A Grammar of Shus

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Shus language (the 1710th 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 Shus.

Typological Profile

It has a small but genuine set of click consonants and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Shus has a large consonant inventory, comprising 35 phonemes.

It has a noticeable presence of pharyngealised phonemes, a small but genuine set of click consonants, a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts and an unusually restricted set of labial consonants.

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

labialdentalphar. dentalalveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalretroflexvelarglottal
stopb d t dˤ tˤ ɖ ʈ k ɡ
ejective stop
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef θ θˤ s ʃ ʂ x h
approximantʋ l j
affricatet͡ʃ
clickᵏǀ ᵏǀˤ
click, nasalᵑǀ ᵑǀˤ

Vowels

Shus 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 has a completely boring and uninteresting vowel system.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Shus 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: /i/ becomes /u/, /e/ becomes /o/.

Writing System

Introduction

Shus is normally written using the Arabic alphabet, a consonant-centred script whose forms vary according to position in the word. In this grammar, phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are also provided to make the pronunciation fully explicit.

Orthography

Here are the various components of the orthography:

Simple letters

ب /b/ت /t/ث /θ/ثٓ /θˤ/
ح /h/خ /x/د /d/س /s/
ش /ʃ/ص /sˤ/ض /dˤ/ط /tˤ/
ف /f/قۡ /ᵏǀ/قۡٓ /ᵏǀˤ/ك /k/
ل /l/م /m/ن /n/نٓ /nˤ/
و /au, ʋ/ي /ai, j/ٹ /ʈ/ڃ /ɲ/
چ /t͡ʃ/ڈ /ɖ/ړ /ɽ/ښ /ʂ/
ڭ /ŋ/گ /ɡ/ڹ /ɳ/ݿ /kʼ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

نقۡ /ᵑǀ/نقۡٓ /ᵑǀˤ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Shus does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Shus has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: بك ‘book’, ثڃڈ ‘mountain’, حب ‘day’, حخض ‘jaguar’, شنٓ ‘year’, ضچل ‘teacher’, طش ‘human being’, فڃݿ ‘mortar’, فړ ‘skin’, قۡٓيڭ ‘foot’, قۡٓړ ‘leg’, قۡگوب ‘lamb’, قۡڹف ‘snake’, كنٓ ‘friend’, لچ ‘mouth’, مښث ‘box’, وثگ ‘urine’, ڈسڈ ‘rope’, ڹث ‘animal’, ڹووثٓ ‘bark’.

Gender fem – for instance: تدك ‘plain’, تف ‘woman’, خك ‘sky’, صنٓ ‘knee’, صيڹ ‘restaurant’, صړ ‘rain’, قۡٓض ‘north’, قۡٓك ‘sound’, قۡٓن ‘surface’, لطس ‘slime’, لنٓيښ ‘vagina’, منٓش ‘fog’, ٹچچ ‘neck’, ٹچڹ ‘stick’, ڃخڈ ‘root’, چنٓوچ ‘fat’, ښشيڹ ‘smoke’, ڭښ ‘egg’, گثڹ ‘wing’, گنٓن ‘feather’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

تف وگ چيط ڈگ ٹتم طو ووٹ ڭڭ نٓثيك مړ گم ڈض۔

[ˈtif ˈʋeɡ ˈt͡ʃaitˤ ˈɖeɡ ʈiˈtem tˤeʋ ˈʋauʈ ŋiŋ nˤaˈθaik ˈmiɽ ˈɡim ˈɖadˤ]

ˈtif
woman
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the
ˈt͡ʃaitˤ
knife
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʈiˈtem
COMIT
tˤeʋ
3.fem.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈauʈ
catch
ŋiŋ
PAST
nˤaˈθaik
mouse
ˈmiɽ
blind
ˈɡim
three
ɖ-
masc
ˈadˤ
yon

“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 is one type of clitic in the nominal phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing case. a clitic expressing case, comprising شو /ʃaʋ/ ‘DAT’, ښس /ʂis/ ‘INS’, سط /satˤ/ ‘VOC’, شنٓ /ʃanˤ/ ‘ALL’, ٹگ /ʈiɡ/ ‘LOC’, قۡص /ᵏǀisˤ/ ‘ABL’ and ښو /ʂiʋ/ ‘PART’.

