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

A Grammar of Nup

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Nup language (the 1777th 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 Nup.

Typological Profile

It has postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Nup has 20 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a strikingly small set of lateral and rhotic consonants.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
fricativef s z ʃ ʒ h
approximantʋ j
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Nup has more than 14 vowel qualities. This constitutes an exceptionally rich vowel inventory, with numerous distinct categories represented in the chart.

It has a maximally “square” vowel system balancing heights across backness 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 Nup. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

front unroundedfront roundedback unroundedback
closei y u
mide ø o
openæ ɑ

Stress and Tones

Nup 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

Nup 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 /ɑ/а’ /ɑ̰/б /b/в /ʋ/
г /h/д /d/е /e/е’ /ḛ/
ж /ʒ/з /z/и /i/и’ /ḭ/
к /k/м /m/н /n/о /o/
о’ /o̰/п /p/с /s/т /t/
у /u/у’ /ṵ/ф /f/ч /t͡ʃ/
ш /ʃ/ј /j/њ /ɲ/ґ /ɡ/
ү /y/ү’ /y̰/ӈ /ŋ/ә /æ/
ә’ /æ̰/ө /ø/ө’ /ø̰/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Nup does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Nup has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: веч ‘knife’, дуњ ‘leaf’, жаб ‘father’, жаж ‘city’, жа’мув ‘seed’, зикуб ‘bark’, мүфоњ ‘liver’, мөч ‘idea’, не’ґуд ‘cloud’, ти’би ‘net’, фикөк ‘breath’, чесөј ‘religion’, чәм ‘star’, шач ‘stone’, шод ‘son’, јоњеј ‘flower’, јө ‘man’, њә’мә’в ‘dialect’, ґуґүш ‘wheat’, ӈеше’с ‘river’.

Gender fem – for instance: вемин ‘mountain’, вөбоф ‘tower’, геј ‘road’, жөк ‘fish’, ка ‘bone’, пабән ‘salt’, посеш ‘wild boar’, пүн ‘bird’, тед ‘ear’, топ ‘land’, федуб ‘lamb’, фефөб ‘court’, чиӈ ‘back’, чүјуч ‘cheese’, шус ‘cat’, шүн ‘chair’, шүфав ‘box’, шәјој ‘jaguar’, њеш ‘inside’, њәӈо’ч ‘neck’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Фү’ш бе’ч веч бе’в дит дөфуњ јәв бәче’с би’шү’ґ дүшиф гә’ј сетәӈ шүч.

[ˈfy̰ʃ ˈbḛt͡ʃ ˈʋet͡ʃ ˈbḛʋ dit døˈfuɲ jæʋ ˈbæt͡ʃḛs ˈbḭʃy̰ɡ dyˈʃif ˈhæ̰j seˈtæŋ ˈʃyt͡ʃ]

ˈfy̰ʃ
woman ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem ˈʋet͡ʃ
knife ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc dit
LOC døˈfuɲ
COMIT jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈæt͡ʃ
catch -ḛs
PAST b-
indicative ˈḭʃ
blind -y̰ɡ
PRES dyˈʃif
COMP ˈhæ̰j
three seˈtæŋ
mouse ˈʃy
yon -t͡ʃ
fem

“The woman with the knife caught those three blind mice.”

 (1)

In the following, we shall look at the various components in more details.

All nominal phrase clitics in Nup are enclitics (placed finally), and there are two types: a clitic expressing possessor, comprising бењ /beɲ/ ‘1incl’, зач /zɑt͡ʃ/ ‘1excl’, чүӈ /t͡ʃyŋ/ ‘2’, дањ /dɑɲ/ ‘3.masc’ and ґе’ /ɡḛ/ ‘3.fem’ followed by a clitic expressing case, comprising њок /ɲok/ ‘DAT’, фањ /fɑɲ/ ‘INS’, мив /miʋ/ ‘VOC’, сәњ /sæɲ/ ‘ALL’, дит /dit/ ‘LOC’, ван /ʋɑn/ ‘ABL’ and пуз /puz/ ‘PART’.

