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A Grammar of Nost

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Nost language (the 1505th 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 Nost.

Typological Profile

It has has no interesting typological features.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Nost has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 29 phonemes.

It has a notable dental–alveolar contrast across several manners, a strongly reduced sibilant system, a notably rich liquid inventory, a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts and a complete absence of laryngeal consonants.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalretroflexvelar
stopp b d t c ɟ ɖ ʈ k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ
trill/tap/flapɾ ɽ
fricativef θ s x
approximantw ɹ l j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ

Vowels

Nost has 5 vowel qualities. This places it within the broadly common range of mid-sized vowel inventories. The vowel chart shows the full set of contrasts employed in the language’s phonology.

It has a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Nost 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

Nost 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/i /i/j /j/
k /k/l /l/m /m/n /n/
o /o/p /p/r /ɾ/s /s/
t /t/u /u/w /w/ñ /ɲ/
ŕ /r/ɹ /ɹ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ch /t͡ʃ/dy /ɟ/kh /x/
ng /ŋ/rd /ɖ/rn /ɳ/
rr /ɽ/rt /ʈ/th /θ/
tj /c/ty /t͡ɕ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Nost does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Nost has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: bab ‘colour’, cheɹ ‘dog’, chogird ‘mountain’, gitj ‘nose’, gudart ‘binoculars’, gutoɹ ‘neck’, jach ‘land’, jarniñ ‘fog’, kerrek ‘urine’, khorruw ‘worm’, khow ‘fight’, mech ‘stone’, piñith ‘rope’, rnaŕiŕ ‘lion’, rredyid ‘cloud’, tekiŕ ‘lamb’, thus ‘bone’, tik ‘fish’, tjuraf ‘mammal’, ŕesp ‘leg’.

Gender fem – for instance: buk ‘book’, dasep ‘library’, dyutj ‘foot’, gej ‘tongue’, gireɹ ‘belly’, khat ‘night’, khen ‘fruit’, khoɹ ‘year’, kidyard ‘grass’, makit ‘market’, miruj ‘bottle’, muf ‘daughter’, nif ‘mother’, piskasp ‘breast’, rnukhisrt ‘box’, thiŕurr ‘root’, tyastord ‘dialect’, wety ‘inside’, ñart ‘ear’, ɹidy ‘table’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Pusutjurt gebop khewutjurt paf simord pong ŕamestemurt ful, rdot ñeskord.

[pusucuʈ ɡebop xewucuʈ paf simoɖ poŋ ramestemuʈ ful, ɖot ɲeskoɖ]

pus
woman -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɡebop
COMIT xew
knife -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST sim
catch -oɖ
POS poŋ
three ramest
mouse -e
plur -m
not.def -uʈ
NOM f-
NOM u
yon -l
masc ɖot
RELPRON ɲesk
blind -oɖ
POS

“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 Nost consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -u /-u/ ‘sing’ and -e /-e/ ‘plur’; third, an obligatory suffix expressing def, comprising -m /-m/ ‘not.def’ and -tj /-c/ ‘def’; and finally, fourth, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -urt /-uʈ/ ‘NOM’, -eng /-eŋ/ ‘DAT’, -os /-os/ ‘INS’, -okh /-ox/ ‘VOC’, -om /-om/ ‘ALL’, -uch /-ut͡ʃ/ ‘LOC’, -uk /-uk/ ‘ABL’ and -us /-us/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 suffixes, namely -oñ /-oɲ/ ‘little’, -ip /-ip/ ‘big’, -ub /-ub/ ‘old’, -ukh /-ux/ ‘new’, -ang /-aŋ/ ‘good’, -ity /-it͡ɕ/ ‘bad’, -irt /-iʈ/ ‘have’, -iw /-iw/ ‘use’, -on /-on/ ‘see’, -oty /-ot͡ɕ/ ‘make’ and -um /-um/ ‘break’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Nost, the determiner has the following structure: first, an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising f- /f-/ ‘NOM’, rt- /ʈ-/ ‘DAT’, ŕ- /r-/ ‘INS’, j- /j-/ ‘VOC’, ch- /t͡ʃ-/ ‘ALL’, tj- /c-/ ‘LOC’, w- /w-/ ‘ABL’ and d- /d-/ ‘PART’; second, the root; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -l /-l/ ‘masc’ and -k /-k/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

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

Solord ñaj.

[soloɖ ɲaj]

sol
love -oɖ
POS ɲaj
3.sing.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Ñekh solord ñaj.

[ɲex soloɖ ɲaj]

ɲex
3.sing.masc sol
love -oɖ
POS ɲaj
3.sing.fem

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Ñutjaɹutjurt rturdartord Dowengutjurt.

