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A Grammar of Airu

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Airu language (the 1498th 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 Airu.

Typological Profile

It has a small but genuine set of click consonants.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Airu has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 27 phonemes.

It has a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants, a noticeable presence of pharyngealised phonemes and a small but genuine set of click consonants.

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

labialdentalphar. dentalalveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarlab. velarglottal
stopp b d t dˤ tˤ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
nasalm n nˤ ɲ
fricativef s sˤ ʃ h
approximantʋ ɾ j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ
clickᵏǀ ᵏǀˤ

Vowels

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

It has an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
open-midɛ ɔ
opena

Stress and Tones

Airu has phonemic stress but no lexical tone. Stress consistently falls on the first vowel of the root, and no contrastive tonal distinctions are made.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Airu 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/
c̣ /ᵏǀˤ/d /d/ḍ /dˤ/e /e/
e’ /ḛ/f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/
i /i/i’ /ḭ/j /j/k /k/
m /m/n /n/ṇ /nˤ/o /ɔ/
o’ /ɔ̰/p /p/r /ɾ/s /s/
ṣ /sˤ/t /t/ṭ /tˤ/u /u/
u’ /ṵ/w /ʋ/æ /ɛ/æ’ /ɛ̰/
ñ /ɲ/ó /o/ó’ /o̰/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/ch /t͡ʃ/
gw /ɡʷ/qu /kʷ/sh /ʃ/
ty /t͡ɕ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Airu does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Airu does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Ḍud ṣos gaquauch ḍishuṣ ṣos kauqu ṭis howój chorawud gwot jaiw.

[dˤud ˈsˤɔs ɡaˈkʷaut͡ʃ ˈdˤiʃusˤ ˈsˤɔs ˈkaukʷ tˤis ˈhɔʋoj t͡ʃɔˈɾaʋud ˈɡʷɔt ˈjaiʋ]

dˤ-
sing u
woman -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ɡaˈkʷaut͡ʃ
COMIT dˤ-
sing ˈiʃu
knife -sˤ
LOC ˈsˤɔs
the ˈkau
catch -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈhɔʋ
blind -oj
NOM t͡ʃ-
plur ˈɔɾaʋu
mouse -d
NOM ˈɡʷɔt
three ˈjaiʋ
yon

“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 Airu consists of first, an obligatory prefix expressing number, comprising ḍ- /dˤ-/ ‘sing’ and ch- /t͡ʃ-/ ‘plur’; second, the root; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -d /-d/ ‘NOM’, -b /-b/ ‘GEN’, -p /-p/ ‘DAT’, -n /-n/ ‘INS’, -k /-k/ ‘VOC’, -j /-j/ ‘ALL’, -ṣ /-sˤ/ ‘LOC’, -ṇ /-nˤ/ ‘ABL’ and -qu /-kʷ/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -mu /-mu/ ‘little’ and -wi /-ʋi/ ‘big’

The Adjective

In Airu, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -ój /-oj/ ‘NOM’, -u’ṇ /-ṵnˤ/ ‘GEN’, -er /-eɾ/ ‘DAT’, -iṇ /-inˤ/ ‘INS’, -ad /-ad/ ‘VOC’, -e’ṇ /-ḛnˤ/ ‘ALL’, -ó’ty /-o̰t͡ɕ/ ‘LOC’, -u’ch /-ṵt͡ʃ/ ‘ABL’ and -u’j /-ṵj/ ‘PART’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Tyoqu dity.

[ˈt͡ɕɔkʷ ˈdit͡ɕ]

ˈt͡ɕɔ
love -kʷ
active ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Dity tyoqu dity.

[ˈdit͡ɕ ˈt͡ɕɔkʷ ˈdit͡ɕ]

ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈt͡ɕɔ
love -kʷ
active ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

ḌIjuwód ṣos tódoqu ḍUḍudad ṣos.

[dˤiˈjuʋod ˈsˤɔs toˈdɔkʷ dˤuˈdˤudad ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing ˈijuʋo
Iyuvo -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the toˈdɔ
hate -kʷ
active dˤ-
sing ˈudˤuda
Ududa -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“Iyuvo hates Ududa.”

 (4)

Possession

ḍæfishid ṣos ḍa’chib ṣos

[dˤɛˈfiʃid ˈsˤɔs dˤa̰t͡ʃib ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing ˈɛfiʃi
apple -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing a̰t͡ʃi
boy -b
GEN ˈsˤɔs
the

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
ḍæfishid ṣos dity

[dˤɛˈfiʃid ˈsˤɔs ˈdit͡ɕ]

dˤ-
sing ˈɛfiʃi
apple -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
ḍæfishid ṣos chij

[dˤɛˈfiʃid ˈsˤɔs ˈt͡ʃij]

dˤ-
sing ˈɛfiʃi
apple -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈt͡ʃij
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Ḍe’d ṣos ḍugequab ṣos piṇequ ṭis ḍafód ṣos ḍetyi’reb ṣos nigw.