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

The Noun

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

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: six suffixes, namely -фи /-fi/ ‘little’, -вө /-ʋø/ ‘big’, -би /-bi/ ‘old’, -ме /-me/ ‘new’, -шү /-ʃy/ ‘good’ and -вү /-ʋy/ ‘bad’, and five circumfixes, namely и-м /i-m/ ‘have’, е’-ӈ /ḛ-ŋ/ ‘use’, о-ч /o-t͡ʃ/ ‘see’, ә-ч /æ-t͡ʃ/ ‘make’ and ә-ј /æ-j/ ‘break’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Nup, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -в /-ʋ/ ‘masc’ and -ч /-t͡ʃ/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

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

Ба’кү’ґ вәв.

[ˈbɑ̰ky̰ɡ ˈʋæʋ]

b-
indicative ˈɑ̰k
love -y̰ɡ
PRES ˈʋæʋ
3.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Јүњ ба’кү’ґ вәв.

[ˈjyɲ ˈbɑ̰ky̰ɡ ˈʋæʋ]

ˈjyɲ
3.masc b-
indicative ˈɑ̰k
love -y̰ɡ
PRES ˈʋæʋ
3.fem

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Мочај бе’в бо’жи’јү’ґ Та’пам бе’ч.

[moˈt͡ʃɑj ˈbḛʋ bo̰ˈʒḭjy̰ɡ tɑ̰ˈpɑm ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

moˈt͡ʃɑj
Mochay ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc b-
indicative ˈo̰ʒḭj
hate -y̰ɡ
PRES tɑ̰ˈpɑm
Tapam ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

“Mochay hates Tapam.”

 (4)

Possession

саб бе’в мүтуж бе’в дањ

[ˈsɑb ˈbḛʋ myˈtuʒ ˈbḛʋ dɑɲ]

ˈsɑb
boy ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc myˈtuʒ
apple ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc dɑɲ
3.masc.POSS

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
јүњ мүтуж бе’в дањ

[ˈjyɲ myˈtuʒ ˈbḛʋ dɑɲ]

ˈjyɲ
3.masc myˈtuʒ
apple ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc dɑɲ
3.masc.POSS

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
мүтуж бе’в зач

[myˈtuʒ ˈbḛʋ zɑt͡ʃ]

myˈtuʒ
apple ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc zɑt͡ʃ
1excl.POSS

“my apple”

 (7)
Сүсәј бе’в зум бе’ч дањ јәв бөњаке’с нучү’ј бе’в чүӈ шод бе’в дањ.

[syˈsæj ˈbḛʋ ˈzum ˈbḛt͡ʃ dɑɲ jæʋ bøˈɲɑkḛs nuˈt͡ʃy̰j ˈbḛʋ t͡ʃyŋ ˈʃod ˈbḛʋ dɑɲ]

syˈsæj
hunter ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc ˈzum
daughter ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dɑɲ
3.masc.POSS jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈøɲɑk
kiss -ḛs
PAST nuˈt͡ʃy̰j
neighbour ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc t͡ʃyŋ
2.POSS ˈʃod
son ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc dɑɲ
3.masc.POSS

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

 (8)

Derivation

федуб

[feˈdub]

feˈdub
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)
федубфи

[feˈdubfi]

feˈdub
lamb -fi
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)
Јәв бифедубфиме’с.

[jæʋ bifeˈdubfimḛs]

jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative i-
have₁ feˈdub
lamb -fi
little -m
have₂ -ḛs
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:

Јәв ба’ке’с божү’ґ дүшиф федуб.

[jæʋ ˈbɑ̰kḛs ˈboʒy̰ɡ dyˈʃif feˈdub]

jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈɑ̰k
love -ḛs
PAST b-
indicative ˈoʒ
black -y̰ɡ
PRES dyˈʃif
COMP feˈdub
lamb

“She loved a black lamb.”

 (12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Nup fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: a clitic expressing subj, comprising њиӈ /ɲiŋ/ ‘1incl’, ни’м /nḭm/ ‘1excl’, ӈуј /ŋuj/ ‘2’ and јәв /jæʋ/ ‘3.fem’ followed by a clitic expressing negation, comprising ке’ /kḛ/ ‘NEG’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an obligatory prefix expressing mode, comprising б- /b-/ ‘indicative’, м- /m-/ ‘imperative’, ј- /j-/ ‘conditional’ and к- /k-/ ‘optative’; second, the root; third, an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising -ү’ґ /-y̰ɡ/ ‘PRES’ and -е’с /-ḛs/ ‘PAST’; and finally, fourth, an optional suffix expressing voice, comprising -ә’д /-æ̰d/ ‘passive’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -ив /-iʋ/ ‘begin’, -о’н /-o̰n/ ‘stop’, -уґ /-uɡ/ ‘continue’, -аӈ /-ɑŋ/ ‘try’ and -үс /-ys/ ‘start’

Ни’м ба’кү’ґ чив.

