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A Grammar of Gaib

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Gaib language (the 200th 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 Gaib.

Typological Profile

It has not just singular and plural, but also dual, and the typologically rare OSV basic word order.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Gaib has a moderately small consonant inventory, comprising 18 phonemes.

It has a complete absence of palatal consonants, something which is a rare occurrence indeed, as well as a conspicuous absence of approximants and a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarvelarlab. velarglottal
stopb d t k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
nasalm n ŋ ŋʷ
fricativef s ʃ h
affricatet͡ʃ
implosiveɓ

Vowels

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

It has phonologically distinctive back unrounded vowels.

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

frontcentralback unroundedback rounded
closei ɯ u
mide ɤ o
opena

Stress and Tones

Gaib 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

Gaib 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

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

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Gaib distinguishes singular, dual and plural.

Gender

Gaib does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

[kʷeʃa̰ maino̰ ŋotɯ̰ ŋʷḛtḭ kʷabe ŋokʷḛ hɤkḭ kʷe bo t͡ʃu]

kʷeʃa̰
blind m-
plur aino̰
3.plur ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM ŋʷḛt
woman -ḭ
sing kʷabe
COMIT ŋo
the -kʷḛ
LOC hɤk
knife -ḭ
sing kʷe
catch bo
PAST t͡ʃu
then

“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 possessor. a clitic expressing possessor, comprising me ‘1incl.sing’, ɓṵ ‘1excl.sing’, fe ‘2.sing’, ɓɯ̰ ‘3.sing’, si ‘1incl.dual’, ʃḛ ‘1excl.dual’, ɓḛ ‘2.dual’, fḛ ‘3.dual’, sɯ̰ ‘1incl.plur’, hu ‘1excl.plur’, mṵ ‘2.plur’ and ka ‘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 Gaib.

The Noun

The noun in Gaib consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -ḭ ‘sing’, -ɤ ‘dual’ and -a ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -iɓ ‘little’ and -as ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Gaib, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -tɯ̰ ‘NOM’, -sa ‘ACC’, -ko̰ ‘DAT’, -ɡe ‘INS’, -fa ‘VOC’, -ɓḛ ‘ALL’, -kʷḛ ‘LOC’, -t͡ʃa̰ ‘ABL’ and -nɯ̰ ‘PART’.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Gaib has the following structure: an obligatory prefix expressing number, comprising s- ‘sing’, kʷ- ‘dual’ and m- ‘plur’ followed by the root.

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

[kʷau]

kʷau
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

[soŋʷa kʷau]

s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing kʷau
love

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

[soŋʷa kʷau]

s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing kʷau
love

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

[ŋosa satɯɓḭ ŋotɯ̰ maʃaɡḭ ɓutɯna]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC satɯɓ
Satub -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM maʃaɡ
Mashag -ḭ
sing ɓutɯna
hate

“Mashag hates Satub.”

 (5)

Possession

[ŋotɯ̰ nɤɡʷɤdḭ ɓɯ̰ ŋotɯ̰ bɤŋḭ]

ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM nɤɡʷɤd
apple -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM bɤŋ
boy -ḭ
sing

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)

[ŋotɯ̰ nɤɡʷɤdḭ ɓɯ̰ soŋʷa]

ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM nɤɡʷɤd
apple -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)

[ŋotɯ̰ nɤɡʷɤdḭ ɓṵ]

ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM nɤɡʷɤd
apple -ḭ
sing ɓṵ
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

 (8)

[ŋosa sɯdḭ ɓɯ̰ ŋotɯ̰ duɡɤkḭ fe ŋotɯ̰ fanḭ ɓɯ̰ ŋotɯ̰ ŋakaŋʷḭ to̰sodo̰ bo]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC sɯd
son -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM duɡɤk
neighbour -ḭ
sing fe
2.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM fan
daughter -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM ŋakaŋʷ
hunter -ḭ
sing to̰sodo̰
kiss bo
PAST

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

 (9)

Derivation

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

[famuɡḭ]

famuɡ
lamb -ḭ
sing

“a lamb”

 (10)

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

[famuɡiɓḭ]

famuɡ
lamb -iɓ
little -ḭ
sing

“a little lamb”

 (11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Gaib fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing voice, comprising do ‘passive’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising bo ‘PAST’; third, a clitic expressing mode, comprising bɯ ‘imperative’, ɡʷo̰ ‘conditional’ and kʷḛ ‘optative’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising hɯ̰ ‘NEG’; fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising mo̰ ‘Q’; and finally, sixth, a clitic expressing comp, comprising ne ‘COMP’.

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

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ɡʷɤ ‘begin’ and -ŋʷo̰ ‘stop’

[kʷau]

kʷau
love

“I love you.”

 (12)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

[ŋɤ ɓɤfḭ ŋotɯ̰ ʃoʃḭ]

ŋɤ
in ɓɤf
surface -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM ʃoʃ
table -ḭ
sing

“on the table”

 (13)

[na̰ taisḭ ŋotɯ̰ kʷḭmḭŋʷḭ]

na̰
to tais
inside -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM kʷḭmḭŋʷ
box -ḭ
sing

“into the box”

 (14)

[kʷabe saut͡ʃe]

kʷabe
COMIT s-
sing aut͡ʃe
1excl.sing

“with me”

 (15)

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.

