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A Grammar of Eshas

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Eshas language (the 1501st 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 Eshas.

Typological Profile

It has a rich system of noun classes, the VSO basic order, common globally but unusual in many families and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Eshas has a moderately small consonant inventory, comprising 17 phonemes.

It has a conspicuous absence of approximants and a strikingly small set of lateral and rhotic consonants.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ ʔ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
fricativef s ʃ h
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Eshas 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 modest but genuine inventory of nasal vowels, occasional ghost vowels that surface only weakly, front rounded vowels (these are cross-linguistically relatively uncommon, but occur in a number of well-known languages, including French, German, Turkish and Mandarin) and a moderately reduced system of unstressed vowels.

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

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
mide ø ə̃ o
opena

Stress and Tones

Eshas 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

Eshas 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/
k /k/m /m/n /n/o /o/
p /p/q /ʔ/s /s/t /t/
u /u/y /y/ñ /ɲ/ø /ø/
ẽ /ə̃/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ch /t͡ʃ/ee /eː/
ii /iː/ng /ŋ/oo /oː/
sh /ʃ/uu /uː/yy /yː/
øø /øː/ẽẽ /ə̃ː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Eshas does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Eshas has the following noun classes:

Class cl.1 – for instance: ashak ‘speech’, añiqas ‘dialect’, i ‘sound’, ibasab ‘bank’, ifiham ‘court’, iing ‘mouth’, initu ‘restaurant’, ishinga ‘student’, ut ‘night’, uung ‘bone’, yd ‘tongue’, yn ‘language’, ypipam ‘library’, ytasu ‘fingernail’, øpikush ‘medicine’, ə̃ːdusaq ‘school’, ə̃ːkatus ‘market’, ẽgatif ‘religion’.

Class cl.2 – for instance: aagitan ‘teacher’, aakidash ‘tail’, aañ ‘friend’, ap ‘people’, eeqadash ‘God’, ep ‘woman’, ii ‘inside’, iiñ ‘human being’, iiñuqig ‘farmer’, og ‘heart’, oob ‘son’, op ‘father’, oñ ‘man’, uch ‘wife’, uufuqu ‘neighbour’, yf ‘boy’, yg ‘foot’, yp ‘girl’, øøñit ‘table’, ẽẽb ‘daughter’.

Class cl.3 – for instance: aag ‘day’, abumaf ‘snake’, achun ‘idea’, ech ‘fight’, equbig ‘smoke’, ich ‘sun’, id ‘colour’, iiq ‘name’, iñis ‘manner’, ofipaq ‘embrace’, oof ‘back’, un ‘fire’, uniqun ‘jaguar’, ydabib ‘breath’, ynufich ‘root’, yyngaqun ‘ash’, øøk ‘skin’, ə̃ːsiban ‘book’.

Class cl.4 – for instance: ad ‘head’, asigish ‘dust’, asuñat ‘fat’, atabid ‘bosom’, ebabag ‘faeces’, ib ‘south’, iifipañ ‘sand’, iish ‘north’, omipaf ‘neck’, u ‘blood’, ud ‘east’, uum ‘city’, uuñ ‘west’, ønañang ‘ice’, øøqishut ‘slime’, ə̃ːkunaq ‘money’, ẽqushas ‘salt’.

Class cl.5 – for instance: an ‘ear’, aqañus ‘wheat’, engumak ‘seed’, esh ‘hair’, eshas ‘Eshas’, idifun ‘breast’, iiqanga ‘knee’, ip ‘surface’, os ‘eye’, yfaqik ‘apple’, ym ‘nose’, øsukim ‘cheese’, ẽẽbufash ‘grass’, ẽẽg ‘leaf’.

Class cl.6 – for instance: aash ‘hand’, ang ‘fruit’, engiñik ‘lake’, igitud ‘vagina’, ipichuq ‘plain’, iñ ‘tree’, ofidu ‘mountain’, ooch ‘earth’, oot ‘face’, oshishaq ‘penis’, oñug ‘egg’, ømañim ‘forest’, øsh ‘bed’, ẽñ ‘meat’, ẽẽd ‘land’.

Class cl.7 – for instance: aachini ‘snow’, aakif ‘sea’, aamabip ‘liver’, abining ‘fog’, ak ‘wind’, amasat ‘guts’, ash ‘moon’, emitun ‘river’, enitub ‘stick’, if ‘sky’, ifamub ‘belly’, ig ‘rain’, iib ‘time’, okadat ‘cloud’, ufimim ‘wing’, uq ‘chair’, yb ‘star’, ygapuch ‘feather’, øf ‘water’, ẽẽ ‘year’.