[nḭm ˈbɑ̰ky̰ɡ ˈt͡ʃiʋ]

nḭm
1excl.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈɑ̰k
love -y̰ɡ
PRES ˈt͡ʃiʋ
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.

тут бе’ч дит мөґ

[ˈtut ˈbḛt͡ʃ dit ˈmøɡ]

ˈtut
table ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dit
LOC ˈmøɡ
in_surface

“on the table”

 (14)
шүфав бе’ч дит пак

[ʃyˈfɑʋ ˈbḛt͡ʃ dit ˈpɑk]

ʃyˈfɑʋ
box ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dit
LOC ˈpɑk
to_inside

“into the box”

 (15)
кез дит дөфуњ

[ˈkez dit døˈfuɲ]

ˈkez
1excl dit
LOC døˈfuɲ
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.

Nup 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 Nup.

Шәјој бе’ч јәв бује’с сүсәј бе’в.

[ʃæˈjoj ˈbḛt͡ʃ jæʋ ˈbujḛs syˈsæj ˈbḛʋ]

ʃæˈjoj
jaguar ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈuj
kill -ḛs
PAST syˈsæj
hunter ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (17)
Мабе’з бе’ч јәв биме’с сүсәј бе’в зум бе’ч дањ сич бе’ч ґе’.

[mɑˈbḛz ˈbḛt͡ʃ jæʋ ˈbimḛs syˈsæj ˈbḛʋ ˈzum ˈbḛt͡ʃ dɑɲ ˈsit͡ʃ ˈbḛt͡ʃ ɡḛ]

mɑˈbḛz
lion ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈim
eat -ḛs
PAST syˈsæj
hunter ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc ˈzum
daughter ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dɑɲ
3.masc.POSS ˈsit͡ʃ
dog ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem ɡḛ
3.fem.POSS

“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 Nup 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, Nup 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.

шод бе’в чүӈ жүч бе’в дањ шигош бе’ч дањ

[ˈʃod ˈbḛʋ t͡ʃyŋ ˈʒyt͡ʃ ˈbḛʋ dɑɲ ʃihoʃ ˈbḛt͡ʃ dɑɲ]

ˈʃod
son ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc t͡ʃyŋ
2.POSS ˈʒyt͡ʃ
friend ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc dɑɲ
3.masc.POSS ʃihoʃ
book ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dɑɲ
3.masc.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (19)

Case Marking

Nup 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.

Шус бе’ч јәв бүвү’ґ.

[ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ jæʋ ˈbyʋy̰ɡ]

ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈyʋ
sleep -y̰ɡ
PRES

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (20)
Шус бе’ч јәв боґү’ґ.

[ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ jæʋ ˈboɡy̰ɡ]

ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈoɡ
run -y̰ɡ
PRES

“The cat is running.”

 (21)
Шус бе’ч јәв бенењү’ґ сетәӈ бе’ч.

[ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ jæʋ beˈneɲy̰ɡ seˈtæŋ ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈeneɲ
chase -y̰ɡ
PRES seˈtæŋ
mouse ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (22)
Шус бе’ч јәв бәче’с сетәӈ бе’ч.

[ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ jæʋ ˈbæt͡ʃḛs seˈtæŋ ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem jæʋ
3.fem.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈæt͡ʃ
catch -ḛs
PAST seˈtæŋ
mouse ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (23)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Сүсәј бе’в бује’с шәјој бе’ч чөс күвењ бе’ч чөс мабе’з бе’ч.

[syˈsæj ˈbḛʋ ˈbujḛs ʃæˈjoj ˈbḛt͡ʃ ˈt͡ʃøs kyˈʋeɲ ˈbḛt͡ʃ ˈt͡ʃøs mɑˈbḛz ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

syˈsæj
hunter ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc b-
indicative ˈuj
kill -ḛs
PAST ʃæˈjoj
jaguar ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem ˈt͡ʃøs
and kyˈʋeɲ
tiger ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem ˈt͡ʃøs
and mɑˈbḛz
lion ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

“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 Nup 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

Nup 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:

Ни’м бабөґе’с шус бе’ч.

