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A Grammar of Gain

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Gain language (the 330th 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 Gain.

Typological Profile

It has a small but genuine set of click consonants, a relatively uncommon VOS word order and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Gain has a large consonant inventory, comprising 36 phonemes.

It has a notable dental–alveolar contrast across several manners, a strikingly small set of lateral and rhotic consonants, a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants, a noticeable presence of pharyngealised phonemes and a small but genuine set of click consonants.

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

labialdentalphar. dentalalveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatalpalatalretroflexvelarlab. velarglottal
stopp b d t dˤ tˤ ɖ ʈ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
nasalm n nˤ ɲ ɳ ŋ ŋʷ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef s sˤ ʃ ʂ h
approximantʋ j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ
implosiveɓ
clickᵏǀ ᵏǀˤ
click, nasalᵑǀ ᵑǀˤ

Vowels

Gain 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 strikingly compressed height system with only two vowel heights and front rounded vowels (these are cross-linguistically relatively uncommon, but occur in a number of well-known languages, including French, German, Turkish and Mandarin).

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

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
opena

Stress and Tones

Gain has phonemic stress but no lexical tone. Stress consistently falls on the first vowel of the root, and no contrastive tonal distinctions are made.

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/.

Writing System

Introduction

Gain 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/д̇ /ɖ/и /i/
к /k/м /m/н /n/н̇ /ɳ/
п /p/р̇ /ɽ/с /s/с̇ /ʂ/
т /t/т̇ /ʈ/у /u/ф /f/
ч /t͡ʃ/ш /ʃ/ј /j/њ /ɲ/
ћ /t͡ɕ/ґ /ɡ/ү /y/ӈ /ŋ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ай /ai/аў /au/дъ /dˤ/
кв /kʷ/нъ /nˤ/съ /sˤ/
тъ /tˤ/ҁн /ᵑǀ/ҁнъ /ᵑǀˤ/
ҁт /ᵏǀ/ҁтъ /ᵏǀˤ/ґв /ɡʷ/
ӈв /ŋʷ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Gain does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Gain does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Тъањуга ћувуга на ћи т̇айс̇ифа нъимиву т̇удъи тү.

[ˈtˤaɲuha ˈt͡ɕuʋuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈʈaiʂifa ˈnˤimiʋu ʈuˈdˤi ˈty]

ˈtˤaɲ
blind -uha
indicative ˈt͡ɕuʋ
catch -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈʈaiʂ
woman -ifa
ERG ˈnˤim
knife -iʋu
LOC ʈuˈdˤi
COMIT ˈty
then

“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 Gain consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -иња /-iɲa/ ‘NOM’, -ифа /-ifa/ ‘ERG’, -ад̇у /-aɖu/ ‘ACC’, -ака /-aka/ ‘GEN’, -утъи /-utˤi/ ‘DAT’, -инъу /-inˤu/ ‘INS’, -утъа /-utˤa/ ‘VOC’, -апу /-apu/ ‘ALL’, -иву /-iʋu/ ‘LOC’, -атъа /-atˤa/ ‘ABL’ and -ују /-uju/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ад /-ad/ ‘little’ and -уґ /-uɡ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Ҁнаўкуга ћи.

[ˈᵑǀaukuha ˈt͡ɕi]

ˈᵑǀauk
love -uha
indicative ˈt͡ɕi
3

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Ҁнаўкуга ћи ћи.

[ˈᵑǀaukuha ˈt͡ɕi ˈt͡ɕi]

ˈᵑǀauk
love -uha
indicative ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈt͡ɕi
3

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Шас̇аӈвуга Ћидаўкад̇у Ҁнъиґидиња.

[ʃaˈʂaŋʷuha t͡ɕiˈdaukaɖu ᵑǀˤiˈɡidiɲa]

ʃaˈʂaŋʷ
hate -uha
indicative t͡ɕiˈdauk
Chidauk -aɖu
ACC ᵑǀˤiˈɡid
Kigid -iɲa
NOM

“Kigid hates Chidauk.”

 (4)

Possession

ҁнинайн̇иња дайњака

[ᵑǀiˈnaiɳiɲa ˈdaiɲaka]

ᵑǀiˈnaiɳ
apple -iɲa
NOM ˈdaiɲ
boy -aka
GEN

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
ҁнинайн̇иња ћи

[ᵑǀiˈnaiɳiɲa ˈt͡ɕi]

ᵑǀiˈnaiɳ
apple -iɲa
NOM ˈt͡ɕi
3

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
ҁнинайн̇иња ди

[ᵑǀiˈnaiɳiɲa ˈdi]

ᵑǀiˈnaiɳ
apple -iɲa
NOM ˈdi
1excl

“my apple”

 (7)
Дъифар̇уга на с̇анъиња куфанака ча фит̇ифа фабаӈвака.

