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A Grammar of Baush

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Baush language (the 1787th 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 Baush.

Typological Profile

It has the typologically rare OSV basic word order, a small but genuine set of click consonants and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Baush has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 32 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 Baush. 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 stopkʼ
nasalm n nˤ ɲ ɳ ŋ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef s sˤ ʃ ʂ h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ
clickᵏǀ ᵏǀˤ
click, nasalᵑǀ ᵑǀˤ

Vowels

Baush has 6 vowel qualities. This places it within the broadly common range of mid-sized vowel inventories. The vowel chart shows the full set of contrasts employed in the language’s phonology.

It has a triangular vowel system with few low vowels.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
midə
opena

Stress and Tones

Baush 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

Baush 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/b /b/c /ᵏǀ/c̣ /ᵏǀˤ/
d /d/ḍ /dˤ/e /ə/f /f/
g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/j /j/
k /k/l /l/m /m/n /n/
ṇ /nˤ/s /s/ṣ /sˤ/t /t/
ṭ /tˤ/u /u/w /w/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/ch /t͡ʃ/
gk /kʼ/nc /ᵑǀ/nc̣ /ᵑǀˤ/
ng /ŋ/rd /ɖ/rn /ɳ/
rr /ɽ/rs /ʂ/rt /ʈ/
sh /ʃ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Baush does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Baush has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: casaid ‘seed’, chañish ‘faeces’, c̣en ‘name’, dakaing ‘ice’, ḍaif ‘leaf’, gesh ‘sky’, gkeṣird ‘urine’, hasirr ‘plain’, kaush ‘man’, lersil ‘salt’, mert ‘north’, ncechiñ ‘religion’, nc̣ih ‘sun’, num ‘rain’, ṇabauch ‘grass’, rdais ‘star’, rdigk ‘water’, ṣarrul ‘smoke’, ṭert ‘west’, ñeṣ ‘sound’.

Gender fem – for instance: bauch ‘east’, caḍiḍ ‘brick’, ḍaḍirs ‘tower’, ḍidak ‘feather’, figiḍ ‘binoculars’, gkelib ‘fog’, gking ‘road’, kardagk ‘bottle’, nais ‘cat’, naw ‘sea’, nc̣eṣ ‘knife’, rderturn ‘river’, rdiṣ ‘fish’, rsem ‘table’, rtimuṭ ‘umbrella’, shuw ‘house’, siṇart ‘lion’, ṭenurs ‘rope’, wartish ‘mortar’, waun ‘daughter’.

Gender neut – for instance: bairr ‘heart’, caṇaigk ‘wing’, cern ‘ear’, chishairn ‘knee’, c̣itig ‘fingernail’, ḍirsagk ‘belly’, hars ‘face’, hirs ‘leg’, ṇagern ‘farmer’, ṇim ‘child’, rdaiḍ ‘tooth’, rdeting ‘penis’, rraiṣ ‘idea’, rsafaf ‘fat’, rsaṇ ‘back’, rsilach ‘guts’, shaich ‘people’, shakak ‘anus’, ṣib ‘meat’, ñachin ‘cheese’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Ṭairren waṇeb ncuñ ñetabing nciṣeb jagef nciṣeb nc̣eṣeng ṇafej rtaurren nach.

[tˤaiɽən wanˤəb ᵑǀuɲ ɲətabiŋ ᵑǀisˤəb jaɡəf ᵑǀisˤəb ᵑǀˤəsˤəŋ nˤafəj ʈauɽən nat͡ʃ]

tˤaiɽ
blind -ə
active -n
POS wanˤ
yon -əb
fem ᵑǀuɲ
three ɲətab
mouse -i
plur -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem jaɡ
woman -ə
sing -f
ACT ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ᵑǀˤəsˤ
knife -ə
sing -ŋ
STA nˤafəj
COMIT ʈauɽ
catch -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

