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A Grammar of Geya

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Geya language (the 214th 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 Geya.

Typological Profile

It has has no interesting typological features.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Geya has 20 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a strongly reduced sibilant system.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
trill/tap/flapr
fricativef s h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ

Vowels

Geya has 7 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 moderately reduced system of unstressed vowels.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Geya 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

Geya 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/b /b/d /d/e /e/
f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/
j /j/k /k/l /l/m /m/
n /n/o /o/p /p/s /s/
t /t/u /u/v /au/w /w/
é /ai/ï /r/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ch /t͡ʃ/ng /ŋ/ty /t͡ɕ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Geya does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Geya does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Dé ñi tyahu dé nabi sa fiché cha né suïiléwa, sé puïa.

[dai ɲi t͡ɕahu dai nabi sa fit͡ʃai t͡ʃa nai surilaiwa, sai pura]

dai
the ɲi
woman t͡ɕahu
COMIT dai
the nabi
knife sa
PAST fit͡ʃai
catch t͡ʃa
yon nai
three su-
plur rilaiwa,
mouse sai
RELPRON pura
blind

“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 Geya consists of an optional prefix expressing number, comprising su- /su-/ ‘plur’ followed by the root.

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Geya, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -ïi /-ri/ ‘DAT’, -da /-da/ ‘INS’, -ïu /-ru/ ‘VOC’, -sa /-sa/ ‘ALL’, -si /-si/ ‘LOC’, -ka /-ka/ ‘ABL’ and -ha /-ha/ ‘PART’.

Pronouns

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

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

Chasv.

[t͡ʃasau]

t͡ʃasau
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Fé chasv.

[fai t͡ʃasau]

fai
3.sing t͡ʃasau
love

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

Chasv fé.

[t͡ʃasau fai]

t͡ʃasau
love fai
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

Dé Tyachéïi tasigu dé Pakuja.

[dai t͡ɕat͡ʃairi tasiɡu dai pakuja]

dai
the t͡ɕat͡ʃairi
Chachairi tasiɡu
hate dai
the pakuja
Pakuya

“Chachairi hates Pakuya.”

 (5)

Possession

dé ha dé labéba

[dai ha dai labaiba]

dai
the ha
boy dai
the labaiba
apple

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)
fé dé labéba

[fai dai labaiba]

fai
3.sing dai
the labaiba
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)
lu dé labéba

[lu dai labaiba]

lu
1excl.sing dai
the labaiba
apple

“my apple”

 (8)
Dé gagipi dé ju sa taïvsi nge dé lumvna dé mo.

[dai ɡaɡipi dai ju sa tarausi ŋe dai lumauna dai mo]

dai
the ɡaɡipi
hunter dai
the ju
daughter sa
PAST tarausi
kiss ŋe
2.sing dai
the lumauna
neighbour dai
the mo
son

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

 (9)

Derivation

Geya has no derivational processes.

singiwi

[siŋiwi]

siŋiwi
lamb

“a lamb”

 (10)

Note how none show up here:

Sa té sa huni sibe singiwi, sé to.

[sa tai sa huni sibe siŋiwi, sai to]

sa
PAST tai
want sa
PAST huni
have sibe
COMP siŋiwi,
lamb sai
RELPRON to
little

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

 (11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Geya fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing question, comprising fa /fa/ ‘Q’; second, a clitic expressing negation, comprising la /la/ ‘NEG’; third, a clitic expressing ta, comprising sa /sa/ ‘PAST’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing mode, comprising pi /pi/ ‘imperative’, ïa /ra/ ‘conditional’ and tyu /t͡ɕu/ ‘optative’.

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

Chasv.

[t͡ʃasau]

t͡ʃasau
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.

tu dé begu

[tu dai beɡu]

tu
in_surface dai
the beɡu
table

“on the table”

 (13)
nga dé matyewa

[ŋa dai mat͡ɕewa]

ŋa
to_inside dai
the mat͡ɕewa
box

“into the box”

 (14)
tyahu lu

[t͡ɕahu lu]

t͡ɕahu
COMIT lu
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.

Geya employs Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) as its basic word order. The subject is followed by the verb, with the object occurring in post-verbal position. This ordering is widely attested across the world’s languages.

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

Dé gihisi sa sache dé gagipi.