[dˤiˈfaɽuha na ˈʂanˤiɲa kuˈfanaka ˈt͡ʃa ˈfiʈifa faˈbaŋʷaka]

dˤiˈfaɽ
kiss -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈʂanˤ
son -iɲa
NOM kuˈfan
neighbour -aka
GEN ˈt͡ʃa
2 ˈfiʈ
daughter -ifa
ERG faˈbaŋʷ
hunter -aka
GEN

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

ћикун̇иња гу

[t͡ɕiˈkuɳiɲa ˈhu]

t͡ɕiˈkuɳ
lamb -iɲa
NOM ˈhu
a

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

ћикун̇адиња гу

[t͡ɕiˈkuɳadiɲa ˈhu]

t͡ɕiˈkuɳ
lamb -ad
little -iɲa
NOM ˈhu
a

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Gain are enclitics (placed finally), and there are four types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising на /na/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising ћи /t͡ɕi/ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing negation, comprising га /ha/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing question, comprising с̇а /ʂa/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing mode, comprising -уга /-uha/ ‘indicative’, -уну /-unu/ ‘imperative’, -уми /-umi/ ‘conditional’ and -уку /-uku/ ‘optative’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -уӈ /-uŋ/ ‘begin’ and -иј /-ij/ ‘stop’

Ҁнаўкуга ча.

[ˈᵑǀaukuha ˈt͡ʃa]

ˈᵑǀauk
love -uha
indicative ˈt͡ʃa
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.

ҁнъадъиња чидъиња ґай

[ˈᵑǀˤadˤiɲa ˈt͡ʃidˤiɲa ˈɡai]

ˈᵑǀˤadˤ
surface -iɲa
NOM ˈt͡ʃidˤ
table -iɲa
NOM ˈɡai
in

“on the table”

 (12)
сид̇иња кат̇айґиња д̇ай

[ˈsiɖiɲa kaˈʈaiɡiɲa ˈɖai]

ˈsiɖ
inside -iɲa
NOM kaˈʈaiɡ
box -iɲa
NOM ˈɖai
to

“into the box”

 (13)
ди т̇удъи

[ˈdi ʈuˈdˤi]

ˈdi
1excl ʈuˈdˤi
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.

Gain displays Verb–Object–Subject (VOS) as its primary word order. The verb is followed by the object, with the subject appearing clause-finally. Although relatively uncommon, VOS is well documented cross-linguistically.

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

Б̱үґвүга на фабаӈвиња ӈудаґвифа.

[ˈɓyɡʷyha na faˈbaŋʷiɲa ŋuˈdaɡʷifa]

ˈɓyɡʷ
kill -yha
indicative na
PAST faˈbaŋʷ
hunter -iɲa
NOM ŋuˈdaɡʷ
jaguar -ifa
ERG

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Вафуга на тъайтъиња фит̇ака фабаӈвака тъагайшифа.

[ˈʋafuha na ˈtˤaitˤiɲa ˈfiʈaka faˈbaŋʷaka tˤaˈhaiʃifa]

ˈʋaf
eat -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈtˤaitˤ
dog -iɲa
NOM ˈfiʈ
daughter -aka
GEN faˈbaŋʷ
hunter -aka
GEN tˤaˈhaiʃ
lion -ifa
ERG

“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 Gain 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, Gain 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.

квайниња ҁнъиґака с̇анъака ча

[ˈkʷainiɲa ˈᵑǀˤiɡaka ˈʂanˤaka ˈt͡ʃa]

ˈkʷain
book -iɲa
NOM ˈᵑǀˤiɡ
friend -aka
GEN ˈʂanˤ
son -aka
GEN ˈt͡ʃa
2

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Gain uses split case marking. In the present tense, the grammar follows a nominative–accusative pattern, where intransitive and transitive subjects are treated alike and objects are marked with the accusative. In the past tense, however, it follows an ergative–absolutive pattern, here called ergative–nominative, where intransitive subjects and transitive objects are treated alike and transitive subjects are marked with the ergative. This makes sense because present-tense clauses often describe events as ongoing, habitual or controlled by an active participant, so the grammar treats the subject as the central argument. Past-tense clauses, by contrast, often present an event as completed, making the affected participant especially salient. The ergative marking then singles out the transitive agent as the additional participant responsible for bringing about that result.

Ҁтаймуга дъасиња.

[ˈᵏǀaimuha ˈdˤasiɲa]

ˈᵏǀaim
sleep -uha
indicative ˈdˤas
cat -iɲa
NOM

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Гаўтуга дъасиња.

[ˈhautuha ˈdˤasiɲa]

ˈhaut
run -uha
indicative ˈdˤas
cat -iɲa
NOM

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Тъитъаўгуга ҁтуӈвадъад̇у дъасиња.

