl.sing’, t͡sˤanˤ ‘2.sing’, vˠanˠ ‘3.sing’, sʲənˤ ‘1incl.plur’, ɗˠɨnˠ ‘1excl.plur’, ɗʲɨsʲ ‘2.plur’ and nʲənˤ ‘3.plur’ followed by a clitic expressing case, comprising ʋʲamʲ ‘ACT’, kʼˠəɾˠ ‘DAT’, θʲɨŋʲ ‘INS’, ʕʲɨŋʲ ‘VOC’, qˠamˠ ‘ALL’, ʋʲəɾˠ ‘LOC’, ɽʲaŋʷ ‘ABL’ and sˤafʲ ‘PART’.

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 Ghih.

The Noun

The noun in Ghih consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -əfʲ ‘sing’ and -ɨsˤ ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 suffixes, namely -ɨθˤ ‘little’, -ɨbʲ ‘big’, -əpʲ ‘old’, -əfˠ ‘new’, -afˠ ‘good’, -apʲ ‘bad’, -aɴʲa ‘have’, -əɴʷə ‘use’, -aqʼʲa ‘see’, -əsˤa ‘make’ and -əɾʲa ‘break’

The Adjective

In Ghih, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -əʕˠ ‘plur’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

The determiner in Ghih stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Ghih stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

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

[fʲɨfˠ]

fʲɨ
love -fˠ
PRES

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

[qˠaɾʲ ʋʲamʲ fʲɨfˠ]

qˠaɾʲ
3.sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT fʲɨ
love -fˠ
PRES

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

[qˠaɾʲ fʲɨfˠ]

qˠaɾʲ
3.sing fʲɨ
love -fˠ
PRES

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

[ʈˠɨkʼˠətˤəfʲ ʋʲamʲ ɣʲaðˤadʲəfʲ ʕʲaɢʷaifˠ]

ʈˠɨkʼˠətˤ
Tikat -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT ɣʲaðˤadʲ
Ghathad -əfʲ
sing ʕʲaɢʷai
hate -fˠ
PRES

“Tikat hates Ghathad.”

 (5)

Possession

[fˠət͡ʃəfʲ ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲəfʲ vˠanˠ]

fˠət͡ʃ
boy -əfʲ
sing ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲ
apple -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)

[qˠaɾʲ ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲəfʲ vˠanˠ]

qˠaɾʲ
3.sing ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲ
apple -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)

[ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲəfʲ zˤɨʕˠ]

ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲ
apple -əfʲ
sing zˤɨʕˠ
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

 (8)

[ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲəfʲ θʲauɣˠəfʲ vˠanˠ ʋʲamʲ ŋʷəθʲəʋʲəfʲ t͡sˤanˤ ɓˠɨɢʷəfʲ vˠanˠ ðʲɨbʲaimˠ]

ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲ
hunter -əfʲ
sing θʲauɣˠ
daughter -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ʋʲamʲ
ACT ŋʷəθʲəʋʲ
neighbour -əfʲ
sing t͡sˤanˤ
2.sing.POSS ɓˠɨɢʷ
son -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ðʲɨbʲai
kiss -mˠ
PAST

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

 (9)

Derivation

[ŋˠauŋˠ həɡˠaɓˠəfʲ]

ŋˠauŋˠ
a həɡˠaɓˠ
lamb -əfʲ
sing

“a lamb”

 (10)

[ŋˠauŋˠ həɡˠaɓˠɨθˤəfʲ]

ŋˠauŋˠ
a həɡˠaɓˠ
lamb -ɨθˤ
little -əfʲ
sing

“a little lamb”

 (11)

[ŋˠauŋˠ həɡˠaɓˠɨθˤəfʲ t͡sʲəmˠ]

ŋˠauŋˠ
a həɡˠaɓˠ
lamb -ɨθˤ
little -əfʲ
sing t͡sʲə
have -mˠ
PAST

“She had a little lamb.”

 (12)

This doesn’t affect all adjectives and verbs. Compare, for instance the previous example with this one, where black and love do not undergo affixation:

[ɗˠɨvˠəfʲ ŋˠauŋˠ həɡˠaɓˠəfʲ vˠanˠ fʲɨmˠ]

ɗˠɨvˠ
black -əfʲ
sing ŋˠauŋˠ
a həɡˠaɓˠ
lamb -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS fʲɨ
love -mˠ
PAST

“She loved a black lamb.”

