A Grammar of Tang

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Tang language (the 1042nd 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 Tang.

Typological Profile

It has no inflections (clitics do the hard work).

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Tang has a moderately small consonant inventory, comprising 17 phonemes.

It has a conspicuous absence of approximants.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
ejective stop
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
fricativef s ʃ h
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Tang has 8 vowel qualities, forming a relatively large inventory. The system distinguishes several vowel categories, as indicated in the chart, offering a wide range of vocalic contrasts.

It has a vertical vowel system in which backness distinctions are largely absent.

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

central
closeɨ
midə
opena

Stress and Tones

Tang 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

Tang 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/a’ /a̰/b /b/d /d/
e /ə/e’ /ə̰/f /f/g /ɡ/
h /h/k /k/m /m/n /n/
p /p/s /s/t /t/y /ɨ/
y’ /ɨ̰/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/ch /t͡ʃ/
gk /kʼ/ng /ŋ/sh /ʃ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Tang does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Tang has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: bechyh ‘mountain’, beshyb ‘lake’, chap ‘sea’, cha’m ‘north’, dafen ‘stick’, dam ‘east’, destang ‘forest’, fagk ‘animal’, fa’kauk ‘river’, gkai ‘sun’, gkap ‘meat’, gkysh ‘wind’, kepang ‘apple’, na’bech ‘library’, ngaung ‘fire’, pak ‘speech’, tangyng ‘cheese’, tap ‘fish’, taub ‘fruit’, ñyp ‘son’.

Gender fem – for instance: bepad ‘flower’, chau ‘time’, faha’g ‘religion’, fynygk ‘court’, gkaih ‘ear’, gkastyng ‘bark’, gkygke’b ‘horn’, kygka’d ‘louse’, met ‘night’, ngañah ‘mouse’, pain ‘idea’, peg ‘friend’, sed ‘year’, seh ‘mother’, setak ‘anus’, tas ‘tree’, ta’f ‘people’, tedeb ‘root’, ñanesh ‘neighbour’, ñystah ‘student’.

Gender neut – for instance: byk ‘book’, chyng ‘cat’, da’f ‘tooth’, gauk ‘heart’, gemaing ‘fat’, ges ‘language’, gkasyh ‘belly’, ha ‘skin’, hygk ‘city’, kañ ‘road’, menyh ‘money’, ngem ‘house’, ngykak ‘tail’, said ‘face’, sebauch ‘brick’, sekak ‘fingernail’, shepaip ‘snake’, sychauch ‘box’, ñeng ‘head’, ñe’gkauf ‘feather’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Shyn fyse’h san sam nab fyh de’m maik saib tech ngañah.

[ʃɨn fɨsə̰h san sam nab fɨh də̰m maik saib tət͡ʃ ŋaɲah]

ʃɨn
woman
fɨsə̰h
COMIT
san
knife
sam
PAST
nab
catch
fɨh
plur
də̰m
ACC
mai
yon
-k
fem
saib
three
tət͡ʃ
blind
ŋaɲah
mouse

“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 Tang are proclitics (placed initially, and there are two types: a clitic expressing case, comprising de’m /də̰m/ ‘ACC’, fab /fab/ ‘GEN’, hañ /haɲ/ ‘DAT’, pyñ /pɨɲ/ ‘INS’, ñe’k /ɲə̰k/ ‘VOC’, ba’ng /ba̰ŋ/ ‘ALL’, bygk /bɨkʼ/ ‘LOC’, sa’m /sa̰m/ ‘ABL’ and nag /naɡ/ ‘PART’ followed by a clitic expressing number, comprising fyh /fɨh/ ‘plur’.

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 Tang.

The Noun

The noun in Tang stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 20 prefixes, namely ke’- /kə̰-/ ‘little’, gky- /kʼɨ-/ ‘big’, na’- /na̰-/ ‘old’, ha’- /ha̰-/ ‘new’, ga- /ɡa-/ ‘good’, ty- /tɨ-/ ‘bad’, fy- /fɨ-/ ‘have’, ba- /ba-/ ‘use’, fa- /fa-/ ‘see’, gka- /kʼa-/ ‘make’, de- /də-/ ‘break’, gke- /kʼə-/ ‘eat’, shy- /ʃɨ-/ ‘drink’, he- /hə-/ ‘wear’, ma- /ma-/ ‘own’, cha’- /t͡ʃa̰-/ ‘contain’, be- /bə-/ ‘hold’, dy- /dɨ-/ ‘lack’, da- /da-/ ‘touch’ and ha- /ha-/ ‘carry’

The Adjective

The adjective in Tang stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Tang, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -f /-f/ ‘masc’, -k /-k/ ‘fem’ and -gk /-kʼ/ ‘neut’.

Pronouns

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

Tang always includes the personal pronouns, even if they are not stressed. This is similar to English, where the only way to distinguish "he loves her" from "he loves her" and "he loves her" is the stress. So the following corresponds exactly to English in this regard:

Byp ten de’m ñem.

