A Grammar of Dood

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Dood language (the 204th 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 Dood.

Typological Profile

It has four genders, a small but genuine set of click consonants and a relatively uncommon VOS word order.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Dood has an extremely large consonant inventory, totalling 75 phonemes. Such a system is exceptional in scale.

It has a highly developed aspirated consonant series, an exceptionally dense set of affricate contrasts, a notable dental–alveolar contrast across several manners, a notably rich set of sibilant contrasts and a notably rich liquid inventory.

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

labialdentalphar. dentalalveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalretroflexvelarlab. velarglottal
stopb d t dˤ tˤ c ɟ ɖ ʈ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ ʔ
aspirated stoptʰˤ ʈʰ kʰʷ
breathy stopdʱˤ ɖʱ gʱʷ
ejective stopkʷʼ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ɳ̥ ŋ ŋʷ
trill/tap/flapɾ ɾˤ ɽ
fricativef ð θ ðˤ θˤ s z sˤ zˤ ʃ ʒ ʂ x ɣ xʷ ɣʷ h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡s t͡sˤ t͡ʃ t͡ɕ d͡ʐ t͡ʂ k͡x k͡xʷ
implosiveɓ
clickᵏǀ ᵏǀʰ ᵏǀˤ ᵏǀʰˤ
click, nasalᵑǀ ᵑǀˤ

Vowels

Dood has 8 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 strikingly compressed height system with only two vowel heights, a modest but genuine inventory of nasal vowels, a triangular vowel system with few low vowels, a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables and occasional ghost vowels that surface only weakly.

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

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
opena

Stress and Tones

Dood 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

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

Writing System

Introduction

Dood is normally written using the Arabic alphabet, a consonant-centred script whose forms vary according to position in the word. In this grammar, phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are also provided to make the pronunciation fully explicit.

Orthography

Here are the various components of the orthography:

Simple letters

ا /aː, ʔ/ب /b/ت /t/ث /θ/
ثٓ /θˤ/ح /h/خ /x/د /d/
ر /ɾ/ز /z/س /s/ش /ʃ/
ص /sˤ/ض /dˤ/ط /tˤ/ظ /zˤ/
غ /dʱ/ف /f/قۡ /ᵏǀ/قۡٓ /ᵏǀˤ/
ك /k/ل /l/م /m/ن /n/
نٓ /nˤ/و /uː, w/ي /iː, j, yː/ٹ /ʈ/
ٽ /tʰ/ٽٓ /tʰˤ/ڀ /kʼʷ/ڃ /ɲ/
څ /t͡s/څٓ /t͡sˤ/چ /t͡ʃ/ڇ /t͡ɕ/
ڈ /ɖ/ڌ /r/ڒ /rˤ/ړ /ɽ/
ڕ /xʷ/ژ /ʒ/ڙ /ɖʱ/ښ /ʂ/
ڨ /dʱˤ/ګ /ɳ̥/ڭ /ŋ/ڮ /kʰ/
گ /ɡ/ڳ /gʱ/ڹ /ɳ/ۯ /ð/
ۿ /t͡ʂ/ݐ /ɓ/ݕ /ᵏǀʰˤ/ݞ /ðˤ/
ݡ /k͡xʷ/ݨ /d͡ʐ/ݱ /ɾˤ/ݿ /kʼ/
ࡱ /kʰʷ/ࢁ /ŋʷ/ࢧ /gʱʷ/ࢨ /ɣ/
ࢬ /ɟ/ࢵ /k͡x/ࢶ /ɡʷ/ࢹ /c/
ࣂ /kʷ/ࣃ /ɣʷ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

قۡح /ᵏǀʰ/نقۡ /ᵑǀ/نقۡٓ /ᵑǀˤ/
ٹح /ʈʰ/

Diacritics

◌ٓ /a̰, ḭ, ṵ, y̰/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Dood does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Dood has the following genders:

Gender cl.1 – for instance: طاڇ ‘fruit’, طچڅٓ ‘bank’, غڳ ‘leaf’, كظاي ‘ice’, مݡݿ ‘flower’, نقۡٓڀ ‘wife’, چڒ ‘sun’, ڇڹࣂ ‘sand’, ړࢨوࢧ ‘mortar’, ړࢬنٓ ‘smoke’, ڕࢵر ‘binoculars’, ڨڨ ‘Dood’, ګڹݡ ‘bark’, گࢵوڳ ‘seed’, ݐل ‘woman’, ݕڇڀ ‘breast’, ݞٓڇك ‘salt’, ࢬٓغࢨ ‘apple’, ࢵࢹيݐ ‘religion’, ࢹࢹاب ‘medicine’.

