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

A Grammar of Yud

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Yud language (the 1292nd 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 Yud.

Typological Profile

It has not just singular and plural, but also dual, and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Yud has 21 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a strongly reduced sibilant system, a strikingly small set of lateral and rhotic consonants and a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarpalatalretroflexvelarglottal
stopp b d t ɖ ʈ k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef s h
approximantw j
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Yud has 12 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 has a completely boring and uninteresting vowel system.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Yud 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

Yud 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 /e/e’ /ḛ/f /f/g /ɡ/
h /h/i /i/i’ /ḭ/j /j/
k /k/m /m/n /n/o /o/
o’ /o̰/p /p/s /s/t /t/
u /u/u’ /ṵ/w /w/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
ch /t͡ʃ/ee /eː/ii /iː/
ng /ŋ/oo /oː/rd /ɖ/
rn /ɳ/rr /ɽ/rt /ʈ/
uu /uː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Yud distinguishes singular, dual and plural.

Gender

Yud does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Ge’rt fe’ñ bik rrin fe’ñ nefai ngop gejuuj mo’rr deef ha’n nooki’g.

[ɡḛʈ fḛɲ bik ɽin fḛɲ nefai ŋop ɡejuːj mo̰ɽ deːf ha̰n noːkḭɡ]

ɡḛʈ
woman fḛ
the -ɲ
sing bik
LOC ɽin
knife fḛ
the -ɲ
sing nefai
COMIT ŋop
three ɡejuːj
mouse mo̰ɽ
blind deː
yon -f
plur ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ oːk
catch -ḭɡ
POS

“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 Yud are proclitics (placed initially, and there are two types: a clitic expressing case, comprising rtuk /ʈuk/ ‘GEN’, kiw /kiw/ ‘DAT’, je’rn /jḛɳ/ ‘INS’, meg /meɡ/ ‘VOC’, tarr /taɽ/ ‘ALL’, bik /bik/ ‘LOC’, fup /fup/ ‘ABL’ and girt /ɡiʈ/ ‘PART’ followed by a clitic expressing possessor, comprising fe’b /fḛb/ ‘1incl.sing’, suf /suf/ ‘1excl.sing’, geg /ɡeɡ/ ‘2.sing’, rrard /ɽaɖ/ ‘3.sing’, so’rr /so̰ɽ/ ‘1incl.dual’, joj /joj/ ‘1excl.dual’, such /sut͡ʃ/ ‘2.dual’, ñid /ɲid/ ‘3.dual’, fo’ng /fo̰ŋ/ ‘1incl.plur’, cham /t͡ʃam/ ‘1excl.plur’, rded /ɖed/ ‘2.plur’ and ting /tiŋ/ ‘3.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 Yud.

The Noun

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

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ja /-ja/ ‘little’ and -chi /-t͡ʃi/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Yud, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -ñ /-ɲ/ ‘sing’, -j /-j/ ‘dual’ and -f /-f/ ‘plur’.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Yud has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -d /-d/ ‘sing’, -k /-k/ ‘dual’ and -f /-f/ ‘plur’.

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

Te’d niiñi’g.

[tḛd niːɲḭɡ]

tḛ
3.sing -d
sing n-
3.sing.SUBJ iːɲ
love -ḭɡ
POS

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Te’d te’d niiñi’g.

[tḛd tḛd niːɲḭɡ]

tḛ
3.sing -d
sing tḛ
3.sing -d
sing n-
3.sing.SUBJ iːɲ
love -ḭɡ
POS

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Garnurn fe’ñ Gistirr fe’ñ niibeni’g.

[ɡaɳuɳ fḛɲ ɡistiɽ fḛɲ niːbenḭɡ]

ɡaɳuɳ
Ganun fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɡistiɽ
Gistir fḛ
the -ɲ
sing n-
3.sing.SUBJ iːben
hate -ḭɡ
POS

“Ganun hates Gistir.”

 (4)

Possession

rrard ferraug fe’ñ rtuk si’p fe’ñ

[ɽaɖ feɽauɡ fḛɲ ʈuk sḭp fḛɲ]

ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS feɽauɡ
apple fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ʈuk
GEN sḭp
boy fḛ
the -ɲ
sing

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
rrard ferraug fe’ñ rtuk te’d

[ɽaɖ feɽauɡ fḛɲ ʈuk tḛd]

ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS feɽauɡ
apple fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ʈuk
GEN tḛ
3.sing -d
sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
suf ferraug fe’ñ

[suf feɽauɡ fḛɲ]

suf
1excl.sing.POSS feɽauɡ
apple fḛ
the -ɲ
sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Rrard feñ fe’ñ rtuk majoort fe’ñ rrard daaw fe’ñ geg rtuk moñeert fe’ñ ha’n nuujorti’g.

