A Grammar of Khara

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Khara language (the 133rd 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 Khara.

Typological Profile

It has a maximally developed dental–alveolar opposition.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Khara has 23 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a maximally developed dental–alveolar opposition, an exceptionally large and contrastive set of fricatives, a highly elaborate approximant system, an exceptionally dense sibilant inventory and a markedly rich set of labial consonants.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
fricativef θ s ʃ x h
approximantʋ ɾ j
affricatet͡s t͡ʃ

Vowels

Khara has 13 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 partially contrastive system of vowel length, front rounded vowels (these are cross-linguistically relatively uncommon, but occur in a number of well-known languages, including French, German, Turkish and Mandarin), an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels and a moderately reduced system of unstressed vowels.

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

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
close-mide ø o
open-midɛ œ ɔ
opena

Stress and Tones

Khara has phonemic stress but no lexical tone. Stress consistently falls on the first vowel of the root, and no contrastive tonal distinctions are made.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Khara 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/d /d/e /ɛ/
f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/
j /j/k /k/m /m/n /n/
o /ɔ/p /p/r /ɾ/s /s/
t /t/u /u/w /ʋ/y /y/
é /e/ñ /ɲ/ó /o/ø /ø/
œ /œ/ɥ /ɥ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
ch /t͡ʃ/ee /ɛː/ii /iː/
kh /x/ng /ŋ/oo /ɔː/
sh /ʃ/th /θ/tz /t͡s/
uu /uː/yy /yː/éé /eː/
óó /oː/øø /øː/œː /œː/
ɔi /ɔi/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Khara does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Khara does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Røø tyjy Hé røø suña myysichu dai chee chéjaru jyngufi.

[ˈɾøː ˈtyjy ˈhe ˈɾøː ˈsuɲa ˈmyːsit͡ʃu ˈdai ˈt͡ʃɛː ˈt͡ʃejaɾu jyˈŋufi]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈtyjy
woman
ˈhe
COMIT
ˈɾøː
the
ˈsuɲa
knife
m-
indicative
ˈyːs
catch
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈdai
yon
ˈt͡ʃɛː
three
ˈt͡ʃeja
blind
-ɾu
ACC
jy-
plur
ˈŋufi
mouse

“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 Khara consists of an optional prefix expressing number, comprising jy- /jy-/ ‘plur’ followed by the root.

The Adjective

In Khara, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -ru /-ɾu/ ‘ACC’, -ry /-ɾy/ ‘GEN’, -ja /-ja/ ‘DAT’, -ha /-ha/ ‘INS’, -ju /-ju/ ‘VOC’, -chu /-t͡ʃu/ ‘ALL’, -pu /-pu/ ‘LOC’, -ni /-ni/ ‘ABL’ and -mi /-mi/ ‘PART’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

The determiner in Khara stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Pronouns

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

Dé motichu røø ɥyfi je déé mɔitzu jøcha.

[ˈde ˈmɔtit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈɥyfi ˈjɛ ˈdeː ˈmɔit͡su ˈjøt͡ʃa]

ˈde
1excl.plur
m-
indicative
ˈɔt
kill
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈɥyfi
tiger
ˈjɛ
because
ˈdeː
1incl.plur
m-
indicative
ˈɔit͡s
be
-u
POS
ˈjøt͡ʃa
happy

“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:

Pœ mootzu pœ.

[ˈpœ ˈmɔːt͡su ˈpœ]

ˈpœ
3.sing
m-
indicative
ˈɔːt͡s
love
-u
POS
ˈpœ
3.sing

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(3)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Pœ mootzu pœ.

[ˈpœ ˈmɔːt͡su ˈpœ]

ˈpœ
3.sing
m-
indicative
ˈɔːt͡s
love
-u
POS
ˈpœ
3.sing

He loves her.”

(4)

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

Pœ mootzu pœ.

[ˈpœ ˈmɔːt͡su ˈpœ]

ˈpœ
3.sing
m-
indicative
ˈɔːt͡s
love
-u
POS
ˈpœ
3.sing

“He loves her.”

(5)

Proper Nouns

Røø Feetzi mochu røø Séra.

