A Grammar of Tulu

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Tulu language (the 101st 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 Tulu.

Typological Profile

It has a rich system of noun classes, the VSO basic order, common globally but unusual in many families and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Tulu has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 32 phonemes.

It has an extensive and fully contrastive palatal series, a notable dental–alveolar contrast across several manners, a strongly reduced sibilant system and a complete absence of phonemic voicing contrasts.

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

vel. labialpal. labialvel. dentalpal. dentalvel. alveolarpal. alveolarpostalveolarvel. lateralpal. lateralpalatalvel. velarpal. velarglottal
stop
nasalŋˠ ŋʲ
trill/tap/flap
fricativeθˠ θʲ h
approximantʋˠ ʋʲ j
affricatet͡sˠ t͡sʲ t͡ʃ

Vowels

Tulu has 9 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 phonologically distinctive back unrounded vowels and a moderately reduced system of unstressed vowels.

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

frontcentralback unroundedback rounded
closei ɯ u
mide ɤ o
opena

Stress and Tones

Tulu 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

Tulu 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/e /e/h /h/i /i/
j /j/o /o/u /u/ơ /ɤ/
ư /ɯ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/dj /t͡ʃ/
fʲ /fʲ/fˠ /fˠ/kʲ /kʲ/
kˠ /kˠ/lʲ /lʲ/lˠ /lˠ/
mʲ /mʲ/mˠ /mˠ/nʲ /nʲ/
nˠ /nˠ/pʲ /pʲ/pˠ /pˠ/
rʲ /rʲ/rˠ /rˠ/sʲ /sʲ/
sˠ /sˠ/tʲ /tʲ/tˠ /tˠ/
t͡sʲ /t͡sʲ/t͡sˠ /t͡sˠ/xʲ /xʲ/
xˠ /xˠ/ŋʲ /ŋʲ/ŋˠ /ŋˠ/
ʋʲ /ʋʲ/ʋˠ /ʋˠ/θʲ /θʲ/
θˠ /θˠ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Tulu does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Tulu has the following noun classes:

Class cl.1 – for instance: fˠasʲi ‘surface’, fˠưxˠu ‘rope’, heŋʲư ‘stick’, joxˠu ‘farmer’, mʲaulˠi ‘house’, mʲưlˠa ‘teacher’, nˠoha ‘road’, rˠilʲi ‘north’, sˠơlʲa ‘binoculars’, tˠopˠa ‘tower’, t͡sʲơnˠa ‘net’, ŋʲepˠu ‘hunter’, ŋˠulˠi ‘umbrella’, ŋˠumˠư ‘book’, ʋʲafˠi ‘machine’, ʋˠamʲi ‘top’, ʋˠasˠu ‘west’, ʋˠinˠư ‘knife’, θʲơnʲa ‘east’, θˠut͡sʲư ‘brick’.

Class cl.2 – for instance: djaŋʲư ‘idea’, djiju ‘bosom’, jaulʲi ‘liver’, jơŋʲa ‘mouth’, kˠanʲu ‘face’, lʲifˠa ‘fat’, lˠofˠu ‘fingernail’, mʲot͡sˠư ‘eye’, nʲasʲa ‘colour’, pˠot͡sʲư ‘leg’, rˠeθʲa ‘tongue’, sʲưxʲu ‘foot’, tʲirˠư ‘bone’, tˠikˠi ‘land’, xʲasˠi ‘ear’, xʲiθʲa ‘back’, ŋˠauθˠi ‘belly’, ʋʲit͡sʲi ‘heart’, θʲaʋʲa ‘breast’, θʲomˠi ‘wing’.

Class cl.3 – for instance: fʲaxˠi ‘wife’, fʲaŋʲu ‘mountain’, fʲuŋʲi ‘mother’, hưlʲi ‘human being’, kʲetˠa ‘son’, mʲơtʲi ‘friend’, mˠưdja ‘neighbour’, nʲuŋˠi ‘people’, pˠaxˠa ‘boy’, sʲaut͡sʲa ‘woman’, tˠiŋʲi ‘child’, tˠưlˠư ‘Tulu’, t͡sʲamˠa ‘girl’, xˠautˠi ‘daughter’, xˠauʋʲa ‘father’, ŋʲiʋʲa ‘husband’, ʋˠeʋʲi ‘manner’, θʲenʲa ‘God’, θˠoθʲa ‘man’.