[ɽaɖ feɲ fḛɲ ʈuk majoːʈ fḛɲ ɽaɖ daːw fḛɲ ɡeɡ ʈuk moɲeːʈ fḛɲ ha̰n nuːjoʈḭɡ]

ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS feɲ
daughter fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ʈuk
GEN majoːʈ
hunter fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS daːw
son fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɡeɡ
2.sing.POSS ʈuk
GEN moɲeːʈ
neighbour fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ uːjoʈ
kiss -ḭɡ
POS

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

wi’jem

[wḭjem]

wḭjem
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

wi’jemja

[wḭjemja]

wḭjem
lamb -ja
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Yud fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing mode, comprising bin /bin/ ‘imperative’, rniw /ɳiw/ ‘conditional’ and nun /nun/ ‘optative’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising ha’n /ha̰n/ ‘PAST’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing question, comprising ñud /ɲud/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an obligatory prefix expressing subj, comprising f- /f-/ ‘1incl.sing’, h- /h-/ ‘1excl.sing’, j- /j-/ ‘2.sing’, n- /n-/ ‘3.sing’, k- /k-/ ‘1incl.dual’, t- /t-/ ‘1excl.dual’, m- /m-/ ‘2.dual’, rd- /ɖ-/ ‘3.dual’, g- /ɡ-/ ‘1incl.plur’, ch- /t͡ʃ-/ ‘1excl.plur’, ng- /ŋ-/ ‘2.plur’ and s- /s-/ ‘3.plur’; second, the root; third, an optional suffix expressing voice, comprising -a’k /-a̰k/ ‘passive’; and finally, fourth, an obligatory suffix expressing negation, comprising -u’rt /-ṵʈ/ ‘NEG’ and -i’g /-ḭɡ/ ‘POS’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -eng /-eŋ/ ‘begin’ and -arr /-aɽ/ ‘stop’

Dood hiiñi’g.

[doːd hiːɲḭɡ]

doː
2.sing -d
sing h-
1excl.sing.SUBJ iːɲ
love -ḭɡ
POS

“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.

bik ta’s fe’ñ rtaad

[bik ta̰s fḛɲ ʈaːd]

bik
LOC ta̰s
table fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ʈaːd
in_surface

“on the table”

 (12)
bik miki fe’ñ dirn

[bik miki fḛɲ diɳ]

bik
LOC miki
box fḛ
the -ɲ
sing diɳ
to_inside

“into the box”

 (13)
bik ni’d nefai

[bik nḭd nefai]

bik
LOC nḭ
1excl.sing -d
sing nefai
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.

Yud 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 Yud.

Rtepoch fe’ñ majoort fe’ñ ha’n nuñi’g.

[ʈepot͡ʃ fḛɲ majoːʈ fḛɲ ha̰n nuɲḭɡ]

ʈepot͡ʃ
jaguar fḛ
the -ɲ
sing majoːʈ
hunter fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ uɲ
kill -ḭɡ
POS

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Gebob fe’ñ rrard rna’k fe’ñ rrard rtuk feñ fe’ñ rtuk majoort fe’ñ ha’n nichi’g.

[ɡebob fḛɲ ɽaɖ ɳa̰k fḛɲ ɽaɖ ʈuk feɲ fḛɲ ʈuk majoːʈ fḛɲ ha̰n nit͡ʃḭɡ]

ɡebob
lion fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS ɳa̰k
dog fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS ʈuk
GEN feɲ
daughter fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ʈuk
GEN majoːʈ
hunter fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ it͡ʃ
eat -ḭɡ
POS

“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 Yud 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, Yud 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.

rrard kitaab fe’ñ rrard rtuk paiñ fe’ñ geg rtuk daaw fe’ñ

[ɽaɖ kitaːb fḛɲ ɽaɖ ʈuk paiɲ fḛɲ ɡeɡ ʈuk daːw fḛɲ]

ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS kitaːb
book fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS ʈuk
GEN paiɲ
friend fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɡeɡ
2.sing.POSS ʈuk
GEN daːw
son fḛ
the -ɲ
sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Yud 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.

Ngain fe’ñ nodi’g.

[ŋain fḛɲ nodḭɡ]

ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing n-
3.sing.SUBJ od
sleep -ḭɡ
POS

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Ngain fe’ñ ni’rti’g.

[ŋain fḛɲ nḭʈḭɡ]

ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing n-
3.sing.SUBJ ḭʈ
run -ḭɡ
POS

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Ngain fe’ñ gejuuj fe’ñ nenifi’g.

[ŋain fḛɲ ɡejuːj fḛɲ nenifḭɡ]

ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɡejuːj
mouse fḛ
the -ɲ
sing n-
3.sing.SUBJ enif
chase -ḭɡ
POS

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Ngain fe’ñ gejuuj fe’ñ ha’n nooki’g.

[ŋain fḛɲ ɡejuːj fḛɲ ha̰n noːkḭɡ]

ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɡejuːj
mouse fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ oːk
catch -ḭɡ
POS

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Majoort fe’ñ rtepoch fe’f jon gikap fe’f jon gebob fe’f ha’n nuñi’g.

