The Language Creator
– from linguistic questionnaire to grammar, lexicon and texts.

A Grammar of Yuki

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Yuki language (the 1063rd 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 Yuki.

Typological Profile

It has a complete absence of fricative consonants, no inflections (clitics do the hard work) and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

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

It has a complete absence of fricative consonants, a maximally contrastive voicing system, a complete absence of affricates and a strongly reduced sibilant system.

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

labialalveolarlateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ
trill/tap/flapr
fricatives z h
approximantw l j

Vowels

Yuki 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 fully contrastive long–short vowel distinction across the system, a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables and occasional ghost vowels that surface only weakly.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Yuki 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

Yuki 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 /e/
g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/j /j/
k /k/l /l/m /m/n /n/
o /o/p /p/r /r/s /s/
t /t/u /u/w /w/z /z/
ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ee /eː/ii /iː/
oo /oː/uu /uː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Yuki does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Yuki does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Duu ka duu maga pusa ñaja ga niipoña sa jee mee haa gudu.

[ˈduː ka ˈduː ˈmaɡa puˈsa ˈɲaja ˈɡa niːˈpoɲa ˈsa jeː meː haː ɡudu]

ˈduː
the ka
woman ˈduː
the ˈmaɡa
knife puˈsa
COMIT ˈɲaja
blind ˈɡa
yon niːˈpoɲa
mouse ˈsa
three jeː
plur meː
ACC haː
catch ɡudu
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 Yuki are enclitics (placed finally), and there are two types: a clitic expressing number, comprising jee /jeː/ ‘plur’ followed by a clitic expressing case, comprising mee /meː/ ‘ACC’, noo /noː/ ‘GEN’, pee /peː/ ‘DAT’, ruu /ruː/ ‘INS’, ree /reː/ ‘VOC’, ro /ro/ ‘ALL’, too /toː/ ‘LOC’, hata /hata/ ‘ABL’ and bunu /bunu/ ‘PART’.

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 Yuki.

The Noun

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

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

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Hee.

[heː]

heː
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

De hee.

[ˈde heː]

ˈde
3.sing heː
love

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

De mee hee.

[ˈde meː heː]

ˈde
3.sing meː
ACC heː
love

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

Duu Beebeze duu Zimobe mee gagida.

[ˈduː beːˈbeze ˈduː ziˈmobe meː ɡaˈɡida]

ˈduː
the beːˈbeze
Bebeze ˈduː
the ziˈmobe
Zimobe meː
ACC ɡaˈɡida
hate

“Bebeze hates Zimobe.”

 (5)

Possession

duu wo duu naapoko

[ˈduː wo ˈduː naːˈpoko]

ˈduː
the wo
boy ˈduː
the naːˈpoko
apple

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)
de duu naapoko

[ˈde ˈduː naːˈpoko]

ˈde
3.sing ˈduː
the naːˈpoko
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)
maa duu naapoko

[ˈmaː ˈduː naːˈpoko]

ˈmaː
1excl.sing ˈduː
the naːˈpoko
apple

“my apple”

 (8)
Duu hekolaa duu mu kuu duu gukezo duu ki mee jolutu gudu.

[ˈduː heˈkolaː ˈduː mu ˈkuː ˈduː ɡuˈkezo ˈduː ki meː joˈlutu ɡudu]

ˈduː
the heˈkolaː
hunter ˈduː
the mu
daughter ˈkuː
2.sing ˈduː
the ɡuˈkezo
neighbour ˈduː
the ki
son meː
ACC joˈlutu
kiss ɡudu
PAST

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

 (9)

Derivation

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

wiidemuu

[wiːˈdemuː]

wiːˈdemuː
lamb

“a lamb”

 (10)

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

wiidemuugi

[wiːˈdemuːɡi]

wiːˈdemuː
lamb -ɡi
little

“a little lamb”

 (11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Yuki are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising gudu /ɡudu/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising maabuu /maːbuː/ ‘imperative’, sine /sine/ ‘conditional’ and ñeesaa /ɲeːsaː/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising geeza /ɡeːza/ ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising lisa /lisa/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising pama /pama/ ‘Q’.

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

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

Hee.

[heː]

heː
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.

duu pine huu ke

[ˈduː ˈpine huː ˈke]

ˈduː
the ˈpine
table huː
surface ˈke
in

“on the table”

 (13)
duu naalaaja muu na

[ˈduː naːˈlaːja muː ˈna]

ˈduː
the naːˈlaːja
box muː
inside ˈna
to

“into the box”

 (14)
maa pusa

[ˈmaː puˈsa]

ˈmaː
1excl.sing puˈsa
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.

Yuki 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 Yuki.

Duu nijose duu hekolaa mee zee gudu.

[ˈduː niˈjose ˈduː heˈkolaː meː zeː ɡudu]

ˈduː
the niˈjose
jaguar ˈduː
the heˈkolaː
hunter meː
ACC zeː
kill ɡudu
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)
Duu neperi duu hekolaa duu mu duu buu mee tu gudu.

