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A Grammar of Tuw

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Tuw language (the 154th 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 Tuw.

Typological Profile

It has a highly marked collection of glottal, uvular, pharyngeal or epiglottal contrasts, the typologically rare OSV basic word order, a small but genuine set of click consonants, a richly developed retroflex subsystem and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Tuw has a large consonant inventory, comprising 36 phonemes.

It has a richly developed retroflex subsystem, a highly marked collection of glottal, uvular, pharyngeal or epiglottal contrasts, an extensively developed liquid system, a notable dental–alveolar contrast across several manners and a strongly reduced sibilant system.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalretroflexvelarlab. velaruvularlab. uvularglottal
stopp b d t ɖ ʈ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ q qʷ ʔ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ ŋʷ ɴ ɴʷ
trill/tap/flapɾ ɽ
fricativef s h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡s t͡ʃ tɬ
clickᵏǀ
click, nasalᵑǀ

Vowels

Tuw has more than 14 vowel qualities. This constitutes an exceptionally rich vowel inventory, with numerous distinct categories represented in the chart.

It has a fully contrastive long–short vowel distinction across the system, a strongly reduced vowel system in unstressed syllables, phonologically distinctive back unrounded vowels, an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels and a fully three-way front–central–back distinction.

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

frontcentralback unroundedback rounded
closei ɨ ɯ u
close-mide ɘ ɤ o
open-midɛ ʌ ɔ
openæ ɑ ɒ

Stress and Tones

Tuw 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

Tuw 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 /ɑ/b /b/c /ᵏǀ/d /d/
e /ɛ/f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/
i /i/j /j/k /k/l /l/
m /m/n /n/o /ɔ/p /p/
q /q/r /r, ɾ/s /s/t /t/
u /u/w /w/y /ɨ/ä /æ/
å /ʌ/é /e/ë /ɘ/ñ /ɲ/
ó /o/ơ /ɤ/ư /ɯ/ɒ /ɒ/
ɴ /ɴ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /ɑː/ai /ai/au /au/
ch /t͡ʃ/ee /ɛː/gw /ɡʷ/
ii /iː/nc /ᵑǀ/ng /ŋ/
ngw /ŋʷ/oo /ɔː/qu /kʷ/
qw /qʷ/rd /ɖ/rn /ɳ/
rr /ɽ/rt /ʈ/tz /t͡s/
tɬ /tɬ/uu /uː/yy /ɨː/
ää /æː/åå /ʌː/éé /eː/
ëë /ɘː/óó /oː/ơơ /ɤː/
ưư /ɯː/ɒː /ɒː/ɔi /ɔi/
ɴʷ /ɴʷ/’ /ʔ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Tuw does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Tuw does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Tzëbɒmää mơɴɒmää Quë fa ruuli nyy rdaa kó rtɒrdɒ dɒː, ño lóórii.

[t͡sɘbɒmæː mɤɴɒmæː kʷɘ fɑ ruːli nɨː ɖɑː ko ʈɒɖɒ dɒː, ɲɔ loːriː]

t͡sɘb
woman -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def mɤɴ
knife -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def kʷɘ
COMIT fɑ
PAST ruː
catch -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ɖɑː
plur ko
three ʈɒɖ
mouse -ɒ
NOM dɒː
yon ɲɔ
RELPRON loː
blind -riː
3.plur.SUBJ

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

 (1)

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

The nominal phrase clitics in Tuw fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: a clitic expressing number, comprising rdaa /ɖɑː/ ‘plur’ followed by a clitic expressing possessor, comprising jư /jɯ/ ‘1incl.sing’, rdyy /ɖɨː/ ‘1excl.sing’, rduu /ɖuː/ ‘2.sing’, ki /ki/ ‘3.sing’, rdưư /ɖɯː/ ‘1incl.plur’, fư /fɯ/ ‘1excl.plur’, rɒ /ɾɒ/ ‘2.plur’ and jɒ /jɒ/ ‘3.plur’.

The morphology of the elements of the nominal phrase, i.e., nouns, numerals and pronouns, is described below, as is the way that possession is expressed in Tuw.

The Noun

The noun in Tuw consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -ɒ /-ɒ/ ‘NOM’, -u /-u/ ‘ACC’, -i /-i/ ‘GEN’, -ää /-æː/ ‘DAT’, -aa /-ɑː/ ‘INS’, -a /-ɑ/ ‘VOC’, -u /-u/ ‘ALL’, -yy /-ɨː/ ‘LOC’, -ư /-ɯ/ ‘ABL’ and -ä /-æ/ ‘PART’; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing def, comprising -mää /-mæː/ ‘def’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -uur /-uːɾ/ ‘little’ and -ưqw /-ɯqʷ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

Róóngumää fa rtyja nyy wå suruu nyy.

