A Grammar of Tisan

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Tisan language (the 533rd 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 Tisan.

Typological Profile

It has a rich system of noun classes and no inflections (clitics do the hard work).

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Tisan has 9 consonant phonemes, forming a relatively small inventory.

It has a complete absence of affricates, a complete absence of palatal consonants, something which is a rare occurrence indeed, as well as a conspicuous absence of approximants, a strongly reduced sibilant system and a complete absence of phonemic voicing contrasts.

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

labialalveolarvelarglottal
stopp t k
nasalm n
fricativef s h

Vowels

Tisan has 11 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, front rounded vowels (these are cross-linguistically relatively uncommon, but occur in a number of well-known languages, including French, German, Turkish and Mandarin) and an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels.

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

front unroundedfront roundedcentralback
closei y u
close-mide ø o
midə
open-midɛ œ ɔ
opena

Stress and Tones

Tisan 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

Tisan 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/e /ə/f /f/h /h/
i /i/k /k/m /m/n /n/
o /ɔ/p /p/s /s/t /t/
u /u/y /y/æ /ɛ/é /e/
ó /o/ö /ø/œ /œ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Tisan does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Tisan has the following noun classes:

Class cl.1 – for instance: femites ‘vagina’, fus ‘bone’, ‘head’, his ‘hair’, kenyskef ‘bosom’, kenóske ‘penis’, kyn ‘nose’, kés ‘leaf’, ‘tongue’, mefykek ‘wing’, nit ‘mouth’, nóm ‘fire’, put ‘foot’, pöp ‘hand’, sam ‘tooth’, sif ‘blood’, sœf ‘skin’, tehémep ‘fat’, tu ‘heart’, tæk ‘ear’.

Class cl.2 – for instance: fefafet ‘flower’, fut ‘bed’, ham ‘road’, hinem ‘knife’, kemytes ‘net’, kepönem ‘umbrella’, kesine ‘binoculars’, ketœmen ‘machine’, kóp ‘fight’, nenyhes ‘rope’, pefysen ‘mortar’, pemœkep ‘tower’, pesköfef ‘bottle’, petupep ‘seed’, pinen ‘table’, puk ‘book’, pón ‘house’, senosen ‘box’, sepóstef ‘brick’, tæn ‘chair’.

Class cl.3 – for instance: fas ‘animal’, fefópen ‘mammal’, fenöpem ‘root’, fesamen ‘bark’, fesofem ‘wild boar’, hekónet ‘tiger’, kyspek ‘speech’, memofet ‘worm’, min ‘city’, nas ‘cat’, neföse ‘lion’, nekipem ‘dialect’, nop ‘bird’, nœf ‘dog’, pekames ‘snake’, pepamet ‘jaguar’, pos ‘fish’, sa ‘wind’, semustef ‘mouse’, sesistet ‘louse’.

Class cl.4 – for instance: femaken ‘river’, fóf ‘surface’, hepame ‘urine’, hyt ‘top’, kefópep ‘snow’, kenónep ‘fog’, kesutep ‘embrace’, man ‘south’, meskasep ‘slime’, metimes ‘sand’, mones ‘money’, mœk ‘west’, nesimef ‘dust’, pin ‘north’, pép ‘sound’, setopek ‘cloud’, sém ‘water’, sóf ‘moon’, tak ‘inside’, tun ‘rain’.

Class cl.5 – for instance: fenösek ‘apple’, kenömem ‘lake’, kóm ‘land’, mum ‘meat’, mön ‘fruit’, nekahem ‘forest’, nenómep ‘cheese’, penutet ‘mountain’, sespæses ‘wheat’, sæhe ‘egg’, tesymek ‘plain’, tim ‘name’, tisen ‘Tisan’, tom ‘sky’, töt ‘earth’.

Class cl.6 – for instance: fan ‘stone’, fók ‘human being’, fœf ‘girl’, hefopet ‘farmer’, henopen ‘horn’, heskémef ‘hunter’, hik ‘friend’, him ‘mother’, mesömep ‘neighbour’, myf ‘woman’, myp ‘child’, nin ‘daughter’, nup ‘wife’, pesypep ‘feather’, sok ‘people’, tefises ‘teacher’, töp ‘colour’.

Class cl.7 – for instance: femœses ‘bank’, föp ‘man’, hefumef ‘God’, heköspe ‘student’, hetopem ‘restaurant’, hif ‘time’, kefispes ‘medicine’, mefitek ‘stick’, meséket ‘market’, mök ‘son’, nefaten ‘religion’, nekisef ‘library’, nok ‘father’, nyn ‘day’, pak ‘year’, pön ‘boy’, sespymet ‘breath’, sékef ‘school’, tespæten ‘court’, tóses ‘sea’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Sét myf ketos sék hinem töf kæmek semustef sæp he kef höm nep.