[bɨp tən də̰m ɲəm]

bɨp
3.sing.masc
tən
love
də̰m
ACC
ɲəm
3.sing.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(2)

Proper Nouns

Checheñ gkanas de’m Peches.

[t͡ʃət͡ʃəɲ kʼanas də̰m pət͡ʃəs]

t͡ʃət͡ʃəɲ
Chachany
kʼanas
hate
də̰m
ACC
pət͡ʃəs
Pachas

“Chachany hates Pachas.”

(3)

Possession

gaif kepang

[ɡaif kəpaŋ]

ɡaif
boy
kəpaŋ
apple

“the boy’s apple”

(4)
byp kepang

[bɨp kəpaŋ]

bɨp
3.sing.masc
kəpaŋ
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(5)
daun kepang

[daun kəpaŋ]

daun
1excl.sing
kəpaŋ
apple

“my apple”

(6)
Shashe’ ban sam ne’ha’h de’m chauñ ñanesh ñyp.

[ʃaʃə̰ ban sam nə̰ha̰h də̰m t͡ʃauɲ ɲanəʃ ɲɨp]

ʃaʃə̰
hunter
ban
daughter
sam
PAST
nə̰ha̰h
kiss
də̰m
ACC
t͡ʃauɲ
2.sing
ɲanəʃ
neighbour
ɲɨp
son

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

(7)

Derivation

mamam

[mamam]

mamam
lamb

“a lamb”

(8)
ke’mamam

[kə̰mamam]

kə̰-
little
mamam
lamb

“a little lamb”

(9)
Ñem sam fyke’mamam.

[ɲəm sam fɨkə̰mamam]

ɲəm
3.sing.fem
sam
PAST
fɨ-
have
kə̰-
little
mamam
lamb

“She had a little lamb.”

(10)
Ñem sam myfyke’mamam.

[ɲəm sam mɨfɨkə̰mamam]

ɲəm
3.sing.fem
sam
PAST
mɨ-
want
fɨ-
have
kə̰-
little
mamam
lamb

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

(11)
Ñem sam faib sang ke’mamam sam tyn dastash.

[ɲəm sam faib saŋ kə̰mamam sam tɨn dastaʃ]

ɲəm
3.sing.fem
sam
PAST
faib
want
saŋ
often
kə̰-
little
mamam
lamb
sam
PAST
tɨn
have
dastaʃ
COMP

“She often wanted to have a little lamb.”

(12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Tang fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing negation, comprising pang /paŋ/ ‘NEG’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising ñysh /ɲɨʃ/ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing mode, comprising se’h /sə̰h/ ‘imperative’, cha’ng /t͡ʃa̰ŋ/ ‘conditional’ and den /dən/ ‘optative’; fourth, a clitic expressing ta, comprising sam /sam/ ‘PAST’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising gkem /kʼəm/ ‘Q’.

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

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: 12 prefixes, namely ña- /ɲa-/ ‘begin’, pe- /pə-/ ‘stop’, na- /na-/ ‘continue’, cha- /t͡ʃa-/ ‘try’, sha- /ʃa-/ ‘start’, my- /mɨ-/ ‘want’, ne- /nə-/ ‘can’, che- /t͡ʃə-/ ‘finish’, da’- /da̰-/ ‘need’, ñe- /ɲə-/ ‘decide’, pa- /pa-/ ‘fail’ and ta- /ta-/ ‘hope’

Daun ten de’m chauñ.

[daun tən də̰m t͡ʃauɲ]

daun
1excl.sing
tən
love
də̰m
ACC
t͡ʃauɲ
2.sing

“I love you.”

(13)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

mab bygk ñash

[mab bɨkʼ ɲaʃ]

mab
in_surface
bɨkʼ
LOC
ɲaʃ
table

“on the table”

(14)
me’n bygk sychauch

[mə̰n bɨkʼ sɨt͡ʃaut͡ʃ]

mə̰n
to_inside
bɨkʼ
LOC
sɨt͡ʃaut͡ʃ
box

“into the box”

(15)
fyse’h bygk daun

[fɨsə̰h bɨkʼ daun]

fɨsə̰h
COMIT
bɨkʼ
LOC
daun
1excl.sing

“with me”

(16)

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.

Tang 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 Tang.

Sene’m sam ngaib de’m shashe’.

[sənə̰m sam ŋaib də̰m ʃaʃə̰]

sənə̰m
jaguar
sam
PAST
ŋaib
kill
də̰m
ACC
ʃaʃə̰
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(17)
Sebyng sam saus de’m shashe’ ban gkam.

[səbɨŋ sam saus də̰m ʃaʃə̰ ban kʼam]

səbɨŋ
lion
sam
PAST
saus
eat
də̰m
ACC
ʃaʃə̰
hunter
ban
daughter
kʼam
dog

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

(18)

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 Tang 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, Tang 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.

chauñ ñyp peg byk

[t͡ʃauɲ ɲɨp pəɡ bɨk]

t͡ʃauɲ
2.sing
ɲɨp
son
pəɡ
friend
bɨk
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

(19)

Case Marking

Tang 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.

