A Grammar of Sal

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Sal language (the 1789th 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 Sal.

Typological Profile

It has postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Sal has 23 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has has no particularly unusual consonantal features.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ
trill/tap/flapr
fricativef s z ʃ ʒ h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ

Vowels

Sal has 9 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 a strongly reduced vowel system in unstressed syllables, a modest but genuine inventory of nasal vowels, a partially contrastive system of vowel length and occasional ghost vowels that surface only weakly.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide ə̃ ə o
opena

Stress and Tones

Sal has phonemic stress and 6 lexical tones. Each lexical item carries a tonal specification associated with the first vowel of the root, which determines the overall tonal contour of the word.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Sal 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/d /d/e /ə/
f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/
j /j/k /k/l /l/m /m/
n /n/o /o/p /p/r /r/
s /s/t /t/u /u/w /w/
z /z/é /e/ñ /ɲ/ẽ /ə̃/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
ch /t͡ʃ/ii /iː/ng /ŋ/
oo /oː/sh /ʃ/ty /t͡ɕ/
uu /uː/zh /ʒ/éé /eː/
ẽẽ /ə̃ː/

Diacritics

◌̃ /꜔/◌̠̃ /꜔꜖/◌̄ /꜒/◌̄̃ /꜒꜔/
◌̠ /꜖/◌̠̃ /꜖꜔/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Sal does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Sal does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Tyũ̠fes tuũ̠ses tyezhõ̠ty raĩñ pĩp tyaa̠ty telerã̠ded kel ha̠ch.

[t͡ɕu꜔꜖fəs tuː꜖꜔səs t͡ɕəʒo꜖꜔t͡ɕ rai꜔ɲ pi꜔p t͡ɕaː꜖t͡ɕ tələra꜖꜔dəd kəl ha꜖t͡ʃ]

t͡ɕu꜔꜖f
woman
-ʃəs
sing
tuː꜖꜔s
knife
-ʃəs
sing
t͡ɕəʒo꜖꜔t͡ɕ
COMIT
rai꜔ɲ
yon
pi꜔p
three
t͡ɕaː꜖t͡ɕ
blind
təw-
ACC
ləra꜖꜔d
mouse
-t͡ʃəd
plur
kəl
PAST
ha꜖t͡ʃ
catch

“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 Sal consists of first, an optional prefix expressing case, comprising tew- /təw-/ ‘ACC’, rezh- /rəʒ-/ ‘GEN’, ngesh- /ŋəʃ-/ ‘DAT’, wej- /wəj-/ ‘INS’, shen- /ʃən-/ ‘VOC’, nek- /nək-/ ‘ALL’, rety- /rət͡ɕ-/ ‘LOC’, meg- /məɡ-/ ‘ABL’ and ret- /rət-/ ‘PART’; second, the root; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -shes /-ʃəs/ ‘sing’ and -ched /-t͡ʃəd/ ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -wesh /-wəʃ/ ‘little’ and -met /-mət/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Sha̠g.

[ʃa꜖ɡ]

ʃa꜖ɡ
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Ri̠ng sha̠g.

[ri꜖ŋ ʃa꜖ɡ]

ri꜖ŋ
3.sing
ʃa꜖ɡ
love

“He loves her.”

(3)

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

Ri̠ng sha̠g.

[ri꜖ŋ ʃa꜖ɡ]

ri꜖ŋ
3.sing
ʃa꜖ɡ
love

“He loves her.”

(4)

Proper Nouns

Teñoo̠ges teCheré̃bes sekĩty.

[təɲoː꜖ɡəs tət͡ʃəre꜔bəs səki꜔t͡ɕ]

təɲoː꜖ɡ
Tanyog
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
t͡ʃəre꜔b
Chareb
-ʃəs
sing
səki꜔t͡ɕ
hate

“Tanyog hates Chareb.”

(5)

Possession

reshũ̠ses jezhã̠les

[rəʃu꜖꜔səs jəʒa꜖꜔ləs]

rəʒ-
GEN
ʃu꜖꜔s
boy
-ʃəs
sing
jəʒa꜖꜔l
apple
-ʃəs
sing

“the boy’s apple”

(6)
ri̠ng jezhã̠les

[ri꜖ŋ jəʒa꜖꜔ləs]

ri꜖ŋ
3.sing
jəʒa꜖꜔l
apple
-ʃəs
sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(7)
zũr jezhã̠les

[zu꜔r jəʒa꜖꜔ləs]

zu꜔r
1excl.sing
jəʒa꜖꜔l
apple
-ʃəs
sing

“my apple”

(8)
Rebengã̠des ñãtes pāsh rehenĩ̠nes tehẽ̃wes kel zezhõ̠ñ.