Class cl.4 – for instance: fʲaujư ‘cloud’, fʲơt͡sˠi ‘lion’, kʲưxʲi ‘star’, mʲaifˠa ‘sun’, nʲoŋˠu ‘dog’, nʲơnˠi ‘mouse’, nˠoθʲư ‘fish’, pʲumˠi ‘bed’, pˠarˠi ‘chair’, rʲosˠư ‘worm’, rʲơtˠa ‘wind’, sˠixʲi ‘sky’, t͡sʲơkˠu ‘mammal’, xˠafʲa ‘louse’, ŋʲơfʲư ‘table’, ŋˠafˠu ‘tiger’, ʋˠut͡sʲu ‘lamb’, θʲepʲi ‘moon’, θʲiθˠu ‘animal’, θˠơtˠa ‘earth’.

Class cl.5 – for instance: djaiŋˠi ‘fight’, fʲikʲi ‘fruit’, hoxʲư ‘leaf’, jơdja ‘box’, kˠanˠi ‘water’, lʲauʋʲi ‘mortar’, lʲifˠu ‘root’, mˠufˠi ‘flower’, mˠưkʲi ‘jaguar’, nˠaukʲa ‘forest’, sʲưsʲư ‘apple’, tʲaipˠu ‘wheat’, tˠexˠa ‘grass’, t͡sʲaxʲư ‘tree’, t͡sʲisˠu ‘snake’, t͡sˠemʲa ‘bark’, xʲerʲư ‘plain’, ʋʲefʲa ‘bottle’, ʋˠirˠa ‘urine’, θˠimˠa ‘seed’.

Class cl.6 – for instance: hưsʲa ‘horn’, kˠaʋʲi ‘lake’, kˠơŋˠi ‘day’, lʲopˠa ‘year’, pʲưpʲi ‘egg’, rʲaʋˠư ‘sea’, rʲơpʲi ‘night’, xʲokʲu ‘feather’, ʋʲiθˠu ‘river’, ʋˠurˠa ‘time’, θʲưt͡sˠa ‘meat’, θˠapˠư ‘stone’, θˠoθʲu ‘cheese’.

Class cl.7 – for instance: djilˠư ‘dust’, djut͡sˠa ‘snow’, fˠipʲu ‘speech’, jeθˠi ‘language’, juʋˠi ‘name’, kʲifˠu ‘smoke’, kˠaurˠa ‘fog’, lʲaurˠu ‘slime’, lˠomʲư ‘dialect’, mʲerʲa ‘rain’, mʲơnʲa ‘sound’, nˠaiθʲu ‘faeces’, nˠutʲi ‘ash’, pˠơʋˠu ‘fire’, t͡sʲilʲi ‘city’, ŋˠinʲư ‘embrace’, ʋʲarˠi ‘salt’, ʋʲưfʲi ‘breath’, ʋˠixʲu ‘sand’, θʲuŋʲi ‘money’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Jư pʲiʋˠi sʲaut͡sʲa ʋˠinˠư Lˠi nʲơnˠit͡sʲi nˠau fʲumˠau, hutˠư jơnˠư.

[jɯ pʲiʋˠi sʲaut͡sʲa ʋˠinˠɯ lˠi nʲɤnˠit͡sʲi nˠau fʲumˠau, hutˠɯ jɤnˠɯ]


indicative
pʲiʋˠ
catch
-i
PAST
sʲaut͡sʲa
woman
ʋˠinˠɯ
knife
lˠi
COMIT
nʲɤnˠi
mouse
-t͡sʲi
plur
nˠau
three
fʲ-
cl.4
umˠ-
plur
au,
yon
hu
RELPRON
-tˠɯ
plur
jɤnˠ
blind

PRES

“The woman with the knife caught those three blind mice.”

(1)

In the following, we shall look at the various components in more details.

There are no clitics in the nominal phrase.