[ɾoːŋumæː fɑ ʈɨjɑ nɨː wʌ suɾuː nɨː]

ɾoːŋ
tiger -u
ACC -mæː
def fɑ
PAST ʈɨ
kill -jɑ
1excl.plur.SUBJ nɨː
indicative wʌ
because su
happy -ɾuː
1incl.plur.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“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:

Nguuli nyy.

[ŋuːli nɨː]

ŋuː
love -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (3)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Ngwë nguuli nyy.

[ŋʷɘ ŋuːli nɨː]

ŋʷɘ
3.sing ŋuː
love -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“He loves her.”

 (4)

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

Ngwë nguuli nyy.

[ŋʷɘ ŋuːli nɨː]

ŋʷɘ
3.sing ŋuː
love -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“He loves her.”

 (5)

Proper Nouns

Rrưtzumää Qyyqwɒmää qóli nyy.

[ɽɯt͡sumæː qɨːqʷɒmæː qoli nɨː]

ɽɯt͡s
Ruts -u
ACC -mæː
def qɨːqʷ
Qiq -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def qo
hate -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“Qiq hates Ruts.”

 (6)

Possession

ñaiqwɒmää ki rno’imää

[ɲaiqʷɒmæː ki ɳɔʔimæː]

ɲaiqʷ
apple -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS ɳɔʔ
boy -i
GEN -mæː
def

“the boy’s apple”

 (7)
ñaiqwɒmää ki ngwë

[ɲaiqʷɒmæː ki ŋʷɘ]

ɲaiqʷ
apple -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS ŋʷɘ
3.sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (8)
ñaiqwɒmää rdyy

[ɲaiqʷɒmæː ɖɨː]

ɲaiqʷ
apple -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɖɨː
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

 (9)
Qelumää ki ñoortimää rduu lyypɒmää ki nernimää fa seeli nyy.

[qɛlumæː ki ɲɔːʈimæː ɖuː lɨːpɒmæː ki nɛɳimæː fɑ sɛːli nɨː]

qɛl
son -u
ACC -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS ɲɔːʈ
neighbour -i
GEN -mæː
def ɖuː
2.sing.POSS lɨːp
daughter -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS nɛɳ
hunter -i
GEN -mæː
def fɑ
PAST sɛː
kiss -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

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

 (10)

Derivation

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

nirnɒ qư

[niɳɒ qɯ]

niɳ
lamb -ɒ
NOM qɯ
a

“a lamb”

 (11)

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

nirnuurɒ qư

[niɳuːɾɒ qɯ]

niɳ
lamb -uːɾ
little -ɒ
NOM qɯ
a

“a little lamb”

 (12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Tuw fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising fa /fɑ/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising nyy /nɨː/ ‘indicative’, quɒ /kʷɒ/ ‘conditional’ and hu /hu/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising qưư /qɯː/ ‘passive’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, the root; second, an optional suffix expressing negation, comprising -lä /-læ/ ‘NEG’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing subj, comprising -kɒ /-kɒ/ ‘1incl.sing’, -mư /-mɯ/ ‘1excl.sing’, -mu /-mu/ ‘2.sing’, -li /-li/ ‘3.sing’, -ruu /-ɾuː/ ‘1incl.plur’, -ja /-jɑ/ ‘1excl.plur’, -chuu /-t͡ʃuː/ ‘2.plur’ and -rii /-riː/ ‘3.plur’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -nä /-næ/ ‘begin’ and -tɬɒ /-tɬɒ/ ‘stop’

Nguumư nyy.

[ŋuːmɯ nɨː]

ŋuː
love -mɯ
1excl.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“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.

ciiqwɒmää jångɒmää ñuu

[ᵏǀiːqʷɒmæː jʌŋɒmæː ɲuː]

ᵏǀiːqʷ
surface -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def jʌŋ
table -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɲuː
in

“on the table”

 (14)
rnåtɬɒmää gwaajɒmää tzé

[ɳʌtɬɒmæː ɡʷɑːjɒmæː t͡se]

ɳʌtɬ
inside -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɡʷɑːj
box -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def t͡se
to

“into the box”

 (15)
lë Quë

[lɘ kʷɘ]

lɘ
1excl.sing kʷɘ
COMIT

“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.

Tuw adopts Object–Subject–Verb (OSV) as its unmarked word order. The object precedes the subject, and the verb appears clause-finally. OSV is a rare ordering pattern but is attested in a small number of languages.

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

Nernumää ñåsɒmää fa rtyli nyy.

[nɛɳumæː ɲʌsɒmæː fɑ ʈɨli nɨː]

nɛɳ
hunter -u
ACC -mæː
def ɲʌs
jaguar -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def fɑ
PAST ʈɨ
kill -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (17)
Quaiqwumää ki lyypimää ki nernimää dóójɒmää fa quili nyy.