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

The Noun

The noun in Shus stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: six suffixes, namely ـية /-ja/ ‘little’, ـط /-tˤi/ ‘big’, ـت /-te/ ‘old’, ـض /-dˤi/ ‘new’, ـو /-ʋe/ ‘good’ and ـثٓ /-θˤi/ ‘bad’, and five circumfixes, namely أـدة /a-da/ ‘have’, إـد /i-di/ ‘use’, أـصة /a-sˤa/ ‘see’, أـثة /a-θa/ ‘make’ and إـڈ /i-ɖi/ ‘break’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Shus, the determiner has the following structure: an obligatory prefix expressing gender, comprising ڈـ /ɖ-/ ‘masc’ and وـ /ʋ-/ ‘fem’ followed by the root.

Pronouns

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

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

وڹ قۡد۔

[ˈʋaɳ ˈᵏǀad]

ʋ-
indicative
ˈaɳ
love
ˈᵏǀad
3.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(2)

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

نړ وڹ قۡد۔

[ˈnuɽ ˈʋaɳ ˈᵏǀad]

ˈnuɽ
3.masc
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaɳ
love
ˈᵏǀad
3.fem

He loves her.”

(3)

Proper Nouns

خدب ڈگ وبنښ وشث وگ۔

[xaˈdab ˈɖeɡ ˈʋubunaʂ ʋaˈʃeθ ˈʋeɡ]

xaˈdab
Khadab
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈubinaʂ
hate
ʋaˈʃeθ
Vasheth
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the

“Khadab hates Vasheth.”

(4)

Possession

ڈڹ ڈگ طٹوم وگ

[ˈɖiɳ ˈɖeɡ tˤoˈʈaum ˈʋeɡ]

ˈɖiɳ
boy
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
tˤeˈʈaum
apple
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the

“the boy’s apple”

(5)
نړ طٹوم وگ

[ˈnuɽ tˤoˈʈaum ˈʋeɡ]

ˈnuɽ
3.masc
tˤeˈʈaum
apple
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(6)
ثٓړ طٹوم وگ

[ˈθˤiɽ tˤoˈʈaum ˈʋeɡ]

ˈθˤiɽ
1excl
tˤeˈʈaum
apple
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the

“my apple”

(7)
صضس ڈگ حو وگ طو وچڹثٓ ڭڭ شود ضڃٹ ڈگ ړگ ڈگ۔

[sˤaˈdˤas ˈɖeɡ ˈhiʋ ˈʋeɡ tˤeʋ ˈʋet͡ʃiɳeθˤ ŋiŋ ˈʃaud dˤoˈɲuʈ ˈɖeɡ ˈɽoɡ ˈɖeɡ]

sˤaˈdˤas
hunter
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈhiʋ
daughter
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the
tˤeʋ
3.fem.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈet͡ʃiɳeθˤ
kiss
ŋiŋ
PAST
ˈʃaud
2
dˤeˈɲuʈ
neighbour
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈɽoɡ
son
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

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

(8)

Derivation

قۡگوب

[ᵏǀoˈɡaub]

ᵏǀeˈɡaub
lamb

“a lamb”

(9)
قۡگوبية

[ᵏǀoˈɡaubja]

ᵏǀeˈɡaub
lamb
-ja
little

“a little lamb”

(10)
طو وقۡگوبيد ڭڭ۔

[tˤeʋ ʋaᵏǀoˈɡaubjada ŋiŋ]

tˤeʋ
3.fem.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
a-
have₁
ᵏǀeˈɡaub
lamb
-ja
little
-da
have₂
ŋiŋ
PAST

“She had a little lamb.”

(11)

This doesn’t affect all adjectives and verbs. Compare, for instance the previous example with this one, where black and love do not undergo affixation:

طو وڹ ڭڭ قۡگوب ثٓڃ۔

[tˤeʋ ˈʋaɳ ŋiŋ ᵏǀoˈɡaub ˈθˤoɲ]

tˤeʋ
3.fem.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaɳ
love
ŋiŋ
PAST
ᵏǀeˈɡaub
lamb
ˈθˤoɲ
black

“She loved a black lamb.”

(12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Shus fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing subj, comprising بنٓ /banˤ/ ‘1incl’, چض /t͡ʃidˤ/ ‘1excl’, ثص /θisˤ/ ‘2’ and طو /tˤeʋ/ ‘3.fem’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising ڭڭ /ŋiŋ/ ‘PAST’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising چة /t͡ʃa/ ‘passive’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising مص /mesˤ/ ‘NEG’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: an obligatory prefix expressing mode, comprising وـ /ʋ-/ ‘indicative’, حـ /h-/ ‘imperative’, چـ /t͡ʃ-/ ‘conditional’ and ڃـ /ɲ-/ ‘optative’ followed by the root.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely ـړة /-ɽa/ ‘begin’, ـس /-si/ ‘stop’, ـتة /-ta/ ‘continue’, ـڃة /-ɲa/ ‘try’ and ـٹ /-ʈe/ ‘start’

چض وڹ شود۔

[t͡ʃidˤ ˈʋaɳ ˈʃaud]

t͡ʃidˤ
1excl.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaɳ
love
ˈʃaud
2

“I love you.”

