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A Grammar of Koef

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Koef language (the 235th 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 Koef.

Typological Profile

It has not just singular and plural, but also dual, as well as the highly uncommon basic word order OVS, a small but genuine set of click consonants and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Koef has 19 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a complete absence of affricates and a small but genuine set of click consonants.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopb d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
fricativef s ʃ h
approximantʋ ɾ j
clickᵏǀ
click, nasalᵑǀ

Vowels

Koef 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 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 Koef. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
mide ø o
opena

Stress and Tones

Koef 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/, /o/ becomes /ø/.

Writing System

Introduction

Koef 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/c /ᵏǀ/d /d/
e /e/f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/
i /i/j /j/k /k/m /m/
n /n/o /o/p /ai/r /ɾ/
s /s/t /t/u /u/w /ʋ/
y /y/ñ /ɲ/ö /ø/ğ /au/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

nc /ᵑǀ/ng /ŋ/sh /ʃ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Koef distinguishes singular, dual and plural.

Gender

Koef has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: darph ‘dull’, fumyb ‘urine’, hig ‘sun’, hön ‘man’, jek ‘meat’, joh ‘egg’, kañaj ‘knee’, midğsh ‘horn’, nesh ‘dry’, ngiköw ‘apple’, ngug ‘boy’, nurpb ‘stick’, rong ‘head’, shamig ‘student’, tushöh ‘cheese’, tğng ‘wet’, tğs ‘son’, watid ‘neighbour’, wishösh ‘fog’, wub ‘some’.

Gender fem – for instance: cijaw ‘river’, daf ‘idea’, dagit ‘furious’, dak ‘north’, dosh ‘blind’, fawat ‘narrow’, gab ‘wind’, gpg ‘sea’, haw ‘black’, hum ‘wife’, jabid ‘wing’, kuk ‘fire’, mish ‘tooth’, niseg ‘court’, shirew ‘net’, shor ‘language’, shuñ ‘dirty’, ñawer ‘lake’, ñig ‘south’, ñijod ‘root’.

Gender neut – for instance: bubpt ‘plain’, cih ‘back’, cim ‘chair’, digeh ‘book’, diñğsh ‘tail’, fashad ‘lion’, fikosh ‘cloud’, funif ‘faeces’, fus ‘bone’, gawğñ ‘brick’, gibuñ ‘lamb’, katot ‘mammal’, mishiw ‘ash’, niwyd ‘worm’, rasim ‘jaguar’, rinek ‘market’, shutir ‘neck’, syj ‘human being’, tef ‘land’, wañöd ‘fingernail’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Dğ wo gitğjuki no doshiju wumuka da ta nosa fatuku nowa jömyku cingo.

[dau ʋo ɡitaujuki no doʃiju ʋumuka da ta nosa fatuku noʋa jømyku ᵏǀiŋo]

dau
yon ʋo
three ɡitauj
mouse -uk
NOM -i
plur no
the doʃ
blind -ij
GEN -u
sing ʋum
catch -uka
indicative da
PAST ta
3.sing.fem.SUBJ no
the -sa
fem fat
woman -uk
NOM -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc jøm
knife -yk
NOM -u
sing ᵏǀiŋo
COMIT

“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 Koef consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -uk /-uk/ ‘NOM’, -ij /-ij/ ‘GEN’, -ak /-ak/ ‘DAT’, -uh /-uh/ ‘INS’, -ik /-ik/ ‘VOC’, -ur /-uɾ/ ‘ALL’, -un /-un/ ‘LOC’, -im /-im/ ‘ABL’ and -iw /-iʋ/ ‘PART’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -u /-u/ ‘sing’, -a /-a/ ‘dual’ and -i /-i/ ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -isar /-isaɾ/ ‘little’ and -awir /-aʋiɾ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Koef, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing gender, comprising -wa /-ʋa/ ‘masc’ and -sa /-sa/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

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

Sp neguka.

[sai neɡuka]

sai
3.sing.fem neɡ
love -uka
indicative

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Sp neguka ño.

[sai neɡuka ɲo]

sai
3.sing.fem neɡ
love -uka
indicative ɲo
3.sing.masc

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Nosa Gawyfyku dadpruka nowa Tabenguku.

[nosa ɡaʋyfyku dadaiɾuka noʋa tabeŋuku]

no
the -sa
fem ɡaʋyf
Gavoof -yk
NOM -u
sing dadaiɾ
hate -uka
indicative no
the -ʋa
masc tabeŋ
Tabeng -uk
NOM -u
sing

“Tabeng hates Gavoof.”

