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A Grammar of Lu

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Lu language (the 177th 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 Lu.

Typological Profile

It has postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Lu has 25 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a substantial inventory of palatal or palatalised consonants, a wide range of approximant contrasts, a strongly reduced sibilant system, a broad set of voiced–voiceless oppositions and a notably rich liquid inventory.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t c ɟ k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
trill/tap/flapɾ
fricativef s z h
approximantw ʎ j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ

Vowels

Lu 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 fully contrastive long–short vowel distinction across the system, a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables and front rounded vowels (these are cross-linguistically relatively uncommon, but occur in a number of well-known languages, including French, German, Turkish and Mandarin).

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

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
mide ø o
opena

Stress and Tones

Lu 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

The language employs vowel harmony. To be specific, the following vowels change to match the first vowel of the root: /u/ becomes /y/, /o/ becomes /ø/.

Writing System

Introduction

Lu is an unwritten language. For that reason, all examples in this grammar are given exclusively in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which offers a precise and widely recognised means of recording its sounds.

Orthography

Luis an unwritten language, so it does not make any sense to discuss its orthography.

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Lu does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Lu does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

[ˈhiperuː ˈʎeʎiːruː ɡaːˈjau ˈʎawi ˈna ˈt͡ʃot͡ɕat͡ɕu ɲaˈzyːɲymuː ˈkeː naː]

ˈhip
woman -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈʎeʎ
knife -iː
LOC -r
sing -uː
def ɡaːˈjau
COMIT ˈʎa
yon -wi
ACC ˈna
three ˈt͡ʃot͡ɕa
blind -t͡ɕu
ACC ɲaˈzyːɲ
mouse -y
ACC -m
plur -uː
def ˈkeː
catch naː
PAST

“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 Lu consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -e ‘NOM’, -u ‘ACC’, -oː ‘GEN’, -aː ‘DAT’, -i ‘INS’, -o ‘VOC’, -a ‘ALL’, -iː ‘LOC’, -uː ‘ABL’ and -eː ‘PART’; third, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -r ‘sing’ and -m ‘plur’; and finally, fourth, an obligatory suffix expressing def, comprising -eː ‘not.def’ and -uː ‘def’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 suffixes, namely -uz ‘little’, -at͡ɕ ‘big’, -eːf ‘old’, -ib ‘new’, -un ‘good’, -ot͡ʃ ‘bad’, -aɾoː ‘have’, -ara ‘use’, -iɟe ‘see’, -aːde ‘make’ and -aːze ‘break’

The Adjective

In Lu, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -t͡ɕu ‘ACC’, -caː ‘GEN’, -me ‘DAT’, -ni ‘INS’, -muː ‘VOC’, -mo ‘ALL’, -ɡe ‘LOC’, -maː ‘ABL’ and -suː ‘PART’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Lu, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -wi ‘ACC’, -nu ‘GEN’, -ju ‘DAT’, -di ‘INS’, -daː ‘VOC’, -be ‘ALL’, -waː ‘LOC’, -muː ‘ABL’ and -cu ‘PART’.

Pronouns

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

In Lu, both subject and object pronouns are dropped unless they are stressed. Here is an example where neither of the pronouns are stressed:

[ˈt͡ʃa]

ˈt͡ʃa
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

[ˈha ˈt͡ʃa]

ˈha
3.sing ˈt͡ʃa
love

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

[ˈha ˈt͡ʃa]

ˈha
3.sing ˈt͡ʃa
love

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

[ɡaˈceleruː t͡ɕaˈhiɡuruː syˈʎy]

ɡaˈcel
Gachel -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def t͡ɕaˈhiɡ
Chahig -u
ACC -r
sing -uː
def syˈʎy
hate

“Gachel hates Chahig.”

