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A Grammar of Kb

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Kb language (the 316th 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 Kb.

Typological Profile

It has not just singular and plural, but also dual, and a small but genuine set of click consonants.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Kb has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 26 phonemes.

It has an exceptionally large and contrastive labial series, a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants, a modest set of implosive stops and a small but genuine set of click consonants.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalvelarlab. velarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
fricativef s ʃ h
approximantʋ l j
affricatet͡ʃ
implosiveɓ ɗ
clickᵏǀ
click, nasalᵑǀ

Vowels

Kb has 6 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 vertical vowel system in which backness distinctions are largely absent, a triangular vowel system with few low vowels and an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels.

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

central
close-midɘ
midə
open-midɜ
opena

Stress and Tones

Kb 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: /ɨ/ becomes /ɘ/, /a/ becomes /ɜ/.

Writing System

Introduction

Kb 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 /a/б /b/б̱ /ɓ/в /ʋ/
г /h/д /d/д̱ /ɗ/к /k/
л /l/м /m/н /n/п /p/
с /s/т /t/ф /f/ч /t͡ʃ/
ш /ʃ/ю /ɜː/ј /j/њ /ɲ/
ґ /ɡ/ҭ̇ /ə/ұ /ɘ/ӈ /ŋ/
ө /ɘː/ԉ /ɜ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

аа /aː/ай /ai/аў /au/
кв /kʷ/ҁн /ᵑǀ/ҁт /ᵏǀ/
ґв /ɡʷ/ӈв /ŋʷ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Kb distinguishes singular, dual and plural.

Gender

Kb does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Гаўтҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа лаґа ґвагабҭ̇ саа б̱аў ка б̱ҭ̇шұјԉбҭ̇ наў фаў, най тааӈва јҭ̇.

[hautəŋə saː laɡa ɡʷahabə saː ɓau ka ɓəʃɘjɜbə nau fau, nai taːŋʷa jə]

haut
woman -əŋə
ACT saː
the laɡa
COMIT ɡʷah
knife -abə
STA saː
the ɓau
catch ka
PAST ɓəʃɘj
mouse -ɜbə
STA nau
three fau
yon nai
RELPRON taːŋʷa
blind jə
plur

“The woman with the knife caught those three blind mice.”

 (1)

In the following, we shall look at the various components in more details.

All nominal phrase clitics in Kb are enclitics (placed finally), and there are two types: a clitic expressing number, comprising пҭ̇ /pə/ ‘dual’ and јҭ̇ /jə/ ‘plur’ followed by a clitic expressing possessor, comprising вҭ̇ /ʋə/ ‘1incl.sing’, бҭ̇ /bə/ ‘1excl.sing’, кҭ̇ /kə/ ‘2.sing’, са /sa/ ‘3.sing’, лҭ̇ /lə/ ‘1incl.dual’, на /na/ ‘1excl.dual’, д̱а /ɗa/ ‘2.dual’, да /da/ ‘3.dual’, гҭ̇ /hə/ ‘1incl.plur’, га /ha/ ‘1excl.plur’, квҭ̇ /kʷə/ ‘2.plur’ and ӈа /ŋa/ ‘3.plur’.

The morphology of the elements of the nominal phrase, i.e., nouns, numerals and pronouns, is described below, as is the way that possession is expressed in Kb.

The Noun

The noun in Kb consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -абҭ̇ /-abə/ ‘STA’, -ҭ̇ӈҭ̇ /-əŋə/ ‘ACT’, -ҭ̇јҭ̇ /-əjə/ ‘GEN’, -авҭ̇ /-aʋə/ ‘DAT’, -ҭ̇ґва /-əɡʷa/ ‘INS’, -ҭ̇б̱ҭ̇ /-əɓə/ ‘VOC’, -аӈва /-aŋʷa/ ‘ALL’, -ҭ̇фҭ̇ /-əfə/ ‘LOC’, -ҭ̇нҭ̇ /-ənə/ ‘ABL’ and -ҭ̇гҭ̇ /-əhə/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ҭ̇вҭ̇ч /-əʋət͡ʃ/ ‘little’ and -адал /-adal/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

In Kb, both subject and object pronouns are dropped unless they are stressed. Here is an example where neither of the pronouns are stressed:

Б̱а.

[ɓa]

ɓa
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Таа б̱а.

[taː ɓa]

taː
3.sing ɓa
love

“He loves her.”

 (3)

And here, it is the one translated as her that is stressed:

Б̱а таа.

[ɓa taː]

ɓa
love taː
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

Вԉд̱ԉјҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа ґԉјұфԉ Ҁнԉсԉбԉбҭ̇ саа.

[ʋɜɗɜjəŋə saː ɡɜjɘfɜ ᵑǀɜsɜbɜbə saː]

ʋɜɗɜj
Vadery -əŋə
ACT saː
the ɡɜjɘfɜ
hate ᵑǀɜsɜb
Kaserb -ɜbə
STA saː
the

“Vadery hates Kaserb.”

