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A Grammar of Ikan

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Ikan language (the 1046th 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 Ikan.

Typological Profile

It has not just singular and plural, but also dual, as well as a small but genuine set of click consonants and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Ikan has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 26 phonemes.

It has a complete absence of affricates, a strikingly small set of lateral and rhotic consonants, a noticeable presence of pharyngealised phonemes and a small but genuine set of click consonants.

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

labialdentalphar. dentalalveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolarpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t dˤ tˤ k ɡ
nasalm n nˤ ɲ ŋ
fricativef s sˤ ʃ h
approximantw j
implosiveɓ
clickᵏǀ ᵏǀˤ
click, nasalᵑǀ ᵑǀˤ

Vowels

Ikan 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 strikingly compressed height system with only two vowel heights and occasional ghost vowels that surface only weakly.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
opena

Stress and Tones

Ikan has phonemic stress but no lexical tone. Stress consistently falls on the first vowel of the root, and no contrastive tonal distinctions are made.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Ikan 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/c /ᵏǀ/
c̣ /ᵏǀˤ/d /d/ḍ /dˤ/f /f/
g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/i’ /ḭ/
j /j/k /k/m /m/n /n/
ṇ /nˤ/p /p/s /s/ṣ /sˤ/
t /t/ṭ /tˤ/u /u/u’ /ṵ/
w /w/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/bb /ɓ/
nc /ᵑǀ/nc̣ /ᵑǀˤ/ng /ŋ/
sh /ʃ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Ikan distinguishes singular, dual and plural.

Gender

Ikan does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Fi na’g didaṭ bba’g pibib c̣ag ncak difasik hij bbum bbubb nca mij.

[ˈfi ˈna̰ɡ ˈdidatˤ ˈɓa̰ɡ piˈbib ˈᵏǀˤaɡ ᵑǀak ˈdifasik ˈhij ˈɓum ˈɓuɓ ᵑǀa mij]

f-
ERG ˈi
woman n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the d-
NOM ˈidatˤ
knife ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the piˈbib
COMIT ˈᵏǀˤaɡ
catch ᵑǀak
PAST d-
NOM ˈifasik
mouse ˈhij
three ɓ-
NOM ˈum
yon ˈɓuɓ
blind ᵑǀa
COMP mij
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.

All nominal phrase clitics in Ikan are enclitics (placed finally), and there are two types: a clitic expressing number, comprising haṭ /hatˤ/ ‘dual’ and mij /mij/ ‘plur’ followed by a clitic expressing possessor, comprising pi /pi/ ‘1incl.sing’, ja’ṭ /ja̰tˤ/ ‘1excl.sing’, wang /waŋ/ ‘2.sing’, ñubb /ɲuɓ/ ‘3.sing’, ñuḍ /ɲudˤ/ ‘1incl.dual’, kaj /kaj/ ‘1excl.dual’, ncaṣ /ᵑǀasˤ/ ‘2.dual’, ñuṣ /ɲusˤ/ ‘3.dual’, ṭibb /tˤiɓ/ ‘1incl.plur’, hiṇ /hinˤ/ ‘1excl.plur’, ci’g /ᵏǀḭɡ/ ‘2.plur’ and ṇiḍ /nˤidˤ/ ‘3.plur’.

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

The Noun

The noun in Ikan consists of an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising d- /d-/ ‘NOM’, f- /f-/ ‘ERG’, w- /w-/ ‘ACC’, m- /m-/ ‘GEN’, ṣ- /sˤ-/ ‘DAT’, s- /s-/ ‘INS’, ṇ- /nˤ-/ ‘VOC’, bb- /ɓ-/ ‘ALL’, k- /k-/ ‘LOC’, h- /h-/ ‘ABL’ and j- /j-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ṣa /-sˤa/ ‘little’ and -gi /-ɡi/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Ikan, the determiner has the following structure: an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising bb- /ɓ-/ ‘NOM’, n- /n-/ ‘ERG’, w- /w-/ ‘ACC’, p- /p-/ ‘GEN’, c- /ᵏǀ-/ ‘DAT’, ṭ- /tˤ-/ ‘INS’, ṇ- /nˤ-/ ‘VOC’, ṣ- /sˤ-/ ‘ALL’, b- /b-/ ‘LOC’, j- /j-/ ‘ABL’ and f- /f-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

Pronouns

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

In Ikan, subject pronouns (but not object pronouns ones) are dropped unless they are stressed. Here is an example where neither of the pronouns are stressed:

Ñit gaud.

