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A Grammar of Kit

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Kit language (the 102nd 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 Kit.

Typological Profile

It has not just singular and plural, but also dual, as well as a small but genuine set of click consonants and a relatively uncommon VOS word order.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Kit has an extremely large consonant inventory, totalling 53 phonemes. Such a system is exceptional in scale.

It has an extensive and fully contrastive palatal series, a strongly reduced sibilant system, a notably rich liquid inventory, a small but genuine set of click consonants and an unusually restricted set of labial consonants.

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

vel. labialpal. labialvel. dentalpal. dentalvel. alveolarpal. alveolarpostalveolarvel. lateralpal. lateralpalatalvel. retroflexpal. retroflexvel. velarpal. velarvel. uvularpal. uvularglottal
stopbˠ bʲ dˠ tˠ dʲ tʲ ɖˠ ʈˠ ɖʲ ʈʲ kˠ ɡˠ kʲ ɡʲ qˠ qʲ ʔ
ejective stopkˠʼ kʲʼ qˠʼ qʲʼ
nasalmˠ mʲ nˠ nʲ ɳˠ ɳʲ ŋˠ ŋʲ
trill/tap/flapɾˠ ɾʲ ɽˠ ɽʲ
fricativefˠ fʲ sˠ sʲ xˠ xʲ h
approximantʋˠ ʋʲ lˠ lʲ j
affricatet͡ʃ
clickᵏǀˠ ᵏǀʲ
click, nasalᵑǀˠ ᵑǀʲ

Vowels

Kit has 11 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, a modest but genuine inventory of nasal vowels and a partially contrastive system of vowel length.

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

frontcentralback unroundedback rounded
closei ɯ u
mide ə# ɤ o
opena

Stress and Tones

Kit has phonemic stress and 2 lexical tones. Each lexical item carries a tonal specification associated with the first vowel of the root, which determines the overall tonal contour of the word.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

The language employs vowel harmony. To be specific, the following vowels change to match the first vowel of the root: /i/ becomes /ɯ/, /e/ becomes /ɤ/.

Writing System

Introduction

Kit 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/q /ʔ/u /u/
ơ /ɤ/ư /ɯ/ə# /ə#/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
bʲ /bʲ/bˠ /bˠ/dj /t͡ʃ/
dʲ /dʲ/dˠ /dˠ/ee /eː/
fʲ /fʲ/fˠ /fˠ/ii /iː/
kʲ /kʲ/kʼʲ /kʼʲ/kʼˠ /kʼˠ/
kˠ /kˠ/lʲ /lʲ/lˠ /lˠ/
mʲ /mʲ/mˠ /mˠ/nʲ /nʲ/
nˠ /nˠ/oo /oː/qʲ /qʲ/
qʼʲ /qʼʲ/qʼˠ /qʼˠ/qˠ /qˠ/
rʲ /rʲ/rˠ /rˠ/sʲ /sʲ/
sˠ /sˠ/tʲ /tʲ/tˠ /tˠ/
uu /uː/xʲ /xʲ/xˠ /xˠ/
ŋʲ /ŋʲ/ŋˠ /ŋˠ/ơơ /ɤː/
ưư /ɯː/ɔi /ɔi/ɖʲ /ɖʲ/
ɖˠ /ɖˠ/ə#ː /ə#ː/ɡʲ /ɡʲ/
ɡˠ /ɡˠ/ɳʲ /ɳʲ/ɳˠ /ɳˠ/
ɽʲ /ɽʲ/ɽˠ /ɽˠ/ɾʲ /ɾʲ/
ɾˠ /ɾˠ/ʈʲ /ʈʲ/ʈˠ /ʈˠ/
ʋʲ /ʋʲ/ʋˠ /ʋˠ/ᵏǀʲ /ᵏǀʲ/
ᵏǀˠ /ᵏǀˠ/ᵑǀʲ /ᵑǀʲ/ᵑǀˠ /ᵑǀˠ/

Diacritics

◌̀ /̰ˈ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Kit distinguishes singular, dual and plural.