The Noun

The noun in Tulu consists of first, an optional prefix expressing case, comprising mˠư- /mˠɯ-/ ‘DAT’, sˠi- /sˠi-/ ‘INS’, nˠa- /nˠa-/ ‘VOC’, sˠư- /sˠɯ-/ ‘ALL’, ja- /ja-/ ‘LOC’, fʲa- /fʲa-/ ‘ABL’ and lʲu- /lʲu-/ ‘PART’; second, the root; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -t͡sʲi /-t͡sʲi/ ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: six prefixes, namely pˠi- /pˠi-/ ‘little’, sʲư- /sʲɯ-/ ‘big’, fˠư- /fˠɯ-/ ‘old’, t͡sʲa- /t͡sʲa-/ ‘new’, θˠa- /θˠa-/ ‘good’ and lʲư- /lʲɯ-/ ‘bad’, and five circumfixes, namely dju-pˠ /t͡ʃu-pˠ/ ‘have’, fʲu-sʲ /fʲu-sʲ/ ‘use’, sʲa-nˠ /sʲa-nˠ/ ‘see’, mˠi-mʲ /mˠi-mʲ/ ‘make’ and pˠi-rʲ /pˠi-rʲ/ ‘break’

The Adjective

In Tulu, the adjective has the following structure: an obligatory prefix expressing number, comprising lˠ- /lˠ-/ ‘sing’ and mˠ- /mˠ-/ ‘plur’ followed by the root.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Tulu, the determiner has the following structure: first, an obligatory prefix expressing gender, comprising t͡sˠ- /t͡sˠ-/ ‘cl.1’, kʲ- /kʲ-/ ‘cl.2’, mˠ- /mˠ-/ ‘cl.3’, fʲ- /fʲ-/ ‘cl.4’, j- /j-/ ‘cl.5’, sʲ- /sʲ-/ ‘cl.6’ and t͡sʲ- /t͡sʲ-/ ‘cl.7’; second, an optional prefix expressing number, comprising umˠ- /umˠ-/ ‘plur’; and finally, third, the root.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Tulu has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -tˠư /-tˠɯ/ ‘plur’.

Jư rʲưt͡sˠi ŋˠafˠu tʲu jư lʲafˠư.

[jɯ rʲɯt͡sˠi ŋˠafˠu tʲu jɯ lʲafˠɯ]


indicative
rʲɯt͡sˠ
kill
-i
PAST
ŋˠafˠu
tiger
tʲu
because

indicative
lʲafˠ
happy

PRES

“Because the two of us [not including the listener] killed the tiger, we [including the listener] are all now happy.”

(2)

Here is an example where neither of the pronouns are stressed:

Jư tʲưfʲư t͡sˠo.

[jɯ tʲɯfʲɯ t͡sˠo]


indicative
tʲɯfʲ
love

PRES
t͡sˠo
3.sing.cl.3

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(3)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Jư tʲưfʲư t͡sˠo t͡sˠo.

[jɯ tʲɯfʲɯ t͡sˠo t͡sˠo]


indicative
tʲɯfʲ
love

PRES
t͡sˠo
3.sing.cl.3
t͡sˠo
3.sing.cl.3

He loves her.”

(4)

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

Jư tʲưfʲư t͡sˠo.

[jɯ tʲɯfʲɯ t͡sˠo]


indicative
tʲɯfʲ
love

PRES
t͡sˠo
3.sing.cl.3

“He loves her.”

(5)

Proper Nouns

Jư ʋˠarˠư Fʲafʲi Xʲơnˠư.

[jɯ ʋˠarˠɯ fʲafʲi xʲɤnˠɯ]


indicative
ʋˠarˠ
hate

PRES
fʲafʲi
Fafi
xʲɤnˠɯ
Kahnu

“Fafi hates Kahnu.”

(6)

Possession

pˠaxˠa sʲưsʲư

[pˠaxˠa sʲɯsʲɯ]

pˠaxˠa
boy
sʲɯsʲɯ
apple

“the boy’s apple”

(7)
t͡sˠo sʲưsʲư

[t͡sˠo sʲɯsʲɯ]

t͡sˠo
3.sing.cl.3
sʲɯsʲɯ
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(8)
fˠu sʲưsʲư

[fˠu sʲɯsʲɯ]

fˠu
1excl.sing
sʲɯsʲɯ
apple

“my apple”

(9)
Jư sˠơʋʲi ŋʲepˠu xˠautˠi jo mˠưdja kʲetˠa.