[set myf kətɔs sek hinəm tøf kɛmək səmustəf sɛp hə kəf høm nəp]

se
the
-t
cl.6
myf
woman
kətɔs
COMIT
se
the
-k
cl.2
hinəm
knife

yon
-f
cl.3
k-
cl.3
ɛmək
blind
səmustəf
mouse
sɛp
three

plur
kəf
ACC
høm
catch
nəp
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.

The nominal phrase clitics in Tisan fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing possessor, comprising ken /kən/ ‘1incl.sing’, fef /fəf/ ‘1excl.sing’, fen /fən/ ‘2.sing’, hek /hək/ ‘3.sing.cl.1’, kep /kəp/ ‘3.sing.cl.2’, hep /həp/ ‘3.sing.cl.3’, nef /nəf/ ‘3.sing.cl.4’, hef /həf/ ‘3.sing.cl.5’, hem /həm/ ‘3.sing.cl.6’, fek /fək/ ‘3.sing.cl.7’, fep /fəp/ ‘1incl.plur’, hes /həs/ ‘1excl.plur’, pen /pən/ ‘2.plur’, me /mə/ ‘3.plur.cl.1’, fe /fə/ ‘3.plur.cl.2’, nem /nəm/ ‘3.plur.cl.3’, het /hət/ ‘3.plur.cl.4’, ket /kət/ ‘3.plur.cl.5’, nek /nək/ ‘3.plur.cl.6’ and fes /fəs/ ‘3.plur.cl.7’; second, a clitic expressing number, comprising he /hə/ ‘plur’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing case, comprising kef /kəf/ ‘ACC’, kes /kəs/ ‘GEN’, kek /kək/ ‘DAT’, nen /nən/ ‘INS’, kem /kəm/ ‘VOC’, ke /kə/ ‘ALL’, mes /məs/ ‘LOC’, mef /məf/ ‘ABL’ and net /nət/ ‘PART’.

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

The Noun

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

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 suffixes, namely -kefe /-kəfə/ ‘little’, -meme /-məmə/ ‘big’, -tefe /-təfə/ ‘old’, -pene /-pənə/ ‘new’, -hene /-hənə/ ‘good’, -nefe /-nəfə/ ‘bad’, -peme /-pəmə/ ‘have’, -nene /-nənə/ ‘use’, -mefe /-məfə/ ‘see’, -nete /-nətə/ ‘make’ and -heke /-həkə/ ‘break’

The Adjective

In Tisan, the adjective has the following structure: an obligatory prefix expressing gender, comprising m- /m-/ ‘cl.1’, h- /h-/ ‘cl.2’, k- /k-/ ‘cl.3’, n- /n-/ ‘cl.4’, f- /f-/ ‘cl.5’, s- /s-/ ‘cl.6’ and t- /t-/ ‘cl.7’ followed by the root.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Tisan, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -m /-m/ ‘cl.1’, -k /-k/ ‘cl.2’, -f /-f/ ‘cl.3’, -s /-s/ ‘cl.4’, -n /-n/ ‘cl.5’, -t /-t/ ‘cl.6’ and -p /-p/ ‘cl.7’.

Pronouns

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

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

Tós.

[tos]

tos
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Pim tós.

[pim tos]

pim
3.sing.cl.7
tos
love

He loves her.”

(3)

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

Mœp kef tós.

[mœp kəf tos]

mœp
3.sing.cl.6
kəf
ACC
tos
love

“He loves her.”

(4)

Proper Nouns

Sép Petisem sét Nemaspef kef tesök.

[sep pətisəm set nəmaspəf kəf təsøk]

se
the
-p
cl.7
pətisəm
Patisam
se
the
-t
cl.6
nəmaspəf
Namaspaf
kəf
ACC
təsøk
hate

“Patisam hates Namaspaf.”

(5)

Possession

fek sén fenösek sép pön

[fək sen fənøsək sep pøn]

fək
3.sing.cl.7.POSS
se
the
-n
cl.5
fənøsək
apple
se
the
-p
cl.7
pøn
boy

“the boy’s apple”

(6)
fek sén fenösek pim

[fək sen fənøsək pim]

fək
3.sing.cl.7.POSS
se
the
-n
cl.5
fənøsək
apple
pim
3.sing.cl.7

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(7)
fef sén fenösek

[fəf sen fənøsək]

fəf
1excl.sing.POSS
se
the
-n
cl.5
fənøsək
apple

“my apple”

(8)
Hem sét nin sét heskémef hem sép mök fen sét mesömep kef nestés nep.

