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A Grammar of Kedoe

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Kedoe language (the 253rd 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 Kedoe.

Typological Profile

It has has no interesting typological features.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

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

It has an exceptionally dense sibilant inventory.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
trill/tap/flapr
fricativef θ s ʃ ɕ ʑ x h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ

Vowels

Kedoe has 11 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 maximally “square” vowel system balancing heights across backness, a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables, 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 an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels.

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

front unroundedfront roundedback unroundedback
closei y u
close-mide ø o
open-midɛ œ ɔ
openæ ɑ

Stress and Tones

Kedoe 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

Kedoe is normally written using the Cyrillic alphabet, a script with a long and varied history across Eastern Europe and northern Asia. In this grammar, phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are also used to give an unambiguous representation of sound.

The conventions adopted here follow standard Cyrillic practice for the language where that exists; where they do not, the IPA transcription should be taken as authoritative.

Orthography

Here are the various components of the orthography:

Simple letters

а /ɑ/б /b/в /w/г /h/
д /d/е /e/и /i/к /k/
л /l/м /m/н /n/о /o/
п /p/р /r/с /s/т /t/
у /u/ф /f/х /x/ч /t͡ʃ/
ш /ʃ/э /ɛ/ј /j/њ /ɲ/
ћ /t͡ɕ/ѳ /θ/ґ /ɡ/ғ /ʑ/
ү /y/һ /ɕ/ӈ /ŋ/ә /æ/
ӟ /œ/ө /ø/ԃ /ɔ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Kedoe does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Kedoe has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: бидавэ ‘medicine’, вэношү ‘student’, вөфите ‘hunter’, дөґүґө ‘vagina’, кедԃла ‘school’, лишԃни ‘belly’, моһәко ‘bosom’, нө ‘tongue’, пөшөвө ‘cheese’, фурәћи ‘wing’, фө ‘tooth’, фԃхӟне ‘snake’, јэ ‘colour’, њө ‘tree’, ѳо ‘north’, ѳөдԃнү ‘apple’, ґо ‘eye’, ґө ‘bone’, ґөӈөѳу ‘grass’, ӈиѳӟґи ‘court’.

Gender fem – for instance: бԃ ‘language’, ви ‘people’, во ‘child’, вә ‘wind’, дивөбө ‘ice’, кӟ ‘human being’, либэре ‘book’, лонусо ‘mountain’, маґитэ ‘teacher’, микәһи ‘tiger’, мүгӟғу ‘box’, тэ ‘name’, хәғөғе ‘mouse’, хӟ ‘inside’, ћа ‘bird’, ћэсүко ‘dust’, ѳоѳике ‘worm’, ґԃрөғи ‘ash’, ға ‘fight’, ғӟ ‘land’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Сәтө ӈө пәће сәтө њөғе филу го хөлилө лу хәғөғе фүњԃ.

[sætø ŋø pæt͡ɕe sætø ɲøʑe filu ho xølilø lu xæʑøʑe fyɲɔ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem ŋø
woman pæt͡ɕe
COMIT sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem ɲøʑe
knife fil
catch -u
active ho
PAST xø
yon -l
ACC -il
plur -ø
fem lu
three xæʑøʑe
mouse fyɲɔ
blind

“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 Kedoe stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -фӟ /-fœ/ ‘little’ and -фи /-fi/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Kedoe, the determiner has the following structure: first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -т /-t/ ‘NOM’, -л /-l/ ‘ACC’, -ӈ /-ŋ/ ‘GEN’, -п /-p/ ‘DAT’, -ј /-j/ ‘INS’, -р /-r/ ‘VOC’, -ч /-t͡ʃ/ ‘ALL’, -х /-x/ ‘LOC’, -ґ /-ɡ/ ‘ABL’ and -ф /-f/ ‘PART’; third, an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -ил /-il/ ‘plur’; and finally, fourth, an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -а /-ɑ/ ‘masc’ and -ө /-ø/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

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

Хӟку нә.

[xœku næ]

xœk
love -u
active næ
3.sing.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Хү хӟку нә.

