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A Grammar of Perp

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Perp language (the 1391st 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 Perp.

Typological Profile

It has a small but genuine set of click consonants and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Perp has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 31 phonemes.

It has a notable dental–alveolar contrast across several manners, a strongly reduced sibilant system, a small but genuine set of click consonants, a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts and a broad and varied fricative inventory.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalretroflexvelarglottal
stopp b d t c ɟ ɖ ʈ k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ
trill/tap/flapr ɽ
fricativef θ s x h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ
implosiveɓ
clickᵏǀ
click, nasalᵑǀ

Vowels

Perp 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 a triangular vowel system with few low vowels and an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
close-mide o
midə
open-midɜ
opena

Stress and Tones

Perp 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

Perp 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/c /ᵏǀ/d /d/
e /ə/f /f/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/è /ɜ/é /e/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
bb /ɓ/ch /t͡ʃ/dy /ɟ/
ii /iː/kh /x/nc /ᵑǀ/
ng /ŋ/oo /oː/rd /ɖ/
rn /ɳ/rr /ɽ/rt /ʈ/
th /θ/tj /c/ty /t͡ɕ/
uu /uː/èè /ɜː/éé /eː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Perp does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Perp has the following genders:

Gender anim – for instance: butiin ‘sand’, cair ‘cat’, cañun ‘hunter’, daib ‘husband’, daup ‘mother’, giith ‘sound’, jaf ‘mouth’, ketyas ‘anus’, khitjéty ‘urine’, khèkh ‘woman’, lajèkh ‘lion’, pèrt ‘son’, rdungool ‘dust’, rnirt ‘people’, rrikhon ‘worm’, saag ‘bird’, sirraig ‘feather’, thaam ‘child’, wau ‘human being’, wérn ‘tongue’.

Gender inanim – for instance: bbaarn ‘surface’, binoong ‘binoculars’, bisrtaig ‘machine’, dyirtuk ‘box’, dyuf ‘north’, fidyabb ‘bottle’, gilérn ‘forest’, hon ‘inside’, jèñ ‘tree’, khaag ‘face’, maut ‘ear’, nèd ‘egg’, paich ‘back’, pèp ‘Perp’, rtajoort ‘court’, suut ‘hand’, tjidyès ‘ice’, wèt ‘earth’, wéñ ‘leg’, ñooty ‘colour’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Déj khèkh dés damidy tyiriij rdud dyan géj soch kardi bik tjern.

[dej xɜx des damiɟ t͡ɕiriːj ɖud ɟan ɡej sot͡ʃ kaɖi bik cəɳ]

de
the -j
anim xɜx
woman de
the -s
inanim dam
knife -iɟ
LOC t͡ɕiriːj
COMIT ɖu
catch -d
active ɟan
PAST ɡe
yon -j
anim sot͡ʃ
blind kaɖi
mouse bik
three cəɳ
plur

“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 is one type of clitic in the nominal phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing number. a clitic expressing number, comprising tjern /cəɳ/ ‘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 Perp.

The Noun

The noun in Perp consists of the root followed by an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -al /-al/ ‘GEN’, -up /-up/ ‘DAT’, -ikh /-ix/ ‘INS’, -ur /-ur/ ‘VOC’, -arr /-aɽ/ ‘ALL’, -idy /-iɟ/ ‘LOC’, -ig /-iɡ/ ‘ABL’ and -um /-um/ ‘PART’.

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Perp, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -j /-j/ ‘anim’ and -s /-s/ ‘inanim’.

Pronouns

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

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

Bbad ncéty.

[ɓad ᵑǀet͡ɕ]

ɓa
love -d
active ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Ncéty bbad ncéty.

[ᵑǀet͡ɕ ɓad ᵑǀet͡ɕ]

ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim ɓa
love -d
active ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Déj Suthuj mamaad déj Tigij.

[dej suθuj mamaːd dej tiɡij]

de
the -j
anim suθuj
Suthuy mamaː
hate -d
active de
the -j
anim tiɡij
Tigiy

“Suthuy hates Tigiy.”