Gender

Kit has the following genders:

Gender anim – for instance: bˠonˠ ‘tree’, djaùkˠ ‘dog’, fʲùkʼˠ ‘manner’, hiɳˠ ‘grass’, kʲeèkʲ ‘river’, kˠàrˠ ‘neighbour’, lˠə#̀ɾˠ ‘night’, nʲừh ‘jaguar’, qɔìsˠ ‘wind’, qʼʲeerˠ ‘dialect’, qʼʲờdj ‘earth’, qʼˠoqˠ ‘son’, qʼˠờxʲ ‘house’, qˠoqʼʲ ‘guts’, xˠèh ‘breath’, ɡʲaɖˠ ‘leg’, ɾˠelʲ ‘lamb’, ᵏǀʲiiʈˠ ‘Kit’, ᵏǀˠơờɖˠ ‘star’, ᵑǀˠixˠ ‘mammal’.

Gender inanim – for instance: bˠaɽʲ ‘land’, fʲừfʲ ‘tooth’, fˠùsʲ ‘some’, jaùkʼʲ ‘feather’, kˠàqʼʲ ‘rotten’, nʲuukʼˠ ‘wheat’, qơmˠ ‘road’, qˠaìdˠ ‘urine’, qˠưừj ‘heavy’, tʲɔiɖʲ ‘south’, xˠaiq ‘north’, ŋʲuùrʲ ‘bone’, ɖʲedʲ ‘dirty’, ɖʲờxˠ ‘vagina’, ɽʲìsˠ ‘salt’, ɽˠưnʲ ‘large’, ɾˠìqˠ ‘west’, ᵏǀʲauqʼʲ ‘different’, ᵏǀˠừɖʲ ‘rain’, ᵑǀˠòqʼˠ ‘narrow’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Kʼˠo dˠaikʼˠi nʲa ɖʲofʲə# ɡˠìdʲatˠo kˠə#̀ŋˠa ʈˠờɾˠo ʋʲiibˠo Qʲə#ː̀ qʼʲàtˠo.

[kʼˠo ˈdˠaikʼˠi nʲa ˈɖʲofʲə̃ ɡˠḭˈdʲatˠo kˠə̰̃ˈŋˠa ʈˠɤ̰ˈɾˠo ˈʋʲiːbˠo qʲə̃ː̰ˈ qʼʲa̰ˈtˠo]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈdˠai
catch -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈɖʲo
three -fʲə̃
NOM ɡˠḭˈdʲ
mouse -atˠ
plur -o
def kˠ-
anim ə̃-
plur ̰ˈŋˠa
yon ʈˠɤ̰ˈɾˠ
blind -o
def ˈʋʲiːbˠ
woman -o
def qʲə̃ː̰ˈ
COMIT qʼʲa̰ˈtˠ
knife -o
def

“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 Kit consists of first, the root; second, an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -ekʼˠ /-ekʼˠ/ ‘dual’ and -atˠ /-atˠ/ ‘plur’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing def, comprising -e /-e/ ‘not.def’ and -o /-o/ ‘def’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -inʲ /-inʲ/ ‘little’ and -aɖˠ /-aɖˠ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

The morphology of the numerals is as follows: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -fʲə# /-fʲə#/ ‘NOM’, -ɾˠu /-ɾˠu/ ‘GEN’, -kʼʲə# /-kʼʲə#/ ‘DAT’, -dʲa /-dʲa/ ‘INS’, -ŋʲu /-ŋʲu/ ‘VOC’, -fʲe /-fʲe/ ‘ALL’, -sʲo /-sʲo/ ‘LOC’, -qˠi /-qˠi/ ‘ABL’ and -qʼʲe /-qʼʲe/ ‘PART’.

Determiners

In Kit, the determiner has the following structure: first, an obligatory prefix expressing gender, comprising kˠ- /kˠ-/ ‘anim’ and kʼˠ- /kʼˠ-/ ‘inanim’; second, an obligatory prefix expressing number, comprising e- /e-/ ‘sing’, o- /o-/ ‘dual’ and ə#- /ə#-/ ‘plur’; and finally, third, the root.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Kit has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -nʲi /-nʲi/ ‘sing’, -kˠo /-kˠo/ ‘dual’ and -ɳˠo /-ɳˠo/ ‘plur’.

Kʼˠo hekʼˠi nʲa ɽˠelˠo rˠò kʼˠo kʲaikʼˠi sˠơơkʼʲơ.

