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A Grammar of Anamalanga

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Anamalanga language (the 483rd 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 Anamalanga.

Typological Profile

It has a complete lack of sibilant consonants, a complete absence of fricative consonants and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Anamalanga has 11 consonant phonemes, forming a relatively small inventory.

It has a complete absence of fricative consonants, a complete absence of affricates, a complete lack of sibilant consonants, a complete absence of laryngeal consonants and a complete absence of phonemic voicing contrasts.

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

labialalveolarlateralpalatalvelar
stopp t k
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
approximantw l j

Vowels

Anamalanga has a single vowel phoneme. A system of this type provides no contrast in vowel quality, and distinctions elsewhere in the phonological system must carry the communicative load normally associated with vowel contrasts.

It has a vertical vowel system in which backness distinctions are largely absent, 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 Anamalanga. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

central
opena

Stress and Tones

Anamalanga 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

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Anamalanga is an unwritten language. For that reason, all examples in this grammar are given exclusively in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which offers a precise and widely recognised means of recording its sounds.

Orthography

Anamalangais an unwritten language, so it does not make any sense to discuss its orthography.

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Anamalanga does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Anamalanga does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

[janapawa kaɲatawala kalaka mapajakalaŋa ŋaɲa kaɲapalaŋala pana mawaɲaŋakalaŋa]

j-
ACT anapawa
woman k-
STA aɲatawala
knife kalaka
COMIT mapaj
blind -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS ŋaɲa
three k-
STA aɲapalaŋala
mouse pana
yon mawa-
PAST ɲaŋ
catch -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“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 Anamalanga consists of an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising k- ‘STA’, j- ‘ACT’, m- ‘DAT’, n- ‘INS’, l- ‘VOC’, t- ‘ALL’, w- ‘LOC’, p- ‘ABL’ and ŋ- ‘PART’ followed by the root.

The Adjective

In Anamalanga, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -aka ‘STA’, -ala ‘ACT’, -aja ‘DAT’, -ama ‘INS’, -ana ‘VOC’, -ata ‘ALL’, -awa ‘LOC’, -apa ‘ABL’ and -aŋa ‘PART’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

[ŋalakalaŋa]

ŋal
love -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

[wama ŋalakalaŋa]

wama
3 ŋal
love -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

[wama ŋalakalaŋa]

wama
3 ŋal
love -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

[janapaŋajawa kaŋakalajata lalanalakalaŋa]

j-
ACT anapaŋajawa
Anapangayawa k-
STA aŋakalajata
Angakalayata lalanal
hate -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“Anapangayawa hates Angakalayata.”

 (5)

Possession

[katanaŋa kalajamataka]

k-
STA atanaŋa
boy k-
STA alajamataka
apple

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)

[wama kalajamataka]

wama
3 k-
STA alajamataka
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)

[nana kalajamataka]

nana
1excl k-
STA alajamataka
apple

“my apple”

 (8)

[kapapawanawa japajaja laɲa kaɲalatawaja kaŋaɲaɲa mawakaɲaŋamakalaŋa]

k-
STA apapawanawa
hunter j-
ACT apajaja
daughter laɲa
2 k-
STA aɲalatawaja
neighbour k-
STA aŋaɲaɲa
son mawa-
PAST kaɲaŋam
kiss -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

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

 (9)

Derivation

Anamalanga has no derivational processes.

[kamaɲajalata]

k-
STA amaɲajalata
lamb

“a lamb”

 (10)

Note how none show up here:

[ɲapakalaŋa kamaɲajalata mawaŋaŋakalaŋa mawakanakalaŋa]

ɲap
little -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS k-
STA amaɲajalata
lamb mawa-
PAST ŋaŋ
have -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS mawa-
PAST kan
want -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

 (11)

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 ta, comprising mawa- ‘PAST’; second, the root; third, an obligatory suffix expressing mode, comprising -ak ‘indicative’, -aw ‘imperative’, -aj ‘conditional’ and -al ‘optative’; fourth, an obligatory suffix expressing voice, comprising -al ‘active’ and -aj ‘passive’; and finally, fifth, an obligatory suffix expressing negation, comprising -ata ‘NEG’ and -aŋa ‘POS’.

[ŋalakalaŋa]

ŋal
love -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“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.

[kaɲaŋakana kalanaka maka]

k-
STA aɲaŋakana
table k-
STA alanaka
surface maka
in

“on the table”

 (13)

[kajaŋatapaŋa kamamawa ɲapa]

k-
STA ajaŋatapaŋa
box k-
STA amamawa
inside ɲapa
to

“into the box”

 (14)

[nana kalaka]

nana
1excl kalaka
COMIT

“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.