[ˈɾøː ˈfɛːt͡si ˈmɔt͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈseɾa]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈfɛːt͡si
Fetsi
m-
indicative
ˈɔt͡ʃ
hate
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈseɾa
Sera

“Fetsi hates Sera.”

(6)

Possession

røø fépa røø tzopu

[ˈɾøː ˈfepa ˈɾøː ˈt͡sɔpu]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈfepa
boy
ˈɾøː
the
ˈt͡sɔpu
apple

“the boy’s apple”

(7)
pœ røø tzopu

[ˈpœ ˈɾøː ˈt͡sɔpu]

ˈpœ
3.sing
ˈɾøː
the
ˈt͡sɔpu
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(8)
tzau røø tzopu

[ˈt͡sau ˈɾøː ˈt͡sɔpu]

ˈt͡sau
1excl.sing
ˈɾøː
the
ˈt͡sɔpu
apple

“my apple”

(9)
Røø gakhi røø móówu myygichu che røø ngaija røø gaaki.

[ˈɾøː ˈɡaxi ˈɾøː ˈmoːʋu ˈmyːɡit͡ʃu ˈt͡ʃɛ ˈɾøː ˈŋaija ˈɾøː ˈɡaːki]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡaxi
hunter
ˈɾøː
the
ˈmoːʋu
daughter
m-
indicative
ˈyːɡ
kiss
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈt͡ʃɛ
2.sing
ˈɾøː
the
ˈŋaija
neighbour
ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡaːki
son

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

(10)

Derivation

Khara has no derivational processes.

na ɥéja

[ˈna ˈɥeja]

ˈna
a
ˈɥeja
lamb

“a lamb”

(11)

Note how none show up here:

Pœ møømichu mitichu na mébaru ɥéja Bóó.

[ˈpœ ˈmøːmit͡ʃu ˈmitit͡ʃu ˈna ˈmebaɾu ˈɥeja ˈboː]

ˈpœ
3.sing
m-
indicative
ˈøːm
want
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
m-
indicative
ˈit
have
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈna
a
ˈmeba
little
-ɾu
ACC
ˈɥeja
lamb
ˈboː
COMP

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

(12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

There are no clitics in the verbal phrase.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an optional prefix expressing voice, comprising sa- /sa-/ ‘passive’; second, an obligatory prefix expressing mode, comprising m- /m-/ ‘indicative’, s- /s-/ ‘imperative’, t- /t-/ ‘conditional’ and ng- /ŋ-/ ‘optative’; third, the root; fourth, an optional suffix expressing ta, comprising -ich /-it͡ʃ/ ‘PAST’; and finally, fifth, an obligatory suffix expressing negation, comprising -a /-a/ ‘NEG’ and -u /-u/ ‘POS’.

Tzau mootzu che.

[ˈt͡sau ˈmɔːt͡su ˈt͡ʃɛ]

ˈt͡sau
1excl.sing
m-
indicative
ˈɔːt͡s
love
-u
POS
ˈt͡ʃɛ
2.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.

khee røø tzóóthu

[ˈxɛː ˈɾøː ˈt͡soːθu]

ˈxɛː
in_surface
ˈɾøː
the
ˈt͡soːθu
table

“on the table”

(14)
jœː røø byna

[ˈjœː ˈɾøː ˈbyna]

ˈjœː
to_inside
ˈɾøː
the
ˈbyna
box

“into the box”

(15)
Hé tzau

[ˈhe ˈt͡sau]

ˈhe
COMIT
ˈt͡sau
1excl.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.

Khara 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 Khara.

Røø geesha motichu røø gakhi.

[ˈɾøː ˈɡɛːʃa ˈmɔtit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈɡaxi]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡɛːʃa
jaguar
m-
indicative
ˈɔt
kill
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡaxi
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(17)
Røø gywi muutzichu røø gakhi røø móówu røø dóóru.