[dai ɡihisi sa sat͡ʃe dai ɡaɡipi]

dai
the ɡihisi
jaguar sa
PAST sat͡ʃe
kill dai
the ɡaɡipi
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)
Dé hungona sa piba dé gagipi dé ju dé fe.

[dai huŋona sa piba dai ɡaɡipi dai ju dai fe]

dai
the huŋona
lion sa
PAST piba
eat dai
the ɡaɡipi
hunter dai
the ju
daughter dai
the fe
dog

“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 Geya 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, Geya 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.

nge dé mo dé chi dé dv

[ŋe dai mo dai t͡ʃi dai dau]

ŋe
2.sing dai
the mo
son dai
the t͡ʃi
friend dai
the dau
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Geya does not use case marking to distinguish the core participants of the clause. There is therefore no regular nominative, accusative, ergative, active or stative marking on subjects and objects. Instead, the roles of the participants are identified by other means, cf. the examples below.

Dé me chagu.

[dai me t͡ʃaɡu]

dai
the me
cat t͡ʃaɡu
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)
Dé me sabi.

[dai me sabi]

dai
the me
cat sabi
run

“The cat is running.”

 (20)
Dé me jadéja dé ïiléwa.

[dai me jadaija dai rilaiwa]

dai
the me
cat jadaija
chase dai
the rilaiwa
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)
Dé me sa fiché dé ïiléwa.

[dai me sa fit͡ʃai dai rilaiwa]

dai
the me
cat sa
PAST fit͡ʃai
catch dai
the rilaiwa
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Dé gagipi sa sache dé sugihisi ngu dé sumasoju ngu dé suhungona.

[dai ɡaɡipi sa sat͡ʃe dai suɡihisi ŋu dai sumasoju ŋu dai suhuŋona]

dai
the ɡaɡipi
hunter sa
PAST sat͡ʃe
kill dai
the su-
plur ɡihisi
jaguar ŋu
and dai
the su-
plur masoju
tiger ŋu
and dai
the su-
plur huŋona
lion

“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 Geya 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

Geya 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:

Sa natofa dé me.

[sa natofa dai me]

sa
PAST natofa
pat dai
the me
cat

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Sa natofa dé me, sé sa fiché dé ïiléwa.

[sa natofa dai me, sai sa fit͡ʃai dai rilaiwa]

sa
PAST natofa
pat dai
the me,
cat sai
RELPRON sa
PAST fit͡ʃai
catch dai
the rilaiwa
mouse

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Sa natofa dé me, sé sa fiché dé ïiléwa, sé sa piba dé sameïa.

[sa natofa dai me, sai sa fit͡ʃai dai rilaiwa, sai sa piba dai samera]

sa
PAST natofa
pat dai
the me,
cat sai
RELPRON sa
PAST fit͡ʃai
catch dai
the rilaiwa,
mouse sai
RELPRON sa
PAST piba
eat dai
the samera
cheese

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

 (26)

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

Sa natofa dé me, sé sa fiché dé ïiléwa, sé sa piba dé sameïa, sé sa sangi lu.

[sa natofa dai me, sai sa fit͡ʃai dai rilaiwa, sai sa piba dai samera, sai sa saŋi lu]

sa
PAST natofa
pat dai
the me,
cat sai
RELPRON sa
PAST fit͡ʃai
catch dai
the rilaiwa,
mouse sai
RELPRON sa
PAST piba
eat dai
the samera,
cheese sai
RELPRON sa
PAST saŋi
buy lu
1excl.sing

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

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Geya 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:

Dé ha sa taku dé si labéba sibe sa ngigisi dé kabota.

[dai ha sa taku dai si labaiba sibe sa ŋiɡisi dai kabota]

dai
the ha
boy sa
PAST taku
give dai
the si
girl labaiba
apple sibe
COMP sa
PAST ŋiɡisi
surprise dai
the kabota
teacher

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

 (28)

Quotes

Geya 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:

Dé ha sa juso dé si lu chasv nge sibe.

[dai ha sa juso dai si lu t͡ʃasau ŋe sibe]

dai
the ha
boy sa
PAST juso
tell dai
the si
girl lu
1excl.sing t͡ʃasau
love ŋe
2.sing sibe
COMP

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

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Geya. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 1 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3R5WV

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3R5WV,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Geya}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3R5WV}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 1 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Geya / Geya–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/3R5WV

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