 (13)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Ghih fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing question, comprising d͡ʒəfˠ ‘Q’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising θˠəmʲ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing mode, comprising hafˠ ‘imperative’, ʈʲa ‘conditional’ and xʲɨsˤ ‘optative’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising kʲəsˠ ‘NEG’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising -fˠ ‘PRES’ and -mˠ ‘PAST’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -zˤə ‘begin’, -dˤə ‘stop’, -ɢʷɨ ‘continue’, -ðˠa ‘try’ and -ɗˤɨ ‘start’

[fʲɨfˠ]

fʲɨ
love -fˠ
PRES

“I love you.”

 (14)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

[ɾʲaiðˤəfʲ d͡ʒɨmʲ]

ɾʲaiðˤ
table -əfʲ
sing d͡ʒɨmʲ
in_surface

“on the table”

 (15)

[ɡˠɨt͡sʲanʲəfʲ kʲəfʲ]

ɡˠɨt͡sʲanʲ
box -əfʲ
sing kʲəfʲ
to_inside

“into the box”

 (16)

[ɴʲə xˠəvˠaiɾʲ]

ɴʲə
1excl.sing xˠəvˠaiɾʲ
COMIT

“with me”

 (17)

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.

Ghih has basic Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. The subject precedes the object, and the verb appears at the end of the clause. This is one of the most frequent patterns cross-linguistically.

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

[ʋʲəɡʲaikʼˠəfʲ ʋʲamʲ ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲəfʲ nʲəmˠ]

ʋʲəɡʲaikʼˠ
jaguar -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲ
hunter -əfʲ
sing nʲə
kill -mˠ
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (18)

[kʼˠɨɢʲɨɓʲəfʲ ʋʲamʲ ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲəfʲ θʲauɣˠəfʲ vˠanˠ ʋʲɨdʲəfʲ vˠanˠ zˤəmˠ]

kʼˠɨɢʲɨɓʲ
lion -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲ
hunter -əfʲ
sing θʲauɣˠ
daughter -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ʋʲɨdʲ
dog -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS zˤə
eat -mˠ
PAST

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

 (19)

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 Ghih 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, Ghih 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.

[ɓˠɨɢʷəfʲ t͡sˤanˤ ɾˠaʡʲəfʲ vˠanˠ dˤɨɡˠəʔəfʲ vˠanˠ]

ɓˠɨɢʷ
son -əfʲ
sing t͡sˤanˤ
2.sing.POSS ɾˠaʡʲ
friend -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS dˤɨɡˠəʔ
book -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (20)

Case Marking

Ghih uses active case marking. Intransitive subjects are divided according to how they participate in the event. More agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘run’ or ‘shout’, pattern with transitive subjects and take the active or agentive case. Less agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘sleep’ or ‘be ill’, pattern with transitive objects and take the patientive or absolutive case. This system makes sense where the grammar treats control, volition or affectedness as more important than the simple distinction between subject and object.

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ bʲafˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing bʲa
sleep -fˠ
PRES

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (21)

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ ʋʲamʲ kʼˠafˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT kʼˠa
run -fˠ
PRES

“The cat is running.”

 (22)

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ ʋʲamʲ ɗʲasʲɨɣʷəfʲ ʈʲaɾʲaufˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT ɗʲasʲɨɣʷ
mouse -əfʲ
sing ʈʲaɾʲau
chase -fˠ
PRES

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (23)

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ ʋʲamʲ ɗʲasʲɨɣʷəfʲ vˠɨmˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT ɗʲasʲɨɣʷ
mouse -əfʲ
sing vˠɨ
catch -mˠ
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

[ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲəfʲ ʋʲamʲ ʋʲəɡʲaikʼˠɨsˤ ɢʲanˤ xʷamˠaimʲɨsˤ ɢʲanˤ kʼˠɨɢʲɨɓʲɨsˤ nʲəmˠ]

ðˤɨɗʲɨqʼʲ
hunter -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT ʋʲəɡʲaikʼˠ
jaguar -ɨsˤ
plur ɢʲanˤ
and xʷamˠaimʲ
tiger -ɨsˤ
plur ɢʲanˤ
and kʼˠɨɢʲɨɓʲ
lion -ɨsˤ
plur nʲə
kill -mˠ
PAST

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

 (25)

Modifiers and Determiners

The ordering of demonstratives, articles (if present), and other modifiers in Ghih 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

Ghih forms relative clauses by using a head-internal strategy. The head noun appears inside the clause itself, occupying its regular syntactic position. The entire clause functions as a modifier, and its external syntactic behaviour is identical to that of a noun-modifying phrase.

