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A Grammar of Dod

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Dod language (the 1786th 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 Dod.

Typological Profile

It has a complete absence of bilabial or labiodental consonants, the VSO basic order, common globally but unusual in many families and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Dod has 19 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a complete absence of bilabial or labiodental consonants, a complete absence of palatal consonants, something which is a rare occurrence indeed, and a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts.

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

alveolarpostalveolarlateralretroflexvelarglottal
stopd t ɖ ʈ k ɡ ʔ
nasaln ɳ ŋ
trill/tap/flapr ɽ
fricatives ʃ ʂ h
approximantl
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Dod 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 occasional ghost vowels that surface only weakly.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Dod 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

Dod 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/d /d/e /e/g /ɡ/
h /h/i /i/k /k/l /l/
n /n/o /o/q /ʔ/r /r/
s /s/t /t/u /u/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/ch /t͡ʃ/
ng /ŋ/rd /ɖ/rn /ɳ/
rr /ɽ/rs /ʂ/rt /ʈ/
sh /ʃ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Dod does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Dod has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: chirdirr ‘mortar’, chocharn ‘God’, deqil ‘breath’, gurtit ‘faeces’, hit ‘fruit’, kurdirr ‘neighbour’, lah ‘star’, lech ‘surface’, liqung ‘tower’, naut ‘chair’, nilisrt ‘sand’, nirsirs ‘horn’, qortul ‘salt’, qusak ‘root’, raur ‘earth’, rsik ‘sea’, rtit ‘sun’, rtorsuh ‘cheese’, sharsaush ‘lake’, sid ‘language’.

Gender fem – for instance: chaiq ‘leaf’, chin ‘sky’, dail ‘hair’, generd ‘embrace’, gogerr ‘court’, hard ‘skin’, kodaing ‘medicine’, lal ‘city’, qang ‘rain’, qurtaid ‘bank’, rerrorr ‘guts’, rinek ‘market’, rsachag ‘farmer’, rsidid ‘teacher’, rsosuk ‘flower’, rtagur ‘restaurant’, rtising ‘tail’, shordish ‘belly’, shul ‘wife’, shuq ‘name’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Rror darn gainun shitun chingish shuhonet qas dich, qud rresrtal.

[ɽor daɳ ɡainun ʃitun t͡ʃiŋiʃ ʃuhonet ʔas dit͡ʃ, ʔud ɽesʈal]

ɽ-
POS or
catch daɳ
PAST ɡain
woman -un
sing ʃit
knife -un
sing t͡ʃiŋiʃ
COMIT ʃuhon
mouse -et
plur ʔas
three dit͡ʃ
yon ʔud
RELPRON ɽ-
POS esʈal
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 is one type of clitic in the nominal phrase, namely a proclitic (placed initially), expressing case. a clitic expressing case, comprising shirn /ʃiɳ/ ‘GEN’, shag /ʃaɡ/ ‘DAT’, rsan /ʂan/ ‘INS’, tung /tuŋ/ ‘VOC’, nar /nar/ ‘ALL’, tard /taɖ/ ‘LOC’, sik /sik/ ‘ABL’ and hurt /huʈ/ ‘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 Dod.

The Noun

The noun in Dod consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -un /-un/ ‘sing’ and -et /-et/ ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ik /-ik/ ‘little’ and -ag /-aɡ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Dod, the determiner has the following structure: an optional prefix expressing gender, comprising ngo- /ŋo-/ ‘fem’ followed by the root.

Pronouns

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

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

Rrash chirt.

[ɽaʃ t͡ʃiʈ]

ɽ-
POS aʃ
love t͡ʃiʈ
3.sing.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Rrash nun chirt.

[ɽaʃ nun t͡ʃiʈ]

ɽ-
POS aʃ
love nun
3.sing.masc t͡ʃiʈ
3.sing.fem

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Rrisarrin Narelun Chaqoqun.

[ɽisaɽin narelun t͡ʃaʔoʔun]

ɽ-
POS isaɽin
hate narel
Narel -un
sing t͡ʃaʔoʔ
Chao -un
sing

“Narel hates Chao.”