 (5)

Possession

ҁтафҭ̇јҭ̇ саа сад̱аакабҭ̇ саа са

[ᵏǀafəjə saː saɗaːkabə saː sa]

ᵏǀaf
boy -əjə
GEN saː
the saɗaːk
apple -abə
STA saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)
таа сад̱аакабҭ̇ саа са

[taː saɗaːkabə saː sa]

taː
3.sing saɗaːk
apple -abə
STA saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)
сад̱аакабҭ̇ саа бҭ̇

[saɗaːkabə saː bə]

saɗaːk
apple -abə
STA saː
the bə
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

 (8)
Вҭ̇тԉјҭ̇јҭ̇ саа фаафҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа са јԉтԉнҭ̇ ка ӈвавайшҭ̇јҭ̇ саа кҭ̇ мюд̱ԉбҭ̇ саа са.

[ʋətɜjəjə saː faːfəŋə saː sa jɜtɜnə ka ŋʷaʋaiʃəjə saː kə mɜːɗɜbə saː sa]

ʋətɜj
hunter -əjə
GEN saː
the faːf
daughter -əŋə
ACT saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS jɜtɜnə
kiss ka
PAST ŋʷaʋaiʃ
neighbour -əjə
GEN saː
the kə
2.sing.POSS mɜːɗ
son -ɜbə
STA saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS

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

 (9)

Derivation

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

сԉґвұпԉбҭ̇

[sɜɡʷɘpɜbə]

sɜɡʷɘp
lamb -ɜbə
STA

“a lamb”

 (10)

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

сԉґвұпҭ̇вҭ̇чабҭ̇

[sɜɡʷɘpəʋət͡ʃabə]

sɜɡʷɘp
lamb -əʋət͡ʃ
little -abə
STA

“a little lamb”

 (11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Kb are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising ка /ka/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising мҭ̇ /mə/ ‘imperative’, ӈва /ŋʷa/ ‘conditional’ and га /ha/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising ґҭ̇ /ɡə/ ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising да /da/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising ча /t͡ʃa/ ‘Q’.

The verb itself does not have any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -бањҭ̇ /-baɲə/ ‘begin’ and -ґҭ̇бҭ̇ /-ɡəbə/ ‘stop’

Б̱а.

[ɓa]

ɓa
love

“I love you.”

 (12)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

вұ чайӈвабҭ̇ саа

[ʋɘ t͡ʃaiŋʷabə saː]

ʋɘ
in_surface t͡ʃaiŋʷ
table -abə
STA saː
the

“on the table”

 (13)
май пԉб̱ұњԉбҭ̇ саа

[mai pɜɓɘɲɜbə saː]

mai
to_inside pɜɓɘɲ
box -ɜbə
STA saː
the

“into the box”

 (14)
лаґа даа

[laɡa daː]

laɡa
COMIT daː
1excl.sing

“with me”

 (15)

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.

Kb 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 Kb.

Б̱аґвафҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа ӈаа ка вҭ̇тԉјԉбҭ̇ саа.

[ɓaɡʷafəŋə saː ŋaː ka ʋətɜjɜbə saː]

ɓaɡʷaf
jaguar -əŋə
ACT saː
the ŋaː
kill ka
PAST ʋətɜj
hunter -ɜbə
STA saː
the

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)
Б̱аваґвҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа ӈаў ка вҭ̇тԉјҭ̇јҭ̇ саа фаафҭ̇јҭ̇ саа са кԉмԉбҭ̇ саа са.

[ɓaʋaɡʷəŋə saː ŋau ka ʋətɜjəjə saː faːfəjə saː sa kɜmɜbə saː sa]

ɓaʋaɡʷ
lion -əŋə
ACT saː
the ŋau
eat ka
PAST ʋətɜj
hunter -əjə
GEN saː
the faːf
daughter -əjə
GEN saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS kɜm
dog -ɜbə
STA saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS

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

 (17)

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 Kb 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, Kb 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.

мюд̱ҭ̇јҭ̇ саа кҭ̇ тұфҭ̇јҭ̇ саа са кҭ̇таабабҭ̇ саа са

[mɜːɗəjə saː kə tɘfəjə saː sa kətaːbabə saː sa]

mɜːɗ
son -əjə
GEN saː
the kə
2.sing.POSS tɘf
friend -əjə
GEN saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS kətaːb
book -abə
STA saː
the sa
3.sing.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Kb uses active case marking. Intransitive subjects are divided according to how they participate in the event. More agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘run’ or ‘shout’, pattern with transitive subjects and take the active or agentive case. Less agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘sleep’ or ‘be ill’, pattern with transitive objects and take the patientive or absolutive case. This system makes sense where the grammar treats control, volition or affectedness as more important than the simple distinction between subject and object.

Пааӈабҭ̇ саа бұ.

[paːŋabə saː bɘ]

paːŋ
cat -abə
STA saː
the bɘ
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)
Пааӈҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа д̱ө.

[paːŋəŋə saː ɗɘː]

paːŋ
cat -əŋə
ACT saː
the ɗɘː
run

“The cat is running.”

 (20)
Пааӈҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа вафала б̱ҭ̇шұјԉбҭ̇ саа.

