A Grammar of Do

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Do language (the 1283rd 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 Do.

Typological Profile

It has a highly marked collection of glottal, uvular, pharyngeal or epiglottal contrasts, a total lack of nasal consonants, the typologically rare OSV basic word order, a maximally developed dental–alveolar opposition and no inflections (clitics do the hard work).

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Do has an extremely large consonant inventory, totalling 50 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 a total lack of nasal consonants.

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

vel. labialpal. labialvel. alveolarpal. alveolarvel. postalveolarpal. postalveolarpalatalvel. retroflexpal. retroflexvel. velarpal. velarvel. uvularpal. uvularvel. pharyngealpal. pharyngealvel. epiglottalpal. epiglottalglottal
stoppˠ bˠ pʲ bʲ dˠ tˠ dʲ tʲ ɖˠ ʈˠ ɖʲ ʈʲ kˠ ɡˠ kʲ ɡʲ qˠ ɢˠ qʲ ɢʲ ʡˠ ʡʲ ʔ
trill/tap/flapɽˠ ɽʲ ʜˠ ʜʲ
fricativesˠ zˠ sʲ zʲ ʃˠ ʒˠ ʃʲ ʒʲ ʂˠ ʐˠ ʂʲ ʐʲ ʕˠ ʕʲ h
approximantʋˠ ʋʲ j

Vowels

Do 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 fully contrastive long–short vowel distinction across the system, a strongly reduced vowel system in unstressed syllables and a fully three-way front–central–back distinction.

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

frontcentralback
closei ɨ u
mide ə o
openæ ɑ

Stress and Tones

Do 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

Do is normally written using the Cyrillic alphabet, a script with a long and varied history across Eastern Europe and northern Asia. In this grammar, phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are also used to give an unambiguous representation of sound.

The conventions adopted here follow standard Cyrillic practice for the language where that exists; where they do not, the IPA transcription should be taken as authoritative.

Orthography

Here are the various components of the orthography:

Simple letters

б /b/в /ʋ/г /h/д /d/
д̇ /ɖ/е /ʲe/ж /ʒ/з /z/
з̇ /ʐ/и /ʲi/к /k/о /ˠo/
п /p/р̇ /ɽ/с /s/с̇ /ʂ/
т /t/т̇ /ʈ/у /ˠu/ф /f/
х /x/ш /ʃ/ъ /ˠ/ы /ˠi/
ь /ʲ/э /ˠe/ю /ʲu/ё /ʲo/
ј /j/ґ /ɡ/ӏ /ʔ/ӷ /ɢ/
ԛ /q/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ее /eː/ии /iː/оо /oː/
уу /uː/хъ /ʜ/ъы /ˠɨ/
ъѣ /ˠæ/ъӓ /ˠɑ/ъә /ˠə/
ыы /ɨː/ьы /ʲɨ/ьѣ /ʲæ/
ьӓ /ʲɑ/ьә /ʲə/ѣѣ /æː/
ғъ /ʕ/Ӏъ /ʡ/ӓӓ /ɑː/
әә /əː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Do does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Do has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: д̇ьәːшькё ‘bosom’, дъәжьд̇е ‘knee’, жьпьәːз̇ъбъѣː ‘slime’, з̇ьд̇ю ‘man’, з̇ьӷё ‘boy’, зъґьәз̇ъѣ ‘river’, зьґьѣ ‘road’, кьәːжъпу ‘fog’, с̇ъпыː ‘east’, с̇ьӏəԛи ‘brick’, с̇ьәжэ ‘cloud’, съку ‘father’, сьәтьѣː ‘salt’, фъәːс̇ьт̇ьы ‘net’, хъъәжъд̇ю ‘urine’, шъӀъэ ‘sea’, шьт̇ъы ‘nose’, јәәзьґу ‘ash’, ґъәːз̇ьґъӓ ‘God’, ғъы ‘son’.