[ˈɾøː ˈɡyʋi ˈmuːt͡sit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈɡaxi ˈɾøː ˈmoːʋu ˈɾøː ˈdoːɾu]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡyʋi
lion
m-
indicative
ˈuːt͡s
eat
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡaxi
hunter
ˈɾøː
the
ˈmoːʋu
daughter
ˈɾøː
the
ˈdoːɾu
dog

“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 Khara 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, Khara 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.

che røø gaaki røø bida røø bóóthi

[ˈt͡ʃɛ ˈɾøː ˈɡaːki ˈɾøː ˈbida ˈɾøː ˈboːθi]

ˈt͡ʃɛ
2.sing
ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡaːki
son
ˈɾøː
the
ˈbida
friend
ˈɾøː
the
ˈboːθi
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

(19)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Røø gakhi motichu røø jygeesha ró røø jyɥyfi ró røø jygywi.

[ˈɾøː ˈɡaxi ˈmɔtit͡ʃu ˈɾøː jyˈɡɛːʃa ˈɾo ˈɾøː jyˈɥyfi ˈɾo ˈɾøː jyˈɡyʋi]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈɡaxi
hunter
m-
indicative
ˈɔt
kill
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
jy-
plur
ˈɡɛːʃa
jaguar
ˈɾo
and
ˈɾøː
the
jy-
plur
ˈɥyfi
tiger
ˈɾo
and
ˈɾøː
the
jy-
plur
ˈɡyʋi
lion

“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 Khara 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

Khara 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:

Tzau mééngichu røø tusy.

[ˈt͡sau ˈmeːŋit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈtusy]

ˈt͡sau
1excl.sing
m-
indicative
ˈeːŋ
pat
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈtusy
cat

“I patted the cat.”

(21)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Tzau mééngichu røø tusy, tzaa myysichu røø ngufi.

[ˈt͡sau ˈmeːŋit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈtusy, ˈt͡saː ˈmyːsit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈŋufi]

ˈt͡sau
1excl.sing
m-
indicative
ˈeːŋ
pat
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈtusy,
cat
ˈt͡saː
RELPRON
m-
indicative
ˈyːs
catch
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈŋufi
mouse

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(22)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Tzau mééngichu røø tusy, tzaa myysichu røø ngufi, tzaa muutzichu røø kaɥa.

[ˈt͡sau ˈmeːŋit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈtusy, ˈt͡saː ˈmyːsit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈŋufi, ˈt͡saː ˈmuːt͡sit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈkaɥa]

ˈt͡sau
1excl.sing
m-
indicative
ˈeːŋ
pat
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈtusy,
cat
ˈt͡saː
RELPRON
m-
indicative
ˈyːs
catch
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈŋufi,
mouse
ˈt͡saː
RELPRON
m-
indicative
ˈuːt͡s
eat
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈkaɥa
cheese

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

(23)

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

Tzau mééngichu røø tusy, tzaa myysichu røø ngufi, tzaa muutzichu røø kaɥa, tzaa miingichu tzau.

[ˈt͡sau ˈmeːŋit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈtusy, ˈt͡saː ˈmyːsit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈŋufi, ˈt͡saː ˈmuːt͡sit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈkaɥa, ˈt͡saː ˈmiːŋit͡ʃu ˈt͡sau]

ˈt͡sau
1excl.sing
m-
indicative
ˈeːŋ
pat
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈtusy,
cat
ˈt͡saː
RELPRON
m-
indicative
ˈyːs
catch
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈŋufi,
mouse
ˈt͡saː
RELPRON
m-
indicative
ˈuːt͡s
eat
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈkaɥa,
cheese
ˈt͡saː
RELPRON
m-
indicative
ˈiːŋ
buy
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈt͡sau
1excl.sing

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

(24)

Complementation Strategies

Khara 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:

Røø fépa myywichu røø røfa na tzopu Bóó mœmichu røø hɔitza.

[ˈɾøː ˈfepa ˈmyːʋit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈɾøfa ˈna ˈt͡sɔpu ˈboː ˈmœmit͡ʃu ˈɾøː ˈhɔit͡sa]

ˈɾøː
the
ˈfepa
boy
m-
indicative
ˈyːʋ
give
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈɾøfa
girl
ˈna
a
ˈt͡sɔpu
apple
ˈboː
COMP
m-
indicative
ˈœm
surprise
-it͡ʃ
PAST
-u
POS
ˈɾøː
the
ˈhɔit͡sa
teacher

“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–Khara / Khara–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/38V10

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 Khara. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 14 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/38V10

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-38V10,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Khara}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/38V10}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 14 May 2026}
}

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