 (4)

Possession

shusersun shirn kaursun

[ʃuseʂun ʃiɳ kauʂun]

ʃuseʂ
apple -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN kauʂ
boy -un
sing

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
shusersun shirn nun

[ʃuseʂun ʃiɳ nun]

ʃuseʂ
apple -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN nun
3.sing.masc

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
shusersun shirn qik

[ʃuseʂun ʃiɳ ʔik]

ʃuseʂ
apple -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ʔik
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Rrartarsaq darn rdadun shirn qasrtauchun rsinun shirn kurdirrun shirn rtush.

[ɽaʈaʂaʔ daɳ ɖadun ʃiɳ ʔasʈaut͡ʃun ʂinun ʃiɳ kuɖiɽun ʃiɳ ʈuʃ]

ɽ-
POS aʈaʂaʔ
kiss daɳ
PAST ɖad
daughter -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ʔasʈaut͡ʃ
hunter -un
sing ʂin
son -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN kuɖiɽ
neighbour -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ʈuʃ
2.sing

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

tichurrun

[tit͡ʃuɽun]

tit͡ʃuɽ
lamb -un
sing

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

tichurrikun

[tit͡ʃuɽikun]

tit͡ʃuɽ
lamb -ik
little -un
sing

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Dod fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing mode, comprising charn /t͡ʃaɳ/ ‘imperative’, do /do/ ‘conditional’ and rturt /ʈuʈ/ ‘optative’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising darn /daɳ/ ‘PAST’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising qach /ʔat͡ʃ/ ‘passive’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing question, comprising tis /tis/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: an obligatory prefix expressing negation, comprising t- /t-/ ‘NEG’ and rr- /ɽ-/ ‘POS’ followed by the root.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -na /-na/ ‘begin’ and -nga /-ŋa/ ‘stop’

Rrash rtush.

[ɽaʃ ʈuʃ]

ɽ-
POS aʃ
love ʈuʃ
2.sing

“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.

lechun kotun sard

[let͡ʃun kotun saɖ]

let͡ʃ
surface -un
sing kot
table -un
sing saɖ
in

“on the table”

 (12)
rdaurtun karrachun qi

[ɖauʈun kaɽat͡ʃun ʔi]

ɖauʈ
inside -un
sing kaɽat͡ʃ
box -un
sing ʔi
to

“into the box”

 (13)
qik chingish

[ʔik t͡ʃiŋiʃ]

ʔik
1excl.sing t͡ʃiŋiʃ
COMIT

“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.

The basic constituent order of Dod is Verb–Subject–Object (VSO). Clauses begin with the verb, followed by the subject, with the object in final position. This pattern is attested among various verb-initial languages.

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

Rrerr darn sarichun qasrtauchun.

[ɽeɽ daɳ sarit͡ʃun ʔasʈaut͡ʃun]

ɽ-
POS eɽ
kill daɳ
PAST sarit͡ʃ
jaguar -un
sing ʔasʈaut͡ʃ
hunter -un
sing

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Rraud darn rrukachun gosun shirn rdadun shirn qasrtauchun.

[ɽaud daɳ ɽukat͡ʃun ɡosun ʃiɳ ɖadun ʃiɳ ʔasʈaut͡ʃun]

ɽ-
POS aud
eat daɳ
PAST ɽukat͡ʃ
lion -un
sing ɡos
dog -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ɖad
daughter -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ʔasʈaut͡ʃ
hunter -un
sing

“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 Dod 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, Dod 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.

digequn shirn gigun shirn rsinun shirn rtush

[diɡeʔun ʃiɳ ɡiɡun ʃiɳ ʂinun ʃiɳ ʈuʃ]

diɡeʔ
book -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ɡiɡ
friend -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ʂin
son -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ʈuʃ
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Dod 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.

Rrin rrorrun.

[ɽin ɽoɽun]

ɽ-
POS in
sleep ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Rrich rrorrun.

[ɽit͡ʃ ɽoɽun]

ɽ-
POS it͡ʃ
run ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Rrurnoga rrorrun shuhonun.

[ɽuɳoɡa ɽoɽun ʃuhonun]

ɽ-
POS uɳoɡa
chase ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing ʃuhon
mouse -un
sing

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Rror darn rrorrun shuhonun.