Gender fem – for instance: бьәт̇иː ‘wheat’, гəӀъё ‘apple’, д̇ьәшё ‘mountain’, дё ‘Do’, жъәс̇ькъӓ ‘neighbour’, жьәзьд̇ёː ‘jaguar’, з̇ъд̇о ‘girl’, з̇ьдыː ‘mother’, зъбъәде ‘neck’, зъӷъәґьӓ ‘feather’, зюː ‘head’, с̇ътъы ‘meat’, с̇ъӀъьәзъԛоː ‘worm’, с̇ьӀъъы ‘bed’, сът̇ьәхю ‘teacher’, шъкю ‘egg’, шъпъѣː ‘fruit’, шът̇ъәпъы ‘wing’, ғъьәԛё ‘mouse’, ӏɑ ‘speech’.

Gender neut – for instance: гɑ ‘earth’, гəки ‘bark’, дьәːсът̇ьӓː ‘vagina’, дэː ‘idea’, жьби ‘blood’, жьт̇у ‘mouth’, з̇ъпи ‘tree’, зьґьыː ‘moon’, зьґьәːғъъѣ ‘anus’, с̇ъкъәːшъӀъьӓ ‘medicine’, с̇ът̇ьәːфъѣː ‘box’, с̇ъәːдю ‘restaurant’, с̇ьәјo ‘ice’, сьт̇о ‘knife’, сьтъы ‘colour’, тъѣ ‘top’, шътъәс̇ьԛю ‘forest’, ғъъәːз̇ъӓ ‘library’, ғъъәшъӓ ‘rope’, Ӏъъәӷо ‘court’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Шэсьт̇ъә с̇ъпы ғъьәԛё ське зьбъсьт̇ъә з̇ъкъѣ сьт̇ьәӷьѣː зьбуː сьт̇о з̇ьд̇ьә хъю пъәː.

[ʃˠesʲʈˠə ʂˠpˠi ʕʲəqʲo sʲkʲe zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʐˠkˠæ sʲʈʲəɢʲæː zʲbˠuː sʲʈˠo ʐʲɖʲə ʜʲu pˠəː]

ʃˠe
yon
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʂˠpˠi
three
ʕʲəqʲo
mouse
sʲkʲe
blind
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʐˠkˠæ
woman
sʲʈʲəɢʲæː
COMIT
zʲbˠuː
the
sʲʈˠo
knife
ʐʲɖʲə
LOC
ʜʲu
catch
pˠəː
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 Do are enclitics (placed finally), and there are two types: a clitic expressing possessor, comprising з̇ъәː /ʐˠəː/ ‘1incl’, хъәː /xˠəː/ ‘1excl’, жьд̇ъәː /ʒʲɖˠəː/ ‘2’, с̇ъԛъә /ʂˠqˠə/ ‘3.masc’, зъд̇ъәː /zˠɖˠəː/ ‘3.fem’ and тьә /tʲə/ ‘3.neut’ followed by a clitic expressing case, comprising жъӏə /ʒˠʔə/ ‘GEN’, шъә /ʃˠə/ ‘DAT’, фъә /fˠə/ ‘INS’, з̇ьбьә /ʐʲbʲə/ ‘VOC’, Ӏъьә /ʡʲə/ ‘ALL’, з̇ьд̇ьә /ʐʲɖʲə/ ‘LOC’, с̇ьԛьә /ʂʲqʲə/ ‘ABL’ and къә /kˠə/ ‘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 Do.