[dˤḛd ˈsˤɔs dˤuˈɡekʷab ˈsˤɔs piˈnˤekʷ tˤis dˤafod ˈsˤɔs dˤeˈt͡ɕḭɾeb ˈsˤɔs ˈniɡʷ]

dˤ-
sing ḛ
daughter -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing ˈuɡekʷa
hunter -b
GEN ˈsˤɔs
the piˈnˤe
kiss -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing afo
son -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing ˈet͡ɕḭɾe
neighbour -b
GEN ˈsˤɔs
the ˈniɡʷ
2.sing

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

ḍishuped

[dˤiˈʃuped]

dˤ-
sing ˈiʃupe
lamb -d
NOM

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

ḍishupemud

[dˤiˈʃupemud]

dˤ-
sing ˈiʃupe
lamb -mu
little -d
NOM

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Airu fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing question, comprising kiṇ /kinˤ/ ‘Q’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising ṭis /tˤis/ ‘PAST’; third, a clitic expressing mode, comprising chim /t͡ʃim/ ‘imperative’, ñó’ty /ɲo̰t͡ɕ/ ‘conditional’ and gwóṭ /ɡʷotˤ/ ‘optative’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising meṭ /metˤ/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing comp, comprising tij /tij/ ‘COMP’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing voice, comprising -qu /-kʷ/ ‘active’ and -d /-d/ ‘passive’.

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

Tyoqu nigw.

[ˈt͡ɕɔkʷ ˈniɡʷ]

ˈt͡ɕɔ
love -kʷ
active ˈniɡʷ
2.sing

“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.

kot ḍuge’d ḍóḍad ṣos

[ˈkɔt dˤuɡḛd ˈdˤodˤad ˈsˤɔs]

ˈkɔt
in dˤ-
sing uɡḛ
surface -d
NOM dˤ-
sing ˈodˤa
table -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“on the table”

 (12)
shót ḍaimód ḍe’sugwa’d ṣos

[ˈʃot dˤaimod dˤḛˈsuɡʷa̰d ˈsˤɔs]

ˈʃot
to dˤ-
sing aimo
inside -d
NOM dˤ-
sing ˈḛsuɡʷa̰
box -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“into the box”

 (13)
gaquauch chij

[ɡaˈkʷaut͡ʃ ˈt͡ʃij]

ɡaˈkʷaut͡ʃ
COMIT ˈt͡ʃij
1excl.sing

“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.

Airu 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 Airu.

Ḍadó’ró’d ṣos jequ ṭis ḍugequad ṣos.

[dˤaˈdo̰ɾo̰d ˈsˤɔs ˈjekʷ tˤis dˤuˈɡekʷad ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing ˈado̰ɾo̰
jaguar -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈje
kill -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing ˈuɡekʷa
hunter -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Ḍadiwa’d ṣos maqu ṭis ḍaud ṣos ḍe’b ṣos ḍugequab ṣos.

[dˤaˈdiʋa̰d ˈsˤɔs ˈmakʷ tˤis dˤaud ˈsˤɔs dˤḛb ˈsˤɔs dˤuˈɡekʷab ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing ˈadiʋa̰
lion -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈma
eat -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing au
dog -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing ḛ
daughter -b
GEN ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing ˈuɡekʷa
hunter -b
GEN ˈsˤɔs
the

“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 Airu 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, Airu 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.

ḍebuked ṣos ḍi’pib ṣos ḍafób ṣos nigw

[dˤebuked ˈsˤɔs dˤḭpib ˈsˤɔs dˤafob ˈsˤɔs ˈniɡʷ]

dˤ-
sing ebuke
book -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing ḭpi
friend -b
GEN ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing afo
son -b
GEN ˈsˤɔs
the ˈniɡʷ
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Airu 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.

Ḍed ṣos biqu.

[dˤed ˈsˤɔs ˈbikʷ]

dˤ-
sing e
cat -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈbi
sleep -kʷ
active

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Ḍed ṣos cæqu.

[dˤed ˈsˤɔs ˈᵏǀɛkʷ]

dˤ-
sing e
cat -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈᵏǀɛ
run -kʷ
active

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Ḍed ṣos chó’diqu ḍorawud ṣos.

[dˤed ˈsˤɔs t͡ʃo̰ˈdikʷ dˤɔˈɾaʋud ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing e
cat -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the t͡ʃo̰ˈdi
chase -kʷ
active dˤ-
sing ˈɔɾaʋu
mouse -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Ḍed ṣos kauqu ṭis ḍorawud ṣos.

