The Language Creator
– from linguistic questionnaire to grammar, lexicon and texts.

A Grammar of Huny

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Huny language (the 1708th 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 Huny.

Typological Profile

It has the highly uncommon basic word order OVS.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Huny has 21 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants, a noticeable presence of pharyngealised phonemes and a complete absence of phonemic voicing contrasts.

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

labialalveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalvelarlab. velarglottal
stopp t tˤ k kʷ
nasalm n nˤ ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
fricativef s sˤ ʃ h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Huny has 7 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 partially contrastive system of vowel length.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Huny 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

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Huny 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/e /e/f /f/h /h/
i /i/j /j/k /k/l /l/
m /m/n /n/ṇ /nˤ/o /o/
p /p/s /s/ṣ /sˤ/t /t/
ṭ /tˤ/u /u/w /w/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
ch /t͡ʃ/ee /eː/ii /iː/
ng /ŋ/ngw /ŋʷ/oo /oː/
qu /kʷ/sh /ʃ/uu /uː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Huny does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Huny does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Kangwofusol fosh lulut ṇautis fomuch losh sheeṇis ngwinij nauṭis.

[kaˈŋʷofusol ˈfoʃ ˈlulut ˈnˤautis ˈfomut͡ʃ loʃ ˈʃeːnˤis ŋʷiˈnij ˈnautˤis]

kaˈŋʷof
mouse -u
plur -s
def -ol
ACC ˈfoʃ
three l-
ACC ˈul
yon -ut
plur ˈnˤaut
blind -i
sing -s
def ˈfom
catch -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈʃeːnˤ
woman -i
sing -s
def ŋʷiˈnij
COMIT ˈnautˤ
knife -i
sing -s
def

“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 Huny consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -i /-i/ ‘sing’ and -u /-u/ ‘plur’; third, an obligatory suffix expressing def, comprising -ṣ /-sˤ/ ‘not.def’ and -s /-s/ ‘def’; and finally, fourth, an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -ol /-ol/ ‘ACC’, -angw /-aŋʷ/ ‘DAT’, -ech /-et͡ʃ/ ‘INS’, -ot /-ot/ ‘VOC’, -iqu /-ikʷ/ ‘ALL’, -ek /-ek/ ‘LOC’, -och /-ot͡ʃ/ ‘ABL’ and -os /-os/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -iw /-iw/ ‘little’ and -oṇ /-onˤ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Huny, the determiner has the following structure: first, an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising ṭ- /tˤ-/ ‘NOM’, l- /l-/ ‘ACC’, k- /k-/ ‘DAT’, ch- /t͡ʃ-/ ‘INS’, j- /j-/ ‘VOC’, ñ- /ɲ-/ ‘ALL’, ṣ- /sˤ-/ ‘LOC’, qu- /kʷ-/ ‘ABL’ and t- /t-/ ‘PART’; second, the root; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -ut /-ut/ ‘plur’.

Pronouns

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

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

Kaat ṭaifuch.

[ˈkaːt ˈtˤaifut͡ʃ]

ˈkaːt
3.sing ˈtˤaif
love -ut͡ʃ
indicative

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Kaat ṭaifuch kaat.

[ˈkaːt ˈtˤaifut͡ʃ ˈkaːt]

ˈkaːt
3.sing ˈtˤaif
love -ut͡ʃ
indicative ˈkaːt
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Nasangisol ṇifunuch Ṇeṣoñis.

[naˈsaŋisol nˤiˈfunut͡ʃ nˤeˈsˤoɲis]

naˈsaŋ
Nasang -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC nˤiˈfun
hate -ut͡ʃ
indicative nˤeˈsˤoɲ
Nesony -i
sing -s
def

“Nesony hates Nasang.”

 (4)

Possession

niwaisis ṇiṇis

[niˈwaisis ˈnˤinˤis]

niˈwais
apple -i
sing -s
def ˈnˤinˤ
boy -i
sing -s
def

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
niwaisis kaat

[niˈwaisis ˈkaːt]

niˈwais
apple -i
sing -s
def ˈkaːt
3.sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
niwaisis puw

[niˈwaisis ˈpuw]

niˈwais
apple -i
sing -s
def ˈpuw
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Faajisol wekoṇis ṣiif newiquuch losh ngwiingis peṇuuwis.