[kʼˠo ˈhekʼˠi nʲa ˈɽˠelˠo rˠo̰ˈ kʼˠo ˈkʲaikʼˠi ˈsˠɤːkʼʲɤ]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈhe
kill -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈɽˠelˠ
tiger -o
def rˠo̰ˈ
because kʼˠo
indicative ˈkʲai
be -kʼˠi
not.Q ˈsˠɤːkʼʲ
happy -ɤ
not.def

“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:

Kʼˠo jòkʼˠi dʲơơnʲư.

[kʼˠo jo̰ˈkʼˠi ˈdʲɤːnʲɯ]

kʼˠo
indicative jo̰ˈ
love -kʼˠi
not.Q ˈdʲɤː
3.sing.anim -nʲɯ
sing

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (3)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Kʼˠo jòkʼˠi dʲơơnʲư dʲơơnʲư.

[kʼˠo jo̰ˈkʼˠi ˈdʲɤːnʲɯ ˈdʲɤːnʲɯ]

kʼˠo
indicative jo̰ˈ
love -kʼˠi
not.Q ˈdʲɤː
3.sing.anim -nʲɯ
sing ˈdʲɤː
3.sing.anim -nʲɯ
sing

“He loves her.”

 (4)

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

Kʼˠo jòkʼˠi dʲơơnʲư.

[kʼˠo jo̰ˈkʼˠi ˈdʲɤːnʲɯ]

kʼˠo
indicative jo̰ˈ
love -kʼˠi
not.Q ˈdʲɤː
3.sing.anim -nʲɯ
sing

“He loves her.”

 (5)

Proper Nouns

Kʼˠo kʼʲơơkʼˠư Jə#ːtˠo Kʼˠaàrʲo.

[kʼˠo ˈkʼʲɤːkʼˠɯ ˈjə̃ːtˠo kʼˠaː̰ˈrʲo]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈkʼʲɤː
hate -kʼˠɯ
not.Q ˈjə̃ːtˠ
Yat -o
def kʼˠaː̰ˈrʲ
Kar -o
def

“Kar hates Yat.”

 (6)

Possession

ɖˠə#ːtʲo ʈʲơờtˠo

[ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲo ʈʲɤː̰ˈtˠo]

ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲ
apple -o
def ʈʲɤː̰ˈtˠ
boy -o
def

“the boy’s apple”

 (7)
ɖˠə#ːtʲo dʲơơnʲư

[ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲo ˈdʲɤːnʲɯ]

ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲ
apple -o
def ˈdʲɤː
3.sing.anim -nʲɯ
sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (8)
ɖˠə#ːtʲo lʲừnʲư

[ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲo lʲɯ̰ˈnʲɯ]

ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲ
apple -o
def lʲɯ̰ˈ
1excl.sing -nʲɯ
sing

“my apple”

 (9)
Kʼˠo ɡʲuukʼˠi nʲa qʼˠoqˠo kˠàrˠo lʲenʲi ʈˠokˠo ᵏǀʲamʲo.

[kʼˠo ˈɡʲuːkʼˠi nʲa ˈqʼˠoqˠo kˠa̰ˈrˠo ˈlʲenʲi ˈʈˠokˠo ˈᵏǀʲamʲo]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈɡʲuː
kiss -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈqʼˠoqˠ
son -o
def kˠa̰ˈrˠ
neighbour -o
def ˈlʲe
2.sing -nʲi
sing ˈʈˠokˠ
daughter -o
def ˈᵏǀʲamʲ
hunter -o
def

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

 (10)

Derivation

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

ɾˠelʲe kˠèqʼˠai

[ˈɾˠelʲe kˠḛˈqʼˠai]

ˈɾˠelʲ
lamb -e
not.def kˠ-
anim e-
sing ̰ˈqʼˠai
a

“a lamb”

 (11)

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

ɾˠelʲinʲe kˠèqʼˠai

[ˈɾˠelʲinʲe kˠḛˈqʼˠai]

ˈɾˠelʲ
lamb -inʲ
little -e
not.def kˠ-
anim e-
sing ̰ˈqʼˠai
a

“a little lamb”

 (12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Kit fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing voice, comprising kˠo /kˠo/ ‘passive’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising kʼˠo /kʼˠo/ ‘indicative’, lˠu /lˠu/ ‘conditional’ and ɽˠə# /ɽˠə#/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing ta, comprising nʲa /nʲa/ ‘PAST’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising kˠa /kˠa/ ‘NEG’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing question, comprising -ʋˠu /-ʋˠu/ ‘Q’ and -kʼˠi /-kʼˠi/ ‘not.Q’.