[xy xœku næ]

xy
3.sing.masc xœk
love -u
active næ
3.sing.fem

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Сәта Нүхашэ ӈԃсэду сәлө Јуделә.

[sætɑ nyxɑʃɛ ŋɔsɛdu sælø judelæ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc nyxɑʃɛ
Nookhashe ŋɔsɛd
hate -u
active sæ
the -l
ACC -ø
fem judelæ
Yudela

“Nookhashe hates Yudela.”

 (4)

Possession

сәта ѳөдԃнү сәӈа ку

[sætɑ θødɔny sæŋɑ ku]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc θødɔny
apple sæ
the -ŋ
GEN -ɑ
masc ku
boy

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
сәта ѳөдԃнү хү

[sætɑ θødɔny xy]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc θødɔny
apple xy
3.sing.masc

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
сәта ѳөдԃнү јԃ

[sætɑ θødɔny jɔ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc θødɔny
apple jɔ
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Сәтө мэ сәӈа вөфите һухәбу го сәла ѳԃ сәӈө һӟғөчԃ лӟ.

[sætø mɛ sæŋɑ wøfite ɕuxæbu ho sælɑ θɔ sæŋø ɕœʑøt͡ʃɔ lœ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem mɛ
daughter sæ
the -ŋ
GEN -ɑ
masc wøfite
hunter ɕuxæb
kiss -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -ɑ
masc θɔ
son sæ
the -ŋ
GEN -ø
fem ɕœʑøt͡ʃɔ
neighbour lœ
2.sing

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

фүтө неѳәғӟ

[fytø neθæʑœ]

fy
a -t
NOM -ø
fem neθæʑœ
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

фүтө неѳәғӟфӟ

[fytø neθæʑœfœ]

fy
a -t
NOM -ø
fem neθæʑœ
lamb -fœ
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Kedoe fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing negation, comprising дө /dø/ ‘NEG’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising го /ho/ ‘PAST’; third, a clitic expressing mode, comprising ғи /ʑi/ ‘imperative’, ӈа /ŋɑ/ ‘conditional’ and гӟ /hœ/ ‘optative’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing question, comprising лԃ /lɔ/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing voice, comprising -у /-u/ ‘active’ and -е /-e/ ‘passive’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -уг /-uh/ ‘begin’ and -ӟм /-œm/ ‘stop’

Хӟку лӟ.

[xœku lœ]

xœk
love -u
active lœ
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.

ша сәтө шучө

[ʃɑ sætø ʃut͡ʃø]

ʃɑ
in_surface sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem ʃut͡ʃø
table

“on the table”

 (12)
ту сәтө мүгӟғу

[tu sætø myhœʑu]

tu
to_inside sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem myhœʑu
box

“into the box”

 (13)
пәће јԃ

[pæt͡ɕe jɔ]

pæt͡ɕe
COMIT jɔ
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.

Kedoe 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 Kedoe.

Сәтө туѳӟчу чүту го сәла вөфите.

[sætø tuθœt͡ʃu t͡ʃytu ho sælɑ wøfite]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem tuθœt͡ʃu
jaguar t͡ʃyt
kill -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -ɑ
masc wøfite
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Сәтө ґибӟта бопу го сәлө пԃ сәӈө мэ сәӈа вөфите.

[sætø ɡibœtɑ bopu ho sælø pɔ sæŋø mɛ sæŋɑ wøfite]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem ɡibœtɑ
lion bop
eat -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -ø
fem pɔ
dog sæ
the -ŋ
GEN -ø
fem mɛ
daughter sæ
the -ŋ
GEN -ɑ
masc wøfite
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 Kedoe 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, Kedoe 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.

сәтө либэре сәӈө ди сәӈа ѳԃ лӟ

[sætø libɛre sæŋø di sæŋɑ θɔ lœ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem libɛre
book sæ
the -ŋ
GEN -ø
fem di
friend sæ
the -ŋ
GEN -ɑ
masc θɔ
son lœ
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Kedoe 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.

Сәтө пэ ѳасу.