[dˤed ˈsˤɔs ˈkaukʷ tˤis dˤɔˈɾaʋud ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing e
cat -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈkau
catch -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing ˈɔɾaʋu
mouse -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Ḍugequad ṣos jequ ṭis chadó’ró’d ṣos shaur chijaṣad ṣos shaur chadiwa’d ṣos.

[dˤuˈɡekʷad ˈsˤɔs ˈjekʷ tˤis t͡ʃaˈdo̰ɾo̰d ˈsˤɔs ˈʃauɾ t͡ʃiˈjasˤad ˈsˤɔs ˈʃauɾ t͡ʃaˈdiʋa̰d ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing ˈuɡekʷa
hunter -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈje
kill -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST t͡ʃ-
plur ˈado̰ɾo̰
jaguar -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈʃauɾ
and t͡ʃ-
plur ˈijasˤa
tiger -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈʃauɾ
and t͡ʃ-
plur ˈadiʋa̰
lion -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“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 Airu 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

Airu 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:

Guṣiqu ṭis ḍed ṣos.

[ɡuˈsˤikʷ tˤis dˤed ˈsˤɔs]

ɡuˈsˤi
pat -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing e
cat -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Kauqu ṭis ḍorawud ṣos guṣiqu ṭis dity hi.

[ˈkaukʷ tˤis dˤɔˈɾaʋud ˈsˤɔs ɡuˈsˤikʷ tˤis ˈdit͡ɕ ˈhi]

ˈkau
catch -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing ˈɔɾaʋu
mouse -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ɡuˈsˤi
pat -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈhi
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Maqu ṭis ḍæ’ḍó’sad ṣos kauqu ṭis dity hi guṣiqu ṭis dity hi.

[ˈmakʷ tˤis dˤɛ̰ˈdˤo̰sad ˈsˤɔs ˈkaukʷ tˤis ˈdit͡ɕ ˈhi ɡuˈsˤikʷ tˤis ˈdit͡ɕ ˈhi]

ˈma
eat -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing ˈɛ̰dˤo̰sa
cheese -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈkau
catch -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈhi
then ɡuˈsˤi
pat -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈhi
then

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

 (25)

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

Gwequ ṭis dity maqu ṭis dity hi kauqu ṭis dity hi guṣiqu ṭis dity hi.

[ˈɡʷekʷ tˤis ˈdit͡ɕ ˈmakʷ tˤis ˈdit͡ɕ ˈhi ˈkaukʷ tˤis ˈdit͡ɕ ˈhi ɡuˈsˤikʷ tˤis ˈdit͡ɕ ˈhi]

ˈɡʷe
buy -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈma
eat -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈhi
then ˈkau
catch -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈhi
then ɡuˈsˤi
pat -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST ˈdit͡ɕ
3.sing ˈhi
then

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Airu 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:

Ḍa’chid ṣos sóqu ṭis tij ḍamód ṣos ḍæfishid gwamæqu ṭis ḍichejed ṣos.

[dˤa̰t͡ʃid ˈsˤɔs ˈsokʷ tˤis tij dˤamod ˈsˤɔs dˤɛˈfiʃid ɡʷaˈmɛkʷ tˤis dˤit͡ʃejed ˈsˤɔs]

dˤ-
sing a̰t͡ʃi
boy -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈso
give -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST tij
COMP dˤ-
sing amo
girl -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the dˤ-
sing ˈɛfiʃi
apple -d
NOM ɡʷaˈmɛ
surprise -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing it͡ʃeje
teacher -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the

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

 (27)

Quotes

Airu 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:

Ḍa’chid ṣos ṇæ’qu ṭis ḍamód ṣos chij tyoqu tij nigw.

[dˤa̰t͡ʃid ˈsˤɔs ˈnˤɛ̰kʷ tˤis dˤamod ˈsˤɔs ˈt͡ʃij ˈt͡ɕɔkʷ tij ˈniɡʷ]

dˤ-
sing a̰t͡ʃi
boy -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈnˤɛ̰
tell -kʷ
active tˤis
PAST dˤ-
sing amo
girl -d
NOM ˈsˤɔs
the ˈt͡ʃij
1excl.sing ˈt͡ɕɔ
love -kʷ
active tij
COMP ˈniɡʷ
2.sing

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

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How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Airu. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 6 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3VF7C

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3VF7C,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Airu}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3VF7C}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 6 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Airu / Airu–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/3VF7C

Behind the scenes, the Language Creator stores the generated language in a JSON-based format known as ELD. The corresponding ELD file may be downloaded, edited as required, and reuploaded in order to regenerate the grammar, dictionary and texts.

To revisit the questionnaire settings used to generate this language, .

Language creation took 0.05 seconds; writing the grammar 0.06 seconds.