[ˈɲit ˈɡaud]

ˈɲit
love ˈɡaud
3.sing

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he (i.e., the subject) is stressed:

Gaud ñit gaud.

[ˈɡaud ˈɲit ˈɡaud]

ˈɡaud
3.sing ˈɲit
love ˈɡaud
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

DUbima’ñ bba’g ñamaif wAinami’t wa’g.

[ˈdubima̰ɲ ˈɓa̰ɡ ɲaˈmaif ˈwainamḭt ˈwa̰ɡ]

d-
NOM ˈubima̰ɲ
Ubimany ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲaˈmaif
hate w-
ACC ˈainamḭt
Ainamit w-
ACC ˈa̰ɡ
the

“Ubimany hates Ainamit.”

 (4)

Possession

maiṇ pa’g daimibbush bba’g ñubb

[ˈmainˤ ˈpa̰ɡ ˈdaimiɓuʃ ˈɓa̰ɡ ɲuɓ]

m-
GEN ˈainˤ
boy p-
GEN ˈa̰ɡ
the d-
NOM ˈaimiɓuʃ
apple ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
gaud daimibbush bba’g ñubb

[ˈɡaud ˈdaimiɓuʃ ˈɓa̰ɡ ɲuɓ]

ˈɡaud
3.sing d-
NOM ˈaimiɓuʃ
apple ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
daimibbush bba’g ja’ṭ

[ˈdaimiɓuʃ ˈɓa̰ɡ ja̰tˤ]

d-
NOM ˈaimiɓuʃ
apple ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ja̰tˤ
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

 (7)
Maiṭuñip pa’g fauk na’g ñubb pa’wa’bb ncak maṣata pa’g wang dat bba’g ñubb.

[ˈmaitˤuɲip ˈpa̰ɡ ˈfauk ˈna̰ɡ ɲuɓ pa̰ˈwa̰ɓ ᵑǀak ˈmasˤata ˈpa̰ɡ waŋ ˈdat ˈɓa̰ɡ ɲuɓ]

m-
GEN ˈaitˤuɲip
hunter p-
GEN ˈa̰ɡ
the f-
ERG ˈauk
daughter n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS pa̰ˈwa̰ɓ
kiss ᵑǀak
PAST m-
GEN ˈasˤata
neighbour p-
GEN ˈa̰ɡ
the waŋ
2.sing.POSS d-
NOM ˈat
son ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

da’mapish

[ˈda̰mapiʃ]

d-
NOM ˈa̰mapiʃ
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

da’mapishṣa

[ˈda̰mapiʃsˤa]

d-
NOM ˈa̰mapiʃ
lamb -sˤa
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Ikan are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising ncak /ᵑǀak/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising piṣ /pisˤ/ ‘imperative’, gup /ɡup/ ‘conditional’ and ṣubb /sˤuɓ/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising nas /nas/ ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising pun /pun/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing comp, comprising nca /ᵑǀa/ ‘COMP’.

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

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -na /-na/ ‘begin’ and -ka /-ka/ ‘stop’

Ñit nug.

[ˈɲit ˈnuɡ]

ˈɲit
love ˈnuɡ
2.sing

“I love you.”

 (11)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

di’fiṣ bba’g di’s caun

[ˈdḭfisˤ ˈɓa̰ɡ ˈdḭs ˈᵏǀaun]

d-
NOM ˈḭfisˤ
table ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the d-
NOM ˈḭs
surface ˈᵏǀaun
in

“on the table”

 (12)
di’fi’ṇi’ng bba’g da’ṭ ca

[ˈdḭfḭnˤḭŋ ˈɓa̰ɡ ˈda̰tˤ ˈᵏǀa]

d-
NOM ˈḭfḭnˤḭŋ
box ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the d-
NOM ˈa̰tˤ
inside ˈᵏǀa
to

“into the box”

 (13)
maif pibib

[ˈmaif piˈbib]

ˈmaif
1excl.sing piˈbib
COMIT

“with me”

 (14)

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.

Ikan 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 Ikan.

Fi’fawi na’g si’ṇ ncak daiṭuñip bba’g.

