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A Grammar of Nagish

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Nagish language (the 1477th 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 Nagish.

Typological Profile

It has has no interesting typological features.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

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

It has has no particularly unusual consonantal features.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarlab. velarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
fricativef s ʃ h
approximantw ɾ j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ
clickᵏǀ
click, nasalᵑǀ

Vowels

Nagish has 10 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 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 Nagish. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
opena

Stress and Tones

Nagish 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

Nagish 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/a’ /a̰/b /b/c /ᵏǀ/
d /d/f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/
i /i/i’ /ḭ/j /j/k /k/
m /m/n /n/p /p/r /ɾ/
s /s/t /t/u /u/u’ /ṵ/
w /w/y /y/y’ /y̰/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/ch /t͡ʃ/
gw /ɡʷ/nc /ᵑǀ/ng /ŋ/
ngw /ŋʷ/qu /kʷ/sh /ʃ/
ty /t͡ɕ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Nagish does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Nagish does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Ñyb jagw hugy’m ñyb fin ncyd tyau ngauch ngwachich shangw pagif.

[ɲyb jaɡʷ huɡy̰m ɲyb fin ᵑǀyd t͡ɕau ŋaut͡ʃ ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ ʃaŋʷ paɡif]

ɲyb
the jaɡʷ
woman huɡy̰m
COMIT ɲyb
the fin
knife ᵑǀyd
LOC t͡ɕau
yon ŋaut͡ʃ
blind ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ
mouse ʃaŋʷ
three p-
3.SUBJ aɡi
catch -f
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 is one type of clitic in the nominal phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing case. a clitic expressing case, comprising siñ /siɲ/ ‘DAT’, fir /fiɾ/ ‘INS’, ha’ch /ha̰t͡ʃ/ ‘VOC’, hum /hum/ ‘ALL’, ncyd /ᵑǀyd/ ‘LOC’, chis /t͡ʃis/ ‘ABL’ and jyg /jyɡ/ ‘PART’.

The morphology of the elements of the nominal phrase, i.e., nouns, adjectives, numerals and pronouns, is described below, as is the way that possession is expressed in Nagish.

The Noun

The noun in Nagish stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -gwi’ /-ɡʷḭ/ ‘little’ and -ña’ /-ɲa̰/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Ngañ pypa’j.

[ŋaɲ pypa̰j]

ŋaɲ
3 p-
3.SUBJ ypa̰
love -j
PRES

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Ngañ ngañ pypa’j.

[ŋaɲ ŋaɲ pypa̰j]

ŋaɲ
3 ŋaɲ
3 p-
3.SUBJ ypa̰
love -j
PRES

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Ñyb Nytyaty ñyb Hingys pigingyj.

[ɲyb nyt͡ɕat͡ɕ ɲyb hiŋys piɡiŋyj]

ɲyb
the nyt͡ɕat͡ɕ
Noochach ɲyb
the hiŋys
Hingoos p-
3.SUBJ iɡiŋy
hate -j
PRES

“Noochach hates Hingoos.”

 (4)

Possession

ñyb tya’mub ñyb ty’w

[ɲyb t͡ɕa̰mub ɲyb ty̰w]

ɲyb
the t͡ɕa̰mub
apple ɲyb
the ty̰w
boy

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
ñyb tya’mub ngañ

[ɲyb t͡ɕa̰mub ŋaɲ]

ɲyb
the t͡ɕa̰mub
apple ŋaɲ
3

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
ñyb tya’mub tauj

[ɲyb t͡ɕa̰mub tauj]

ɲyb
the t͡ɕa̰mub
apple tauj
1excl

“my apple”

 (7)
Ñyb pi’j ñyb byki ñyb ju ñyb wabang ruch paikydyf.

