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A Grammar of Dang

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Dang language (the 255th 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 Dang.

Typological Profile

It has has no interesting typological features.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

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

It has a strongly reduced sibilant system.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
trill/tap/flapr
fricativef s h
approximantʋ l j
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Dang 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 strongly reduced vowel system in unstressed syllables.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide ə o
opena

Stress and Tones

Dang 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

Dang is an unwritten language. For that reason, all examples in this grammar are given exclusively in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which offers a precise and widely recognised means of recording its sounds.

Orthography

Dangis an unwritten language, so it does not make any sense to discuss its orthography.

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Dang does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Dang does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

[no meːʋəpə bətuː no kaupəpə makət͡ʃəsə ŋuː pu rət͡ʃiːɲət͡ʃə, jamə ŋarəsə]

no
the meːʋ
woman -əpə
sing bətuː
COMIT no
the kaup
knife -əpə
sing mak
catch -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q ŋuː
yon pu
three rət͡ʃiːɲ
mouse -ət͡ʃə,
plur ja
RELPRON -mə
plur ŋar
blind -əsə
not.Q

“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 Dang consists of first, an optional prefix expressing case, comprising tə- ‘DAT’, ʋə- ‘INS’, lə- ‘VOC’, fə- ‘ALL’, nə- ‘LOC’, rə- ‘ABL’ and ŋə- ‘PART’; second, the root; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -əpə ‘sing’ and -ət͡ʃə ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -əsəd ‘little’ and -əfək ‘big’

The Adjective

In Dang, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -əʋə ‘NOM’, -əɲə ‘DAT’, -əmə ‘INS’, -əhə ‘VOC’, -əpə ‘ALL’, -əŋə ‘LOC’, -əɡə ‘ABL’ and -ələ ‘PART’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

The pronoun in Dang has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -mə ‘plur’.

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

[ɲaɡəsə ʋu]

ɲaɡ
love -əsə
not.Q ʋu
3.sing

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

[ʋu ɲaɡəsə ʋu]

ʋu
3.sing ɲaɡ
love -əsə
not.Q ʋu
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

[no jəlujəpə tədenəsə no kəɲauɲəpə]

no
the jəluj
Yaluy -əpə
sing təden
hate -əsə
not.Q no
the kəɲauɲ
Kanyauny -əpə
sing

“Yaluy hates Kanyauny.”

 (4)

Possession

[no ɡapəpə no səkaidəpə]

no
the ɡap
boy -əpə
sing no
the səkaid
apple -əpə
sing

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)

[ʋu no səkaidəpə]

ʋu
3.sing no
the səkaid
apple -əpə
sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)

[duː no səkaidəpə]

duː
1excl.sing no
the səkaid
apple -əpə
sing

“my apple”

 (7)

[no fəjoɲəpə no juɡəpə pəɲaŋət͡ʃəsə mu no tənubəpə no haːbəpə]

no
the fəjoɲ
hunter -əpə
sing no
the juɡ
daughter -əpə
sing pəɲaŋ
kiss -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q mu
2.sing no
the tənub
neighbour -əpə
sing no
the haːb
son -əpə
sing

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

[nəŋeːtəpə]

nəŋeːt
lamb -əpə
sing

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

[nəŋeːtəsədəpə]

nəŋeːt
lamb -əsəd
little -əpə
sing

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Dang fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing negation, comprising rə ‘NEG’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising fə ‘imperative’, nə ‘conditional’ and rə ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising fə ‘passive’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, the root; second, an optional suffix expressing ta, comprising -ət͡ʃ ‘PAST’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing question, comprising -əpə ‘Q’ and -əsə ‘not.Q’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -əŋək ‘begin’ and -əpəj ‘stop’

[ɲaɡəsə mu]

ɲaɡ
love -əsə
not.Q mu
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.

[feː no lubəpə]

feː
in_surface no
the lub
table -əpə
sing

“on the table”

 (12)

[hu no kəpaisəpə]

hu
to_inside no
the kəpais
box -əpə
sing

“into the box”

 (13)

[bətuː duː]

bətuː
COMIT duː
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.

Dang 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 Dang.