“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 Baush consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -e /-ə/ ‘sing’ and -i /-i/ ‘plur’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -ng /-ŋ/ ‘STA’, -f /-f/ ‘ACT’, -s /-s/ ‘GEN’, -n /-n/ ‘DAT’, -h /-h/ ‘INS’, -j /-j/ ‘VOC’, -rt /-ʈ/ ‘ALL’, -gk /-kʼ/ ‘LOC’, -k /-k/ ‘ABL’ and -l /-l/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -is /-is/ ‘little’ and -arn /-aɳ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

In Baush, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -aj /-aj/ ‘masc’, -ing /-iŋ/ ‘fem’ and -eḍ /-ədˤ/ ‘neut’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Baush, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing gender, comprising -en /-ən/ ‘masc’ and -eb /-əb/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

Baush 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:

Kairn shen rdalen.

[kaiɳ ʃən ɖalən]

kaiɳ
3.sing.fem ʃən
3.sing.masc ɖal
love -ə
active -n
POS

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

Proper Nouns

Nciṣeb Tamaugeng nciṣen Tirsiṭef ñertarren.

[ᵑǀisˤəb tamauɡəŋ ᵑǀisˤən tiʂitˤəf ɲəʈaɽən]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem tamauɡ
Tamaug -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc tiʂitˤ
Tishit -ə
sing -f
ACT ɲəʈaɽ
hate -ə
active -n
POS

“Tishit hates Tamaug.”

 (3)

Possession

nciṣen gkiṇairteng nciṣen gaubes

[ᵑǀisˤən kʼinˤaiʈəŋ ᵑǀisˤən ɡaubəs]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc kʼinˤaiʈ
apple -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ɡaub
boy -ə
sing -s
GEN

“the boy’s apple”

 (4)
nciṣen gkiṇairteng shen

[ᵑǀisˤən kʼinˤaiʈəŋ ʃən]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc kʼinˤaiʈ
apple -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ʃən
3.sing.masc

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (5)
nciṣen gkiṇairteng ngen

[ᵑǀisˤən kʼinˤaiʈəŋ ŋən]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc kʼinˤaiʈ
apple -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ŋən
1excl.sing

“my apple”

 (6)
Nciṣen c̣aurneng nciṣen nifirdes rran nciṣeb waunef nciṣen c̣irtetes ṣurtumen nach.

[ᵑǀisˤən ᵏǀˤauɳəŋ ᵑǀisˤən nifiɖəs ɽan ᵑǀisˤəb waunəf ᵑǀisˤən ᵏǀˤiʈətəs sˤuʈumən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ᵏǀˤauɳ
son -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc nifiɖ
neighbour -ə
sing -s
GEN ɽan
2.sing ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem waun
daughter -ə
sing -f
ACT ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ᵏǀˤiʈət
hunter -ə
sing -s
GEN sˤiʈum
kiss -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

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

 (7)

Derivation

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

rnudauṇeng

[ɳudaunˤəŋ]

ɳidaunˤ
lamb -ə
sing -ŋ
STA

“a lamb”

 (8)

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

rnudauṇuseng

[ɳudaunˤusəŋ]

ɳidaunˤ
lamb -is
little -ə
sing -ŋ
STA

“a little lamb”

 (9)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Baush fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing question, comprising ḍan /dˤan/ ‘Q’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising nach /nat͡ʃ/ ‘PAST’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing mode, comprising taṣ /tasˤ/ ‘imperative’, nas /nas/ ‘conditional’ and wam /wam/ ‘optative’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing voice, comprising -e /-ə/ ‘active’ and -i /-i/ ‘passive’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing negation, comprising -ṇ /-nˤ/ ‘NEG’ and -n /-n/ ‘POS’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ang /-aŋ/ ‘begin’ and -eṣ /-əsˤ/ ‘stop’

Rran ngen rdalen.