[ɲyb pḭj ɲyb byki ɲyb ju ɲyb wabaŋ ɾut͡ʃ paikydyf]

ɲyb
the pḭj
daughter ɲyb
the byki
hunter ɲyb
the ju
son ɲyb
the wabaŋ
neighbour ɾut͡ʃ
2 p-
3.SUBJ aikydy
kiss -f
PAST

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

dang sa’qua’n

[daŋ sa̰kʷa̰n]

daŋ
a sa̰kʷa̰n
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

dang sa’qua’ngwi’

[daŋ sa̰kʷa̰nɡʷḭ]

daŋ
a sa̰kʷa̰n
lamb -ɡʷḭ
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Nagish are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing mode, comprising by’ty /by̰t͡ɕ/ ‘imperative’, shi’j /ʃḭj/ ‘conditional’ and kat /kat/ ‘optative’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising sid /sid/ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing negation, comprising quij /kʷij/ ‘NEG’; fourth, a clitic expressing question, comprising fi’qu /fḭkʷ/ ‘Q’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing comp, comprising hañ /haɲ/ ‘COMP’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an obligatory prefix expressing subj, comprising r- /ɾ-/ ‘1incl’, n- /n-/ ‘1excl’, j- /j-/ ‘2’ and p- /p-/ ‘3’; second, the root; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising -j /-j/ ‘PRES’ and -f /-f/ ‘PAST’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -gi /-ɡi/ ‘begin’ and -di /-di/ ‘stop’

Ruch nypa’j.

[ɾut͡ʃ nypa̰j]

ɾut͡ʃ
2 n-
1excl.SUBJ ypa̰
love -j
PRES

“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.

sik shagw ñyb wyqu ncyd

[sik ʃaɡʷ ɲyb wykʷ ᵑǀyd]

sik
in ʃaɡʷ
surface ɲyb
the wykʷ
table ᵑǀyd
LOC

“on the table”

 (12)
chus nid ñyb ñyhip siñ

[t͡ʃus nid ɲyb ɲyhip siɲ]

t͡ʃus
to nid
inside ɲyb
the ɲyhip
box siɲ
DAT

“into the box”

 (13)
hugy’m tauj ncyd

[huɡy̰m tauj ᵑǀyd]

huɡy̰m
COMIT tauj
1excl ᵑǀyd
LOC

“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.

Nagish 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 Nagish.

Ñyb mybigw ñyb byki painaf.

[ɲyb mybiɡʷ ɲyb byki painaf]

ɲyb
the mybiɡʷ
jaguar ɲyb
the byki
hunter p-
3.SUBJ aina
kill -f
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Ñyb pañis ñyb bij ñyb pi’j ñyb byki pabyf.

[ɲyb paɲis ɲyb bij ɲyb pḭj ɲyb byki pabyf]

ɲyb
the paɲis
lion ɲyb
the bij
dog ɲyb
the pḭj
daughter ɲyb
the byki
hunter p-
3.SUBJ aby
eat -f
PAST

“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 Nagish 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, Nagish 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.

ñyb kitab ñyb tyid ñyb ju ruch

[ɲyb kitab ɲyb t͡ɕid ɲyb ju ɾut͡ʃ]

ɲyb
the kitab
book ɲyb
the t͡ɕid
friend ɲyb
the ju
son ɾut͡ʃ
2

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Nagish 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.

Ñyb wi’gw paupaj.

[ɲyb wḭɡʷ paupaj]

ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat p-
3.SUBJ aupa
sleep -j
PRES

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Ñyb wi’gw py’j.

[ɲyb wḭɡʷ py̰j]

ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat p-
3.SUBJ y̰
run -j
PRES

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Ñyb wi’gw ñyb ngwachich pa’dajuj.

[ɲyb wḭɡʷ ɲyb ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ pa̰dajuj]

ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat ɲyb
the ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ
mouse p-
3.SUBJ a̰daju
chase -j
PRES

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Ñyb wi’gw ñyb ngwachich pagif.

[ɲyb wḭɡʷ ɲyb ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ paɡif]

ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat ɲyb
the ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ
mouse p-
3.SUBJ aɡi
catch -f
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Ñyb byki ñyb mybigw sad ñyb shuni’m sad ñyb pañis painaf.