 (4)

Possession

nowa ngiköwyku nowa ngugiju

[noʋa ŋikøʋyku noʋa ŋuɡiju]

no
the -ʋa
masc ŋikøʋ
apple -yk
NOM -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc ŋuɡ
boy -ij
GEN -u
sing

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
nowa ngiköwyku ño

[noʋa ŋikøʋyku ɲo]

no
the -ʋa
masc ŋikøʋ
apple -yk
NOM -u
sing ɲo
3.sing.masc

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
nowa ngiköwyku ho

[noʋa ŋikøʋyku ho]

no
the -ʋa
masc ŋikøʋ
apple -yk
NOM -u
sing ho
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Nowa tğsuku nowa watidiju kp sijaduka da ta nosa ñiruku nowa bihidiju.

[noʋa tausuku noʋa ʋatidiju kai sijaduka da ta nosa ɲiɾuku noʋa bihidiju]

no
the -ʋa
masc taus
son -uk
NOM -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc ʋatid
neighbour -ij
GEN -u
sing kai
2.sing sijad
kiss -uka
indicative da
PAST ta
3.sing.fem.SUBJ no
the -sa
fem ɲiɾ
daughter -uk
NOM -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc bihid
hunter -ij
GEN -u
sing

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

do gibuñuku

[do ɡibuɲuku]

do
a ɡibuɲ
lamb -uk
NOM -u
sing

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

do gibuñisaruku

[do ɡibuɲisaɾuku]

do
a ɡibuɲ
lamb -isaɾ
little -uk
NOM -u
sing

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Koef are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising da /da/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising ti /ti/ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing negation, comprising ka /ka/ ‘NEG’; fourth, a clitic expressing subj, comprising sa /sa/ ‘1incl.sing’, ni /ni/ ‘1excl.sing’, si /si/ ‘2.sing’, ta /ta/ ‘3.sing.fem’, ra /ɾa/ ‘3.sing.neut’, hu /hu/ ‘1incl.dual’, ña /ɲa/ ‘1excl.dual’, wu /ʋu/ ‘2.dual’, ti /ti/ ‘3.dual.masc’, ju /ju/ ‘3.dual.fem’, fi /fi/ ‘3.dual.neut’, ngu /ŋu/ ‘1incl.plur’, ba /ba/ ‘1excl.plur’, mu /mu/ ‘2.plur’, fa /fa/ ‘3.plur.masc’, bi /bi/ ‘3.plur.fem’ and ri /ɾi/ ‘3.plur.neut’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising fu /fu/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing mode, comprising -uka /-uka/ ‘indicative’, -uda /-uda/ ‘imperative’, -ufa /-ufa/ ‘conditional’ and -aku /-aku/ ‘optative’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -awig /-aʋiɡ/ ‘begin’ and -ajuñ /-ajuɲ/ ‘stop’

Kp neguka ni.

[kai neɡuka ni]

kai
2.sing neɡ
love -uka
indicative ni
1excl.sing.SUBJ

“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.

ñunguku nowa nciruku shy

[ɲuŋuku noʋa ᵑǀiɾuku ʃy]

ɲuŋ
surface -uk
NOM -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc ᵑǀiɾ
table -uk
NOM -u
sing ʃy
in

“on the table”

 (12)
rğhuku nowa ñikpshuku gy

[ɾauhuku noʋa ɲikaiʃuku ɡy]

ɾauh
inside -uk
NOM -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc ɲikaiʃ
box -uk
NOM -u
sing ɡy
to

“into the box”

 (13)
ho cingo

[ho ᵏǀiŋo]

ho
1excl.sing ᵏǀiŋo
COMIT

“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.

Koef has Object–Verb–Subject (OVS) as its basic constituent order. Clauses begin with the object, followed by the verb, with the subject in final position. This is a rare but attested configuration in the world’s languages.

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

Nowa bihiduku tifuka da ra no rasimuku.

[noʋa bihiduku tifuka da ɾa no ɾasimuku]

no
the -ʋa
masc bihid
hunter -uk
NOM -u
sing tif
kill -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ no
the ɾasim
jaguar -uk
NOM -u
sing

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
No jyjyku nosa ñiriju nowa bihidiju jpbuka da ra no fashaduku.

[no jyjyku nosa ɲiɾiju noʋa bihidiju jaibuka da ɾa no faʃaduku]

no
the jyj
dog -yk
NOM -u
sing no
the -sa
fem ɲiɾ
daughter -ij
GEN -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc bihid
hunter -ij
GEN -u
sing jaib
eat -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ no
the faʃad
lion -uk
NOM -u
sing

“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 Koef 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, Koef 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.

no digehuku nowa nehiju nowa tğsiju kp

[no diɡehuku noʋa nehiju noʋa tausiju kai]

no
the diɡeh
book -uk
NOM -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc neh
friend -ij
GEN -u
sing no
the -ʋa
masc taus
son -ij
GEN -u
sing kai
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Koef 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.