[ˈfaːjisol weˈkonˤis ˈsˤiːf neˈwikʷut͡ʃ loʃ ˈŋʷiːŋis peˈnˤuːwis]

ˈfaːj
son -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC weˈkonˤ
neighbour -i
sing -s
def ˈsˤiːf
2.sing neˈwikʷ
kiss -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈŋʷiːŋ
daughter -i
sing -s
def peˈnˤuːw
hunter -i
sing -s
def

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

ṭungwaṭiṣ ṭiṣ

[tˤuˈŋʷatˤisˤ ˈtˤisˤ]

tˤuˈŋʷatˤ
lamb -i
sing -sˤ
not.def tˤ-
NOM ˈisˤ
a

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

ṭungwaṭiwiṣ ṭiṣ

[tˤuˈŋʷatˤiwisˤ ˈtˤisˤ]

tˤuˈŋʷatˤ
lamb -iw
little -i
sing -sˤ
not.def tˤ-
NOM ˈisˤ
a

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Huny are enclitics (placed finally), and there are four types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising losh /loʃ/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising tan /tan/ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing negation, comprising jungw /juŋʷ/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing question, comprising ngwesh /ŋʷeʃ/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing mode, comprising -uch /-ut͡ʃ/ ‘indicative’, -im /-im/ ‘imperative’, -ing /-iŋ/ ‘conditional’ and -iṣ /-isˤ/ ‘optative’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ej /-ej/ ‘begin’ and -ash /-aʃ/ ‘stop’

Ṣiif ṭaifuch.

[ˈsˤiːf ˈtˤaifut͡ʃ]

ˈsˤiːf
2.sing ˈtˤaif
love -ut͡ʃ
indicative

“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.

ṇen fikis

[ˈnˤen ˈfikis]

ˈnˤen
in_surface ˈfik
table -i
sing -s
def

“on the table”

 (12)
ṇaas quataiṣis

[ˈnˤaːs kʷaˈtaisˤis]

ˈnˤaːs
to_inside kʷaˈtaisˤ
box -i
sing -s
def

“into the box”

 (13)
ngwinij puw

[ŋʷiˈnij ˈpuw]

ŋʷiˈnij
COMIT ˈpuw
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.

Huny has Object–Verb–Subject (OVS) as its basic constituent order. Clauses begin with the object, followed by the verb, with the subject in final position. This is a rare but attested configuration in the world’s languages.

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

Peṇuuwisol naichuch losh weṣushis.

[peˈnˤuːwisol ˈnait͡ʃut͡ʃ loʃ weˈsˤuʃis]

peˈnˤuːw
hunter -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC ˈnait͡ʃ
kill -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST weˈsˤuʃ
jaguar -i
sing -s
def

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Tingisol ngwiingis peṇuuwis kiiwuch losh jepipis.

[ˈtiŋisol ˈŋʷiːŋis peˈnˤuːwis ˈkiːwut͡ʃ loʃ jeˈpipis]

ˈtiŋ
dog -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC ˈŋʷiːŋ
daughter -i
sing -s
def peˈnˤuːw
hunter -i
sing -s
def ˈkiːw
eat -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST jeˈpip
lion -i
sing -s
def

“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 Huny 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, Huny 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.

lipeenis nuwis faajis ṣiif

[lipeːnis ˈnuwis ˈfaːjis ˈsˤiːf]

lipeːn
book -i
sing -s
def ˈnuw
friend -i
sing -s
def ˈfaːj
son -i
sing -s
def ˈsˤiːf
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Huny 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.

Ṭiñuch haijis.

[ˈtˤiɲut͡ʃ ˈhaijis]

ˈtˤiɲ
sleep -ut͡ʃ
indicative ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Wokuch haijis.

[ˈwokut͡ʃ ˈhaijis]

ˈwok
run -ut͡ʃ
indicative ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Kangwofisol ṣeshechuch haijis.

[kaˈŋʷofisol sˤeˈʃet͡ʃut͡ʃ ˈhaijis]

kaˈŋʷof
mouse -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC sˤeˈʃet͡ʃ
chase -ut͡ʃ
indicative ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Kangwofisol fomuch losh haijis.

[kaˈŋʷofisol ˈfomut͡ʃ loʃ ˈhaijis]

kaˈŋʷof
mouse -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC ˈfom
catch -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Weṣushusol wip lañailusol wip jepipusol naichuch losh peṇuuwis.