 (5)

Possession

[ˈbaːnoːruː ɟuːˈmiːɾeruː]

ˈbaːn
boy -oː
GEN -r
sing -uː
def ɟuːˈmiːɾ
apple -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)

[ˈha ɟuːˈmiːɾeruː]

ˈha
3.sing ɟuːˈmiːɾ
apple -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)

[ˈju ɟuːˈmiːɾeruː]

ˈju
1excl.sing ɟuːˈmiːɾ
apple -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def

“my apple”

 (8)

[ɲuˈpaːjoːruː ˈjoperuː ˈjai daˈmewoːruː ˈpit͡ɕuruː diˈta naː]

ɲuˈpaːj
hunter -oː
GEN -r
sing -uː
def ˈjop
daughter -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈjai
2.sing daˈmew
neighbour -oː
GEN -r
sing -uː
def ˈpit͡ɕ
son -u
ACC -r
sing -uː
def diˈta
kiss naː
PAST

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

 (9)

Derivation

[ˈjeː kuˈɟeɾereː]

ˈjeː
a kuˈɟeɾ
lamb -e
NOM -r
sing -eː
not.def

“a lamb”

 (10)

[ˈjeː kuˈɟeɾuzereː]

ˈjeː
a kuˈɟeɾ
lamb -uz
little -e
NOM -r
sing -eː
not.def

“a little lamb”

 (11)

[ˈjeːwi kuˈɟeɾuzureː ˈt͡ʃai naː]

ˈjeː
a -wi
ACC kuˈɟeɾ
lamb -uz
little -u
ACC -r
sing -eː
not.def ˈt͡ʃai
have naː
PAST

“She had a little lamb.”

 (12)

This doesn’t affect all adjectives and verbs. Compare, for instance the previous example with this one, where black and love do not undergo affixation:

[ˈjeːwi nait͡ɕu kuˈɟeɾureː ˈt͡ʃa naː]

ˈjeː
a -wi
ACC nai
black -t͡ɕu
ACC kuˈɟeɾ
lamb -u
ACC -r
sing -eː
not.def ˈt͡ʃa
love naː
PAST

“She loved a black lamb.”

 (13)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Lu are enclitics (placed finally), and there are four types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising naː ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising deː ‘imperative’, liː ‘conditional’ and lo ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising liː ‘passive’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising fo ‘NEG’.

The verb itself does not have any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -da ‘begin’, -nu ‘stop’, -su ‘continue’, -ɾo ‘try’ and -ɲe ‘start’

[ˈt͡ʃa]

ˈt͡ʃa
love

“I love you.”

 (14)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

There is one type of clitic in the adpositional phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing root.

[ˈnareruː ˈɡyːɟeruː ˈsy]

ˈnar
table -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈɡyːɟ
surface -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈsy
in

“on the table”

 (15)

[kiːˈʎyt͡ɕeruː ˈɡiːɲeruː ˈɟø]

kiːˈʎyt͡ɕ
box -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈɡiːɲ
inside -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈɟø
to

“into the box”

 (16)

[ˈju ɡaːˈjau]

ˈju
1excl.sing ɡaːˈjau
COMIT

“with me”

 (17)

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.

Lu has basic Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. The subject precedes the object, and the verb appears at the end of the clause. This is one of the most frequent patterns cross-linguistically.

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

[kuˈlaːkeruː ɲuˈpaːjuruː ˈwøː naː]

kuˈlaːk
jaguar -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ɲuˈpaːj
hunter -u
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈwøː
kill naː
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (18)

[kaˈɡøferuː ɲuˈpaːjoːruː ˈjopoːruː ˈmyryruː ˈru naː]

kaˈɡøf
lion -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ɲuˈpaːj
hunter -oː
GEN -r
sing -uː
def ˈjop
daughter -oː
GEN -r
sing -uː
def ˈmyr
dog -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈru
eat naː
PAST

“The lion ate the hunter’s daughter’s dog.”

 (19)

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 Lu 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, Lu 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.

[ˈjai ˈpit͡ɕoːruː ˈbuːŋoːruː liːbeːreruː]

ˈjai
2.sing ˈpit͡ɕ
son -oː
GEN -r
sing -uː
def ˈbuːŋ
friend -oː
GEN -r
sing -uː
def liːbeːr
book -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (20)

Case Marking

Lu uses nominative–accusative case marking. The subject of an intransitive verb and the subject of a transitive verb are treated alike and take the nominative case, while the object of a transitive verb is marked with the accusative case. This is the familiar pattern from many European languages: the grammar groups together the participants that function as subjects and marks the participant affected by a transitive action separately.