[ɲucaɹucuʈ ʈuɖaʈoɖ doweŋucuʈ]

ɲucaɹ
Nyucha -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ʈuɖaʈ
hate -oɖ
POS doweŋ
Doweng -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“Nyucha hates Doweng.”

 (4)

Possession

rdeŕinutjurt ngogutjurt

[ɖerinucuʈ ŋoɡucuʈ]

ɖerin
apple -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ŋoɡ
boy -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
rdeŕinutjurt ñekh

[ɖerinucuʈ ɲex]

ɖerin
apple -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɲex
3.sing.masc

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
rdeŕinutjurt khirn

[ɖerinucuʈ xiɳ]

ɖerin
apple -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM xiɳ
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Mufutjurt komonutjurt paf jardethord gigutjurt pimoɹutjurt rtad.

[mufucuʈ komonucuʈ paf jaɖeθoɖ ɡiɡucuʈ pimoɹucuʈ ʈad]

muf
daughter -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM komon
hunter -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST jaɖeθ
kiss -oɖ
POS ɡiɡ
son -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM pimoɹ
neighbour -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ʈad
2.sing

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

 (8)

Derivation

tekiŕumurt fol

[tekirumuʈ fol]

tekir
lamb -u
sing -m
not.def -uʈ
NOM f-
NOM o
a -l
masc

“a lamb”

 (9)
tekiŕoñumurt fol

[tekiroɲumuʈ fol]

tekir
lamb -oɲ
little -u
sing -m
not.def -uʈ
NOM f-
NOM o
a -l
masc

“a little lamb”

 (10)
Paf tyedord tekiŕoñumurt fol.

[paf t͡ɕedoɖ tekiroɲumuʈ fol]

paf
PAST t͡ɕed
have -oɖ
POS tekir
lamb -oɲ
little -u
sing -m
not.def -uʈ
NOM f-
NOM o
a -l
masc

“She had a little lamb.”

 (11)

This doesn’t affect all adjectives and verbs. Compare, for instance the previous example with this one, where black and love do not undergo affixation:

Paf solord tekiŕumurt, rdot churrord, fol.

[paf soloɖ tekirumuʈ, ɖot t͡ʃuɽoɖ, fol]

paf
PAST sol
love -oɖ
POS tekir
lamb -u
sing -m
not.def -uʈ
NOM ɖot
RELPRON t͡ʃuɽ
black -oɖ
POS f-
NOM o
a -l
masc

“She loved a black lamb.”

 (12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Nost fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising paf /paf/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising khing /xiŋ/ ‘imperative’, wak /wak/ ‘conditional’ and wort /woʈ/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising rrort /ɽoʈ/ ‘passive’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing negation, comprising -us /-us/ ‘NEG’ and -ord /-oɖ/ ‘POS’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -osp /-osp/ ‘begin’, -urt /-uʈ/ ‘stop’, -ok /-ok/ ‘continue’, -is /-is/ ‘try’ and -ak /-ak/ ‘start’

Solord rtad.

[soloɖ ʈad]

sol
love -oɖ
POS ʈad
2.sing

“I love you.”

 (13)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

There is one type of clitic in the adpositional phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing root.

rre ɹidyutjurt

[ɽe ɹiɟucuʈ]

ɽe
in_surface ɹiɟ
table -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“on the table”

 (14)
tarr rnukhisrtutjurt

[taɽ ɳuxisʈucuʈ]

taɽ
to_inside ɳuxisʈ
box -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“into the box”

 (15)
gebop khirn

[ɡebop xiɳ]

ɡebop
COMIT xiɳ
1excl.sing

“with me”

 (16)

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.

Nost 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 Nost.

Wedakutjurt paf thuɹord komonutjurt.

[wedakucuʈ paf θuɹoɖ komonucuʈ]

wedak
jaguar -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST θuɹ
kill -oɖ
POS komon
hunter -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (17)
Rnaŕiŕutjurt paf dyapord cheɹutjurt mufutjurt komonutjurt.

[ɳarirucuʈ paf ɟapoɖ t͡ʃeɹucuʈ mufucuʈ komonucuʈ]

ɳarir
lion -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST ɟap
eat -oɖ
POS t͡ʃeɹ
dog -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM muf
daughter -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM komon
hunter -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“The lion ate the hunter’s daughter’s dog.”

 (18)

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 Nost 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, Nost 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.

bukutjurt tinutjurt gigutjurt rtad

[bukucuʈ tinucuʈ ɡiɡucuʈ ʈad]

buk
book -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM tin
friend -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɡiɡ
son -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ʈad
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (19)

Case Marking

Nost 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.

Bokutjurt khusord.