[kʷaiqʷumæː ki lɨːpimæː ki nɛɳimæː doːjɒmæː fɑ kʷili nɨː]

kʷaiqʷ
dog -u
ACC -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS lɨːp
daughter -i
GEN -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS nɛɳ
hunter -i
GEN -mæː
def doːj
lion -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def fɑ
PAST kʷi
eat -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“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 Tuw 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, Tuw 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.

’eqwɒmää ki hordimää ki qelimää rduu

[ʔɛqʷɒmæː ki hɔɖimæː ki qɛlimæː ɖuː]

ʔɛqʷ
book -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS hɔɖ
friend -i
GEN -mæː
def ki
3.sing.POSS qɛl
son -i
GEN -mæː
def ɖuː
2.sing.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (19)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Rdaa ñåsumää tóó rdaa róóngumää tóó rdaa dóójumää nernɒmää fa rtyli nyy.

[ɖɑː ɲʌsumæː toː ɖɑː ɾoːŋumæː toː ɖɑː doːjumæː nɛɳɒmæː fɑ ʈɨli nɨː]

ɖɑː
plur ɲʌs
jaguar -u
ACC -mæː
def toː
and ɖɑː
plur ɾoːŋ
tiger -u
ACC -mæː
def toː
and ɖɑː
plur doːj
lion -u
ACC -mæː
def nɛɳ
hunter -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def fɑ
PAST ʈɨ
kill -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“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 Tuw 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

Tuw 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:

ɴʷaachumää fa ngwóómư nyy.

[ɴʷɑːt͡ʃumæː fɑ ŋʷoːmɯ nɨː]

ɴʷɑːt͡ʃ
cat -u
ACC -mæː
def fɑ
PAST ŋʷoː
pat -mɯ
1excl.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“I patted the cat.”

 (21)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Fa ngwóómư nyy ɴʷaachɒmää, ño fa ruuli nyy rtɒrdumää.

[fɑ ŋʷoːmɯ nɨː ɴʷɑːt͡ʃɒmæː, ɲɔ fɑ ruːli nɨː ʈɒɖumæː]

fɑ
PAST ŋʷoː
pat -mɯ
1excl.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ɴʷɑːt͡ʃ
cat -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɲɔ
RELPRON fɑ
PAST ruː
catch -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ʈɒɖ
mouse -u
ACC -mæː
def

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Fa ngwóómư nyy ɴʷaachɒmää, ño fa ruuli nyy rtɒrdɒmää, ño fa quili nyy rtunumää.

[fɑ ŋʷoːmɯ nɨː ɴʷɑːt͡ʃɒmæː, ɲɔ fɑ ruːli nɨː ʈɒɖɒmæː, ɲɔ fɑ kʷili nɨː ʈunumæː]

fɑ
PAST ŋʷoː
pat -mɯ
1excl.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ɴʷɑːt͡ʃ
cat -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɲɔ
RELPRON fɑ
PAST ruː
catch -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ʈɒɖ
mouse -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɲɔ
RELPRON fɑ
PAST kʷi
eat -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ʈun
cheese -u
ACC -mæː
def

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

 (23)

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

Fa ngwóómư nyy ɴʷaachɒmää, ño fa ruuli nyy rtɒrdɒmää, ño fa quili nyy rtunɒmää, ño fa bäämư nyy lë.

[fɑ ŋʷoːmɯ nɨː ɴʷɑːt͡ʃɒmæː, ɲɔ fɑ ruːli nɨː ʈɒɖɒmæː, ɲɔ fɑ kʷili nɨː ʈunɒmæː, ɲɔ fɑ bæːmɯ nɨː lɘ]

fɑ
PAST ŋʷoː
pat -mɯ
1excl.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ɴʷɑːt͡ʃ
cat -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɲɔ
RELPRON fɑ
PAST ruː
catch -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ʈɒɖ
mouse -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɲɔ
RELPRON fɑ
PAST kʷi
eat -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative ʈun
cheese -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def ɲɔ
RELPRON fɑ
PAST bæː
buy -mɯ
1excl.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative lɘ
1excl.sing

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

 (24)

Complementation Strategies

Tuw 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:

Queräämää ñaiqwu qư lëkäämää rno’ɒmää fa chɒli nyy Mee fa raili nyy.

[kʷɛræːmæː ɲaiqʷu qɯ lɘkæːmæː ɳɔʔɒmæː fɑ t͡ʃɒli nɨː mɛː fɑ raili nɨː]

kʷɛr
teacher -æː
DAT -mæː
def ɲaiqʷ
apple -u
ACC qɯ
a lɘk
girl -æː
DAT -mæː
def ɳɔʔ
boy -ɒ
NOM -mæː
def fɑ
PAST t͡ʃɒ
give -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative mɛː
COMP fɑ
PAST rai
surprise -li
3.sing.SUBJ nɨː
indicative

“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–Tuw / Tuw–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/3D2W5

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 Tuw. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 20 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3D2W5

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3D2W5,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Tuw}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3D2W5}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 20 May 2026}
}

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