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

Kʼˠo jòkʼˠi lʲenʲi.

[kʼˠo jo̰ˈkʼˠi ˈlʲenʲi]

kʼˠo
indicative jo̰ˈ
love -kʼˠi
not.Q ˈlʲe
2.sing -nʲi
sing

“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.

bʲi mˠùdʲo qìmʲo

[ˈbʲi mˠṵˈdʲo ʔḭˈmʲo]

ˈbʲi
in mˠṵˈdʲ
surface -o
def ʔḭˈmʲ
table -o
def

“on the table”

 (14)
djì lʲơờxˠo qʼʲiibʲo

[t͡ʃḭˈ lʲɤː̰ˈxˠo ˈqʼʲiːbʲo]

t͡ʃḭˈ
to lʲɤː̰ˈxˠ
inside -o
def ˈqʼʲiːbʲ
box -o
def

“into the box”

 (15)
Qʲə#ː̀ lʲừnʲư

[qʲə̃ː̰ˈ lʲɯ̰ˈnʲɯ]

qʲə̃ː̰ˈ
COMIT lʲɯ̰ˈ
1excl.sing -nʲɯ
sing

“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.

Kit displays Verb–Object–Subject (VOS) as its primary word order. The verb is followed by the object, with the subject appearing clause-finally. Although relatively uncommon, VOS is well documented cross-linguistically.

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

Kʼˠo hekʼˠi nʲa ᵏǀʲamʲo nʲừho.

[kʼˠo ˈhekʼˠi nʲa ˈᵏǀʲamʲo nʲɯ̰ˈho]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈhe
kill -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈᵏǀʲamʲ
hunter -o
def nʲɯ̰ˈh
jaguar -o
def

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (17)
Kʼˠo ɾʲaìkʼˠi nʲa djaùkˠo ʈˠokˠo ᵏǀʲamʲo mʲabˠo.

[kʼˠo ɾʲaḭˈkʼˠi nʲa t͡ʃaṵˈkˠo ˈʈˠokˠo ˈᵏǀʲamʲo ˈmʲabˠo]

kʼˠo
indicative ɾʲaḭˈ
eat -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST t͡ʃaṵˈkˠ
dog -o
def ˈʈˠokˠ
daughter -o
def ˈᵏǀʲamʲ
hunter -o
def ˈmʲabˠ
lion -o
def

“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 Kit 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, Kit 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.

ᵑǀˠanʲo bʲaanˠo qʼˠoqˠo lʲenʲi

[ˈᵑǀˠanʲo ˈbʲaːnˠo ˈqʼˠoqˠo ˈlʲenʲi]

ˈᵑǀˠanʲ
book -o
def ˈbʲaːnˠ
friend -o
def ˈqʼˠoqˠ
son -o
def ˈlʲe
2.sing -nʲi
sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (19)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Kʼˠo hekʼˠi nʲa nʲừhatˠo ɽˠoo ɽˠelˠatˠo ɽˠoo mʲabˠatˠo ᵏǀʲamʲo.

[kʼˠo ˈhekʼˠi nʲa nʲɯ̰ˈhatˠo ˈɽˠoː ˈɽˠelˠatˠo ˈɽˠoː ˈmʲabˠatˠo ˈᵏǀʲamʲo]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈhe
kill -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST nʲɯ̰ˈh
jaguar -atˠ
plur -o
def ˈɽˠoː
and ˈɽˠelˠ
tiger -atˠ
plur -o
def ˈɽˠoː
and ˈmʲabˠ
lion -atˠ
plur -o
def ˈᵏǀʲamʲ
hunter -o
def

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

 (20)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Kit 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:

Kʼˠo lˠukʼˠi nʲa qʲưdʲo.

[kʼˠo ˈlˠukʼˠi nʲa ˈqʲɯdʲo]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈlˠu
pat -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈqʲɯdʲ
cat -o
def

“I patted the cat.”

 (21)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Kʼˠo lˠukʼˠi nʲa qʲưdʲo, hoònʲi kʼˠo dˠaikʼˠi nʲa ɡˠìdʲo.