Gender cl.2 – for instance: اڙڨ ‘belly’, ثݐ ‘fight’, خٓك ‘egg’, دٓٽٓ ‘man’, رࢹ ‘husband’, فثٓ ‘boy’, قۡت ‘idea’, كيݿ ‘sea’, لباڌ ‘book’, لړٹ ‘God’, نقۡࢹ ‘people’, ڃاڃ ‘father’, ڒڀٓڈ ‘neighbour’, ژڙ ‘day’, ښاڃ ‘year’, ڭڒٓر ‘farmer’, ڮگاڳ ‘anus’, ۿڃٓڮ ‘embrace’, ࡱچ ‘moon’, ࢨࢹ ‘sky’.

Gender cl.3 – for instance: ارٹح ‘lion’, تړࢬ ‘fog’, حمڇ ‘wild boar’, فيغ ‘star’, قۡيت ‘land’, كتوس ‘market’, يا ‘cat’, ڀزࢹ ‘box’, ڀٹٓݐ ‘snow’, څر ‘rain’, څڅيث ‘student’, چغاڭ ‘court’, ڈطچ ‘jaguar’, ڙړࣂ ‘plain’, ڹڃب ‘mouse’, ڹݡژ ‘cloud’, ݞٓښ ‘road’, ݞٓݨࢧ ‘louse’, ݨڹ ‘east’, ࣃاۯ ‘earth’.

Gender cl.4 – for instance: بࢹوڭ ‘bosom’, ثڌ ‘colour’, زت ‘bone’, زو ‘speech’, زڳٓز ‘vagina’, قۡحر ‘head’, قۡڃٓخ ‘library’, مشࢶ ‘wing’, ٽࢁ ‘eye’, چور ‘chair’, چٓثا ‘umbrella’, ڕٓنٓٓڹ ‘breath’, ګاۯ ‘restaurant’, ۿڅ ‘tongue’, ݞٓژي ‘penis’, ݞࢵ ‘name’, ݿخ ‘top’, ࢁݨ ‘tooth’, ࢶڇ ‘inside’, ࣂغ ‘ear’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

ࢬٓڕ ࢬٓࢨي لض زي ڹڃبت څٓڮ ݐلا گخ څٓڈ ڃيࣂث۔

[ɟḭxʷi ɟṵɣiː ladˤi ziː ɳaɲybati t͡sˤakʰa ɓylaʔi ɡixy t͡sˤaɖi ɲiːkʷuθi]

ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
xʷi
catch
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
ɣiː
blind
la
yon
-dˤi
cl.3
ziː
three
ɳaɲyb
mouse
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ɓyl
woman
-aʔi
ACT
ɡixy
COMIT
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
ɲiːkʷ
knife
-uθi
LOC

“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 Dood consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising ـت /-ati/ ‘STA’, ـا /-aʔi/ ‘ACT’, ـٓط /-ḭtˤi/ ‘DAT’, ـړة /-iɽa/ ‘INS’, ـڙ /-aɖʱi/ ‘VOC’, ـث /-uθu/ ‘ALL’, ـث /-uθi/ ‘LOC’, ـڌ /-ari/ ‘ABL’ and ـٓڭ /-a̰ŋi/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 suffixes, namely ـړ /-aɽ/ ‘little’, ـڕ /-axʷ/ ‘big’, ـړ /-iɽ/ ‘old’, ـٓب /-a̰b/ ‘new’, ـٓغ /-ḭdʱ/ ‘good’, ـڒ /-irˤ/ ‘bad’, ـلة /-ila/ ‘have’, ـڕ /-uxʷu/ ‘use’, ـڅٓة /-it͡sˤa/ ‘see’, ـضٓ /-idˤa̰/ ‘make’ and ـٓڮ /-a̰kʰu/ ‘break’

The Adjective

In Dood, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising ـض /-dˤi/ ‘cl.1’, ـضٓ /-dˤḭ/ ‘cl.2’, ـك /-ki/ ‘cl.3’ and ـڮٓ /-kʰṵ/ ‘cl.4’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Dood, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising ـڮة /-kʰa/ ‘cl.1’, ـڈ /-ɖi/ ‘cl.2’, ـض /-dˤi/ ‘cl.3’ and ـۿٓ /-t͡ʂḭ/ ‘cl.4’.