[ɽor daɳ ɽoɽun ʃuhonun]

ɽ-
POS or
catch daɳ
PAST ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing ʃuhon
mouse -un
sing

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Rrerr darn qasrtauchun sarichet rrurs nishelet rrurs rrukachet.

[ɽeɽ daɳ ʔasʈaut͡ʃun sarit͡ʃet ɽuʂ niʃelet ɽuʂ ɽukat͡ʃet]

ɽ-
POS eɽ
kill daɳ
PAST ʔasʈaut͡ʃ
hunter -un
sing sarit͡ʃ
jaguar -et
plur ɽuʂ
and niʃel
tiger -et
plur ɽuʂ
and ɽukat͡ʃ
lion -et
plur

“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 Dod 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

Dod forms relative clauses by placing the relative clause after the noun it modifies. The clause follows the internal word order of ordinary finite clauses. A dedicated relativising marker introduces the clause and identifies the relationship between the head noun and its role inside the relative clause.

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

Rraurirsa darn rrorrun.

[ɽauriʂa daɳ ɽoɽun]

ɽ-
POS auriʂa
pat daɳ
PAST ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Rraurirsa darn rrorrun, qud rror darn shuhonun.

[ɽauriʂa daɳ ɽoɽun, ʔud ɽor daɳ ʃuhonun]

ɽ-
POS auriʂa
pat daɳ
PAST ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing ʔud
RELPRON ɽ-
POS or
catch daɳ
PAST ʃuhon
mouse -un
sing

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Rraurirsa darn rrorrun, qud rror darn shuhonun, qud rraud darn rtorsuhun.

[ɽauriʂa daɳ ɽoɽun, ʔud ɽor daɳ ʃuhonun, ʔud ɽaud daɳ ʈoʂuhun]

ɽ-
POS auriʂa
pat daɳ
PAST ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing ʔud
RELPRON ɽ-
POS or
catch daɳ
PAST ʃuhon
mouse -un
sing ʔud
RELPRON ɽ-
POS aud
eat daɳ
PAST ʈoʂuh
cheese -un
sing

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

 (25)

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

Rraurirsa darn rrorrun, qud rror darn shuhonun, qud rraud darn rtorsuhun, qud rroch darn qik.

[ɽauriʂa daɳ ɽoɽun, ʔud ɽor daɳ ʃuhonun, ʔud ɽaud daɳ ʈoʂuhun, ʔud ɽot͡ʃ daɳ ʔik]

ɽ-
POS auriʂa
pat daɳ
PAST ɽoɽ
cat -un
sing ʔud
RELPRON ɽ-
POS or
catch daɳ
PAST ʃuhon
mouse -un
sing ʔud
RELPRON ɽ-
POS aud
eat daɳ
PAST ʈoʂuh
cheese -un
sing ʔud
RELPRON ɽ-
POS ot͡ʃ
buy daɳ
PAST ʔik
1excl.sing

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Dod 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:

Rrungudor darn shirn rris darn shusersun ruchun kaursun rsididun.

[ɽuŋudor daɳ ʃiɳ ɽis daɳ ʃuseʂun rut͡ʃun kauʂun ʂididun]

ɽ-
POS uŋudor
surprise daɳ
PAST ʃiɳ
GEN ɽ-
POS is
give daɳ
PAST ʃuseʂ
apple -un
sing rut͡ʃ
girl -un
sing kauʂ
boy -un
sing ʂidid
teacher -un
sing

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

 (27)

Quotes

Dod 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:

Rrurr darn kaursun shirn rrash rtush qik ruchun.

[ɽuɽ daɳ kauʂun ʃiɳ ɽaʃ ʈuʃ ʔik rut͡ʃun]

ɽ-
POS uɽ
tell daɳ
PAST kauʂ
boy -un
sing ʃiɳ
GEN ɽ-
POS aʃ
love ʈuʃ
2.sing ʔik
1excl.sing rut͡ʃ
girl -un
sing

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Dod. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 3 October 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5KG3Y

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-5KG3Y,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Dod}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5KG3Y}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 3 October 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Dod / Dod–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/5KG3Y

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.

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