[sætø pɛ θɑsu]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem pɛ
cat θɑs
sleep -u
active

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Сәтө пэ рару.

[sætø pɛ rɑru]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem pɛ
cat rɑr
run -u
active

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Сәтө пэ гонају сәлө хәғөғе.

[sætø pɛ honɑju sælø xæʑøʑe]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem pɛ
cat honɑj
chase -u
active sæ
the -l
ACC -ø
fem xæʑøʑe
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Сәтө пэ филу го сәлө хәғөғе.

[sætø pɛ filu ho sælø xæʑøʑe]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem pɛ
cat fil
catch -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -ø
fem xæʑøʑe
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Сәта вөфите чүту го сәлилө туѳӟчу хә сәлилө микәһи хә сәлилө ґибӟта.

[sætɑ wøfite t͡ʃytu ho sælilø tuθœt͡ʃu xæ sælilø mikæɕi xæ sælilø ɡibœtɑ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc wøfite
hunter t͡ʃyt
kill -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -il
plur -ø
fem tuθœt͡ʃu
jaguar xæ
and sæ
the -l
ACC -il
plur -ø
fem mikæɕi
tiger xæ
and sæ
the -l
ACC -il
plur -ø
fem ɡibœtɑ
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 Kedoe 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

Kedoe 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:

Лахуму го сәлө пэ.

[lɑxumu ho sælø pɛ]

lɑxum
pat -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -ø
fem pɛ
cat

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Лахуму го сәтө пэ, ки филу го сәлө хәғөғе.

[lɑxumu ho sætø pɛ, ki filu ho sælø xæʑøʑe]

lɑxum
pat -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem pɛ,
cat ki
RELPRON fil
catch -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -ø
fem xæʑøʑe
mouse

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Лахуму го сәтө пэ, ки филу го сәтө хәғөғе, ки бопу го сәла пөшөвө.

[lɑxumu ho sætø pɛ, ki filu ho sætø xæʑøʑe, ki bopu ho sælɑ pøʃøwø]

lɑxum
pat -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem pɛ,
cat ki
RELPRON fil
catch -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem xæʑøʑe,
mouse ki
RELPRON bop
eat -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -l
ACC -ɑ
masc pøʃøwø
cheese

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

 (25)

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

Лахуму го сәтө пэ, ки филу го сәтө хәғөғе, ки бопу го сәта пөшөвө, ки сӟлу го јԃ.

[lɑxumu ho sætø pɛ, ki filu ho sætø xæʑøʑe, ki bopu ho sætɑ pøʃøwø, ki sœlu ho jɔ]

lɑxum
pat -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem pɛ,
cat ki
RELPRON fil
catch -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -t
NOM -ø
fem xæʑøʑe,
mouse ki
RELPRON bop
eat -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc pøʃøwø,
cheese ki
RELPRON sœl
buy -u
active ho
PAST jɔ
1excl.sing

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Kedoe 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:

Сәта ку сију го сәпө һи фүла ѳөдԃнү пԃґә пудегу го сәпө маґитэ.

[sætɑ ku siju ho sæpø ɕi fylɑ θødɔny pɔɡæ pudehu ho sæpø mɑɡitɛ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc ku
boy sij
give -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -p
DAT -ø
fem ɕi
girl fy
a -l
ACC -ɑ
masc θødɔny
apple pɔɡæ
COMP pudeh
surprise -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -p
DAT -ø
fem mɑɡitɛ
teacher

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

 (27)

Quotes

Kedoe 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:

Сәта ку јају го сәпө һи јԃ хӟку лӟ пԃґә.

[sætɑ ku jɑju ho sæpø ɕi jɔ xœku lœ pɔɡæ]

sæ
the -t
NOM -ɑ
masc ku
boy jɑj
tell -u
active ho
PAST sæ
the -p
DAT -ø
fem ɕi
girl jɔ
1excl.sing xœk
love -u
active lœ
2.sing pɔɡæ
COMP

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Kedoe. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 10 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3Z12E

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3Z12E,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Kedoe}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3Z12E}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 10 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Kedoe / Kedoe–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/3Z12E

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