Pronouns

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

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

ڨٓا نقۡ۔

[dʱˤṵʔa ᵑǀu]

dʱˤ-
3.cl.2.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
ʔa
love
ᵑǀu
3.cl.1

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(2)

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

ڨٓا نقۡ مٓ۔

[dʱˤṵʔa ᵑǀu ma̰]

dʱˤ-
3.cl.2.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
ʔa
love
ᵑǀu
3.cl.1
ma̰
3.cl.2

He loves her.”

(3)

Proper Nouns

ڨٓګݐ څٓڮ ݕڙٓخت څٓڈ ݕڌارا۔

[dʱˤṵɳ̥iɓa t͡sˤakʰa ᵏǀʰˤaɖʱḭxati t͡sˤaɖi ᵏǀʰˤaraːɾaʔi]

dʱˤ-
3.cl.2.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
ɳ̥iɓa
hate
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ᵏǀʰˤaɖʱḭx
Kadikh
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
ᵏǀʰˤaraːɾ
Karar
-aʔi
ACT

“Karar hates Kadikh.”

(4)

Possession

څٓڮ ࢬٓغࢨت څٓڈ فثٓت

[t͡sˤakʰa ɟa̰dʱuɣati t͡sˤaɖi fiθˤati]

t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ɟa̰dʱuɣ
apple
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
fiθˤ
boy
-ati
STA

“the boy’s apple”

(5)
څٓڮ ࢬٓغࢨت مٓ

[t͡sˤakʰa ɟa̰dʱuɣati ma̰]

t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ɟa̰dʱuɣ
apple
-ati
STA
ma̰
3.cl.2

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(6)
څٓڮ ࢬٓغࢨت ٹح

[t͡sˤakʰa ɟa̰dʱuɣati ʈʰi]

t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ɟa̰dʱuɣ
apple
-ati
STA
ʈʰi
1excl

“my apple”

(7)
ࢬٓࣃٓݿ څٓڈ څګت څٓڈ ڒڀٓڈت ڒٓ څٓڮ ڮطا څٓڈ ݨڹڇت۔

[ɟḭɣʷḭkʼi t͡sˤaɖi t͡siɳ̥ati t͡sˤaɖi rˤukʼʷḭɖati rˤḭ t͡sˤakʰa kʰitˤaʔi t͡sˤaɖi d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕati]

ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ɣʷḭkʼi
kiss
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
t͡siɳ̥
son
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
rˤukʼʷḭɖ
neighbour
-ati
STA
rˤḭ
2
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
kʰitˤ
daughter
-aʔi
ACT
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕ
hunter
-ati
STA

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

(8)

Derivation

نقۡٓٓزبت

[ᵑǀˤa̰zibati]

ᵑǀˤa̰zib
lamb
-ati
STA

“a lamb”

(9)
نقۡٓٓزبړت

[ᵑǀˤa̰zibaɽati]

ᵑǀˤa̰zib
lamb
-aɽ
little
-ati
STA

“a little lamb”

(10)
ࢬٓنقۡٓٓزبړلة۔

[ɟḭᵑǀˤa̰zibaɽila]

ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
-
have₁
ᵑǀˤa̰zib
lamb
-aɽ
little
-ila
have₂

“She had a little lamb.”

(11)

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:

ࢬٓا ࢬٓط نقۡٓٓزبت۔

[ɟḭʔa ɟṵtˤa ᵑǀˤa̰zibati]

ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ʔa
love
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
tˤa
black
ᵑǀˤa̰zib
lamb
-ati
STA

“She loved a black lamb.”

(12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Dood fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing negation, comprising ڌٓ /ra̰/ ‘NEG’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising فٓ /fḭ/ ‘imperative’, ࢹة /ca/ ‘conditional’ and غ /dʱi/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising طة /tˤa/ ‘passive’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an obligatory prefix expressing subj, comprising ݨـ /d͡ʐ-/ ‘1incl’, ݡـ /k͡xʷ-/ ‘1excl’, ڕـ /xʷ-/ ‘2’, ࢬـ /ɟ-/ ‘3.cl.1’, ڨـ /dʱˤ-/ ‘3.cl.2’, فـ /f-/ ‘3.cl.3’ and كـ /k-/ ‘3.cl.4’; second, an obligatory prefix expressing ta, comprising أ̰ـ /ṵ-/ ‘PRES’ and إ̰ـ /ḭ-/ ‘PAST’; and finally, third, the root.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely ـض /-dˤi/ ‘begin’, ـش /-ʃi/ ‘stop’, ـڭ /-ŋi/ ‘continue’, ـݿة /-kʼa/ ‘try’ and ـࢵٓ /-k͡xa̰/ ‘start’

ݡٓا ڒٓ۔

[k͡xʷṵʔa rˤḭ]

k͡xʷ-
1excl.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
ʔa
love
rˤḭ
2

“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.