[ɽan ŋən ɖalən]

ɽan
2.sing ŋən
1excl.sing ɖal
love -ə
active -n
POS

“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.

birteng nciṣeb rsemeng chiṭ

[biʈəŋ ᵑǀisˤəb ʂəməŋ t͡ʃitˤ]

biʈ
surface -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ʂəm
table -ə
sing -ŋ
STA t͡ʃitˤ
in

“on the table”

 (11)
rtideng nciṣeb shafukeng neṣ

[ʈidəŋ ᵑǀisˤəb ʃafukəŋ nəsˤ]

ʈid
inside -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ʃafuk
box -ə
sing -ŋ
STA nəsˤ
to

“into the box”

 (12)
ngen ṇafej

[ŋən nˤafəj]

ŋən
1excl.sing nˤafəj
COMIT

“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.

Baush adopts Object–Subject–Verb (OSV) as its unmarked word order. The object precedes the subject, and the verb appears clause-finally. OSV is a rare ordering pattern but is attested in a small number of languages.

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

Nciṣen c̣irteteng nciṣeb chabuṣef ngaden nach.

[ᵑǀisˤən ᵏǀˤiʈətəŋ ᵑǀisˤəb t͡ʃabusˤəf ŋadən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ᵏǀˤiʈət
hunter -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem t͡ʃabusˤ
jaguar -ə
sing -f
ACT ŋad
kill -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (14)
Nciṣeb waḍeng nciṣeb waunes nciṣen c̣irtetes nciṣeb siṇartef jauten nach.

[ᵑǀisˤəb wadˤəŋ ᵑǀisˤəb waunəs ᵑǀisˤən ᵏǀˤiʈətəs ᵑǀisˤəb sinˤaʈəf jautən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem wadˤ
dog -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem waun
daughter -ə
sing -s
GEN ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ᵏǀˤiʈət
hunter -ə
sing -s
GEN ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem sinˤaʈ
lion -ə
sing -f
ACT jaut
eat -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

“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 Baush 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, Baush 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.

nciṣeb cuṣeng nciṣen ngates nciṣen c̣aurnes rran

[ᵑǀisˤəb ᵏǀusˤəŋ ᵑǀisˤən ŋatəs ᵑǀisˤən ᵏǀˤauɳəs ɽan]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ᵏǀusˤ
book -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ŋat
friend -ə
sing -s
GEN ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ᵏǀˤauɳ
son -ə
sing -s
GEN ɽan
2.sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (16)

Case Marking

Baush 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.

Nciṣeb naiseng kersen.

[ᵑǀisˤəb naisəŋ kəʂən]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -ŋ
STA kəʂ
sleep -ə
active -n
POS

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (17)
Nciṣeb naisef chafen.

[ᵑǀisˤəb naisəf t͡ʃafən]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -f
ACT t͡ʃaf
run -ə
active -n
POS

“The cat is running.”

 (18)
Nciṣeb ñetabeng nciṣeb naisef nc̣ertuṣen.

[ᵑǀisˤəb ɲətabəŋ ᵑǀisˤəb naisəf ᵑǀˤəʈusˤən]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ɲətab
mouse -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -f
ACT ᵑǀˤəʈusˤ
chase -ə
active -n
POS

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (19)
Nciṣeb ñetabeng nciṣeb naisef rtaurren nach.

[ᵑǀisˤəb ɲətabəŋ ᵑǀisˤəb naisəf ʈauɽən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ɲətab
mouse -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -f
ACT ʈauɽ
catch -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (20)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Nciṣeb chabuṣung ṇum nciṣeb ṣingafing ṇum nciṣeb siṇarting nciṣen c̣irtetef ngaden nach.

[ᵑǀisˤəb t͡ʃabusˤuŋ nˤum ᵑǀisˤəb sˤiŋafiŋ nˤum ᵑǀisˤəb sinˤaʈiŋ ᵑǀisˤən ᵏǀˤiʈətəf ŋadən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem t͡ʃabusˤ
jaguar -i
plur -ŋ
STA nˤum
and ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem sˤiŋaf
tiger -i
plur -ŋ
STA nˤum
and ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem sinˤaʈ
lion -i
plur -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ᵏǀˤiʈət
hunter -ə
sing -f
ACT ŋad
kill -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

“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 Baush 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

Baush forms relative clauses by using a head-internal strategy. The head noun appears inside the clause itself, occupying its regular syntactic position. The entire clause functions as a modifier, and its external syntactic behaviour is identical to that of a noun-modifying phrase.