[ˈfḭfawi ˈna̰ɡ ˈsḭnˤ ᵑǀak ˈdaitˤuɲip ˈɓa̰ɡ]

f-
ERG ˈḭfawi
jaguar n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈsḭnˤ
kill ᵑǀak
PAST d-
NOM ˈaitˤuɲip
hunter ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Faḍumiñ na’g pit ncak maiṭuñip pa’g mauk pa’g ñubb ding bba’g ñubb.

[ˈfadˤumiɲ ˈna̰ɡ ˈpit ᵑǀak ˈmaitˤuɲip ˈpa̰ɡ ˈmauk ˈpa̰ɡ ɲuɓ ˈdiŋ ˈɓa̰ɡ ɲuɓ]

f-
ERG ˈadˤumiɲ
lion n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈpit
eat ᵑǀak
PAST m-
GEN ˈaitˤuɲip
hunter p-
GEN ˈa̰ɡ
the m-
GEN ˈauk
daughter p-
GEN ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS d-
NOM ˈiŋ
dog ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS

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

 (16)

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 Ikan 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, Ikan 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.

mat pa’g wang mup pa’g ñubb dashihash bba’g ñubb

[ˈmat ˈpa̰ɡ waŋ ˈmup ˈpa̰ɡ ɲuɓ daʃihaʃ ˈɓa̰ɡ ɲuɓ]

m-
GEN ˈat
son p-
GEN ˈa̰ɡ
the waŋ
2.sing.POSS m-
GEN ˈup
friend p-
GEN ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS d-
NOM aʃihaʃ
book ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ɲuɓ
3.sing.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Ikan uses split case marking. In the present tense, the grammar follows a nominative–accusative pattern, where intransitive and transitive subjects are treated alike and objects are marked with the accusative. In the past tense, however, it follows an ergative–absolutive pattern, here called ergative–nominative, where intransitive subjects and transitive objects are treated alike and transitive subjects are marked with the ergative. This makes sense because present-tense clauses often describe events as ongoing, habitual or controlled by an active participant, so the grammar treats the subject as the central argument. Past-tense clauses, by contrast, often present an event as completed, making the affected participant especially salient. The ergative marking then singles out the transitive agent as the additional participant responsible for bringing about that result.

Dañ bba’g paiṇ.

[ˈdaɲ ˈɓa̰ɡ ˈpainˤ]

d-
NOM ˈaɲ
cat ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈpainˤ
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Dañ bba’g wak.

[ˈdaɲ ˈɓa̰ɡ ˈwak]

d-
NOM ˈaɲ
cat ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈwak
run

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Dañ bba’g ṣinga’s wifasik wa’g.

[ˈdaɲ ˈɓa̰ɡ sˤiˈŋa̰s ˈwifasik ˈwa̰ɡ]

d-
NOM ˈaɲ
cat ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the sˤiˈŋa̰s
chase w-
ACC ˈifasik
mouse w-
ACC ˈa̰ɡ
the

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Fañ na’g c̣ag ncak difasik bba’g.

[ˈfaɲ ˈna̰ɡ ˈᵏǀˤaɡ ᵑǀak ˈdifasik ˈɓa̰ɡ]

f-
ERG ˈaɲ
cat n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈᵏǀˤaɡ
catch ᵑǀak
PAST d-
NOM ˈifasik
mouse ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Faiṭuñip na’g si’ṇ ncak di’fawi bba’g mij ṇing da’ngishif bba’g mij ṇing daḍumiñ bba’g mij.

[ˈfaitˤuɲip ˈna̰ɡ ˈsḭnˤ ᵑǀak ˈdḭfawi ˈɓa̰ɡ mij ˈnˤiŋ ˈda̰ŋiʃif ˈɓa̰ɡ mij ˈnˤiŋ ˈdadˤumiɲ ˈɓa̰ɡ mij]

f-
ERG ˈaitˤuɲip
hunter n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈsḭnˤ
kill ᵑǀak
PAST d-
NOM ˈḭfawi
jaguar ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the mij
plur ˈnˤiŋ
and d-
NOM ˈa̰ŋiʃif
tiger ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the mij
plur ˈnˤiŋ
and d-
NOM ˈadˤumiɲ
lion ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the mij
plur

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

 (22)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Ikan 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:

C̣iṇa’ñ ncak dañ bba’g.

[ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ ᵑǀak ˈdaɲ ˈɓa̰ɡ]

ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ
pat ᵑǀak
PAST d-
NOM ˈaɲ
cat ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

C̣iṇa’ñ ncak fañ na’g c̣ag ncak nca difasik bba’g.

[ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ ᵑǀak ˈfaɲ ˈna̰ɡ ˈᵏǀˤaɡ ᵑǀak ᵑǀa ˈdifasik ˈɓa̰ɡ]

ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ
pat ᵑǀak
PAST f-
ERG ˈaɲ
cat n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈᵏǀˤaɡ
catch ᵑǀak
PAST ᵑǀa
COMP d-
NOM ˈifasik
mouse ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

C̣iṇa’ñ ncak fañ na’g c̣ag ncak nca fifasik na’g pit ncak nca daṇisha’w bba’g.

[ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ ᵑǀak ˈfaɲ ˈna̰ɡ ˈᵏǀˤaɡ ᵑǀak ᵑǀa ˈfifasik ˈna̰ɡ ˈpit ᵑǀak ᵑǀa ˈdanˤiʃa̰w ˈɓa̰ɡ]

ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ
pat ᵑǀak
PAST f-
ERG ˈaɲ
cat n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈᵏǀˤaɡ
catch ᵑǀak
PAST ᵑǀa
COMP f-
ERG ˈifasik
mouse n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈpit
eat ᵑǀak
PAST ᵑǀa
COMP d-
NOM ˈanˤiʃa̰w
cheese ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the

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

 (25)

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

C̣iṇa’ñ ncak fañ na’g c̣ag ncak nca fifasik na’g pit ncak nca maif bba’j ncak nca daṇisha’w bba’g.

[ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ ᵑǀak ˈfaɲ ˈna̰ɡ ˈᵏǀˤaɡ ᵑǀak ᵑǀa ˈfifasik ˈna̰ɡ ˈpit ᵑǀak ᵑǀa ˈmaif ˈɓa̰j ᵑǀak ᵑǀa ˈdanˤiʃa̰w ˈɓa̰ɡ]

ᵏǀˤiˈnˤa̰ɲ
pat ᵑǀak
PAST f-
ERG ˈaɲ
cat n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈᵏǀˤaɡ
catch ᵑǀak
PAST ᵑǀa
COMP f-
ERG ˈifasik
mouse n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈpit
eat ᵑǀak
PAST ᵑǀa
COMP ˈmaif
1excl.sing ˈɓa̰j
buy ᵑǀak
PAST ᵑǀa
COMP d-
NOM ˈanˤiʃa̰w
cheese ɓ-
NOM ˈa̰ɡ
the

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Ikan marks complement clauses with subordinating verbal morphology. The embedded verb is fully finite and carries a subordinating suffix that identifies the clause as a complement. No structural changes occur within the clause apart from this verbal marking.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

Faiṇ na’g ha’ñ ncak nca ṣung ca’g daimibbush dabiṭ ncak ṣishaḍang ca’g.

[ˈfainˤ ˈna̰ɡ ˈha̰ɲ ᵑǀak ᵑǀa ˈsˤuŋ ˈᵏǀa̰ɡ ˈdaimiɓuʃ daˈbitˤ ᵑǀak sˤiʃadˤaŋ ˈᵏǀa̰ɡ]

f-
ERG ˈainˤ
boy n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈha̰ɲ
give ᵑǀak
PAST ᵑǀa
COMP sˤ-
DAT ˈuŋ
girl ᵏǀ-
DAT ˈa̰ɡ
the d-
NOM ˈaimiɓuʃ
apple daˈbitˤ
surprise ᵑǀak
PAST sˤ-
DAT iʃadˤaŋ
teacher ᵏǀ-
DAT ˈa̰ɡ
the

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

 (27)

Quotes

Ikan 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:

Faiṇ na’g baus ncak ṣung ca’g maif ñit nca nug.

[ˈfainˤ ˈna̰ɡ ˈbaus ᵑǀak ˈsˤuŋ ˈᵏǀa̰ɡ ˈmaif ˈɲit ᵑǀa ˈnuɡ]

f-
ERG ˈainˤ
boy n-
ERG ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈbaus
tell ᵑǀak
PAST sˤ-
DAT ˈuŋ
girl ᵏǀ-
DAT ˈa̰ɡ
the ˈmaif
1excl.sing ˈɲit
love ᵑǀa
COMP ˈnuɡ
2.sing

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Ikan. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 July 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/16CV8

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-16CV8,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Ikan}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/16CV8}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 July 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Ikan / Ikan–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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https://languagecreator.org/grammar/16CV8

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