The Noun

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

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 20 suffixes, namely -дьә /-dʲə/ ‘little’, -з̇ьә /-ʐʲə/ ‘big’, -съә /-sˠə/ ‘old’, -Ӏъъәː /-ʡˠəː/ ‘new’, -жьә /-ʒʲə/ ‘good’, -сьт̇ьәː /-sʲʈʲəː/ ‘bad’, -зъә /-zˠə/ ‘have’, -ғъьә /-ʕʲə/ ‘use’, -зьпъә /-zʲpˠə/ ‘see’, -з̇ъдъә /-ʐˠdˠə/ ‘make’, -кьә /-kʲə/ ‘break’, -хъә /-xˠə/ ‘eat’, -с̇ьӏәә /-ʂʲʔəː/ ‘drink’, -ґьә /-ɡʲə/ ‘wear’, -ғъьәː /-ʕʲəː/ ‘own’, -зъд̇ьә /-zˠɖʲə/ ‘contain’, -д̇ьә /-ɖʲə/ ‘hold’, -р̇ьәː /-ɽʲəː/ ‘lack’, -фъә /-fˠə/ ‘touch’ and -с̇ьӀъьә /-ʂʲʡʲə/ ‘carry’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Do, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing gender, comprising -з̇ъә /-ʐˠə/ ‘masc’ and -сьт̇ъә /-sʲʈˠə/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

Do 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:

Въӓː д̇э сътю.

[ʋˠɑː ɖˠe sˠtʲu]

ʋˠɑː
3.fem
ɖˠe
3.masc
sˠtʲu
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(2)

Proper Nouns

Зьбъсьт̇ъә З̇ьд̇ъәːз̇ы зьбуːз̇ъә Съпьәшьӏии ӷьәːз̇ьґи.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʐʲɖˠəːʐˠi zʲbˠuːʐˠə sˠpʲəʃʲʔiː ɢʲəːʐʲɡʲi]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʐʲɖˠəːʐˠi
Zahdazhi
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
sˠpʲəʃʲʔiː
Spashi
ɢʲəːʐʲɡʲi
hate

“Spashi hates Zahdazhi.”

(3)

Possession

зьбъсьт̇ъә гəӀъё с̇ъԛъә зьбуːз̇ъә з̇ьӷё жъӏə

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə həʡʲo ʂˠqˠə zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʐʲɢʲo ʒˠʔə]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
həʡʲo
apple
ʂˠqˠə
3.masc.POSS
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʐʲɢʲo
boy
ʒˠʔə
GEN

“the boy’s apple”

(4)
зьбъсьт̇ъә гəӀъё с̇ъԛъә д̇э жъӏə

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə həʡʲo ʂˠqˠə ɖˠe ʒˠʔə]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
həʡʲo
apple
ʂˠqˠə
3.masc.POSS
ɖˠe
3.masc
ʒˠʔə
GEN

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(5)
зьбъсьт̇ъә гəӀъё хъәː

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə həʡʲo xˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
həʡʲo
apple
xˠəː
1excl.POSS

“my apple”

(6)
Зьбуːз̇ъә ғъы зъд̇ъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә жъәс̇ькъӓ жьд̇ъәː жъӏə зьбъсьт̇ъә съке с̇ъԛъә зьбуːз̇ъә з̇ъбъәԛо жъӏə с̇ьәд̇е пъәː.

[zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʕˠi zˠɖˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʒˠəʂʲkˠɑ ʒʲɖˠəː ʒˠʔə zʲbˠsʲʈˠə sˠkʲe ʂˠqˠə zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʐˠbˠəqˠo ʒˠʔə ʂʲəɖʲe pˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʕˠi
son
zˠɖˠəː
3.fem.POSS
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʒˠəʂʲkˠɑ
neighbour
ʒʲɖˠəː
2.POSS
ʒˠʔə
GEN
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
sˠkʲe
daughter
ʂˠqˠə
3.masc.POSS
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʐˠbˠəqˠo
hunter
ʒˠʔə
GEN
ʂʲəɖʲe
kiss
pˠəː
PAST

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

(7)

Derivation

ӷъәːдъѣː

[ɢˠəːdˠæː]

ɢˠəːdˠæː
lamb

“a lamb”

(8)
ӷъәːдъдьә

[ɢˠəːdˠdʲə]

ɢˠəːdˠæː
lamb
-dʲə
little

“a little lamb”

(9)
Въӓː ӷъәːдъдьзъә пъәː.

[ʋˠɑː ɢˠəːdˠdʲzˠə pˠəː]

ʋˠɑː
3.fem
ɢˠəːdˠæː
lamb
-dʲə
little
-zˠə
have
pˠəː
PAST

“She had a little lamb.”