ت څٓۿٓ نقۡٓژث

[ty t͡sˤat͡ʂḭ ᵑǀˤaʒuθi]

ty
in_surface
t͡sˤa
the
-t͡ʂḭ
cl.4
ᵑǀˤaʒ
table
-uθi
LOC

“on the table”

(14)
ۿ څٓض ڀزࢹث

[t͡ʂy t͡sˤadˤi kʼʷazicuθi]

t͡ʂy
to_inside
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
kʼʷazic
box
-uθi
LOC

“into the box”

(15)
گخ ٹح

[ɡixy ʈʰi]

ɡixy
COMIT
ʈʰi
1excl

“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.

Dood displays Verb–Object–Subject (VOS) as its primary word order. The verb is followed by the object, with the subject appearing clause-finally. Although relatively uncommon, VOS is well documented cross-linguistically.

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

فٓښي څٓڈ ݨڹڇت څٓض ڈطچا۔

[fḭʂyː t͡sˤaɖi d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕati t͡sˤadˤi ɖitˤit͡ʃaʔi]

f-
3.cl.3.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ʂyː
kill
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕ
hunter
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ɖitˤit͡ʃ
jaguar
-aʔi
ACT

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(17)
فٓګي څٓض ࢵࢧت څٓڮ ڮطت څٓڈ ݨڹڇت څٓض ارٹحا۔

[fḭɳ̥yː t͡sˤadˤi k͡xagʱʷati t͡sˤakʰa kʰitˤati t͡sˤaɖi d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕati t͡sˤadˤi ʔiɾaʈʰaʔi]

f-
3.cl.3.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ɳ̥yː
eat
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
k͡xagʱʷ
dog
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
kʰitˤ
daughter
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕ
hunter
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ʔiɾaʈʰ
lion
-aʔi
ACT

“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 Dood 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, Dood 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.

څٓڈ لباڌت څٓڈ ڮٽت څٓڈ څګت ڒٓ

[t͡sˤaɖi libaːrati t͡sˤaɖi kʰitʰati t͡sˤaɖi t͡siɳ̥ati rˤḭ]

t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
libaːr
book
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
kʰitʰ
friend
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
t͡siɳ̥
son
-ati
STA
rˤḭ
2

“your son’s friend’s book”

(19)

Case Marking

Dood uses active case marking. Intransitive subjects are divided according to how they participate in the event. More agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘run’ or ‘shout’, pattern with transitive subjects and take the active or agentive case. Less agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘sleep’ or ‘be ill’, pattern with transitive objects and take the patientive or absolutive case. This system makes sense where the grammar treats control, volition or affectedness as more important than the simple distinction between subject and object.

فٓࢧٓ څٓض يات۔

[fy̰gʱʷy̰ t͡sˤadˤi jyʔati]

f-
3.cl.3.SUBJ
y̰-
PRES
gʱʷy̰
sleep
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-ati
STA

“The cat is sleeping.”

(20)
فٓم څٓض ياا۔

[fṵmi t͡sˤadˤi jyʔaʔi]

f-
3.cl.3.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
mi
run
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-aʔi
ACT

“The cat is running.”

(21)
فٓڇيا څٓض ڹڃبت څٓض ياا۔

[fṵt͡ɕiːʔi t͡sˤadˤi ɳaɲybati t͡sˤadˤi jyʔaʔi]

f-
3.cl.3.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
t͡ɕiːʔi
chase
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ɳaɲyb
mouse
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-aʔi
ACT

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

(22)
فٓڕ څٓض ڹڃبت څٓض ياا۔

[fḭxʷi t͡sˤadˤi ɳaɲybati t͡sˤadˤi jyʔaʔi]

f-
3.cl.3.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
xʷi
catch
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ɳaɲyb
mouse
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-aʔi
ACT

“The cat caught the mouse.”

