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A Grammar of Tatiti

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Tatiti language (the 446th 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 Tatiti.

Typological Profile

It has a complete absence of bilabial or labiodental consonants, a complete lack of sibilant consonants and a complete absence of fricative consonants.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Tatiti has 7 consonant phonemes, forming a relatively small inventory.

It has a complete absence of bilabial or labiodental consonants, a complete absence of fricative consonants, a complete absence of affricates, a complete lack of sibilant consonants and a complete absence of laryngeal consonants.

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

alveolarlateralpalatalvelar
stopt k
nasaln ɲ
approximantɾ j

Vowels

Tatiti has 3 vowel qualities. This constitutes a relatively small inventory, with contrasts limited to the vowel categories displayed in the chart. The phonological system relies primarily on these few qualities to encode vocalic distinctions.

It has a strikingly compressed height system with only two vowel heights, a triangular vowel system with few low vowels and a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
opena

Stress and Tones

Tatiti 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: /i/ becomes /u/.

Writing System

Introduction

Tatiti 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/и /i/к /k/н /n/
р /ɾ/т /t/у /u/ј /j/
њ /ɲ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Tatiti does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Tatiti does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Њања њаруњу нијата најакутуњу ки ру њуњуруру кујутуну.

[ɲaɲa ɲaɾuɲu nijata najakutuɲu ki ɾu ɲuɲuɾuɾu kujutunu]

ɲaɲa
woman ɲaɾuɲi
COMIT nijata
knife t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɲi
catch ki
yon ɾu
three ɲiɲuɾiɾi
mouse kin-
GEN jutini
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 Tatiti consists of an optional prefix expressing case, comprising кин- /kin-/ ‘GEN’, њак- /ɲak-/ ‘DAT’, њит- /ɲit-/ ‘INS’, рињ- /ɾiɲ-/ ‘VOC’, нињ- /niɲ-/ ‘ALL’, јањ- /jaɲ-/ ‘LOC’, рит- /ɾit-/ ‘ABL’ and так- /tak-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Tatiti, the determiner has the following structure: an optional prefix expressing case, comprising њиј- /ɲij-/ ‘GEN’, нит- /nit-/ ‘DAT’, риј- /ɾij-/ ‘INS’, кињ- /kiɲ-/ ‘VOC’, киј- /kij-/ ‘ALL’, кик- /kik-/ ‘LOC’, кир- /kiɾ-/ ‘ABL’ and тај- /taj-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

Pronouns

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

Tatiti always includes the personal pronouns, even if they are not stressed. This is similar to English, where the only way to distinguish "he loves her" from "he loves her" and "he loves her" is the stress. So the following corresponds exactly to English in this regard:

Туту најакуњута туту.

[tutu najakuɲuta tutu]

tuti
3 t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative ɾiɾ-
PRES ɲuta
love tuti
3

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

Proper Nouns

Јанитија најакињаратина Никирина.

[janitija najakiɲaɾatina nikiɾina]

janitija
Yanitiya t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative ɾiɾ-
PRES ɲaɾatina
hate nikiɾina
Nikirina

“Yanitiya hates Nikirina.”

 (3)

Possession

њињанара кинаки

[ɲiɲanaɾa kinaki]

ɲiɲanaɾa
apple kin-
GEN ɾaki
boy

“the boy’s apple”

 (4)
њињанара туту

[ɲiɲanaɾa tutu]

ɲiɲanaɾa
apple tuti
3

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (5)
њињанара рана

[ɲiɲanaɾa ɾana]

ɲiɲanaɾa
apple ɾana
1excl

“my apple”

 (6)
Рита кинињакања најакитанитира раја кинанињари кини.

[ɾita kiniɲakaɲa najakitanitiɾa ɾaja kinaniɲaɾi kini]

ɾita
daughter kin-
GEN ɲiɲakaɲa
hunter t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɲanitiɾa
kiss ɾaja
son kin-
GEN naniɲaɾi
neighbour kini
2

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

 (7)

Derivation

Tatiti has no derivational processes.

тикикара

[tikikaɾa]

tikikaɾa
lamb

“a lamb”

 (8)

Note how none show up here:

Туту најакитињи њанајакинани тикикара кикати.

[tutu najakitiɲi ɲanajakinani tikikaɾa kikati]

tuti
3 t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾiɲi
want ɲat-
COMP t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST nani
have tikikaɾa
lamb kin-
GEN kati
little

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

 (9)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

There are no clitics in the verbal phrase.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an optional prefix expressing comp, comprising њат- /ɲat-/ ‘COMP’; second, an obligatory prefix expressing subj, comprising ј- /j-/ ‘1incl’, р- /ɾ-/ ‘1excl’, н- /n-/ ‘2’ and т- /t-/ ‘3’; third, an obligatory prefix expressing negation, comprising њир- /ɲiɾ-/ ‘NEG’ and нај- /naj-/ ‘POS’; fourth, an obligatory prefix expressing voice, comprising н- /n-/ ‘active’ and р- /ɾ-/ ‘passive’; fifth, an obligatory prefix expressing mode, comprising как- /kak-/ ‘indicative’, тар- /taɾ-/ ‘imperative’, нај- /naj-/ ‘conditional’ and тан- /tan-/ ‘optative’; sixth, an obligatory prefix expressing ta, comprising рир- /ɾiɾ-/ ‘PRES’ and кит- /kit-/ ‘PAST’; and finally, seventh, the root.

Рана најакуњута кини.