[jɯ sˠɤʋʲi ŋʲepˠu xˠautˠi jo mˠɯt͡ʃa kʲetˠa]


indicative
sˠɤʋʲ
kiss
-i
PAST
ŋʲepˠu
hunter
xˠautˠi
daughter
jo
2.sing
mˠɯt͡ʃa
neighbour
kʲetˠa
son

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

(10)

Derivation

ʋˠut͡sʲu

[ʋˠut͡sʲu]

ʋˠut͡sʲu
lamb

“a lamb”

(11)
pˠiʋˠut͡sʲu

[pˠiʋˠut͡sʲu]

pˠi-
little₁
ʋˠut͡sʲu
lamb
-
little₂

“a little lamb”

(12)
Jư djupˠiʋˠut͡sʲupˠi.

[jɯ t͡ʃupˠiʋˠut͡sʲupˠi]


indicative
t͡ʃu-
have₁
pˠi-
little₁
ʋˠut͡sʲu
lamb
-
little₂
-pˠ
have₂
-i
PAST

“She had a little lamb.”

(13)

This doesn’t affect all adjectives and verbs. Compare, for instance the previous example with this one, where black and love do not undergo affixation:

Jư tʲưfʲi ʋˠut͡sʲu, hu tˠơnˠư.

[jɯ tʲɯfʲi ʋˠut͡sʲu, hu tˠɤnˠɯ]


indicative
tʲɯfʲ
love
-i
PAST
ʋˠut͡sʲu
lamb
hu
RELPRON
tˠɤnˠ
black

PRES

“She loved a black lamb.”

(14)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Tulu fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing negation, comprising kˠu /kˠu/ ‘NEG’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising /jɯ/ ‘indicative’, mˠi /mˠi/ ‘conditional’ and nʲa /nʲa/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing question, comprising mʲa /mʲa/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an optional prefix expressing voice, comprising ʋʲư- /ʋʲɯ-/ ‘passive’; second, the root; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising /-ɯ/ ‘PRES’ and -i /-i/ ‘PAST’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -irʲ /-irʲ/ ‘begin’, -anˠ /-anˠ/ ‘stop’, -iʋʲ /-iʋʲ/ ‘continue’, -ifˠ /-ifˠ/ ‘try’ and -iθˠ /-iθˠ/ ‘start’

Jư tʲưfʲư jo.

[jɯ tʲɯfʲɯ jo]


indicative
tʲɯfʲ
love

PRES
jo
2.sing

“I love you.”

(15)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

ŋʲơfʲư fˠasʲi mˠư

[ŋʲɤfʲɯ fˠasʲi mˠɯ]

ŋʲɤfʲɯ
table
fˠasʲi
surface
mˠɯ
in

“on the table”

(16)
jơdja θʲitʲa θʲu

[jɤt͡ʃa θʲitʲa θʲu]

jɤt͡ʃa
box
θʲitʲa
inside
θʲu
to

“into the box”

(17)
fˠu Lˠi

[fˠu lˠi]

fˠu
1excl.sing
lˠi
COMIT

“with me”

(18)

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.

The basic constituent order of Tulu is Verb–Subject–Object (VSO). Clauses begin with the verb, followed by the subject, with the object in final position. This pattern is attested among various verb-initial languages.

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

Jư rʲưt͡sˠi mˠưkʲi ŋʲepˠu.

[jɯ rʲɯt͡sˠi mˠɯkʲi ŋʲepˠu]


indicative
rʲɯt͡sˠ
kill
-i
PAST
mˠɯkʲi
jaguar
ŋʲepˠu
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(19)
Jư djơfˠi fʲơt͡sˠi ŋʲepˠu xˠautˠi nʲoŋˠu.