[rəbəŋa꜖꜔dəs ɲa꜔təs pa꜒ʃ rəhəni꜖꜔nəs təhə̃꜔wəs kəl zəʒo꜔꜖ɲ]

rəʒ-
GEN
bəŋa꜖꜔d
hunter
-ʃəs
sing
ɲa꜔t
daughter
-ʃəs
sing
pa꜒ʃ
2.sing
rəʒ-
GEN
həni꜖꜔n
neighbour
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
hə̃꜔w
son
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
zəʒo꜔꜖ɲ
kiss

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

(9)

Derivation

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

webīshes

[wəbi꜒ʃəs]

wəbi꜒ʃ
lamb
-ʃəs
sing

“a lamb”

(10)

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

webīweshes

[wəbi꜒wəʃəs]

wəbi꜒ʃ
lamb
-wəʃ
little
-ʃəs
sing

“a little lamb”

(11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Sal fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing question, comprising let /lət/ ‘Q’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising lezh /ləʒ/ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing ta, comprising kel /kəl/ ‘PAST’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing mode, comprising ñeb /ɲəb/ ‘imperative’, ned /nəd/ ‘conditional’ and jes /jəs/ ‘optative’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing negation, comprising -̄̃el /-꜒꜔əl/ ‘NEG’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -weshe /-wəʃə/ ‘begin’ and -ngeme /-ŋəmə/ ‘stop’

Sha̠g.

[ʃa꜖ɡ]

ʃa꜖ɡ
love

“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.

maũpes zõtyes gī̃ty

[mau꜔pəs zo꜔t͡ɕəs ɡi꜒꜔t͡ɕ]

mau꜔p
table
-ʃəs
sing
zo꜔t͡ɕ
surface
-ʃəs
sing
ɡi꜒꜔t͡ɕ
in

“on the table”

(13)
beñẽẽ̄res fũ̠stes jé̠

[bəɲə̃ː꜒rəs fu꜔꜖stəs je꜖]

bəɲə̃ː꜒r
box
-ʃəs
sing
fu꜔꜖st
inside
-ʃəs
sing
je꜖
to

“into the box”

(14)
zũr tyezhõ̠ty

[zu꜔r t͡ɕəʒo꜖꜔t͡ɕ]

zu꜔r
1excl.sing
t͡ɕəʒo꜖꜔t͡ɕ
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.

Sal 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 Sal.

Gengĩ̠fes tebengã̠des kel gĩ̠k.

[ɡəŋi꜔꜖fəs təbəŋa꜖꜔dəs kəl ɡi꜔꜖k]

ɡəŋi꜔꜖f
jaguar
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
bəŋa꜖꜔d
hunter
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ɡi꜔꜖k
kill

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(16)
Shesĩ̠nges rebengã̠des reñãtes tewātes kel nẽ̃m.

[ʃəsi꜔꜖ŋəs rəbəŋa꜖꜔dəs rəɲa꜔təs təwa꜒təs kəl nə̃꜔m]

ʃəsi꜔꜖ŋ
lion
-ʃəs
sing
rəʒ-
GEN
bəŋa꜖꜔d
hunter
-ʃəs
sing
rəʒ-
GEN
ɲa꜔t
daughter
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
ʃa꜒t
dog
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
nə̃꜔m
eat

“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 Sal 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, Sal 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.

pāsh rehẽ̃wes reshẽ̄shes fã̠kes

[pa꜒ʃ rəhə̃꜔wəs rəʃə̃꜒ʃəs fa꜔꜖kəs]

pa꜒ʃ
2.sing
rəʒ-
GEN
hə̃꜔w
son
-ʃəs
sing
rəʒ-
GEN
ʃə̃꜒ʃ
friend
-ʃəs
sing
fa꜔꜖k
book
-ʃəs
sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

(18)

Case Marking

Sal uses nominative–accusative case marking. The subject of an intransitive verb and the subject of a transitive verb are treated alike and take the nominative case, while the object of a transitive verb is marked with the accusative case. This is the familiar pattern from many European languages: the grammar groups together the participants that function as subjects and marks the participant affected by a transitive action separately.

Naa̠shes béé̠̃f.

[naː꜖ʃəs beː꜔꜖f]

naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
beː꜔꜖f
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

(19)
Naa̠shes tūñ.

[naː꜖ʃəs tu꜒ɲ]

naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
tu꜒ɲ
run

“The cat is running.”

(20)
Naa̠shes telerã̠des ñelād.

[naː꜖ʃəs tələra꜖꜔dəs ɲəla꜒d]

naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
ləra꜖꜔d
mouse
-ʃəs
sing
ɲəla꜒d
chase

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

(21)
Naa̠shes telerã̠des kel ha̠ch.