[ˈniːkeruː ˈtu]

ˈniːk
cat -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈtu
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (21)

[ˈniːkeruː ˈpø]

ˈniːk
cat -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈpø
run

“The cat is running.”

 (22)

[ˈniːkeruː ɲaˈzyːɲyruː ciˈza]

ˈniːk
cat -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ɲaˈzyːɲ
mouse -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ciˈza
chase

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (23)

[ˈniːkeruː ɲaˈzyːɲyruː ˈkeː naː]

ˈniːk
cat -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ɲaˈzyːɲ
mouse -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈkeː
catch naː
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

[ɲuˈpaːjeruː kuˈlaːkumuː ˈɡau raˈt͡ɕaʎumuː ˈɡau kaˈɡøfymuː ˈwøː naː]

ɲuˈpaːj
hunter -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def kuˈlaːk
jaguar -u
ACC -m
plur -uː
def ˈɡau
and raˈt͡ɕaʎ
tiger -u
ACC -m
plur -uː
def ˈɡau
and kaˈɡøf
lion -y
ACC -m
plur -uː
def ˈwøː
kill naː
PAST

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

 (25)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Lu forms relative clauses by placing them before the noun they modify. The modifier takes the form of a finite clause that precedes the head noun without any relative pronoun. The clause shows ordinary clausal structure, with the role of the head noun recoverable from the syntactic position inside the clause.

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

[ˈniːkuruː ɲaˈfau naː]

ˈniːk
cat -u
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ɲaˈfau
pat naː
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (26)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

[ɲaˈzyːɲyruː ˈkeː naː ˈniːkuruː ɲaˈfau naː]

ɲaˈzyːɲ
mouse -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈkeː
catch naː
PAST ˈniːk
cat -u
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ɲaˈfau
pat naː
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (27)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

[saːˈɡøɟyruː ˈru naː ɲaˈzyːɲyruː ˈkeː naː ˈniːkuruː ɲaˈfau naː]

saːˈɡøɟ
cheese -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈru
eat naː
PAST ɲaˈzyːɲ
mouse -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈkeː
catch naː
PAST ˈniːk
cat -u
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ɲaˈfau
pat naː
PAST

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

 (28)

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

[ˈju ˈʎi naː saːˈɡøɟyruː ˈru naː ɲaˈzyːɲyruː ˈkeː naː ˈniːkuruː ɲaˈfau naː]

ˈju
1excl.sing ˈʎi
buy naː
PAST saːˈɡøɟ
cheese -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈru
eat naː
PAST ɲaˈzyːɲ
mouse -y
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ˈkeː
catch naː
PAST ˈniːk
cat -u
ACC -r
sing -uː
def ɲaˈfau
pat naː
PAST

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

 (29)

Complementation Strategies

Lu 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:

[ˈbaːneruː ˈʎuɾaːruː ˈjeːwi ɟuːˈmiːɾureː ˈro naː ɡiːteːraːruː niˈɡa naː]

ˈbaːn
boy -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈʎuɾ
girl -aː
DAT -r
sing -uː
def ˈjeː
a -wi
ACC ɟuːˈmiːɾ
apple -u
ACC -r
sing -eː
not.def ˈro
give naː
PAST ɡiːteːr
teacher -aː
DAT -r
sing -uː
def niˈɡa
surprise naː
PAST

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

 (30)

Quotes

Lu 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:

[ˈbaːneruː ˈʎuɾaːruː ˈju ˈjai ˈt͡ʃa ˈzy naː]

ˈbaːn
boy -e
NOM -r
sing -uː
def ˈʎuɾ
girl -aː
DAT -r
sing -uː
def ˈju
1excl.sing ˈjai
2.sing ˈt͡ʃa
love ˈzy
tell naː
PAST

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

 (31)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Lu. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 25 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3HQF4

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3HQF4,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Lu}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3HQF4}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 25 May 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Lu / Lu–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/3HQF4

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