Class cl.8 – for instance: aadisaf ‘net’, aguqaf ‘mortar’, eg ‘top’, eñunuk ‘flower’, ichafich ‘brick’, inupag ‘binoculars’, iñasiq ‘umbrella’, odasish ‘machine’, oq ‘house’, uqitus ‘rope’, uudum ‘knife’, øngichiq ‘box’, øømakap ‘tower’, øøngadiq ‘bottle’.

Class cl.9 – for instance: a ‘fish’, aagubim ‘mammal’, ach ‘bird’, achanib ‘wild boar’, añigag ‘mouse’, esingish ‘lamb’, ichibuq ‘bark’, iis ‘animal’, iisisag ‘worm’, ing ‘road’, oop ‘cat’, ufaqi ‘anus’, ug ‘dog’, ychibit ‘urine’, øn ‘tooth’, øtamap ‘lion’, ẽẽdabich ‘tiger’, ẽẽñubuñ ‘louse’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Kiikaf ming sif hafip mep hamip muudum fifeg qasi fy duñiq nañigag.

[kiːkaf miŋ sif hafip mep hamip muːdum fifeɡ ʔasi fy duɲiʔ naɲiɡaɡ]

k-
POS iːka
catch -f
indicative miŋ
PAST sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM ep
woman ha
the -m
cl.8 -ip
NOM m-
NOM uːdum
knife fifeɡ
COMIT ʔa
yon -s
cl.9 -i
ACC fy
three duɲ
blind -iʔ
ACC n-
ACC aɲiɡaɡ
mouse

“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 Eshas consists of an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising m- /m-/ ‘NOM’, n- /n-/ ‘ACC’, h- /h-/ ‘DAT’, k- /k-/ ‘INS’, ng- /ŋ-/ ‘VOC’, p- /p-/ ‘ALL’, s- /s-/ ‘LOC’, t- /t-/ ‘ABL’ and ch- /t͡ʃ-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ñatu /-ɲatu/ ‘little’ and -miga /-miɡa/ ‘big’

The Adjective

In Eshas, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -iq /-iʔ/ ‘ACC’, -it /-it/ ‘DAT’, -im /-im/ ‘INS’, -in /-in/ ‘VOC’, -up /-up/ ‘ALL’, -uñ /-uɲ/ ‘LOC’, -uk /-uk/ ‘ABL’ and -ush /-uʃ/ ‘PART’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Eshas, the determiner has the following structure: first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -h /-h/ ‘cl.1’, -f /-f/ ‘cl.2’, -n /-n/ ‘cl.3’, -d /-d/ ‘cl.4’, -k /-k/ ‘cl.5’, -b /-b/ ‘cl.6’, -t /-t/ ‘cl.7’, -m /-m/ ‘cl.8’ and -s /-s/ ‘cl.9’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -ip /-ip/ ‘NOM’, -i /-i/ ‘ACC’, -um /-um/ ‘DAT’, -is /-is/ ‘INS’, -ud /-ud/ ‘VOC’, -ich /-it͡ʃ/ ‘ALL’, -ib /-ib/ ‘LOC’, -ing /-iŋ/ ‘ABL’ and -ig /-iɡ/ ‘PART’.

Pronouns

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

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

Keemaf sif kig.

[keːmaf sif kiɡ]

k-
POS eːma
love -f
indicative sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ kiɡ
3.cl.2

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Keemaf sif kig kig.

[keːmaf sif kiɡ kiɡ]

k-
POS eːma
love -f
indicative sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ kiɡ
3.cl.2 kiɡ
3.cl.2

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Køtibyf sif hafip mUugabis hafi nAtiñak.

[køtibyf sif hafip muːɡabis hafi natiɲak]

k-
POS øtibu
hate -f
indicative sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM uːɡabis
Ugabis ha
the -f
cl.2 -i
ACC n-
ACC atiɲak
Atinyak

“Ugabis hates Atinyak.”

 (4)

Possession

hakip myfaqik hafip myf

[hakip myfaʔik hafip myf]

ha
the -k
cl.5 -ip
NOM m-
NOM yfaʔik
apple ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM yf
boy

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
hakip myfaqik kig

[hakip myfaʔik kiɡ]

ha
the -k
cl.5 -ip
NOM m-
NOM yfaʔik
apple kiɡ
3.cl.2

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
hakip myfaqik mad

[hakip myfaʔik mad]

ha
the -k
cl.5 -ip
NOM m-
NOM yfaʔik
apple mad
1excl

“my apple”

 (7)
Kifadaf ming sif hafip mẽẽb hafip misatad hafi noob hafip muufuqu ñek.