[kʼˠo ˈlˠukʼˠi nʲa ˈqʲɯdʲo, hoː̰ˈnʲi kʼˠo ˈdˠaikʼˠi nʲa ɡˠḭˈdʲo]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈlˠu
pat -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈqʲɯdʲ
cat -o,
def hoː̰ˈ
RELPRON -nʲi
sing kʼˠo
indicative ˈdˠai
catch -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ɡˠḭˈdʲ
mouse -o
def

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Kʼˠo lˠukʼˠi nʲa qʲưdʲo, hoònʲi kʼˠo dˠaikʼˠi nʲa ɡˠìdʲo, hoònʲi kʼˠo ɾʲaìkʼˠi nʲa xʲừbˠo.

[kʼˠo ˈlˠukʼˠi nʲa ˈqʲɯdʲo, hoː̰ˈnʲi kʼˠo ˈdˠaikʼˠi nʲa ɡˠḭˈdʲo, hoː̰ˈnʲi kʼˠo ɾʲaḭˈkʼˠi nʲa xʲɯ̰ˈbˠo]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈlˠu
pat -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈqʲɯdʲ
cat -o,
def hoː̰ˈ
RELPRON -nʲi
sing kʼˠo
indicative ˈdˠai
catch -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ɡˠḭˈdʲ
mouse -o,
def hoː̰ˈ
RELPRON -nʲi
sing kʼˠo
indicative ɾʲaḭˈ
eat -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST xʲɯ̰ˈbˠ
cheese -o
def

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

 (23)

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

Kʼˠo lˠukʼˠi nʲa qʲưdʲo, hoònʲi kʼˠo dˠaikʼˠi nʲa ɡˠìdʲo, hoònʲi kʼˠo ɾʲaìkʼˠi nʲa xʲừbˠo, hoònʲi kʼˠo sˠoòkʼˠi nʲa lʲừnʲư.

[kʼˠo ˈlˠukʼˠi nʲa ˈqʲɯdʲo, hoː̰ˈnʲi kʼˠo ˈdˠaikʼˠi nʲa ɡˠḭˈdʲo, hoː̰ˈnʲi kʼˠo ɾʲaḭˈkʼˠi nʲa xʲɯ̰ˈbˠo, hoː̰ˈnʲi kʼˠo sˠoː̰ˈkʼˠi nʲa lʲɯ̰ˈnʲɯ]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈlˠu
pat -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈqʲɯdʲ
cat -o,
def hoː̰ˈ
RELPRON -nʲi
sing kʼˠo
indicative ˈdˠai
catch -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ɡˠḭˈdʲ
mouse -o,
def hoː̰ˈ
RELPRON -nʲi
sing kʼˠo
indicative ɾʲaḭˈ
eat -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST xʲɯ̰ˈbˠ
cheese -o,
def hoː̰ˈ
RELPRON -nʲi
sing kʼˠo
indicative sˠoː̰ˈ
buy -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST lʲɯ̰ˈ
1excl.sing -nʲɯ
sing

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

 (24)

Complementation Strategies

Kit 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:

Kʼˠo lˠakʼˠi nʲa ɳˠàdʲo kʼˠo heekʼˠi nʲa ɖˠə#ːtʲe kʼˠèqʼˠai qʼʲadʲo ʈʲơờtˠo Bʲai.

[kʼˠo ˈlˠakʼˠi nʲa ɳˠa̰ˈdʲo kʼˠo ˈheːkʼˠi nʲa ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲe kʼˠḛˈqʼˠai ˈqʼʲadʲo ʈʲɤː̰ˈtˠo ˈbʲai]

kʼˠo
indicative ˈlˠa
surprise -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ɳˠa̰ˈdʲ
teacher -o
def kʼˠo
indicative ˈheː
give -kʼˠi
not.Q nʲa
PAST ˈɖˠə̃ːtʲ
apple -e
not.def kʼˠ-
inanim e-
sing ̰ˈqʼˠai
a ˈqʼʲadʲ
girl -o
def ʈʲɤː̰ˈtˠ
boy -o
def ˈbʲai
COMP

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

 (25)

Quotes

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

Miscellaneous

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Kit / Kit–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/32LNR

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 Kit. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 1 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/32LNR

In BibTeX format:

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

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