[bokucuʈ xusoɖ]

bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM xus
sleep -oɖ
POS

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (20)
Bokutjurt kheskord.

[bokucuʈ xeskoɖ]

bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM xesk
run -oɖ
POS

“The cat is running.”

 (21)
Bokutjurt dyongirdord ŕamestutjurt.

[bokucuʈ ɟoŋiɖoɖ ramestucuʈ]

bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɟoŋiɖ
chase -oɖ
POS ramest
mouse -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (22)
Bokutjurt paf simord ŕamestutjurt.

[bokucuʈ paf simoɖ ramestucuʈ]

bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST sim
catch -oɖ
POS ramest
mouse -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (23)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Komonutjurt paf thuɹord wedaketjurt des thadadyetjurt des rnaŕiŕetjurt.

[komonucuʈ paf θuɹoɖ wedakecuʈ des θadaɟecuʈ des ɳarirecuʈ]

komon
hunter -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST θuɹ
kill -oɖ
POS wedak
jaguar -e
plur -c
def -uʈ
NOM des
and θadaɟ
tiger -e
plur -c
def -uʈ
NOM des
and ɳarir
lion -e
plur -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“The hunter killed the jaguars, the tigers and the lions.”

 (24)

Modifiers and Determiners

The ordering of demonstratives, articles (if present), and other modifiers in Nost 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

Nost 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:

Paf jartoŕord bokutjurt.

[paf jaʈoroɖ bokucuʈ]

paf
PAST jaʈor
pat -oɖ
POS bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“I patted the cat.”

 (25)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Paf jartoŕord bokutjurt, rdot paf simord ŕamestutjurt.

[paf jaʈoroɖ bokucuʈ, ɖot paf simoɖ ramestucuʈ]

paf
PAST jaʈor
pat -oɖ
POS bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɖot
RELPRON paf
PAST sim
catch -oɖ
POS ramest
mouse -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (26)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Paf jartoŕord bokutjurt, rdot paf simord ŕamestutjurt, rdot paf dyapord tuɹakutjurt.

[paf jaʈoroɖ bokucuʈ, ɖot paf simoɖ ramestucuʈ, ɖot paf ɟapoɖ tuɹakucuʈ]

paf
PAST jaʈor
pat -oɖ
POS bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɖot
RELPRON paf
PAST sim
catch -oɖ
POS ramest
mouse -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɖot
RELPRON paf
PAST ɟap
eat -oɖ
POS tuɹak
cheese -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

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

 (27)

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

Paf jartoŕord bokutjurt, rdot paf simord ŕamestutjurt, rdot paf dyapord tuɹakutjurt, rdot paf rramord khirn.

[paf jaʈoroɖ bokucuʈ, ɖot paf simoɖ ramestucuʈ, ɖot paf ɟapoɖ tuɹakucuʈ, ɖot paf ɽamoɖ xiɳ]

paf
PAST jaʈor
pat -oɖ
POS bok
cat -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɖot
RELPRON paf
PAST sim
catch -oɖ
POS ramest
mouse -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɖot
RELPRON paf
PAST ɟap
eat -oɖ
POS tuɹak
cheese -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɖot
RELPRON paf
PAST ɽam
buy -oɖ
POS xiɳ
1excl.sing

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

 (28)

Complementation Strategies

Nost 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:

Ngogutjurt paf rdeɹord dyemutjurt rdeŕinumurt fok dyuraw paf dyordaford tjichelutjurt.

[ŋoɡucuʈ paf ɖeɹoɖ ɟemucuʈ ɖerinumuʈ fok ɟuɾaw paf ɟoɖafoɖ cit͡ʃelucuʈ]

ŋoɡ
boy -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST ɖeɹ
give -oɖ
POS ɟem
girl -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM ɖerin
apple -u
sing -m
not.def -uʈ
NOM f-
NOM o
a -k
fem ɟuɾaw
COMP paf
PAST ɟoɖaf
surprise -oɖ
POS cit͡ʃel
teacher -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM

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

 (29)

Quotes

Nost 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:

Ngogutjurt paf fetjord dyemutjurt khirn solord rtad dyuraw.

[ŋoɡucuʈ paf fecoɖ ɟemucuʈ xiɳ soloɖ ʈad ɟuɾaw]

ŋoɡ
boy -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM paf
PAST fec
tell -oɖ
POS ɟem
girl -u
sing -c
def -uʈ
NOM xiɳ
1excl.sing sol
love -oɖ
POS ʈad
2.sing ɟuɾaw
COMP

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

 (30)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Nost. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 10 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3WV5R

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3WV5R,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Nost}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3WV5R}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 10 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Nost / Nost–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/3WV5R

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