[kifadaf miŋ sif hafip mə̃ːb hafip misatad hafi noːb hafip muːfuʔu ɲek]

k-
POS ifada
kiss -f
indicative miŋ
PAST sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM ə̃ːb
daughter ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM isatad
hunter ha
the -f
cl.2 -i
ACC n-
ACC oːb
son ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM uːfuʔu
neighbour ɲek
2

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

mesingish

[mesiŋiʃ]

m-
NOM esiŋiʃ
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

mesingishñatu

[mesiŋiʃɲatu]

m-
NOM esiŋiʃ
lamb -ɲatu
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Eshas are enclitics (placed finally), and there are three types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising ming /miŋ/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing subj, comprising kuch /kut͡ʃ/ ‘1incl’, mit /mit/ ‘1excl’, fun /fun/ ‘2’, sif /sif/ ‘3.cl.2’, haq /haʔ/ ‘3.cl.3’, gish /ɡiʃ/ ‘3.cl.4’, chach /t͡ʃat͡ʃ/ ‘3.cl.5’, kip /kip/ ‘3.cl.6’, dig /diɡ/ ‘3.cl.7’, cham /t͡ʃam/ ‘3.cl.8’ and shub /ʃub/ ‘3.cl.9’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing question, comprising fid /fid/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an obligatory prefix expressing negation, comprising t- /t-/ ‘NEG’ and k- /k-/ ‘POS’; second, the root; third, an obligatory suffix expressing mode, comprising -f /-f/ ‘indicative’, -p /-p/ ‘imperative’, -k /-k/ ‘conditional’ and -ng /-ŋ/ ‘optative’; and finally, fourth, an optional suffix expressing voice, comprising -uf /-uf/ ‘passive’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ñachi /-ɲat͡ʃi/ ‘begin’ and -chicha /-t͡ʃit͡ʃa/ ‘stop’

Keemaf mit ñek.

[keːmaf mit ɲek]

k-
POS eːma
love -f
indicative mit
1excl.SUBJ ɲek
2

“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.

mip hafip møøñit ñaf

[mip hafip møːɲit ɲaf]

m-
NOM ip
surface ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM øːɲit
table ɲaf
in

“on the table”

 (12)
mii hamip møngichiq ñig

[miː hamip møŋit͡ʃiʔ ɲiɡ]

m-
NOM iː
inside ha
the -m
cl.8 -ip
NOM m-
NOM øŋit͡ʃiʔ
box ɲiɡ
to

“into the box”

 (13)
mad fifeg

[mad fifeɡ]

mad
1excl fifeɡ
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.

The basic constituent order of Eshas is Verb–Subject–Object (VSO). Clauses begin with the verb, followed by the subject, with the object in final position. This pattern is attested among various verb-initial languages.

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

Kañif ming haq hanip muniqun hafi nisatad.

[kaɲif miŋ haʔ hanip muniʔun hafi nisatad]

k-
POS aɲi
kill -f
indicative miŋ
PAST haʔ
3.cl.3.SUBJ ha
the -n
cl.3 -ip
NOM m-
NOM uniʔun
jaguar ha
the -f
cl.2 -i
ACC n-
ACC isatad
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Kyngif ming shub hasip møtamap hasi nug hafip mẽẽb hafip misatad.

[kyŋif miŋ ʃub hasip møtamap hasi nuɡ hafip mə̃ːb hafip misatad]

k-
POS yŋi
eat -f
indicative miŋ
PAST ʃub
3.cl.9.SUBJ ha
the -s
cl.9 -ip
NOM m-
NOM øtamap
lion ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC uɡ
dog ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM ə̃ːb
daughter ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM isatad
hunter

“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 Eshas 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, Eshas 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.

hanip mə̃ːsiban hafip maañ hafip moob ñek

[hanip mə̃ːsiban hafip maːɲ hafip moːb ɲek]

ha
the -n
cl.3 -ip
NOM m-
NOM ə̃ːsiban
book ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM aːɲ
friend ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM oːb
son ɲek
2

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Eshas uses nominative–accusative case marking. The subject of an intransitive verb and the subject of a transitive verb are treated alike and take the nominative case, while the object of a transitive verb is marked with the accusative case. This is the familiar pattern from many European languages: the grammar groups together the participants that function as subjects and marks the participant affected by a transitive action separately.

Keenguf shub hasip moop.

[keːŋuf ʃub hasip moːp]

k-
POS eːŋu
sleep -f
indicative ʃub
3.cl.9.SUBJ ha
the -s
cl.9 -ip
NOM m-
NOM oːp
cat

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Koof shub hasip moop.

[koːf ʃub hasip moːp]

k-
POS oː
run -f
indicative ʃub
3.cl.9.SUBJ ha
the -s
cl.9 -ip
NOM m-
NOM oːp
cat

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Kadaduf shub hasip moop hasi nañigag.

[kadaduf ʃub hasip moːp hasi naɲiɡaɡ]

k-
POS adadu
chase -f
indicative ʃub
3.cl.9.SUBJ ha
the -s
cl.9 -ip
NOM m-
NOM oːp
cat ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC aɲiɡaɡ
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Kiikaf ming shub hasip moop hasi nañigag.