 (4)

Possession

déj tirrééth déj miigal

[dej tiɽeːθ dej miːɡal]

de
the -j
anim tiɽeːθ
apple de
the -j
anim miːɡ
boy -al
GEN

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
déj tirrééth ncéty

[dej tiɽeːθ ᵑǀet͡ɕ]

de
the -j
anim tiɽeːθ
apple ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
déj tirrééth rdaath

[dej tiɽeːθ ɖaːθ]

de
the -j
anim tiɽeːθ
apple ɖaːθ
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Déj jéd déj cañunal dyutjad dyan déj pèrt déj tjetyèèmal gèg.

[dej jed dej ᵏǀaɲunal ɟucad ɟan dej pɜʈ dej cət͡ɕɜːmal ɡɜɡ]

de
the -j
anim jed
daughter de
the -j
anim ᵏǀaɲun
hunter -al
GEN ɟuca
kiss -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim pɜʈ
son de
the -j
anim cət͡ɕɜːm
neighbour -al
GEN ɡɜɡ
2.sing

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

 (8)

Derivation

Perp has no derivational processes.

thuño

[θuɲo]

θuɲo
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

Note how none show up here:

Cad dyan chud dyan khèrt thuño.

[ᵏǀad ɟan t͡ʃud ɟan xɜʈ θuɲo]

ᵏǀa
want -d
active ɟan
PAST t͡ʃu
have -d
active ɟan
PAST xɜʈ
little θuɲo
lamb

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Perp are enclitics (placed finally), and there are four types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising dyan /ɟan/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising tjas /cas/ ‘imperative’, rdad /ɖad/ ‘conditional’ and ngirt /ŋiʈ/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing negation, comprising bar /bar/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing question, comprising tjim /cim/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing voice, comprising -d /-d/ ‘active’ and -f /-f/ ‘passive’.

Bbad gèg.

[ɓad ɡɜɡ]

ɓa
love -d
active ɡɜɡ
2.sing

“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.

dés raiidy jur

[des raiiɟ jur]

de
the -s
inanim rai
table -iɟ
LOC jur
in_surface

“on the table”

 (12)
dés dyirtukidy gaird

[des ɟiʈukiɟ ɡaiɖ]

de
the -s
inanim ɟiʈuk
box -iɟ
LOC ɡaiɖ
to_inside

“into the box”

 (13)
rdaath tyiriij

[ɖaːθ t͡ɕiriːj]

ɖaːθ
1excl.sing t͡ɕiriːj
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.

Perp employs Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) as its basic word order. The subject is followed by the verb, with the object occurring in post-verbal position. This ordering is widely attested across the world’s languages.

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

Déj tjachakh dad dyan déj cañun.

[dej cat͡ʃax dad ɟan dej ᵏǀaɲun]

de
the -j
anim cat͡ʃax
jaguar da
kill -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim ᵏǀaɲun
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Déj lajèkh nad dyan déj mèèr déj jédal déj cañunal.

[dej lajɜx nad ɟan dej mɜːr dej jedal dej ᵏǀaɲunal]

de
the -j
anim lajɜx
lion na
eat -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim mɜːr
dog de
the -j
anim jed
daughter -al
GEN de
the -j
anim ᵏǀaɲun
hunter -al
GEN

“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 Perp 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, Perp 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.

dés buuk déj khirtal déj pèrtal gèg

[des buːk dej xiʈal dej pɜʈal ɡɜɡ]

de
the -s
inanim buːk
book de
the -j
anim xiʈ
friend -al
GEN de
the -j
anim pɜʈ
son -al
GEN ɡɜɡ
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Perp 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.

Déj cair jèd.

[dej ᵏǀair jɜd]

de
the -j
anim ᵏǀair
cat jɜ
sleep -d
active

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Déj cair rnood.

[dej ᵏǀair ɳoːd]

de
the -j
anim ᵏǀair
cat ɳoː
run -d
active

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Déj cair lekhad déj kardi.