(13)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

ڭڈ ڈگ كگ

[ˈŋoɖ ˈɖeɡ ˈkiɡ]

ˈŋoɖ
table
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈkiɡ
in_surface

“on the table”

(14)
مښث ڈگ قۡش

[maˈʂoθ ˈɖeɡ ˈᵏǀuʃ]

maˈʂoθ
box
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈᵏǀuʃ
to_inside

“into the box”

(15)
ثٓړ ٹتم

[ˈθˤiɽ ʈiˈtem]

ˈθˤiɽ
1excl
ʈiˈtem
COMIT

“with me”

(16)

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.

Shus 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 Shus.

حخض ڈگ وم ڭڭ صضس ڈگ۔

[haˈxedˤ ˈɖeɡ ˈʋem ŋiŋ sˤaˈdˤas ˈɖeɡ]

haˈxedˤ
jaguar
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈem
kill
ŋiŋ
PAST
sˤaˈdˤas
hunter
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(17)
ړبت ڈگ وم ڭڭ صضس ڈگ حو وگ بثٓ ڈگ۔

[ɽaˈbot ˈɖeɡ ˈʋom ŋiŋ sˤaˈdˤas ˈɖeɡ ˈhiʋ ˈʋeɡ ˈbaθˤ ˈɖeɡ]

ɽaˈbot
lion
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈom
eat
ŋiŋ
PAST
sˤaˈdˤas
hunter
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈhiʋ
daughter
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the
ˈbaθˤ
dog
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

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

(18)

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 Shus 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, Shus 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.

شود ړگ ڈگ كنٓ ڈگ بك ڈگ

[ˈʃaud ˈɽoɡ ˈɖeɡ ˈkanˤ ˈɖeɡ buk ˈɖeɡ]

ˈʃaud
2
ˈɽoɡ
son
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈkanˤ
friend
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
buk
book
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

“your son’s friend’s book”

(19)

Case Marking

Shus 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.

نٓښ ڈگ وښ۔

[ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ ˈʋiʂ]

ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈiʂ
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

(20)
نٓښ ڈگ ونٓ۔

[ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ ˈʋanˤ]

ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈanˤ
run

“The cat is running.”

(21)
نٓښ ڈگ وثٓنړ نٓثيك ڈگ۔

[ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ ˈʋuθˤanaɽ nˤaˈθaik ˈɖeɡ]

ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈuθˤanaɽ
chase
nˤaˈθaik
mouse
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

(22)
نٓښ ڈگ ووٹ ڭڭ نٓثيك ڈگ۔

[ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ ˈʋauʈ ŋiŋ nˤaˈθaik ˈɖeɡ]

ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈauʈ
catch
ŋiŋ
PAST
nˤaˈθaik
mouse
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

“The cat caught the mouse.”

(23)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

صضس ڈگ وم ڭڭ حخض ڈگ قۡٓگ نقۡٓثٓد ڈگ قۡٓگ ړبت ڈگ۔

[sˤaˈdˤas ˈɖeɡ ˈʋem ŋiŋ haˈxedˤ ˈɖeɡ ˈᵏǀˤiɡ ᵑǀˤiˈθˤad ˈɖeɡ ˈᵏǀˤiɡ ɽaˈbot ˈɖeɡ]

sˤaˈdˤas
hunter
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈem
kill
ŋiŋ
PAST
haˈxedˤ
jaguar
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈᵏǀˤiɡ
and
ᵑǀˤiˈθˤad
tiger
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ˈᵏǀˤiɡ
and
ɽaˈbot
lion
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

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

(24)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Shus forms relative clauses by placing them before the noun they modify. The modifier takes the form of a finite clause that precedes the head noun without any relative pronoun. The clause shows ordinary clausal structure, with the role of the head noun recoverable from the syntactic position inside the clause.

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

چض وٹگش ڭڭ نٓښ ڈگ۔

[t͡ʃidˤ ˈʋaʈaɡeʃ ŋiŋ ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ]

t͡ʃidˤ
1excl.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaʈaɡeʃ
pat
ŋiŋ
PAST
ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

“I patted the cat.”