[tˤiˈtˤauhuha ᵏǀuˈŋʷadˤaɖu ˈdˤasiɲa]

tˤiˈtˤauh
chase -uha
indicative ᵏǀuˈŋʷadˤ
mouse -aɖu
ACC ˈdˤas
cat -iɲa
NOM

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Ћувуга на ҁтуӈвадъиња дъасифа.

[ˈt͡ɕuʋuha na ᵏǀuˈŋʷadˤiɲa ˈdˤasifa]

ˈt͡ɕuʋ
catch -uha
indicative na
PAST ᵏǀuˈŋʷadˤ
mouse -iɲa
NOM ˈdˤas
cat -ifa
ERG

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Б̱үґвүга на ӈудаґвиња дъа сакачиња дъа тъагайшиња фабаӈвифа.

[ˈɓyɡʷyha na ŋuˈdaɡʷiɲa ˈdˤa saˈkat͡ʃiɲa ˈdˤa tˤaˈhaiʃiɲa faˈbaŋʷifa]

ˈɓyɡʷ
kill -yha
indicative na
PAST ŋuˈdaɡʷ
jaguar -iɲa
NOM ˈdˤa
and saˈkat͡ʃ
tiger -iɲa
NOM ˈdˤa
and tˤaˈhaiʃ
lion -iɲa
NOM faˈbaŋʷ
hunter -ifa
ERG

“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 Gain 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

Gain uses the correlative strategy to form relative clauses. The relative clause is introduced by a dedicated relativiser and appears as an independent clause. The main clause contains a demonstrative that corresponds to the relativiser and identifies the element being modified. The relative clause precedes the main clause when used on its own, and follows the head noun when it functions as a modifier. The internal structure of both clauses is fully finite.

To illustrate how relative clauses work, let us begin with a simple sentence:

Ванъисуга на дъасиња.

[ʋaˈnˤisuha na ˈdˤasiɲa]

ʋaˈnˤis
pat -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈdˤas
cat -iɲa
NOM

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Ћувуга на ҁтуӈвадъиња ванъисуга на ћи тү.

[ˈt͡ɕuʋuha na ᵏǀuˈŋʷadˤiɲa ʋaˈnˤisuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈty]

ˈt͡ɕuʋ
catch -uha
indicative na
PAST ᵏǀuˈŋʷadˤ
mouse -iɲa
NOM ʋaˈnˤis
pat -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈty
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Вафуга на д̇ис̇иниња ћувуга на ћи тү ванъисуга на ћи тү.

[ˈʋafuha na ɖiˈʂiniɲa ˈt͡ɕuʋuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈty ʋaˈnˤisuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈty]

ˈʋaf
eat -uha
indicative na
PAST ɖiˈʂin
cheese -iɲa
NOM ˈt͡ɕuʋ
catch -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈty
then ʋaˈnˤis
pat -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈty
then

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

 (25)

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

Јайкуга на ћи вафуга на ћи тү ћувуга на ћи тү ванъисуга на ћи тү.

[ˈjaikuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈʋafuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈty ˈt͡ɕuʋuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈty ʋaˈnˤisuha na ˈt͡ɕi ˈty]

ˈjaik
buy -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈʋaf
eat -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈty
then ˈt͡ɕuʋ
catch -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈty
then ʋaˈnˤis
pat -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈt͡ɕi
3 ˈty
then

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Gain 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:

Тъиб̱аўпуга на фасагутъи д̇ушуга на ҁнинайн̇иња гу дуд̇утъи дайњифа тава.

[tˤiˈɓaupuha na fasahutˤi ˈɖuʃuha na ᵑǀiˈnaiɳiɲa ˈhu ˈduɖutˤi ˈdaiɲifa taˈʋa]

tˤiˈɓaup
surprise -uha
indicative na
PAST fasah
teacher -utˤi
DAT ˈɖuʃ
give -uha
indicative na
PAST ᵑǀiˈnaiɳ
apple -iɲa
NOM ˈhu
a ˈduɖ
girl -utˤi
DAT ˈdaiɲ
boy -ifa
ERG taˈʋa
COMP

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

 (27)

Quotes

Gain 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:

Мишуга на ҁнаўкуга ча ди тава дуд̇утъи дайњифа.

[ˈmiʃuha na ˈᵑǀaukuha ˈt͡ʃa ˈdi taˈʋa ˈduɖutˤi ˈdaiɲifa]

ˈmiʃ
tell -uha
indicative na
PAST ˈᵑǀauk
love -uha
indicative ˈt͡ʃa
2 ˈdi
1excl taˈʋa
COMP ˈduɖ
girl -utˤi
DAT ˈdaiɲ
boy -ifa
ERG

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Gain. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 16 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/4EJJM

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-4EJJM,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Gain}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/4EJJM}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 16 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Gain / Gain–English) accompany this grammar. The complete work – comprising the grammar, dictionary and texts – may also be downloaded in ODT or DOCX format.

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https://languagecreator.org/grammar/4EJJM

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