Anamalanga has basic Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. The subject precedes the object, and the verb appears at the end of the clause. This is one of the most frequent patterns cross-linguistically.

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

[jananalajama kapapawanawa mawaɲaɲakalaŋa]

j-
ACT ananalajama
jaguar k-
STA apapawanawa
hunter mawa-
PAST ɲaɲ
kill -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)

[jajajanawaŋa kapapawanawa kapajaja kaŋakapa mawanajakalaŋa]

j-
ACT ajajanawaŋa
lion k-
STA apapawanawa
hunter k-
STA apajaja
daughter k-
STA aŋakapa
dog mawa-
PAST naj
eat -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“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 Anamalanga 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, Anamalanga 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.

[laɲa kaŋaɲaɲa kapanata kawakawa]

laɲa
2 k-
STA aŋaɲaɲa
son k-
STA apanata
friend k-
STA awakawa
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Anamalanga 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.

[kaɲawaja ɲakakalaŋa]

k-
STA aɲawaja
cat ɲak
sleep -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)

[jaɲawaja watakalaŋa]

j-
ACT aɲawaja
cat wat
run -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“The cat is running.”

 (20)

[jaɲawaja kaɲapalaŋala waɲawakakalaŋa]

j-
ACT aɲawaja
cat k-
STA aɲapalaŋala
mouse waɲawak
chase -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)

[jaɲawaja kaɲapalaŋala mawaɲaŋakalaŋa]

j-
ACT aɲawaja
cat k-
STA aɲapalaŋala
mouse mawa-
PAST ɲaŋ
catch -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

[japapawanawa kananalajama ɲa kakatapalala ɲa kajajanawaŋa mawaɲaɲakalaŋa]

j-
ACT apapawanawa
hunter k-
STA ananalajama
jaguar ɲa
and k-
STA akatapalala
tiger ɲa
and k-
STA ajajanawaŋa
lion mawa-
PAST ɲaɲ
kill -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“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 Anamalanga 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

Anamalanga 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:

[kaɲawaja mawaɲapanapakalaŋa]

k-
STA aɲawaja
cat mawa-
PAST ɲapanap
pat -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

[kaɲapalaŋala mawaɲaŋakalaŋa kaɲawaja mawaɲapanapakalaŋa]

k-
STA aɲapalaŋala
mouse mawa-
PAST ɲaŋ
catch -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS k-
STA aɲawaja
cat mawa-
PAST ɲapanap
pat -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

[kamawapanaɲa mawanajakalaŋa kaɲapalaŋala mawaɲaŋakalaŋa kaɲawaja mawaɲapanapakalaŋa]

k-
STA amawapanaɲa
cheese mawa-
PAST naj
eat -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS k-
STA aɲapalaŋala
mouse mawa-
PAST ɲaŋ
catch -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS k-
STA aɲawaja
cat mawa-
PAST ɲapanap
pat -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

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

 (26)

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

[nana mawaŋanakalaŋa kamawapanaɲa mawanajakalaŋa kaɲapalaŋala mawaɲaŋakalaŋa kaɲawaja mawaɲapanapakalaŋa]

nana
1excl mawa-
PAST ŋan
buy -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS k-
STA amawapanaɲa
cheese mawa-
PAST naj
eat -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS k-
STA aɲapalaŋala
mouse mawa-
PAST ɲaŋ
catch -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS k-
STA aɲawaja
cat mawa-
PAST ɲapanap
pat -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

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

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Anamalanga forms complement clauses by nominalising the embedded verb. The nominalised form lacks finite verbal categories and behaves as a noun phrase. Subjects of nominalised clauses occur in the genitive case, and the nominalised verb establishes the semantic content of the complement.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

[jatanaŋa manaŋaka kalajamataka mawajakakalaŋa majawaɲapana mawatalakaɲakalaŋa]

j-
ACT atanaŋa
boy m-
DAT anaŋaka
girl k-
STA alajamataka
apple mawa-
PAST jak
give -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS m-
DAT ajawaɲapana
teacher mawa-
PAST talakaɲ
surprise -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

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

 (28)

Quotes

Anamalanga 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:

[jatanaŋa manaŋaka nana laɲa ŋalakalaŋa mawamaɲakalaŋa]

j-
ACT atanaŋa
boy m-
DAT anaŋaka
girl nana
1excl laɲa
2 ŋal
love -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS mawa-
PAST maɲ
tell -ak
indicative -al
active -aŋa
POS

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

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Anamalanga. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 25 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5BCN4

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-5BCN4,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Anamalanga}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5BCN4}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 25 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Anamalanga / Anamalanga–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/5BCN4

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