[jɯ t͡ʃɤfˠi fʲɤt͡sˠi ŋʲepˠu xˠautˠi nʲoŋˠu]


indicative
t͡ʃɤfˠ
eat
-i
PAST
fʲɤt͡sˠi
lion
ŋʲepˠu
hunter
xˠautˠi
daughter
nʲoŋˠu
dog

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

(20)

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 Tulu 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, Tulu 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.

jo kʲetˠa mʲơtʲi ŋˠumˠư

[jo kʲetˠa mʲɤtʲi ŋˠumˠɯ]

jo
2.sing
kʲetˠa
son
mʲɤtʲi
friend
ŋˠumˠɯ
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

(21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Jư rʲưt͡sˠi ŋʲepˠu mˠưkʲit͡sʲi kˠư ŋˠafˠut͡sʲi kˠư fʲơt͡sˠit͡sʲi.

[jɯ rʲɯt͡sˠi ŋʲepˠu mˠɯkʲit͡sʲi kˠɯ ŋˠafˠut͡sʲi kˠɯ fʲɤt͡sˠit͡sʲi]


indicative
rʲɯt͡sˠ
kill
-i
PAST
ŋʲepˠu
hunter
mˠɯkʲi
jaguar
-t͡sʲi
plur
kˠɯ
and
ŋˠafˠu
tiger
-t͡sʲi
plur
kˠɯ
and
fʲɤt͡sˠi
lion
-t͡sʲi
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 Tulu 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

Tulu 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:

Jư pʲakʲi lʲalˠa.

[jɯ pʲakʲi lʲalˠa]


indicative
pʲakʲ
pat
-i
PAST
lʲalˠa
cat

“I patted the cat.”

(23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Jư pʲakʲi lʲalˠa, hu jư pʲiʋˠi nʲơnˠi.

[jɯ pʲakʲi lʲalˠa, hu jɯ pʲiʋˠi nʲɤnˠi]


indicative
pʲakʲ
pat
-i
PAST
lʲalˠa
cat
hu
RELPRON

indicative
pʲiʋˠ
catch
-i
PAST
nʲɤnˠi
mouse

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Jư pʲakʲi lʲalˠa, hu jư pʲiʋˠi nʲơnˠi, hu jư djơfˠi θˠoθʲu.

[jɯ pʲakʲi lʲalˠa, hu jɯ pʲiʋˠi nʲɤnˠi, hu jɯ t͡ʃɤfˠi θˠoθʲu]


indicative
pʲakʲ
pat
-i
PAST
lʲalˠa
cat
hu
RELPRON

indicative
pʲiʋˠ
catch
-i
PAST
nʲɤnˠi
mouse
hu
RELPRON

indicative
t͡ʃɤfˠ
eat
-i
PAST
θˠoθʲu
cheese

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

(25)

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

Jư pʲakʲi lʲalˠa, hu jư pʲiʋˠi nʲơnˠi, hu jư djơfˠi θˠoθʲu, hu jư pʲơsˠi fˠu.

[jɯ pʲakʲi lʲalˠa, hu jɯ pʲiʋˠi nʲɤnˠi, hu jɯ t͡ʃɤfˠi θˠoθʲu, hu jɯ pʲɤsˠi fˠu]


indicative
pʲakʲ
pat
-i
PAST
lʲalˠa
cat
hu
RELPRON

indicative
pʲiʋˠ
catch
-i
PAST
nʲɤnˠi
mouse
hu
RELPRON

indicative
t͡ʃɤfˠ
eat
-i
PAST
θˠoθʲu
cheese
hu
RELPRON

indicative
pʲɤsˠ
buy
-i
PAST
fˠu
1excl.sing

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

(26)

Complementation Strategies

Tulu 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:

Jư nˠoxˠi jư mʲoxʲi pˠaxˠa sʲưsʲư t͡sʲamˠa mʲưlˠa.

[jɯ nˠoxˠi jɯ mʲoxʲi pˠaxˠa sʲɯsʲɯ t͡sʲamˠa mʲɯlˠa]


indicative
nˠoxˠ
surprise
-i
PAST

indicative
mʲoxʲ
give
-i
PAST
pˠaxˠa
boy
sʲɯsʲɯ
apple
t͡sʲamˠa
girl
mʲɯlˠa
teacher

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

(27)

Quotes

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

Miscellaneous

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Tulu / Tulu–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/32DTU

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.

How to cite this grammar:

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Tulu. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 1 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/32DTU

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-32DTU,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Tulu}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/32DTU}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 1 May 2026}
}

Execution time: 0.07 seconds.