[dej ᵏǀair ləxad dej kaɖi]

de
the -j
anim ᵏǀair
cat ləxa
chase -d
active de
the -j
anim kaɖi
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Déj cair rdud dyan déj kardi.

[dej ᵏǀair ɖud ɟan dej kaɖi]

de
the -j
anim ᵏǀair
cat ɖu
catch -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim kaɖi
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Déj cañun dad dyan déj tjachakh tjern ncèèp déj khirrak tjern ncèèp déj lajèkh tjern.

[dej ᵏǀaɲun dad ɟan dej cat͡ʃax cəɳ ᵑǀɜːp dej xiɽak cəɳ ᵑǀɜːp dej lajɜx cəɳ]

de
the -j
anim ᵏǀaɲun
hunter da
kill -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim cat͡ʃax
jaguar cəɳ
plur ᵑǀɜːp
and de
the -j
anim xiɽak
tiger cəɳ
plur ᵑǀɜːp
and de
the -j
anim lajɜx
lion cəɳ
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 Perp 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

Perp uses the correlative strategy to form relative clauses. The relative clause is introduced by a dedicated relativiser and appears as an independent clause. The main clause contains a demonstrative that corresponds to the relativiser and identifies the element being modified. The relative clause precedes the main clause when used on its own, and follows the head noun when it functions as a modifier. The internal structure of both clauses is fully finite.

To illustrate how relative clauses work, let us begin with a simple sentence:

Rdechèd dyan déj cair.

[ɖət͡ʃɜd ɟan dej ᵏǀair]

ɖət͡ʃɜ
pat -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim ᵏǀair
cat

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Rdud dyan déj kardi rdechèd dyan ncéty séén.

[ɖud ɟan dej kaɖi ɖət͡ʃɜd ɟan ᵑǀet͡ɕ seːn]

ɖu
catch -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim kaɖi
mouse ɖət͡ʃɜ
pat -d
active ɟan
PAST ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim seːn
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Nad dyan dés tuñotj rdud dyan ncéty séén rdechèd dyan ncéty séén.

[nad ɟan des tuɲoc ɖud ɟan ᵑǀet͡ɕ seːn ɖət͡ʃɜd ɟan ᵑǀet͡ɕ seːn]

na
eat -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -s
inanim tuɲoc
cheese ɖu
catch -d
active ɟan
PAST ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim seːn
then ɖət͡ʃɜ
pat -d
active ɟan
PAST ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim seːn
then

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

 (25)

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

Rdid dyan wéw nad dyan wéw séén rdud dyan ncéty séén rdechèd dyan ncéty séén.

[ɖid ɟan wew nad ɟan wew seːn ɖud ɟan ᵑǀet͡ɕ seːn ɖət͡ʃɜd ɟan ᵑǀet͡ɕ seːn]

ɖi
buy -d
active ɟan
PAST wew
3.sing.inanim na
eat -d
active ɟan
PAST wew
3.sing.inanim seːn
then ɖu
catch -d
active ɟan
PAST ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim seːn
then ɖət͡ʃɜ
pat -d
active ɟan
PAST ᵑǀet͡ɕ
3.sing.anim seːn
then

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Perp 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:

Dood dyan déj niil tirrééth déj miig dañèd dyan déj tjichèèl.

[doːd ɟan dej niːl tiɽeːθ dej miːɡ daɲɜd ɟan dej cit͡ʃɜːl]

doː
give -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim niːl
girl tiɽeːθ
apple de
the -j
anim miːɡ
boy daɲɜ
surprise -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim cit͡ʃɜːl
teacher

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

 (27)

Quotes

Perp 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:

Déj miig pood dyan déj niil bbad gèg rdaath.

[dej miːɡ poːd ɟan dej niːl ɓad ɡɜɡ ɖaːθ]

de
the -j
anim miːɡ
boy poː
tell -d
active ɟan
PAST de
the -j
anim niːl
girl ɓa
love -d
active ɡɜɡ
2.sing ɖaːθ
1excl.sing

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Perp. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 2 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/37W7T

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-37W7T,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Perp}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/37W7T}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 2 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Perp / Perp–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/37W7T

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