(10)
Въӓː ӷъәːдъдьзъәшьпъә пъәː.

[ʋˠɑː ɢˠəːdˠdʲzˠəʃʲpˠə pˠəː]

ʋˠɑː
3.fem
ɢˠəːdˠæː
lamb
-dʲə
little
-zˠə
have
-ʃʲpˠə
want
pˠəː
PAST

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

(11)
Ӷъәːдъдьә з̇ъдуː пъәː сътъәзьд̇ъӓ въӓː шьѣ шьтьы пъәː.

[ɢˠəːdˠdʲə ʐˠdˠuː pˠəː sˠtˠəzʲɖˠɑ ʋˠɑː ʃʲæ ʃʲtʲɨ pˠəː]

ɢˠəːdˠæː
lamb
-dʲə
little
ʐˠdˠuː
have
pˠəː
PAST
sˠtˠəzʲɖˠɑ
COMP
ʋˠɑː
3.fem
ʃʲæ
want
ʃʲtʲɨ
often
pˠəː
PAST

“She often wanted to have a little lamb.”

(12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Do are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising пъәː /pˠəː/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising ӷьә /ɢʲə/ ‘imperative’, шьпьә /ʃʲpʲə/ ‘conditional’ and р̇ъә /ɽˠə/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising т̇ъәː /ʈˠəː/ ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising с̇ъпъәː /ʂˠpˠəː/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising ԛъә /qˠə/ ‘Q’.

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

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: 12 suffixes, namely -шът̇ъә /-ʃˠʈˠə/ ‘begin’, -сът̇ъәː /-sˠʈˠəː/ ‘stop’, -з̇ъбьә /-ʐˠbʲə/ ‘continue’, -с̇ьт̇ъә /-ʂʲʈˠə/ ‘try’, -жъә /-ʒˠə/ ‘start’, -шьпъә /-ʃʲpˠə/ ‘want’, -хъьә /-ʜʲə/ ‘can’, -с̇ьӏə /-ʂʲʔə/ ‘finish’, -з̇ъдьә /-ʐˠdʲə/ ‘need’, -ӷъә /-ɢˠə/ ‘decide’, -зьдьә /-zʲdʲə/ ‘fail’ and -шъәː /-ʃˠəː/ ‘hope’

Шът̇ъӓ жъбы сътю.

[ʃˠʈˠɑ ʒˠbˠi sˠtʲu]

ʃˠʈˠɑ
2
ʒˠbˠi
1excl
sˠtʲu
love

“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.

з̇ъдюː зьбуːз̇ъә р̇ъѣː з̇ьд̇ьә

[ʐˠdʲuː zʲbˠuːʐˠə ɽˠæː ʐʲɖʲə]

ʐˠdʲuː
in_surface
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ɽˠæː
table
ʐʲɖʲə
LOC

“on the table”

(14)
жьыː зьбуː с̇ът̇ьәːфъѣː з̇ьд̇ьә

[ʒʲɨː zʲbˠuː ʂˠʈʲəːfˠæː ʐʲɖʲə]

ʒʲɨː
to_inside
zʲbˠuː
the
ʂˠʈʲəːfˠæː
box
ʐʲɖʲə
LOC

“into the box”

(15)
сьт̇ьәӷьѣː жъбы з̇ьд̇ьә

[sʲʈʲəɢʲæː ʒˠbˠi ʐʲɖʲə]

sʲʈʲəɢʲæː
COMIT
ʒˠbˠi
1excl
ʐʲɖʲə
LOC

“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.

Do adopts Object–Subject–Verb (OSV) as its unmarked word order. The object precedes the subject, and the verb appears clause-finally. OSV is a rare ordering pattern but is attested in a small number of languages.

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

Зьбуːз̇ъә з̇ъбъәԛо зьбъсьт̇ъә жьәзьд̇ёː шьӏии пъәː.

[zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʐˠbˠəqˠo zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʒʲəzʲɖʲoː ʃʲʔiː pˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʐˠbˠəqˠo
hunter
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʒʲəzʲɖʲoː
jaguar
ʃʲʔiː
kill
pˠəː
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(17)
Зьбъсьт̇ъә ԛэ зъд̇ъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә съке с̇ъԛъә жъӏə зьбуːз̇ъә з̇ъбъәԛо жъӏə зьбъсьт̇ъә Ӏъъәди съԛъы пъәː.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə qˠe zˠɖˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə sˠkʲe ʂˠqˠə ʒˠʔə zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʐˠbˠəqˠo ʒˠʔə zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʡˠədʲi sˠqˠɨ pˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
qˠe
dog
zˠɖˠəː
3.fem.POSS
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
sˠkʲe
daughter
ʂˠqˠə
3.masc.POSS
ʒˠʔə
GEN
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʐˠbˠəqˠo
hunter
ʒˠʔə
GEN
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʡˠədʲi
lion
sˠqˠɨ
eat
pˠəː
PAST

“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 Do 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-initial: the possessed noun precedes the possessor. For instance, Do expresses “the child’s toy” with the equivalent of “toy child”. This structure is typologically rarer and often co-occurs with verb-initial syntax or with grammatical marking on the noun.

зьбуːз̇ъә жъыː зъд̇ъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә с̇ъӏi с̇ъԛъә жъӏə зьбуːз̇ъә ғъы жьд̇ъәː жъӏə

[zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʒˠɨː zˠɖˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʂˠʔi ʂˠqˠə ʒˠʔə zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʕˠi ʒʲɖˠəː ʒˠʔə]

zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʒˠɨː
book
zˠɖˠəː
3.fem.POSS
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʂˠʔi
friend
ʂˠqˠə
3.masc.POSS
ʒˠʔə
GEN
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʕˠi
son
ʒʲɖˠəː
2.POSS
ʒˠʔə
GEN

“your son’s friend’s book”

(19)

Case Marking

Do does not use case marking to distinguish the core participants of the clause. There is therefore no regular nominative, accusative, ergative, active or stative marking on subjects and objects. Instead, the roles of the participants are identified by other means, cf. the examples below.

Зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё жъӷы.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo ʒˠɢˠi]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
ʒˠɢˠi
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

(20)
Зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё шё.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo ʃʲo]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
ʃʲo
run

“The cat is running.”

(21)
Зьбъсьт̇ъә ғъьәԛё зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё съԛъәбёː.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʕʲəqʲo zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo sˠqˠəbʲoː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʕʲəqʲo
mouse
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
sˠqˠəbʲoː
chase

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

(22)
Зьбъсьт̇ъә ғъьәԛё зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё хъю пъәː.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʕʲəqʲo zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo ʜʲu pˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʕʲəqʲo
mouse
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
ʜʲu
catch
pˠəː
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

(23)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Зьбъсьт̇ъә жьәзьд̇ёː с̇ъѣ зьбъсьт̇ъә ґъәːкъӓ с̇ъѣ зьбъсьт̇ъә Ӏъъәди зьбуːз̇ъә з̇ъбъәԛо шьӏии пъәː.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʒʲəzʲɖʲoː ʂˠæ zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɡˠəːkˠɑ ʂˠæ zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʡˠədʲi zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʐˠbˠəqˠo ʃʲʔiː pˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʒʲəzʲɖʲoː
jaguar
ʂˠæ
and
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɡˠəːkˠɑ
tiger
ʂˠæ
and
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʡˠədʲi
lion
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʐˠbˠəqˠo
hunter
ʃʲʔiː
kill
pˠəː
PAST

“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 Do 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

Do 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:

Зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё жъбы јәәшът̇у пъәː.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo ʒˠbˠi jəːʃˠʈˠu pˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
ʒˠbˠi
1excl
jəːʃˠʈˠu
pat
pˠəː
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

(25)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Жъбы јәәшът̇у пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё, кьӓ хъю пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә ғъьәԛё.