[majoːʈ fḛɲ ʈepot͡ʃ fḛf jon ɡikap fḛf jon ɡebob fḛf ha̰n nuɲḭɡ]

majoːʈ
hunter fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ʈepot͡ʃ
jaguar fḛ
the -f
plur jon
and ɡikap
tiger fḛ
the -f
plur jon
and ɡebob
lion fḛ
the -f
plur ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ uɲ
kill -ḭɡ
POS

“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 Yud 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

Yud 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:

Ngain fe’ñ ha’n hebabi’g.

[ŋain fḛɲ ha̰n hebabḭɡ]

ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ha̰n
PAST h-
1excl.sing.SUBJ ebab
pat -ḭɡ
POS

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Ha’n hebabi’g ngain fe’ñ, jaid ha’n nooki’g gejuuj fe’ñ.

[ha̰n hebabḭɡ ŋain fḛɲ, jaid ha̰n noːkḭɡ ɡejuːj fḛɲ]

ha̰n
PAST h-
1excl.sing.SUBJ ebab
pat -ḭɡ
POS ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing jai
RELPRON -d
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ oːk
catch -ḭɡ
POS ɡejuːj
mouse fḛ
the -ɲ
sing

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Ha’n hebabi’g ngain fe’ñ, jaid ha’n nooki’g gejuuj fe’ñ, jaid ha’n nichi’g je’rrok fe’ñ.

[ha̰n hebabḭɡ ŋain fḛɲ, jaid ha̰n noːkḭɡ ɡejuːj fḛɲ, jaid ha̰n nit͡ʃḭɡ jḛɽok fḛɲ]

ha̰n
PAST h-
1excl.sing.SUBJ ebab
pat -ḭɡ
POS ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing jai
RELPRON -d
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ oːk
catch -ḭɡ
POS ɡejuːj
mouse fḛ
the -ɲ
sing jai
RELPRON -d
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ it͡ʃ
eat -ḭɡ
POS jḛɽok
cheese fḛ
the -ɲ
sing

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

 (25)

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

Ha’n hebabi’g ngain fe’ñ, jaid ha’n nooki’g gejuuj fe’ñ, jaid ha’n nichi’g je’rrok fe’ñ, jaid ha’n haigi’g ni’d.

[ha̰n hebabḭɡ ŋain fḛɲ, jaid ha̰n noːkḭɡ ɡejuːj fḛɲ, jaid ha̰n nit͡ʃḭɡ jḛɽok fḛɲ, jaid ha̰n haiɡḭɡ nḭd]

ha̰n
PAST h-
1excl.sing.SUBJ ebab
pat -ḭɡ
POS ŋain
cat fḛ
the -ɲ
sing jai
RELPRON -d
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ oːk
catch -ḭɡ
POS ɡejuːj
mouse fḛ
the -ɲ
sing jai
RELPRON -d
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ it͡ʃ
eat -ḭɡ
POS jḛɽok
cheese fḛ
the -ɲ
sing jai
RELPRON -d
sing ha̰n
PAST h-
1excl.sing.SUBJ aiɡ
buy -ḭɡ
POS nḭ
1excl.sing -d
sing

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Yud 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:

Rtuk rda’k fe’ñ ferraug ha’n nogi’g rrard si’p fe’ñ humaat fe’ñ ha’n nuchati’g.

[ʈuk ɖa̰k fḛɲ feɽauɡ ha̰n noɡḭɡ ɽaɖ sḭp fḛɲ humaːt fḛɲ ha̰n nut͡ʃatḭɡ]

ʈuk
GEN ɖa̰k
girl fḛ
the -ɲ
sing feɽauɡ
apple ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ oɡ
give -ḭɡ
POS ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS sḭp
boy fḛ
the -ɲ
sing humaːt
teacher fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ ut͡ʃat
surprise -ḭɡ
POS

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

 (27)

Quotes

Yud 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:

Si’p fe’ñ rda’k fe’ñ rtuk dood niiñi’g rrard ni’d ha’n ne’bi’g.

[sḭp fḛɲ ɖa̰k fḛɲ ʈuk doːd niːɲḭɡ ɽaɖ nḭd ha̰n nḛbḭɡ]

sḭp
boy fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ɖa̰k
girl fḛ
the -ɲ
sing ʈuk
GEN doː
2.sing -d
sing n-
3.sing.SUBJ iːɲ
love -ḭɡ
POS ɽaɖ
3.sing.POSS nḭ
1excl.sing -d
sing ha̰n
PAST n-
3.sing.SUBJ ḛb
tell -ḭɡ
POS

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Yud. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 August 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/2MY1J

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-2MY1J,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Yud}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/2MY1J}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 August 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Yud / Yud–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/2MY1J

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 0.04 seconds; writing the grammar 0.06 seconds.