(25)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

چض وٹگش ڭڭ ووٹ ڭڭ نٓثيك ڈگ بنش نٓښ ڈگ۔

[t͡ʃidˤ ˈʋaʈaɡeʃ ŋiŋ ˈʋauʈ ŋiŋ nˤaˈθaik ˈɖeɡ baˈnuʃ ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ]

t͡ʃidˤ
1excl.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaʈaɡeʃ
pat
ŋiŋ
PAST
ʋ-
indicative
ˈauʈ
catch
ŋiŋ
PAST
nˤaˈθaik
mouse
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
baˈnuʃ
COMP
ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(26)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

چض وٹگش ڭڭ ووٹ ڭڭ وم ڭڭ سفنٓ وگ بنش نٓثيك ڈگ بنش نٓښ ڈگ۔

[t͡ʃidˤ ˈʋaʈaɡeʃ ŋiŋ ˈʋauʈ ŋiŋ ˈʋom ŋiŋ suˈfonˤ ˈʋeɡ baˈnuʃ nˤaˈθaik ˈɖeɡ baˈnuʃ ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ]

t͡ʃidˤ
1excl.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaʈaɡeʃ
pat
ŋiŋ
PAST
ʋ-
indicative
ˈauʈ
catch
ŋiŋ
PAST
ʋ-
indicative
ˈom
eat
ŋiŋ
PAST
siˈfonˤ
cheese
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the
baˈnuʃ
COMP
nˤaˈθaik
mouse
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
baˈnuʃ
COMP
ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

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

(27)

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

چض وٹگش ڭڭ ووٹ ڭڭ وم ڭڭ ثٓړ چض وونٓ ڭڭ بنش سفنٓ وگ بنش نٓثيك ڈگ بنش نٓښ ڈگ۔

[t͡ʃidˤ ˈʋaʈaɡeʃ ŋiŋ ˈʋauʈ ŋiŋ ˈʋom ŋiŋ ˈθˤiɽ t͡ʃidˤ ˈʋaunˤ ŋiŋ baˈnuʃ suˈfonˤ ˈʋeɡ baˈnuʃ nˤaˈθaik ˈɖeɡ baˈnuʃ ˈnˤoʂ ˈɖeɡ]

t͡ʃidˤ
1excl.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaʈaɡeʃ
pat
ŋiŋ
PAST
ʋ-
indicative
ˈauʈ
catch
ŋiŋ
PAST
ʋ-
indicative
ˈom
eat
ŋiŋ
PAST
ˈθˤiɽ
1excl
t͡ʃidˤ
1excl.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaunˤ
buy
ŋiŋ
PAST
baˈnuʃ
COMP
siˈfonˤ
cheese
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the
baˈnuʃ
COMP
nˤaˈθaik
mouse
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
baˈnuʃ
COMP
ˈnˤoʂ
cat
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

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

(28)

Complementation Strategies

Shus 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:

ڈڹ ڈگ وي ڭڭ سث وگ طٹوم بنش طو وضڈچ ڭڭ ضچل ڈگ۔

[ˈɖiɳ ˈɖeɡ ˈʋaj ŋiŋ ˈsoθ ˈʋeɡ tˤoˈʈaum baˈnuʃ tˤeʋ ˈʋidˤiɖit͡ʃ ŋiŋ dˤit͡ʃel ˈɖeɡ]

ˈɖiɳ
boy
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaj
give
ŋiŋ
PAST
ˈsoθ
girl
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the
tˤeˈʈaum
apple
baˈnuʃ
COMP
tˤeʋ
3.fem.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈidˤiɖit͡ʃ
surprise
ŋiŋ
PAST
dˤit͡ʃel
teacher
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the

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

(29)

Quotes

Shus 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:

ڈڹ ڈگ وخ ڭڭ سث وگ ثٓړ چض وڹ شود بنش۔

[ˈɖiɳ ˈɖeɡ ˈʋex ŋiŋ ˈsoθ ˈʋeɡ ˈθˤiɽ t͡ʃidˤ ˈʋaɳ ˈʃaud baˈnuʃ]

ˈɖiɳ
boy
ɖ-
masc
ˈeɡ
the
ʋ-
indicative
ˈex
tell
ŋiŋ
PAST
ˈsoθ
girl
ʋ-
fem
ˈeɡ
the
ˈθˤiɽ
1excl
t͡ʃidˤ
1excl.SUBJ
ʋ-
indicative
ˈaɳ
love
ˈʃaud
2
baˈnuʃ
COMP

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

(30)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Shus. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 19 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/545GN

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-545GN,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Shus}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/545GN}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 19 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Shus / Shus–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/545GN

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