Hiruka ra no mötyku.

[hiɾuka ɾa no møtyku]

hiɾ
sleep -uka
indicative ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ no
the møt
cat -yk
NOM -u
sing

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Beduka ra no mötyku.

[beduka ɾa no møtyku]

bed
run -uka
indicative ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ no
the møt
cat -yk
NOM -u
sing

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
No gitğjuku shabytyka ra no mötyku.

[no ɡitaujuku ʃabytyka ɾa no møtyku]

no
the ɡitauj
mouse -uk
NOM -u
sing ʃabyt
chase -yka
indicative ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ no
the møt
cat -yk
NOM -u
sing

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
No gitğjuku wumuka da ra no mötyku.

[no ɡitaujuku ʋumuka da ɾa no møtyku]

no
the ɡitauj
mouse -uk
NOM -u
sing ʋum
catch -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ no
the møt
cat -yk
NOM -u
sing

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

No rasimuki hu no dashyjyki hu no fashaduki tifuka da nowa bihiduku.

[no ɾasimuki hu no daʃyjyki hu no faʃaduki tifuka da noʋa bihiduku]

no
the ɾasim
jaguar -uk
NOM -i
plur hu
and no
the daʃyj
tiger -yk
NOM -i
plur hu
and no
the faʃad
lion -uk
NOM -i
plur tif
kill -uka
indicative da
PAST no
the -ʋa
masc bihid
hunter -uk
NOM -u
sing

“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 Koef 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

Koef 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:

No mötyku gamunuka da ni.

[no møtyku ɡamunuka da ni]

no
the møt
cat -yk
NOM -u
sing ɡamun
pat -uka
indicative da
PAST ni
1excl.sing.SUBJ

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

No gitğjuku wumuka da ra hy gamunuka da ni fö.

[no ɡitaujuku ʋumuka da ɾa hy ɡamunuka da ni fø]

no
the ɡitauj
mouse -uk
NOM -u
sing ʋum
catch -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ hy
3.sing.neut ɡamun
pat -uka
indicative da
PAST ni
1excl.sing.SUBJ fø
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Nowa tyshöhyku jpbuka da ra hy wumuka da ra fö hy gamunuka da ni fö.

[noʋa tyʃøhyku jaibuka da ɾa hy ʋumuka da ɾa fø hy ɡamunuka da ni fø]

no
the -ʋa
masc tyʃøh
cheese -yk
NOM -u
sing jaib
eat -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ hy
3.sing.neut ʋum
catch -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ fø
then hy
3.sing.neut ɡamun
pat -uka
indicative da
PAST ni
1excl.sing.SUBJ fø
then

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

 (25)

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

Ño ncañuka da ni ño jpbuka da ra fö hy wumuka da ra fö hy gamunuka da ni fö.

[ɲo ᵑǀaɲuka da ni ɲo jaibuka da ɾa fø hy ʋumuka da ɾa fø hy ɡamunuka da ni fø]

ɲo
3.sing.masc ᵑǀaɲ
buy -uka
indicative da
PAST ni
1excl.sing.SUBJ ɲo
3.sing.masc jaib
eat -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ fø
then hy
3.sing.neut ʋum
catch -uka
indicative da
PAST ɾa
3.sing.neut.SUBJ fø
then hy
3.sing.neut ɡamun
pat -uka
indicative da
PAST ni
1excl.sing.SUBJ fø
then

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Koef 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:

No shididuku ñashohuka da ta dowa ngiköwyku nosa kenuku byjyka da nowa nguguku.

[no ʃididuku ɲaʃohuka da ta doʋa ŋikøʋyku nosa kenuku byjyka da noʋa ŋuɡuku]

no
the ʃidid
teacher -uk
NOM -u
sing ɲaʃoh
surprise -uka
indicative da
PAST ta
3.sing.fem.SUBJ do
a -ʋa
masc ŋikøʋ
apple -yk
NOM -u
sing no
the -sa
fem ken
girl -uk
NOM -u
sing byj
give -yka
indicative da
PAST no
the -ʋa
masc ŋuɡ
boy -uk
NOM -u
sing

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

 (27)

Quotes

Koef 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:

Kp neguka ho nosa kenuku maguka da nowa nguguku.

[kai neɡuka ho nosa kenuku maɡuka da noʋa ŋuɡuku]

kai
2.sing neɡ
love -uka
indicative ho
1excl.sing no
the -sa
fem ken
girl -uk
NOM -u
sing maɡ
tell -uka
indicative da
PAST no
the -ʋa
masc ŋuɡ
boy -uk
NOM -u
sing

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Koef. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 4 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3VDS0

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3VDS0,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Koef}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3VDS0}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 4 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Koef / Koef–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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https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3VDS0

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