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A Grammar of Tingi

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Tingi language (the 176th 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 Tingi.

Typological Profile

It has ergative case marking, i.e., the object of a transitive verb is marked the same as the subject of an intransitive one, as well as the VSO basic order, common globally but unusual in many families and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Tingi has a moderately small consonant inventory, comprising 17 phonemes.

It has a complete absence of affricates, a strongly reduced sibilant system and a complete absence of phonemic voicing contrasts.

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

labialalveolarlateralpalatalvelaruvularglottal
stopp t k q ʔ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
fricativef s x h
approximantʋ l j

Vowels

Tingi has 3 vowel qualities. This constitutes a relatively small inventory, with contrasts limited to the vowel categories displayed in the chart. The phonological system relies primarily on these few qualities to encode vocalic distinctions.

It has a fully contrastive long–short vowel distinction across the system, a strikingly compressed height system with only two vowel heights and a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
opena

Stress and Tones

Tingi 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

Tingi 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/f /f/h /h/i /i/
j /j/k /k/l /l/m /m/
n /n/p /p/q /q/s /s/
t /t/u /u/w /ʋ/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ii /iː/kh /x/
ng /ŋ/uu /uː/’ /ʔ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Tingi does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Tingi does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

La kaañi mungi lii fuma lii hiifi saangii suqiipi siti ’i ’iingi.

[la kaːɲi muŋi liː fuma liː hiːfi saːŋiː suqiːpi siti ʔi ʔiːŋi]

la
PAST kaːɲi
catch mu-
ERG ŋi
woman liː
the fuma
knife liː
the hiːfi
COMIT saːŋiː
blind suqiːpi
mouse siti
three ʔi
yon ʔiːŋi
COMP

“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 a proclitic (placed initially), expressing possessor. a clitic expressing possessor, comprising luu /luː/ ‘1incl’, fu /fu/ ‘1excl’, naa /naː/ ‘2’ and juu /juː/ ‘3’.

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 Tingi.

The Noun

The noun in Tingi consists of an optional prefix expressing case, comprising mu- /mu-/ ‘ERG’, la- /la-/ ‘GEN’, ma- /ma-/ ‘DAT’, ni- /ni-/ ‘INS’, nuu- /nuː-/ ‘VOC’, naa- /naː-/ ‘ALL’, ’aa- /ʔaː-/ ‘LOC’, juu- /juː-/ ‘ABL’ and khu- /xu-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two prefixes, namely fu- /fu-/ ‘little’ and ha- /ha-/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Siwii naa.

[siʋiː naː]

siʋiː
love naː
3

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Siwii naa naa.

[siʋiː naː naː]

siʋiː
love naː
3 naː
3

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Maluwa muTiqihuu lii Nakiijaa lii.

[maluʋa mutiqihuː liː nakiːjaː liː]

maluʋa
hate mu-
ERG tiqihuː
Tiqihu liː
the nakiːjaː
Nakiya liː
the

“Tiqihu hates Nakiya.”

 (4)

Possession

juu paa’akhaa lii latii lii

[juː paːʔaxaː liː latiː liː]

juː
3.POSS paːʔaxaː
apple liː
the la-
GEN tiː
boy liː
the

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
juu paa’akhaa lii naa

[juː paːʔaxaː liː naː]

juː
3.POSS paːʔaxaː
apple liː
the naː
3

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
fu paa’akhaa lii

[fu paːʔaxaː liː]

fu
1excl.POSS paːʔaxaː
apple liː
the

“my apple”

 (7)
La khajaqa juu mufuu lii laqukajaa lii juu tuu lii naa lakhanuha lii.

[la xajaqa juː mufuː liː laqukajaː liː juː tuː liː naː laxanuha liː]

la
PAST xajaqa
kiss juː
3.POSS mu-
ERG fuː
daughter liː
the la-
GEN qukajaː
hunter liː
the juː
3.POSS tuː
son liː
the naː
2.POSS la-
GEN xanuha
neighbour liː
the

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

faaqimu

[faːqimu]

faːqimu
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

fufaaqimu

[fufaːqimu]

fu-
little₁ faːqimu
lamb -
little₂

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Tingi are proclitics (placed initially, and there are four types: first, a clitic expressing question, comprising jaa /jaː/ ‘Q’; second, a clitic expressing negation, comprising li /li/ ‘NEG’; third, a clitic expressing mode, comprising ju /ju/ ‘imperative’, ngi /ŋi/ ‘conditional’ and lu /lu/ ‘optative’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing ta, comprising la /la/ ‘PAST’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: an optional prefix expressing voice, comprising qu- /qu-/ ‘passive’ followed by the root.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two prefixes, namely lii- /liː-/ ‘begin’ and ta- /ta-/ ‘stop’

Siwii nuu.

[siʋiː nuː]

siʋiː
love nuː
2

“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.

laka lii khi

[laka liː xi]

laka
table liː
the xi
in_surface

“on the table”

 (12)
’angitaa lii wii

[ʔaŋitaː liː ʋiː]

ʔaŋitaː
box liː
the ʋiː
to_inside

“into the box”

 (13)
kii hiifi

[kiː hiːfi]

kiː
1excl hiːfi
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.

The basic constituent order of Tingi 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 Tingi.

La fiikhi muququngi lii qukajaa lii.