[ʒˠbˠi jəːʃˠʈˠu pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo, kʲɑ ʜʲu pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʕʲəqʲo]

ʒˠbˠi
1excl
jəːʃˠʈˠu
pat
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
kʲɑ
RELPRON
ʜʲu
catch
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʕʲəqʲo
mouse

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(26)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Жъбы јәәшът̇у пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё, кьӓ хъю пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә ғъьәԛё, кьӓ съԛъы пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә д̇ъәːтё.

[ʒˠbˠi jəːʃˠʈˠu pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo, kʲɑ ʜʲu pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʕʲəqʲo, kʲɑ sˠqˠɨ pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɖˠəːtʲo]

ʒˠbˠi
1excl
jəːʃˠʈˠu
pat
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
kʲɑ
RELPRON
ʜʲu
catch
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʕʲəqʲo
mouse
kʲɑ
RELPRON
sˠqˠɨ
eat
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɖˠəːtʲo
cheese

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

(27)

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

Жъбы јәәшът̇у пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә р̇ё, кьӓ хъю пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә ғъьәԛё, кьӓ съԛъы пъәː зьбъсьт̇ъә д̇ъәːтё, кьӓ кы пъәː жъбы.

[ʒˠbˠi jəːʃˠʈˠu pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɽʲo, kʲɑ ʜʲu pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʕʲəqʲo, kʲɑ sˠqˠɨ pˠəː zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ɖˠəːtʲo, kʲɑ kˠi pˠəː ʒˠbˠi]

ʒˠbˠi
1excl
jəːʃˠʈˠu
pat
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɽʲo
cat
kʲɑ
RELPRON
ʜʲu
catch
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʕʲəqʲo
mouse
kʲɑ
RELPRON
sˠqˠɨ
eat
pˠəː
PAST
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ɖˠəːtʲo
cheese
kʲɑ
RELPRON
kˠi
buy
pˠəː
PAST
ʒˠbˠi
1excl

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

(28)

Complementation Strategies

Do 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:

Зьбъсьт̇ъә сът̇ьәхю гəӀъё зьбъсьт̇ъә з̇ъд̇о зьбуːз̇ъә з̇ьӷё ки пъәː сътъәзьд̇ъӓ ӷьәжьԛу пъәː.

[zʲbˠsʲʈˠə sˠʈʲəxʲu həʡʲo zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʐˠɖˠo zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʐʲɢʲo kʲi pˠəː sˠtˠəzʲɖˠɑ ɢʲəʒʲqˠu pˠəː]

zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
sˠʈʲəxʲu
teacher
həʡʲo
apple
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʐˠɖˠo
girl
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʐʲɢʲo
boy
kʲi
give
pˠəː
PAST
sˠtˠəzʲɖˠɑ
COMP
ɢʲəʒʲqˠu
surprise
pˠəː
PAST

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

(29)

Quotes

Do 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:

Шът̇ъӓ жъбы сътю сътъәзьд̇ъӓ зьбъсьт̇ъә з̇ъд̇о зьбуːз̇ъә з̇ьӷё кьѣː пъәː.

[ʃˠʈˠɑ ʒˠbˠi sˠtʲu sˠtˠəzʲɖˠɑ zʲbˠsʲʈˠə ʐˠɖˠo zʲbˠuːʐˠə ʐʲɢʲo kʲæː pˠəː]

ʃˠʈˠɑ
2
ʒˠbˠi
1excl
sˠtʲu
love
sˠtˠəzʲɖˠɑ
COMP
zʲbˠuː
the
-sʲʈˠə
fem
ʐˠɖˠo
girl
zʲbˠuː
the
-ʐˠə
masc
ʐʲɢʲo
boy
kʲæː
tell
pˠəː
PAST

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

(30)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Do. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 26 August 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/2L4DB

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-2L4DB,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Do}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/2L4DB}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 26 August 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

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