[paːŋəŋə saː ʋafala ɓəʃɘjɜbə saː]

paːŋ
cat -əŋə
ACT saː
the ʋafala
chase ɓəʃɘj
mouse -ɜbə
STA saː
the

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)
Пааӈҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа б̱аў ка б̱ҭ̇шұјԉбҭ̇ саа.

[paːŋəŋə saː ɓau ka ɓəʃɘjɜbə saː]

paːŋ
cat -əŋə
ACT saː
the ɓau
catch ka
PAST ɓəʃɘj
mouse -ɜbə
STA saː
the

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Вҭ̇тԉјҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа ӈаа ка б̱аґвафабҭ̇ саа јҭ̇ фю јԉґвұбԉбҭ̇ саа јҭ̇ фю б̱аваґвабҭ̇ саа јҭ̇.

[ʋətɜjəŋə saː ŋaː ka ɓaɡʷafabə saː jə fɜː jɜɡʷɘbɜbə saː jə fɜː ɓaʋaɡʷabə saː jə]

ʋətɜj
hunter -əŋə
ACT saː
the ŋaː
kill ka
PAST ɓaɡʷaf
jaguar -abə
STA saː
the jə
plur fɜː
and jɜɡʷɘb
tiger -ɜbə
STA saː
the jə
plur fɜː
and ɓaʋaɡʷ
lion -abə
STA saː
the jə
plur

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

 (23)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Kb 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:

Ҁтԉґвөфҭ̇ ка пааӈабҭ̇ саа.

[ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə ka paːŋabə saː]

ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə
pat ka
PAST paːŋ
cat -abə
STA saː
the

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Ҁтԉґвөфҭ̇ ка пааӈабҭ̇ саа, най б̱аў ка б̱ҭ̇шұјԉбҭ̇ саа.

[ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə ka paːŋabə saː, nai ɓau ka ɓəʃɘjɜbə saː]

ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə
pat ka
PAST paːŋ
cat -abə
STA saː
the nai
RELPRON ɓau
catch ka
PAST ɓəʃɘj
mouse -ɜbə
STA saː
the

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Ҁтԉґвөфҭ̇ ка пааӈабҭ̇ саа, най б̱аў ка б̱ҭ̇шұјԉбҭ̇ саа, най ӈаў ка кадаўмабҭ̇ саа.

[ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə ka paːŋabə saː, nai ɓau ka ɓəʃɘjɜbə saː, nai ŋau ka kadaumabə saː]

ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə
pat ka
PAST paːŋ
cat -abə
STA saː
the nai
RELPRON ɓau
catch ka
PAST ɓəʃɘj
mouse -ɜbə
STA saː
the nai
RELPRON ŋau
eat ka
PAST kadaum
cheese -abə
STA saː
the

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

 (26)

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

Ҁтԉґвөфҭ̇ ка пааӈабҭ̇ саа, най б̱аў ка б̱ҭ̇шұјԉбҭ̇ саа, най ӈаў ка кадаўмабҭ̇ саа, най гө ка даа.

[ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə ka paːŋabə saː, nai ɓau ka ɓəʃɘjɜbə saː, nai ŋau ka kadaumabə saː, nai hɘː ka daː]

ᵏǀɜɡʷɘːfə
pat ka
PAST paːŋ
cat -abə
STA saː
the nai
RELPRON ɓau
catch ka
PAST ɓəʃɘj
mouse -ɜbə
STA saː
the nai
RELPRON ŋau
eat ka
PAST kadaum
cheese -abə
STA saː
the nai
RELPRON hɘː
buy ka
PAST daː
1excl.sing

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

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Kb 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:

Ҁтафҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа тұ ка шұд̱ԉвҭ̇ саа сад̱аакабҭ̇ нԉӈө јԉсԉвԉ ка кҭ̇лөмԉвҭ̇ саа.

[ᵏǀafəŋə saː tɘ ka ʃɘɗɜʋə saː saɗaːkabə nɜŋɘː jɜsɜʋɜ ka kəlɘːmɜʋə saː]

ᵏǀaf
boy -əŋə
ACT saː
the tɘ
give ka
PAST ʃɘɗ
girl -ɜʋə
DAT saː
the saɗaːk
apple -abə
STA nɜŋɘː
COMP jɜsɜʋɜ
surprise ka
PAST kəlɘːm
teacher -ɜʋə
DAT saː
the

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

 (28)

Quotes

Kb 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:

Ҁтафҭ̇ӈҭ̇ саа ваў ка шұд̱ԉвҭ̇ саа даа б̱а сԉ нԉӈө.

[ᵏǀafəŋə saː ʋau ka ʃɘɗɜʋə saː daː ɓa sɜ nɜŋɘː]

ᵏǀaf
boy -əŋə
ACT saː
the ʋau
tell ka
PAST ʃɘɗ
girl -ɜʋə
DAT saː
the daː
1excl.sing ɓa
love sɜ
2.sing nɜŋɘː
COMP

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

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Kb. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 14 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/4BQMV

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-4BQMV,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Kb}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/4BQMV}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 14 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Kb / Kb–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/4BQMV

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 0.01 seconds; writing the grammar 0.07 seconds.