Chyng keg.

[t͡ʃɨŋ kəɡ]

t͡ʃɨŋ
cat
kəɡ
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

(20)
Chyng tauf.

[t͡ʃɨŋ tauf]

t͡ʃɨŋ
cat
tauf
run

“The cat is running.”

(21)
Chyng kagab de’m ngañah.

[t͡ʃɨŋ kaɡab də̰m ŋaɲah]

t͡ʃɨŋ
cat
kaɡab
chase
də̰m
ACC
ŋaɲah
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

(22)
Chyng sam nab de’m ngañah.

[t͡ʃɨŋ sam nab də̰m ŋaɲah]

t͡ʃɨŋ
cat
sam
PAST
nab
catch
də̰m
ACC
ŋaɲah
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

(23)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Shashe’ sam ngaib de’m fyh sene’m ba’n fyh fyñaih ba’n fyh sebyng.

[ʃaʃə̰ sam ŋaib də̰m fɨh sənə̰m ba̰n fɨh fɨɲaih ba̰n fɨh səbɨŋ]

ʃaʃə̰
hunter
sam
PAST
ŋaib
kill
də̰m
ACC
fɨh
plur
sənə̰m
jaguar
ba̰n
and
fɨh
plur
fɨɲaih
tiger
ba̰n
and
fɨh
plur
səbɨŋ
lion

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

(24)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Tang forms relative clauses by placing the relative clause after the noun it modifies. The clause follows the internal word order of ordinary finite clauses. A dedicated relativising marker introduces the clause and identifies the relationship between the head noun and its role inside the relative clause.

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

Daun sam hykyng de’m chyng.

[daun sam hɨkɨŋ də̰m t͡ʃɨŋ]

daun
1excl.sing
sam
PAST
hɨkɨŋ
pat
də̰m
ACC
t͡ʃɨŋ
cat

“I patted the cat.”

(25)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Daun sam hykyng chyng, dem sam nab de’m ngañah.

[daun sam hɨkɨŋ t͡ʃɨŋ, dəm sam nab də̰m ŋaɲah]

daun
1excl.sing
sam
PAST
hɨkɨŋ
pat
t͡ʃɨŋ
cat
dəm
RELPRON
sam
PAST
nab
catch
də̰m
ACC
ŋaɲah
mouse

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(26)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Daun sam hykyng chyng, dem sam nab ngañah, dem sam gketangyng.

[daun sam hɨkɨŋ t͡ʃɨŋ, dəm sam nab ŋaɲah, dəm sam kʼətaŋɨŋ]

daun
1excl.sing
sam
PAST
hɨkɨŋ
pat
t͡ʃɨŋ
cat
dəm
RELPRON
sam
PAST
nab
catch
ŋaɲah
mouse
dəm
RELPRON
sam
PAST
kʼə-
eat
taŋɨŋ
cheese

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

(27)

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

Daun sam hykyng chyng, dem sam nab ngañah, dem sam saus tangyng, de’m dem sam shad daun.

[daun sam hɨkɨŋ t͡ʃɨŋ, dəm sam nab ŋaɲah, dəm sam saus taŋɨŋ, də̰m dəm sam ʃad daun]

daun
1excl.sing
sam
PAST
hɨkɨŋ
pat
t͡ʃɨŋ
cat
dəm
RELPRON
sam
PAST
nab
catch
ŋaɲah
mouse
dəm
RELPRON
sam
PAST
saus
eat
taŋɨŋ
cheese
də̰m
ACC
dəm
RELPRON
sam
PAST
ʃad
buy
daun
1excl.sing

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

(28)

Complementation Strategies

Tang 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:

Gaif sam nep hañ gkaing de’m kepang dastash sam ngygkes hañ dyches.

[ɡaif sam nəp haɲ kʼaiŋ də̰m kəpaŋ dastaʃ sam ŋɨkʼəs haɲ dɨt͡ʃəs]

ɡaif
boy
sam
PAST
nəp
give
haɲ
DAT
kʼaiŋ
girl
də̰m
ACC
kəpaŋ
apple
dastaʃ
COMP
sam
PAST
ŋɨkʼəs
surprise
haɲ
DAT
dɨt͡ʃəs
teacher

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

(29)

Quotes

Tang employs a quotative particle to mark direct and indirect speech. The quotative follows the reported phrase and identifies the preceding expression as quoted or reported. The same construction is also used to express reported thoughts.

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

Gaif sam hah hañ gkaing de’m daun ten de’m chauñ dastash.

[ɡaif sam hah haɲ kʼaiŋ də̰m daun tən də̰m t͡ʃauɲ dastaʃ]

ɡaif
boy
sam
PAST
hah
tell
haɲ
DAT
kʼaiŋ
girl
də̰m
ACC
daun
1excl.sing
tən
love
də̰m
ACC
t͡ʃauɲ
2.sing
dastaʃ
COMP

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

(30)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Tang. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 26 July 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/15KFL

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-15KFL,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Tang}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/15KFL}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 26 July 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Tang / Tang–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/15KFL

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