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

Nciṣeb naiseng ngen hirsiṭen nach.

[ᵑǀisˤəb naisəŋ ŋən hiʂitˤən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ŋən
1excl.sing hiʂitˤ
pat -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (22)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Nciṣeb ñetabeng rtaurren nach nciṣeb naiseng ngen hirsiṭen nach.

[ᵑǀisˤəb ɲətabəŋ ʈauɽən nat͡ʃ ᵑǀisˤəb naisəŋ ŋən hiʂitˤən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ɲətab
mouse -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ʈauɽ
catch -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ŋən
1excl.sing hiʂitˤ
pat -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (23)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Nciṣ ñachineng jauten nach nciṣeb ñetabeng rtaurren nach nciṣeb naiseng ngen hirsiṭen nach.

[ᵑǀisˤ ɲat͡ʃinəŋ jautən nat͡ʃ ᵑǀisˤəb ɲətabəŋ ʈauɽən nat͡ʃ ᵑǀisˤəb naisəŋ ŋən hiʂitˤən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the ɲat͡ʃin
cheese -ə
sing -ŋ
STA jaut
eat -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ɲətab
mouse -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ʈauɽ
catch -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ŋən
1excl.sing hiʂitˤ
pat -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

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

 (24)

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

Nciṣ ñachineng gkarten nach ngen jauten nach nciṣeb ñetabeng rtaurren nach nciṣeb naiseng ngen hirsiṭen nach.

[ᵑǀisˤ ɲat͡ʃinəŋ kʼaʈən nat͡ʃ ŋən jautən nat͡ʃ ᵑǀisˤəb ɲətabəŋ ʈauɽən nat͡ʃ ᵑǀisˤəb naisəŋ ŋən hiʂitˤən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the ɲat͡ʃin
cheese -ə
sing -ŋ
STA kʼaʈ
buy -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST ŋən
1excl.sing jaut
eat -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem ɲətab
mouse -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ʈauɽ
catch -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem nais
cat -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ŋən
1excl.sing hiʂitˤ
pat -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

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

 (25)

Complementation Strategies

Baush 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:

Nciṣen rnardairsen gkiṇairteng nciṣeb mugken rdechen nach nciṣen gaubef ncuñuñen nach.

[ᵑǀisˤən ɳaɖaiʂən kʼinˤaiʈəŋ ᵑǀisˤəb mukʼən ɖət͡ʃən nat͡ʃ ᵑǀisˤən ɡaubəf ᵑǀuɲuɲən nat͡ʃ]

ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ɳaɖaiʂ
teacher -ə
sing -n
DAT kʼinˤaiʈ
apple -ə
sing -ŋ
STA ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem mukʼ
girl -ə
sing -n
DAT ɖət͡ʃ
give -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ɡaub
boy -ə
sing -f
ACT ᵑǀiɲuɲ
surprise -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

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

 (26)

Quotes

Baush 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:

Rran rdalen ngen nciṣeb mugken nciṣen gaubef biben nach.

[ɽan ɖalən ŋən ᵑǀisˤəb mukʼən ᵑǀisˤən ɡaubəf bibən nat͡ʃ]

ɽan
2.sing ɖal
love -ə
active -n
POS ŋən
1excl.sing ᵑǀisˤ
the -əb
fem mukʼ
girl -ə
sing -n
DAT ᵑǀisˤ
the -ən
masc ɡaub
boy -ə
sing -f
ACT bib
tell -ə
active -n
POS nat͡ʃ
PAST

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

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How to cite this grammar

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

In BibTeX format:

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

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Baush / Baush–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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