[ɾana najakuɲuta kini]

ɾana
1excl ɾ-
1excl.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative ɾiɾ-
PRES ɲuta
love kini
2

“I love you.”

 (10)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

њују тана нињака

[ɲuju tana niɲaka]

ɲiju
in tana
surface niɲaka
table

“on the table”

 (11)
тару њаја туруњуња

[taɾu ɲaja tuɾuɲuɲa]

taɾu
to ɲaja
inside tiɾuɲiɲa
box

“into the box”

 (12)
њаруњу рана

[ɲaɾuɲu ɾana]

ɲaɾuɲi
COMIT ɾana
1excl

“with me”

 (13)

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.

Tatiti 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 Tatiti.

Њајањити најакинари њињакања.

[ɲajaɲiti najakinaɾi ɲiɲakaɲa]

ɲajaɲiti
jaguar t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST naɾi
kill ɲiɲakaɲa
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (14)
Титикити најакутура кара кинита кинињакања.

[titikiti najakutuɾa kaɾa kinita kiniɲakaɲa]

titikiti
lion t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɾa
eat kaɾa
dog kin-
GEN ɾita
daughter kin-
GEN ɲiɲakaɲa
hunter

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

 (15)

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 Tatiti 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, Tatiti 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.

ката кината кинаја кини

[kata kinata kinaja kini]

kata
book kin-
GEN tata
friend kin-
GEN ɾaja
son kini
2

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (16)

Case Marking

Tatiti 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.

Нањи најакирира.

[naɲi najakiɾiɾa]

naɲi
cat t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative ɾiɾ-
PRES ɾiɾa
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (17)
Нањи најакунуту.

[naɲi najakunutu]

naɲi
cat t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative ɾiɾ-
PRES nuti
run

“The cat is running.”

 (18)
Нањи најакикинитара њуњуруру.

[naɲi najakikinitaɾa ɲuɲuɾuɾu]

naɲi
cat t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative ɾiɾ-
PRES kinitaɾa
chase ɲiɲuɾiɾi
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (19)
Нањи најакутуњу њуњуруру.

[naɲi najakutuɲu ɲuɲuɾuɾu]

naɲi
cat t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɲi
catch ɲiɲuɾiɾi
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (20)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Њињакања најакинари њајањити на танакара на титикити.

[ɲiɲakaɲa najakinaɾi ɲajaɲiti na tanakaɾa na titikiti]

ɲiɲakaɲa
hunter t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST naɾi
kill ɲajaɲiti
jaguar na
and tanakaɾa
tiger na
and titikiti
lion

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

 (21)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Tatiti 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:

Рана најакинакатиња нањи.

[ɾana najakinakatiɲa naɲi]

ɾana
1excl ɾ-
1excl.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST nakatiɲa
pat naɲi
cat

“I patted the cat.”

 (22)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Туту најакутуњу њуњуруру рана најакинакатиња туту њи.

[tutu najakutuɲu ɲuɲuɾuɾu ɾana najakinakatiɲa tutu ɲi]

tuti
3 t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɲi
catch ɲiɲuɾiɾi
mouse ɾana
1excl ɾ-
1excl.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST nakatiɲa
pat tuti
3 ɲi
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (23)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Туту најакутура јаратира туту најакутуњу туту њи рана најакинакатиња туту њи.

[tutu najakutuɾa jaɾatiɾa tutu najakutuɲu tutu ɲi ɾana najakinakatiɲa tutu ɲi]

tuti
3 t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɾa
eat jaɾatiɾa
cheese tuti
3 t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɲi
catch tuti
3 ɲi
then ɾana
1excl ɾ-
1excl.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST nakatiɲa
pat tuti
3 ɲi
then

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

 (24)

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

Рана најакитиња туту туту најакутура туту њи туту најакутуњу туту њи рана најакинакатиња туту њи.

[ɾana najakitiɲa tutu tutu najakutuɾa tutu ɲi tutu najakutuɲu tutu ɲi ɾana najakinakatiɲa tutu ɲi]

ɾana
1excl ɾ-
1excl.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾiɲa
buy tuti
3 tuti
3 t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɾa
eat tuti
3 ɲi
then tuti
3 t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾuɲi
catch tuti
3 ɲi
then ɾana
1excl ɾ-
1excl.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST nakatiɲa
pat tuti
3 ɲi
then

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

 (25)

Complementation Strategies

Tatiti marks complement clauses with subordinating verbal morphology. The embedded verb is fully finite and carries a subordinating suffix that identifies the clause as a complement. No structural changes occur within the clause apart from this verbal marking.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

Раки њанајакитика каја њињанара најакитијајана њукукуну.

[ɾaki ɲanajakitika kaja ɲiɲanaɾa najakitijajana ɲukukunu]

ɾaki
boy ɲat-
COMP t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST tika
give kaja
girl ɲiɲanaɾa
apple t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST ɾijajana
surprise ɲikukini
teacher

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

 (26)

Quotes

Tatiti 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:

Раки најакинини каја рана њанајакуњута кини.

[ɾaki najakinini kaja ɾana ɲanajakuɲuta kini]

ɾaki
boy t-
3.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative kit-
PAST nini
tell kaja
girl ɾana
1excl ɲat-
COMP ɾ-
1excl.SUBJ naj-
POS n-
active kak-
indicative ɾiɾ-
PRES ɲuta
love kini
2

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

 (27)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Tatiti. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 22 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/53X6D

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-53X6D,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Tatiti}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/53X6D}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 22 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Tatiti / Tatiti–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/53X6D

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