[ɲyb byki ɲyb mybiɡʷ sad ɲyb ʃunḭm sad ɲyb paɲis painaf]

ɲyb
the byki
hunter ɲyb
the mybiɡʷ
jaguar sad
and ɲyb
the ʃunḭm
tiger sad
and ɲyb
the paɲis
lion p-
3.SUBJ aina
kill -f
PAST

“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 Nagish 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

Nagish 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:

Ñyb wi’gw nashiby’f.

[ɲyb wḭɡʷ naʃiby̰f]

ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat n-
1excl.SUBJ aʃiby̰
pat -f
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Ñyb ngwachich pagif hañ ñyb wi’gw nashiby’f.

[ɲyb ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ paɡif haɲ ɲyb wḭɡʷ naʃiby̰f]

ɲyb
the ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ
mouse p-
3.SUBJ aɡi
catch -f
PAST haɲ
COMP ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat n-
1excl.SUBJ aʃiby̰
pat -f
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Ñyb cha’jad pabyf hañ ñyb ngwachich pagif hañ ñyb wi’gw nashiby’f.

[ɲyb t͡ʃa̰jad pabyf haɲ ɲyb ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ paɡif haɲ ɲyb wḭɡʷ naʃiby̰f]

ɲyb
the t͡ʃa̰jad
cheese p-
3.SUBJ aby
eat -f
PAST haɲ
COMP ɲyb
the ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ
mouse p-
3.SUBJ aɡi
catch -f
PAST haɲ
COMP ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat n-
1excl.SUBJ aʃiby̰
pat -f
PAST

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

 (25)

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

Tauj nita’f hañ ñyb cha’jad pabyf hañ ñyb ngwachich pagif hañ ñyb wi’gw nashiby’f.

[tauj nita̰f haɲ ɲyb t͡ʃa̰jad pabyf haɲ ɲyb ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ paɡif haɲ ɲyb wḭɡʷ naʃiby̰f]

tauj
1excl n-
1excl.SUBJ ita̰
buy -f
PAST haɲ
COMP ɲyb
the t͡ʃa̰jad
cheese p-
3.SUBJ aby
eat -f
PAST haɲ
COMP ɲyb
the ŋʷat͡ʃit͡ʃ
mouse p-
3.SUBJ aɡi
catch -f
PAST haɲ
COMP ɲyb
the wḭɡʷ
cat n-
1excl.SUBJ aʃiby̰
pat -f
PAST

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Nagish 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:

Ñyb ty’w ñyb tyi’ng dang tya’mub puki’f hañ ñyb ngwangwa’j pingwiri’f.

[ɲyb ty̰w ɲyb t͡ɕḭŋ daŋ t͡ɕa̰mub pukḭf haɲ ɲyb ŋʷaŋʷa̰j piŋʷiɾḭf]

ɲyb
the ty̰w
boy ɲyb
the t͡ɕḭŋ
girl daŋ
a t͡ɕa̰mub
apple p-
3.SUBJ ukḭ
give -f
PAST haɲ
COMP ɲyb
the ŋʷaŋʷa̰j
teacher p-
3.SUBJ iŋʷiɾḭ
surprise -f
PAST

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

 (27)

Quotes

Nagish 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:

Ñyb ty’w ñyb tyi’ng tauj ruch nypa’j hañ paraf.

[ɲyb ty̰w ɲyb t͡ɕḭŋ tauj ɾut͡ʃ nypa̰j haɲ paɾaf]

ɲyb
the ty̰w
boy ɲyb
the t͡ɕḭŋ
girl tauj
1excl ɾut͡ʃ
2 n-
1excl.SUBJ ypa̰
love -j
PRES haɲ
COMP p-
3.SUBJ aɾa
tell -f
PAST

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Nagish. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 4 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3R7C7

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3R7C7,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Nagish}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3R7C7}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 4 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Nagish / Nagish–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/3R7C7

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