(23)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

ڨٓښي څٓض ڈطچت ٽٓ څٓض بٹحيت ٽٓ څٓض ارٹحت څٓڈ ݨڹڇا۔

[dʱˤḭʂyː t͡sˤadˤi ɖitˤit͡ʃati tʰˤa t͡sˤadˤi biʈʰajati tʰˤa t͡sˤadˤi ʔiɾaʈʰati t͡sˤaɖi d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕaʔi]

dʱˤ-
3.cl.2.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ʂyː
kill
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ɖitˤit͡ʃ
jaguar
-ati
STA
tʰˤa
and
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
biʈʰaj
tiger
-ati
STA
tʰˤa
and
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ʔiɾaʈʰ
lion
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
d͡ʐuɳat͡ɕ
hunter
-aʔi
ACT

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

(24)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Dood 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:

ݡٓࢹݿ څٓض يات۔

[k͡xʷḭcikʼu t͡sˤadˤi jyʔati]

k͡xʷ-
1excl.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
cikʼu
pat
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-ati
STA

“I patted the cat.”

(25)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

ݡٓࢹݿ ࢬٓڕ څٓض ڹڃبت څٓض يات۔

[k͡xʷḭcikʼu ɟḭxʷi t͡sˤadˤi ɳaɲybati t͡sˤadˤi jyʔati]

k͡xʷ-
1excl.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
cikʼu
pat
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
xʷi
catch
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ɳaɲyb
mouse
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-ati
STA

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(26)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

ݡٓࢹݿ ࢬٓڕ ࢬٓګي څٓڮ ڌٓڌرت څٓض ڹڃبت څٓض يات۔

[k͡xʷḭcikʼu ɟḭxʷi ɟḭɳ̥yː t͡sˤakʰa ra̰raɾati t͡sˤadˤi ɳaɲybati t͡sˤadˤi jyʔati]

k͡xʷ-
1excl.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
cikʼu
pat
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
xʷi
catch
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ɳ̥yː
eat
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ra̰raɾ
cheese
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ɳaɲyb
mouse
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-ati
STA

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

(27)

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

ݡٓࢹݿ ࢬٓڕ ࢬٓګي ࢬٓل ٹح څٓڮ ڌٓڌرت څٓض ڹڃبت څٓض يات۔

[k͡xʷḭcikʼu ɟḭxʷi ɟḭɳ̥yː ɟḭlu ʈʰi t͡sˤakʰa ra̰raɾati t͡sˤadˤi ɳaɲybati t͡sˤadˤi jyʔati]

k͡xʷ-
1excl.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
cikʼu
pat
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
xʷi
catch
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ɳ̥yː
eat
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
lu
buy
ʈʰi
1excl
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ra̰raɾ
cheese
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
ɳaɲyb
mouse
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-dˤi
cl.3
jyʔ
cat
-ati
STA

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

(28)

Complementation Strategies

Dood 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:

ڨٓڕࢨٓ څٓڈ ڳتاڌٓط ࢬٓد ࢬٓغࢨت څٓڮ ڹرٓط څٓڈ فثٓا۔

[dʱˤḭxʷaɣa̰ t͡sˤaɖi gʱitaːrḭtˤi ɟḭda ɟa̰dʱuɣati t͡sˤakʰa ɳuɾḭtˤi t͡sˤaɖi fiθˤaʔi]

dʱˤ-
3.cl.2.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
xʷaɣa̰
surprise
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
gʱitaːr
teacher
-ḭtˤi
DAT
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
da
give
ɟa̰dʱuɣ
apple
-ati
STA
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ɳuɾ
girl
-ḭtˤi
DAT
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
fiθˤ
boy
-aʔi
ACT

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

(29)

Quotes

Dood 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:

ڨٓڌ ࢬٓا ڒٓ ٹح څٓڮ ڹرٓط څٓڈ فثٓا۔

[dʱˤḭri ɟṵʔa rˤḭ ʈʰi t͡sˤakʰa ɳuɾḭtˤi t͡sˤaɖi fiθˤaʔi]

dʱˤ-
3.cl.2.SUBJ
ḭ-
PAST
ri
tell
ɟ-
3.cl.1.SUBJ
ṵ-
PRES
ʔa
love
rˤḭ
2
ʈʰi
1excl
t͡sˤa
the
-kʰa
cl.1
ɳuɾ
girl
-ḭtˤi
DAT
t͡sˤa
the
-ɖi
cl.2
fiθˤ
boy
-aʔi
ACT

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

(30)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Dood. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 29 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3P5DR

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3P5DR,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Dood}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3P5DR}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 29 May 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Dood / Dood–English) accompany this grammar. The complete work – comprising the grammar, dictionary and texts – may also be downloaded in ODT or DOCX format.

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