[la fiːxi muququŋi liː qukajaː liː]

la
PAST fiːxi
kill mu-
ERG ququŋi
jaguar liː
the qukajaː
hunter liː
the

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
La jaja munangaqa lii juu ku lii juu lafuu lii laqukajaa lii.

[la jaja munaŋaqa liː juː ku liː juː lafuː liː laqukajaː liː]

la
PAST jaja
eat mu-
ERG naŋaqa
lion liː
the juː
3.POSS ku
dog liː
the juː
3.POSS la-
GEN fuː
daughter liː
the la-
GEN qukajaː
hunter liː
the

“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 Tingi 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, Tingi 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.

juu puukaa lii juu lajaa lii naa latuu lii

[juː puːkaː liː juː lajaː liː naː latuː liː]

juː
3.POSS puːkaː
book liː
the juː
3.POSS la-
GEN jaː
friend liː
the naː
2.POSS la-
GEN tuː
son liː
the

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Tingi uses ergative–absolutive case marking. The subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are treated alike and take the absolutive case, while the subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case. From the point of view of such a system, this is a perfectly natural way to organise the clause: the absolutive marks the participant most directly involved in the event or state, while the ergative marks the additional participant that causes or controls a transitive event.

Linii ma lii.

[liniː ma liː]

liniː
sleep ma
cat liː
the

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Fuña ma lii.

[fuɲa ma liː]

fuɲa
run ma
cat liː
the

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Wiñuqa muma lii suqiipi lii.

[ʋiɲuqa muma liː suqiːpi liː]

ʋiɲuqa
chase mu-
ERG ma
cat liː
the suqiːpi
mouse liː
the

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
La kaañi muma lii suqiipi lii.

[la kaːɲi muma liː suqiːpi liː]

la
PAST kaːɲi
catch mu-
ERG ma
cat liː
the suqiːpi
mouse liː
the

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

La fiikhi muqukajaa lii ququngi lii puu pukhami lii puu nangaqa lii.

[la fiːxi muqukajaː liː ququŋi liː puː puxami liː puː naŋaqa liː]

la
PAST fiːxi
kill mu-
ERG qukajaː
hunter liː
the ququŋi
jaguar liː
the puː
and puxami
tiger liː
the puː
and naŋaqa
lion liː
the

“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 Tingi 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

Tingi forms relative clauses by using a head-internal strategy. The head noun appears inside the clause itself, occupying its regular syntactic position. The entire clause functions as a modifier, and its external syntactic behaviour is identical to that of a noun-modifying phrase.

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

La siiqihu ma lii.

[la siːqihu ma liː]

la
PAST siːqihu
pat ma
cat liː
the

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

La siiqihu la kaañi muma lii suqiipi lii ’iingi.

[la siːqihu la kaːɲi muma liː suqiːpi liː ʔiːŋi]

la
PAST siːqihu
pat la
PAST kaːɲi
catch mu-
ERG ma
cat liː
the suqiːpi
mouse liː
the ʔiːŋi
COMP

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

La siiqihu la kaañi muma lii la jaja musuqiipi lii nitaalii lii ’iingi ’iingi.

[la siːqihu la kaːɲi muma liː la jaja musuqiːpi liː nitaːliː liː ʔiːŋi ʔiːŋi]

la
PAST siːqihu
pat la
PAST kaːɲi
catch mu-
ERG ma
cat liː
the la
PAST jaja
eat mu-
ERG suqiːpi
mouse liː
the nitaːliː
cheese liː
the ʔiːŋi
COMP ʔiːŋi
COMP

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

 (25)

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

La siiqihu la kaañi muma lii la jaja musuqiipi lii la ’akhu kii nitaalii lii ’iingi ’iingi ’iingi.

[la siːqihu la kaːɲi muma liː la jaja musuqiːpi liː la ʔaxu kiː nitaːliː liː ʔiːŋi ʔiːŋi ʔiːŋi]

la
PAST siːqihu
pat la
PAST kaːɲi
catch mu-
ERG ma
cat liː
the la
PAST jaja
eat mu-
ERG suqiːpi
mouse liː
the la
PAST ʔaxu
buy kiː
1excl nitaːliː
cheese liː
the ʔiːŋi
COMP ʔiːŋi
COMP ʔiːŋi
COMP

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Tingi 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:

La na’akha la ha’ii mutii lii paa’akhaa majuu lii ’iingi mafiisaalaa lii.

[la naʔaxa la haʔiː mutiː liː paːʔaxaː majuː liː ʔiːŋi mafiːsaːlaː liː]

la
PAST naʔaxa
surprise la
PAST haʔiː
give mu-
ERG tiː
boy liː
the paːʔaxaː
apple ma-
DAT juː
girl liː
the ʔiːŋi
COMP ma-
DAT fiːsaːlaː
teacher liː
the

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

 (27)

Quotes

Tingi expresses quoted or reported speech without a dedicated quotative particle. Quotations appear as ordinary clauses, distinguished only by the surrounding syntactic context or by the use of verbs of speaking.

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

La supuu mutii lii siwii kii nuu ’iingi majuu lii.

[la supuː mutiː liː siʋiː kiː nuː ʔiːŋi majuː liː]

la
PAST supuː
tell mu-
ERG tiː
boy liː
the siʋiː
love kiː
1excl nuː
2 ʔiːŋi
COMP ma-
DAT juː
girl liː
the

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Tingi. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 24 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3HHL7

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3HHL7,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Tingi}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3HHL7}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 24 May 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Tingi / Tingi–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/3HHL7

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