Gaib 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 Gaib.

[ŋosa ŋakaŋʷḭ ŋotɯ̰ t͡ʃiɓɤɡʷḭ ŋa bo]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC ŋakaŋʷ
hunter -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM t͡ʃiɓɤɡʷ
jaguar -ḭ
sing ŋa
kill bo
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)

[ŋosa nabḭ ɓɯ̰ ŋotɯ̰ fanḭ ɓɯ̰ ŋotɯ̰ ŋakaŋʷḭ ŋotɯ̰ hibakḭ bɤ bo]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC nab
dog -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM fan
daughter -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM ŋakaŋʷ
hunter -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM hibak
lion -ḭ
sing bɤ
eat bo
PAST

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

 (17)

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 Gaib 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, Gaib 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.

[ŋotɯ̰ nehḭ ɓɯ̰ ŋotɯ̰ sɯkḭ ɓɯ̰ ŋotɯ̰ sɯdḭ fe]

ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM neh
book -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM sɯk
friend -ḭ
sing ɓɯ̰
3.sing.POSS ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM sɯd
son -ḭ
sing fe
2.sing.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Gaib 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.

[ŋotɯ̰ t͡ʃaibḭ hḭ]

ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM t͡ʃaib
cat -ḭ
sing hḭ
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)

[ŋotɯ̰ t͡ʃaibḭ fɯ]

ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM t͡ʃaib
cat -ḭ
sing fɯ
run

“The cat is running.”

 (20)

[ŋosa tɤɡɤmḭ ŋotɯ̰ t͡ʃaibḭ hedɯʃa]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC tɤɡɤm
mouse -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM t͡ʃaib
cat -ḭ
sing hedɯʃa
chase

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)

[ŋosa tɤɡɤmḭ ŋotɯ̰ t͡ʃaibḭ kʷe bo]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC tɤɡɤm
mouse -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM t͡ʃaib
cat -ḭ
sing kʷe
catch bo
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

[ŋosa t͡ʃiɓɤɡʷa hḛ ŋosa ŋaɡʷauna hḛ ŋosa hibaka ŋotɯ̰ ŋakaŋʷḭ ŋa bo]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC t͡ʃiɓɤɡʷ
jaguar -a
plur hḛ
and ŋo
the -sa
ACC ŋaɡʷaun
tiger -a
plur hḛ
and ŋo
the -sa
ACC hibak
lion -a
plur ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM ŋakaŋʷ
hunter -ḭ
sing ŋa
kill bo
PAST

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

 (23)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Gaib 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:

[ŋosa t͡ʃaibḭ ʃida̰be bo]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC t͡ʃaib
cat -ḭ
sing ʃida̰be
pat bo
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

[ŋosa tɤɡɤmḭ kʷe bo soŋʷa ʃida̰be bo t͡ʃu]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC tɤɡɤm
mouse -ḭ
sing kʷe
catch bo
PAST s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing ʃida̰be
pat bo
PAST t͡ʃu
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

[ŋosa ɡaŋenḭ bɤ bo soŋʷa kʷe bo t͡ʃu soŋʷa ʃida̰be bo t͡ʃu]

ŋo
the -sa
ACC ɡaŋen
cheese -ḭ
sing bɤ
eat bo
PAST s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing kʷe
catch bo
PAST t͡ʃu
then s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing ʃida̰be
pat bo
PAST t͡ʃu
then

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

 (26)

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

[fi bo soŋʷa bɤ bo t͡ʃu soŋʷa kʷe bo t͡ʃu soŋʷa ʃida̰be bo t͡ʃu]

fi
buy bo
PAST s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing bɤ
eat bo
PAST t͡ʃu
then s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing kʷe
catch bo
PAST t͡ʃu
then s-
sing oŋʷa
3.sing ʃida̰be
pat bo
PAST t͡ʃu
then

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

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Gaib marks complement clauses with subordinating verbal morphology. The embedded verb is fully finite and carries a subordinating suffix that identifies the clause as a complement. No structural changes occur within the clause apart from this verbal marking.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

[ŋoko̰ mɯɓaiɡʷḭ nɤɡʷɤdḭ ŋoko̰ kʷɯsḭ ŋotɯ̰ bɤŋḭ kʷo bo ne fuɓaiɡa bo]

ŋo
the -ko̰
DAT mɯɓaiɡʷ
teacher -ḭ
sing nɤɡʷɤd
apple -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -ko̰
DAT kʷɯs
girl -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM bɤŋ
boy -ḭ
sing kʷo
give bo
PAST ne
COMP fuɓaiɡa
surprise bo
PAST

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

 (28)

Quotes

Gaib 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:

[saisi saut͡ʃe kʷau ne ŋoko̰ kʷɯsḭ ŋotɯ̰ bɤŋḭ fḛ bo]

s-
sing aisi
2.sing s-
sing aut͡ʃe
1excl.sing kʷau
love ne
COMP ŋo
the -ko̰
DAT kʷɯs
girl -ḭ
sing ŋo
the -tɯ̰
NOM bɤŋ
boy -ḭ
sing fḛ
tell bo
PAST

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

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Gaib. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 28 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3NC03

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3NC03,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Gaib}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3NC03}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 28 May 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Gaib / Gaib–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/3NC03

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