[naː꜖ʃəs tələra꜖꜔dəs kəl ha꜖t͡ʃ]

naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
ləra꜖꜔d
mouse
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ha꜖t͡ʃ
catch

“The cat caught the mouse.”

(22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Bengã̠des tewengĩ̠fed ñaĩ̠r tefebī̃bed ñaĩ̠r tewesĩ̠ched kel gĩ̠k.

[bəŋa꜖꜔dəs təwəŋi꜔꜖fəd ɲai꜖꜔r təfəbi꜒꜔bəd ɲai꜖꜔r təwəsi꜔꜖t͡ʃəd kəl ɡi꜔꜖k]

bəŋa꜖꜔d
hunter
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
ɡəŋi꜔꜖f
jaguar
-t͡ʃəd
plur
ɲai꜖꜔r
and
təw-
ACC
fəbi꜒꜔b
tiger
-t͡ʃəd
plur
ɲai꜖꜔r
and
təw-
ACC
ʃəsi꜔꜖ŋ
lion
-t͡ʃəd
plur
kəl
PAST
ɡi꜔꜖k
kill

“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 Sal 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

Sal 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:

Tenaa̠shes kel gezhoōw.

[tənaː꜖ʃəs kəl ɡəʒoː꜒w]

təw-
ACC
naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ɡəʒoː꜒w
pat

“I patted the cat.”

(24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Telerã̠des kel ha̠ch tenaa̠shes kel gezhoōw.

[tələra꜖꜔dəs kəl ha꜖t͡ʃ tənaː꜖ʃəs kəl ɡəʒoː꜒w]

təw-
ACC
ləra꜖꜔d
mouse
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ha꜖t͡ʃ
catch
təw-
ACC
naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ɡəʒoː꜒w
pat

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Tetebaā̃bes kel nẽ̃m telerã̠des kel ha̠ch tenaa̠shes kel gezhoōw.

[tətəbaː꜒꜔bəs kəl nə̃꜔m tələra꜖꜔dəs kəl ha꜖t͡ʃ tənaː꜖ʃəs kəl ɡəʒoː꜒w]

təw-
ACC
təbaː꜒꜔b
cheese
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
nə̃꜔m
eat
təw-
ACC
ləra꜖꜔d
mouse
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ha꜖t͡ʃ
catch
təw-
ACC
naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ɡəʒoː꜒w
pat

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

(26)

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

Zũr kel ñoõ̠n tetebaā̃bes kel nẽ̃m telerã̠des kel ha̠ch tenaa̠shes kel gezhoōw.

[zu꜔r kəl ɲoː꜔꜖n tətəbaː꜒꜔bəs kəl nə̃꜔m tələra꜖꜔dəs kəl ha꜖t͡ʃ tənaː꜖ʃəs kəl ɡəʒoː꜒w]

zu꜔r
1excl.sing
kəl
PAST
ɲoː꜔꜖n
buy
təw-
ACC
təbaː꜒꜔b
cheese
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
nə̃꜔m
eat
təw-
ACC
ləra꜖꜔d
mouse
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ha꜖t͡ʃ
catch
təw-
ACC
naː꜖ʃ
cat
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
ɡəʒoː꜒w
pat

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

(27)

Complementation Strategies

Sal 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:

Shũ̠ses ngeshé̄les tejezhã̠les kel nuu̠ng ngesecha̠nges kel behī̃r.

[ʃu꜖꜔səs ŋəʃe꜒ləs təjəʒa꜖꜔ləs kəl nuː꜖ŋ ŋəsət͡ʃa꜖ŋəs kəl bəhi꜒꜔r]

ʃu꜖꜔s
boy
-ʃəs
sing
ŋəʃ-
DAT
ʒe꜒l
girl
-ʃəs
sing
təw-
ACC
jəʒa꜖꜔l
apple
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
nuː꜖ŋ
give
ŋəʃ-
DAT
sət͡ʃa꜖ŋ
teacher
-ʃəs
sing
kəl
PAST
bəhi꜒꜔r
surprise

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

(28)

Quotes

Sal 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:

Shũ̠ses ngeshé̄les zũr pāsh sha̠g kel shã̠zh.

[ʃu꜖꜔səs ŋəʃe꜒ləs zu꜔r pa꜒ʃ ʃa꜖ɡ kəl ʃa꜔꜖ʒ]

ʃu꜖꜔s
boy
-ʃəs
sing
ŋəʃ-
DAT
ʒe꜒l
girl
-ʃəs
sing
zu꜔r
1excl.sing
pa꜒ʃ
2.sing
ʃa꜖ɡ
love
kəl
PAST
ʃa꜔꜖ʒ
tell

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

(29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Sal. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 5 October 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5L2NP

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-5L2NP,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Sal}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5L2NP}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 5 October 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

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