[kiːkaf miŋ ʃub hasip moːp hasi naɲiɡaɡ]

k-
POS iːka
catch -f
indicative miŋ
PAST ʃub
3.cl.9.SUBJ ha
the -s
cl.9 -ip
NOM m-
NOM oːp
cat ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC aɲiɡaɡ
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Kañif ming sif hafip misatad hani nuniqun kød hasi nẽẽdabich kød hasi nøtamap.

[kaɲif miŋ sif hafip misatad hani nuniʔun kød hasi nə̃ːdabit͡ʃ kød hasi nøtamap]

k-
POS aɲi
kill -f
indicative miŋ
PAST sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM isatad
hunter ha
the -n
cl.3 -i
ACC n-
ACC uniʔun
jaguar kød
and ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC ə̃ːdabit͡ʃ
tiger kød
and ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC øtamap
lion

“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 Eshas 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

Eshas 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:

Kesutaf ming mit hasi noop.

[kesutaf miŋ mit hasi noːp]

k-
POS esuta
pat -f
indicative miŋ
PAST mit
1excl.SUBJ ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC oːp
cat

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Kesutaf ming mit kiikaf ming hasi nañigag ñimẽk hasi noop.

[kesutaf miŋ mit kiːkaf miŋ hasi naɲiɡaɡ ɲimə̃k hasi noːp]

k-
POS esuta
pat -f
indicative miŋ
PAST mit
1excl.SUBJ k-
POS iːka
catch -f
indicative miŋ
PAST ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC aɲiɡaɡ
mouse ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC oːp
cat

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Kesutaf ming mit kiikaf ming kyngif ming haki nøsykim ñimẽk hasi nañigag ñimẽk hasi noop.

[kesutaf miŋ mit kiːkaf miŋ kyŋif miŋ haki nøsykim ɲimə̃k hasi naɲiɡaɡ ɲimə̃k hasi noːp]

k-
POS esuta
pat -f
indicative miŋ
PAST mit
1excl.SUBJ k-
POS iːka
catch -f
indicative miŋ
PAST k-
POS yŋi
eat -f
indicative miŋ
PAST ha
the -k
cl.5 -i
ACC n-
ACC øsukim
cheese ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC aɲiɡaɡ
mouse ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC oːp
cat

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

 (25)

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

Kesutaf ming mit kiikaf ming kyngif ming kooshif ming mit mad ñimẽk haki nøsykim ñimẽk hasi nañigag ñimẽk hasi noop.

[kesutaf miŋ mit kiːkaf miŋ kyŋif miŋ koːʃif miŋ mit mad ɲimə̃k haki nøsykim ɲimə̃k hasi naɲiɡaɡ ɲimə̃k hasi noːp]

k-
POS esuta
pat -f
indicative miŋ
PAST mit
1excl.SUBJ k-
POS iːka
catch -f
indicative miŋ
PAST k-
POS yŋi
eat -f
indicative miŋ
PAST k-
POS oːʃi
buy -f
indicative miŋ
PAST mit
1excl.SUBJ mad
1excl ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -k
cl.5 -i
ACC n-
ACC øsukim
cheese ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC aɲiɡaɡ
mouse ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -s
cl.9 -i
ACC n-
ACC oːp
cat

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Eshas 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:

Kenasaf ming haq kitaf ming sif hafip myf nyfaqik hafum hyp ñimẽk hafum haagitan.

[kenasaf miŋ haʔ kitaf miŋ sif hafip myf nyfaʔik hafum hyp ɲimə̃k hafum haːɡitan]

k-
POS enasa
surprise -f
indicative miŋ
PAST haʔ
3.cl.3.SUBJ k-
POS ita
give -f
indicative miŋ
PAST sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM yf
boy n-
ACC yfaʔik
apple ha
the -f
cl.2 -um
DAT h-
DAT yp
girl ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -f
cl.2 -um
DAT h-
DAT aːɡitan
teacher

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

 (27)

Quotes

Eshas 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:

Kibif ming sif hafip myf keemaf mit mad ñek ñimẽk hafum hyp.

[kibif miŋ sif hafip myf keːmaf mit mad ɲek ɲimə̃k hafum hyp]

k-
POS ibi
tell -f
indicative miŋ
PAST sif
3.cl.2.SUBJ ha
the -f
cl.2 -ip
NOM m-
NOM yf
boy k-
POS eːma
love -f
indicative mit
1excl.SUBJ mad
1excl ɲek
2 ɲimə̃k
COMP ha
the -f
cl.2 -um
DAT h-
DAT yp
girl

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Eshas. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 7 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3W1S3

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3W1S3,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Eshas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3W1S3}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 7 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

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