[no ʋəbiːməpə peɡət͡ʃəsə no fəjoɲəpə]

no
the ʋəbiːm
jaguar -əpə
sing peɡ
kill -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the fəjoɲ
hunter -əpə
sing

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)

[no ʋədisəpə paiɡət͡ʃəsə no fəjoɲəpə no juɡəpə no reməpə]

no
the ʋədis
lion -əpə
sing paiɡ
eat -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the fəjoɲ
hunter -əpə
sing no
the juɡ
daughter -əpə
sing no
the rem
dog -əpə
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 Dang 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-final: the possessor precedes the possessed noun. For example, Dang expresses “the child’s toy” with the equivalent of “child toy”. This ordering is found in many SOV and postpositional languages and aligns with a broader tendency towards modifier-first structures.

[mu no haːbəpə no ɲafəpə no bukəpə]

mu
2.sing no
the haːb
son -əpə
sing no
the ɲaf
friend -əpə
sing no
the buk
book -əpə
sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Dang 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.

[no lijəpə dokəsə]

no
the lij
cat -əpə
sing dok
sleep -əsə
not.Q

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)

[no lijəpə mipəsə]

no
the lij
cat -əpə
sing mip
run -əsə
not.Q

“The cat is running.”

 (19)

[no lijəpə dəfadəsə no rət͡ʃiːɲəpə]

no
the lij
cat -əpə
sing dəfad
chase -əsə
not.Q no
the rət͡ʃiːɲ
mouse -əpə
sing

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)

[no lijəpə makət͡ʃəsə no rət͡ʃiːɲəpə]

no
the lij
cat -əpə
sing mak
catch -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the rət͡ʃiːɲ
mouse -əpə
sing

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

[no fəjoɲəpə peɡət͡ʃəsə no ʋəbiːmət͡ʃə he no ɡəbamət͡ʃə he no ʋədisət͡ʃə]

no
the fəjoɲ
hunter -əpə
sing peɡ
kill -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the ʋəbiːm
jaguar -ət͡ʃə
plur he
and no
the ɡəbam
tiger -ət͡ʃə
plur he
and no
the ʋədis
lion -ət͡ʃə
plur

“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 Dang 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

Dang 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:

[həhaiŋət͡ʃəsə no lijəpə]

həhaiŋ
pat -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the lij
cat -əpə
sing

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

[həhaiŋət͡ʃəsə no lijəpə, ja makət͡ʃəsə no rət͡ʃiːɲəpə]

həhaiŋ
pat -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the lij
cat -əpə,
sing ja
RELPRON mak
catch -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the rət͡ʃiːɲ
mouse -əpə
sing

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

[həhaiŋət͡ʃəsə no lijəpə, ja makət͡ʃəsə no rət͡ʃiːɲəpə, ja paiɡət͡ʃəsə no ʋəboʋəpə]

həhaiŋ
pat -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the lij
cat -əpə,
sing ja
RELPRON mak
catch -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the rət͡ʃiːɲ
mouse -əpə,
sing ja
RELPRON paiɡ
eat -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the ʋəboʋ
cheese -əpə
sing

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

 (25)

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

[həhaiŋət͡ʃəsə no lijəpə, ja makət͡ʃəsə no rət͡ʃiːɲəpə, ja paiɡət͡ʃəsə no ʋəboʋəpə, ja biːrət͡ʃəsə duː]

həhaiŋ
pat -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the lij
cat -əpə,
sing ja
RELPRON mak
catch -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the rət͡ʃiːɲ
mouse -əpə,
sing ja
RELPRON paiɡ
eat -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the ʋəboʋ
cheese -əpə,
sing ja
RELPRON biːr
buy -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q duː
1excl.sing

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Dang 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:

[no ɡapəpə roːsət͡ʃəsə no parəpə səkaidəpə səfu təbumət͡ʃəsə no ləsobəpə]

no
the ɡap
boy -əpə
sing roːs
give -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the par
girl -əpə
sing səkaid
apple -əpə
sing səfu
COMP təbum
surprise -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the ləsob
teacher -əpə
sing

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

 (27)

Quotes

Dang 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:

[no ɡapəpə ʋuŋət͡ʃəsə no parəpə duː ɲaɡəsə mu səfu]

no
the ɡap
boy -əpə
sing ʋuŋ
tell -ət͡ʃ
PAST -əsə
not.Q no
the par
girl -əpə
sing duː
1excl.sing ɲaɡ
love -əsə
not.Q mu
2.sing səfu
COMP

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Dang. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 11 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3ZES8

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3ZES8,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Dang}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3ZES8}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 11 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Dang / Dang–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/3ZES8

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