[weˈsˤuʃusol ˈwip laˈɲailusol ˈwip jeˈpipusol ˈnait͡ʃut͡ʃ loʃ peˈnˤuːwis]

weˈsˤuʃ
jaguar -u
plur -s
def -ol
ACC ˈwip
and laˈɲail
tiger -u
plur -s
def -ol
ACC ˈwip
and jeˈpip
lion -u
plur -s
def -ol
ACC ˈnait͡ʃ
kill -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST peˈnˤuːw
hunter -i
sing -s
def

“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 Huny 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

Huny forms relative clauses by using a head-internal strategy. The head noun appears inside the clause itself, occupying its regular syntactic position. The entire clause functions as a modifier, and its external syntactic behaviour is identical to that of a noun-modifying phrase.

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

Haijisol likoshuch losh.

[ˈhaijisol liˈkoʃut͡ʃ loʃ]

ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC liˈkoʃ
pat -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Kangwofisol fomuch losh haijis kuwiim likoshuch losh.

[kaˈŋʷofisol ˈfomut͡ʃ loʃ ˈhaijis kuˈwiːm liˈkoʃut͡ʃ loʃ]

kaˈŋʷof
mouse -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC ˈfom
catch -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def kuˈwiːm
COMP liˈkoʃ
pat -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Peñoojisol kiiwuch losh kangwofis kuwiim fomuch losh haijis kuwiim likoshuch losh.

[peˈɲoːjisol ˈkiːwut͡ʃ loʃ kaˈŋʷofis kuˈwiːm ˈfomut͡ʃ loʃ ˈhaijis kuˈwiːm liˈkoʃut͡ʃ loʃ]

peˈɲoːj
cheese -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC ˈkiːw
eat -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST kaˈŋʷof
mouse -i
sing -s
def kuˈwiːm
COMP ˈfom
catch -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def kuˈwiːm
COMP liˈkoʃ
pat -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST

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

 (25)

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

Peñoojisol nuungwuch losh puw kuwiim kiiwuch losh kangwofis kuwiim fomuch losh haijis kuwiim likoshuch losh.

[peˈɲoːjisol ˈnuːŋʷut͡ʃ loʃ ˈpuw kuˈwiːm ˈkiːwut͡ʃ loʃ kaˈŋʷofis kuˈwiːm ˈfomut͡ʃ loʃ ˈhaijis kuˈwiːm liˈkoʃut͡ʃ loʃ]

peˈɲoːj
cheese -i
sing -s
def -ol
ACC ˈnuːŋʷ
buy -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈpuw
1excl.sing kuˈwiːm
COMP ˈkiːw
eat -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST kaˈŋʷof
mouse -i
sing -s
def kuˈwiːm
COMP ˈfom
catch -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈhaij
cat -i
sing -s
def kuˈwiːm
COMP liˈkoʃ
pat -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Huny 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:

Kiteenisangw ṇengashuch losh niwaisiṣol liṣ ñeeṭisangw kekuch losh ṇiṇis kuwiim.

[kiteːnisaŋʷ nˤeˈŋaʃut͡ʃ loʃ niˈwaisisˤol ˈlisˤ ˈɲeːtˤisaŋʷ ˈkekut͡ʃ loʃ ˈnˤinˤis kuˈwiːm]

kiteːn
teacher -i
sing -s
def -aŋʷ
DAT nˤeˈŋaʃ
surprise -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST niˈwais
apple -i
sing -sˤ
not.def -ol
ACC l-
ACC ˈisˤ
a ˈɲeːtˤ
girl -i
sing -s
def -aŋʷ
DAT ˈkek
give -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈnˤinˤ
boy -i
sing -s
def kuˈwiːm
COMP

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

 (27)

Quotes

Huny employs a quotative particle to mark direct and indirect speech. The quotative follows the reported phrase and identifies the preceding expression as quoted or reported. The same construction is also used to express reported thoughts.

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

Ṣiif ṭaifuch puw kuwiim ñeeṭisangw poṇuch losh ṇiṇis.

[ˈsˤiːf ˈtˤaifut͡ʃ ˈpuw kuˈwiːm ˈɲeːtˤisaŋʷ ˈponˤut͡ʃ loʃ ˈnˤinˤis]

ˈsˤiːf
2.sing ˈtˤaif
love -ut͡ʃ
indicative ˈpuw
1excl.sing kuˈwiːm
COMP ˈɲeːtˤ
girl -i
sing -s
def -aŋʷ
DAT ˈponˤ
tell -ut͡ʃ
indicative loʃ
PAST ˈnˤinˤ
boy -i
sing -s
def

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Huny. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 18 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/53RSU

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-53RSU,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Huny}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/53RSU}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 18 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Huny / Huny–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/53RSU

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 0.04 seconds; writing the grammar 0.05 seconds.