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

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ kʼʷəfʲamˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing kʼʷəfʲa
pat -mˠ
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (26)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ vˠanˠ ɗʲasʲɨɣʷəfʲ vˠɨmˠ kʼʷəfʲamˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ɗʲasʲɨɣʷ
mouse -əfʲ
sing vˠɨ
catch -mˠ
PAST kʼʷəfʲa
pat -mˠ
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (27)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ vˠanˠ ɗʲasʲɨɣʷəfʲ vˠanˠ ɖʲəɢˠakʼʷəfʲ zˤəmˠ vˠɨmˠ kʼʷəfʲamˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ɗʲasʲɨɣʷ
mouse -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ɖʲəɢˠakʼʷ
cheese -əfʲ
sing zˤə
eat -mˠ
PAST vˠɨ
catch -mˠ
PAST kʼʷəfʲa
pat -mˠ
PAST

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

 (28)

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

[ɣʷɨɗˠəfʲ vˠanˠ ɗʲasʲɨɣʷəfʲ vˠanˠ ɴʲə vˠanˠ ɖʲəɢˠakʼʷəfʲ vˠaimˠ zˤəmˠ vˠɨmˠ kʼʷəfʲamˠ]

ɣʷɨɗˠ
cat -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ɗʲasʲɨɣʷ
mouse -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ɴʲə
1excl.sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS ɖʲəɢˠakʼʷ
cheese -əfʲ
sing vˠai
buy -mˠ
PAST zˤə
eat -mˠ
PAST vˠɨ
catch -mˠ
PAST kʼʷəfʲa
pat -mˠ
PAST

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

 (29)

Complementation Strategies

Ghih forms complement clauses by nominalising the embedded verb. The nominalised form lacks finite verbal categories and behaves as a noun phrase. Subjects of nominalised clauses occur in the genitive case, and the nominalised verb establishes the semantic content of the complement.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

[fˠət͡ʃəfʲ vˠanˠ qˠəɴʷəfʲ kʼˠəɾˠ ŋˠauŋˠ ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲəfʲ ɗˠaimˠ ʋʲamʲ sˠɨdˤɨdˤəfʲ kʼˠəɾˠ tˤɨzʲəmˠ]

fˠət͡ʃ
boy -əfʲ
sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS qˠəɴʷ
girl -əfʲ
sing kʼˠəɾˠ
DAT ŋˠauŋˠ
a ʋˠɨθˠɨnʲ
apple -əfʲ
sing ɗˠai
give -mˠ
PAST ʋʲamʲ
ACT sˠɨdˤɨdˤ
teacher -əfʲ
sing kʼˠəɾˠ
DAT tˤɨzʲə
surprise -mˠ
PAST

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

 (30)

Quotes

Ghih 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:

[fˠət͡ʃəfʲ ʋʲamʲ qˠəɴʷəfʲ kʼˠəɾˠ ɴʲə vˠanˠ sˤasʲ fʲɨfˠ ɖˠamˠ]

fˠət͡ʃ
boy -əfʲ
sing ʋʲamʲ
ACT qˠəɴʷ
girl -əfʲ
sing kʼˠəɾˠ
DAT ɴʲə
1excl.sing vˠanˠ
3.sing.POSS sˤasʲ
2.sing fʲɨ
love -fˠ
PRES ɖˠa
tell -mˠ
PAST

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

 (31)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Ghih. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 24 July 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/13C3K

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-13C3K,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Ghih}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/13C3K}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 24 July 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

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

Readers are encouraged to share observations or corrections via the feedback form. The present page may be accessed directly at:

https://languagecreator.org/grammar/13C3K

Behind the scenes, the Language Creator stores the generated language in a JSON-based format known as ELD. The corresponding ELD file may be downloaded, edited as required, and reuploaded in order to regenerate the grammar, dictionary and texts.

To revisit the questionnaire settings used to generate this language, .

Language creation took 0.05 seconds; writing the grammar 0.09 seconds.