[nḭm bɑˈbøɡḛs ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

nḭm
1excl.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈɑbøɡ
pat -ḛs
PAST ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

“I patted the cat.”

 (25)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Ни’м бабөґе’с бәче’с сетәӈ бе’ч дүшиф шус бе’ч.

[nḭm bɑˈbøɡḛs ˈbæt͡ʃḛs seˈtæŋ ˈbḛt͡ʃ dyˈʃif ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

nḭm
1excl.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈɑbøɡ
pat -ḛs
PAST b-
indicative ˈæt͡ʃ
catch -ḛs
PAST seˈtæŋ
mouse ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dyˈʃif
COMP ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (26)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Ни’м бабөґе’с бәче’с биме’с чүјуч бе’ч дүшиф сетәӈ бе’ч дүшиф шус бе’ч.

[nḭm bɑˈbøɡḛs ˈbæt͡ʃḛs ˈbimḛs t͡ʃyˈjut͡ʃ ˈbḛt͡ʃ dyˈʃif seˈtæŋ ˈbḛt͡ʃ dyˈʃif ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

nḭm
1excl.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈɑbøɡ
pat -ḛs
PAST b-
indicative ˈæt͡ʃ
catch -ḛs
PAST b-
indicative ˈim
eat -ḛs
PAST t͡ʃyˈjut͡ʃ
cheese ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dyˈʃif
COMP seˈtæŋ
mouse ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dyˈʃif
COMP ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

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

 (27)

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

Ни’м бабөґе’с бәче’с биме’с кез ни’м боде’с дүшиф чүјуч бе’ч дүшиф сетәӈ бе’ч дүшиф шус бе’ч.

[nḭm bɑˈbøɡḛs ˈbæt͡ʃḛs ˈbimḛs ˈkez nḭm ˈbodḛs dyˈʃif t͡ʃyˈjut͡ʃ ˈbḛt͡ʃ dyˈʃif seˈtæŋ ˈbḛt͡ʃ dyˈʃif ˈʃus ˈbḛt͡ʃ]

nḭm
1excl.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈɑbøɡ
pat -ḛs
PAST b-
indicative ˈæt͡ʃ
catch -ḛs
PAST b-
indicative ˈim
eat -ḛs
PAST ˈkez
1excl nḭm
1excl.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈod
buy -ḛs
PAST dyˈʃif
COMP t͡ʃyˈjut͡ʃ
cheese ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dyˈʃif
COMP seˈtæŋ
mouse ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem dyˈʃif
COMP ˈʃus
cat ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem

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

 (28)

Complementation Strategies

Nup 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:

Саб бе’в бибе’с гәп бе’ч мүтуж дүшиф биӈече’с сешәӈ бе’в.

[ˈsɑb ˈbḛʋ ˈbibḛs ˈhæp ˈbḛt͡ʃ myˈtuʒ dyˈʃif biˈŋet͡ʃḛs seʃæŋ ˈbḛʋ]

ˈsɑb
boy ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc b-
indicative ˈib
give -ḛs
PAST ˈhæp
girl ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem myˈtuʒ
apple dyˈʃif
COMP b-
indicative ˈiŋet͡ʃ
surprise -ḛs
PAST seʃæŋ
teacher ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc

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

 (29)

Quotes

Nup 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:

Саб бе’в бо’че’с гәп бе’ч кез ни’м ба’кү’ґ чив дүшиф.

[ˈsɑb ˈbḛʋ ˈbo̰t͡ʃḛs ˈhæp ˈbḛt͡ʃ ˈkez nḭm ˈbɑ̰ky̰ɡ ˈt͡ʃiʋ dyˈʃif]

ˈsɑb
boy ˈbḛ
the -ʋ
masc b-
indicative ˈo̰t͡ʃ
tell -ḛs
PAST ˈhæp
girl ˈbḛ
the -t͡ʃ
fem ˈkez
1excl nḭm
1excl.SUBJ b-
indicative ˈɑ̰k
love -y̰ɡ
PRES ˈt͡ʃiʋ
2 dyˈʃif
COMP

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

 (30)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Nup. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 September 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5HNFR

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-5HNFR,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Nup}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5HNFR}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 September 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Nup / Nup–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/5HNFR

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 0.06 seconds; writing the grammar 0.08 seconds.