[ˈduː neˈperi ˈduː heˈkolaː ˈduː mu ˈduː buː meː tu ɡudu]

ˈduː
the neˈperi
lion ˈduː
the heˈkolaː
hunter ˈduː
the mu
daughter ˈduː
the buː
dog meː
ACC tu
eat ɡudu
PAST

“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 Yuki 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, Yuki 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.

kuu duu ki duu li duu siihoo

[ˈkuː ˈduː ki ˈduː li ˈduː siːhoː]

ˈkuː
2.sing ˈduː
the ki
son ˈduː
the li
friend ˈduː
the siːhoː
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Yuki 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.

Duu zaa boo.

[ˈduː zaː boː]

ˈduː
the zaː
cat boː
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)
Duu zaa raa.

[ˈduː zaː raː]

ˈduː
the zaː
cat raː
run

“The cat is running.”

 (20)
Duu zaa duu niipoña mee lirukoo.

[ˈduː zaː ˈduː niːˈpoɲa meː liˈrukoː]

ˈduː
the zaː
cat ˈduː
the niːˈpoɲa
mouse meː
ACC liˈrukoː
chase

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)
Duu zaa duu niipoña mee haa gudu.

[ˈduː zaː ˈduː niːˈpoɲa meː haː ɡudu]

ˈduː
the zaː
cat ˈduː
the niːˈpoɲa
mouse meː
ACC haː
catch ɡudu
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Duu hekolaa duu nijose jee hii duu halela jee hii duu neperi jee mee zee gudu.

[ˈduː heˈkolaː ˈduː niˈjose jeː ˈhiː ˈduː haˈlela jeː ˈhiː ˈduː neˈperi jeː meː zeː ɡudu]

ˈduː
the heˈkolaː
hunter ˈduː
the niˈjose
jaguar jeː
plur ˈhiː
and ˈduː
the haˈlela
tiger jeː
plur ˈhiː
and ˈduː
the neˈperi
lion jeː
plur meː
ACC zeː
kill ɡudu
PAST

“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 Yuki 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

Yuki 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:

Duu zaa mee wiiwopu gudu.

[ˈduː zaː meː wiːˈwopu ɡudu]

ˈduː
the zaː
cat meː
ACC wiːˈwopu
pat ɡudu
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Duu niipoña mee haa gudu duu zaa mee wiiwopu gudu.

[ˈduː niːˈpoɲa meː haː ɡudu ˈduː zaː meː wiːˈwopu ɡudu]

ˈduː
the niːˈpoɲa
mouse meː
ACC haː
catch ɡudu
PAST ˈduː
the zaː
cat meː
ACC wiːˈwopu
pat ɡudu
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Duu diimera mee tu gudu duu niipoña mee haa gudu duu zaa mee wiiwopu gudu.

[ˈduː diːˈmera meː tu ɡudu ˈduː niːˈpoɲa meː haː ɡudu ˈduː zaː meː wiːˈwopu ɡudu]

ˈduː
the diːˈmera
cheese meː
ACC tu
eat ɡudu
PAST ˈduː
the niːˈpoɲa
mouse meː
ACC haː
catch ɡudu
PAST ˈduː
the zaː
cat meː
ACC wiːˈwopu
pat ɡudu
PAST

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

 (26)

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

Maa pii gudu duu diimera mee tu gudu duu niipoña mee haa gudu duu zaa mee wiiwopu gudu.

[ˈmaː piː ɡudu ˈduː diːˈmera meː tu ɡudu ˈduː niːˈpoɲa meː haː ɡudu ˈduː zaː meː wiːˈwopu ɡudu]

ˈmaː
1excl.sing piː
buy ɡudu
PAST ˈduː
the diːˈmera
cheese meː
ACC tu
eat ɡudu
PAST ˈduː
the niːˈpoɲa
mouse meː
ACC haː
catch ɡudu
PAST ˈduː
the zaː
cat meː
ACC wiːˈwopu
pat ɡudu
PAST

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

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Yuki 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:

Duu wo duu lu pee naapoko mee poo gudu duu seesaañee pee noomeni gudu.

[ˈduː wo ˈduː lu peː naːˈpoko meː poː ɡudu ˈduː seːsaːɲeː peː noːˈmeni ɡudu]

ˈduː
the wo
boy ˈduː
the lu
girl peː
DAT naːˈpoko
apple meː
ACC poː
give ɡudu
PAST ˈduː
the seːsaːɲeː
teacher peː
DAT noːˈmeni
surprise ɡudu
PAST

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

 (28)

Quotes

Yuki 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:

Duu wo duu lu pee maa kuu mee hee mee doo gudu.

[ˈduː wo ˈduː lu peː ˈmaː ˈkuː meː heː meː doː ɡudu]

ˈduː
the wo
boy ˈduː
the lu
girl peː
DAT ˈmaː
1excl.sing ˈkuː
2.sing meː
ACC heː
love meː
ACC doː
tell ɡudu
PAST

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

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Yuki. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 2 August 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/19TAR

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-19TAR,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Yuki}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/19TAR}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 2 August 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Yuki / Yuki–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/19TAR

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 0.06 seconds.