[həm set nin set həskeməf həm sep møk fən set məsøməp kəf nəstes nəp]

həm
3.sing.cl.6.POSS
se
the
-t
cl.6
nin
daughter
se
the
-t
cl.6
həskeməf
hunter
həm
3.sing.cl.6.POSS
se
the
-p
cl.7
møk
son
fən
2.sing.POSS
se
the
-t
cl.6
məsøməp
neighbour
kəf
ACC
nəstes
kiss
nəp
PAST

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

(9)

Derivation

feföfep

[fəføfəp]

fəføfəp
lamb

“a lamb”

(10)
feföfepkefe

[fəføfəpkəfə]

fəføfəp
lamb
-kəfə
little

“a little lamb”

(11)
Feföfepkefepeme nep.

[fəføfəpkəfəpəmə nəp]

fəføfəp
lamb
-kəfə
little
-pəmə
have
nəp
PAST

“She had a little lamb.”

(12)

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:

Kæm feföfep kef tós nep.

[kɛm fəføfəp kəf tos nəp]

k-
cl.3
ɛm
black
fəføfəp
lamb
kəf
ACC
tos
love
nəp
PAST

“She loved a black lamb.”

(13)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Tisan fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing mode, comprising fem /fəm/ ‘imperative’, nes /nəs/ ‘conditional’ and mem /məm/ ‘optative’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising nep /nəp/ ‘PAST’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising met /mət/ ‘passive’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising mep /məp/ ‘NEG’.

The verb itself does not have any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -neme /-nəmə/ ‘begin’, -pese /-pəsə/ ‘stop’, -sese /-səsə/ ‘continue’, -sene /-sənə/ ‘try’ and -pepe /-pəpə/ ‘start’

Tós.

[tos]

tos
love

“I love you.”

(14)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

There is one type of clitic in the adpositional phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing root.

mœm sék pinen mes

[mœm sek pinən məs]

mœm
in_surface
se
the
-k
cl.2
pinən
table
məs
LOC

“on the table”

(15)
fup sék senosen mes

[fup sek sənɔsən məs]

fup
to_inside
se
the
-k
cl.2
sənɔsən
box
məs
LOC

“into the box”

(16)
ketos sos mes

[kətɔs sɔs məs]

kətɔs
COMIT
sɔs
1excl.sing
məs
LOC

“with me”

(17)

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.

Tisan 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 Tisan.

Séf pepamet sét heskémef kef hæ nep.

[sef pəpamət set həskeməf kəf hɛ nəp]

se
the
-f
cl.3
pəpamət
jaguar
se
the
-t
cl.6
həskeməf
hunter
kəf
ACC

kill
nəp
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(18)
Séf neföse hem séf nœf hem sét nin sét heskémef kef nés nep.

[sef nəføsə həm sef nœf həm set nin set həskeməf kəf nes nəp]

se
the
-f
cl.3
nəføsə
lion
həm
3.sing.cl.6.POSS
se
the
-f
cl.3
nœf
dog
həm
3.sing.cl.6.POSS
se
the
-t
cl.6
nin
daughter
se
the
-t
cl.6
həskeməf
hunter
kəf
ACC
nes
eat
nəp
PAST

“The lion ate the hunter’s daughter’s dog.”

(19)

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 Tisan 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, Tisan 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.

hem sék puk fek sét hik fen sép mök

[həm sek puk fək set hik fən sep møk]

həm
3.sing.cl.6.POSS
se
the
-k
cl.2
puk
book
fək
3.sing.cl.7.POSS
se
the
-t
cl.6
hik
friend
fən
2.sing.POSS
se
the
-p
cl.7
møk
son

“your son’s friend’s book”

(20)

Case Marking

Tisan 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.

Séf nas sœm.

[sef nas sœm]

se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
sœm
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

(21)
Séf nas nöm.

[sef nas nøm]

se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
nøm
run

“The cat is running.”

(22)
Séf nas séf semustef kef meféf.

[sef nas sef səmustəf kəf məfef]

se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
se
the
-f
cl.3
səmustəf
mouse
kəf
ACC
məfef
chase

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

(23)
Séf nas séf semustef kef höm nep.

[sef nas sef səmustəf kəf høm nəp]

se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
se
the
-f
cl.3
səmustəf
mouse
kəf
ACC
høm
catch
nəp
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

(24)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Sét heskémef séf pepamet he kak séf hekónet he kak séf neföse he kef hæ nep.

[set həskeməf sef pəpamət hə kak sef həkonət hə kak sef nəføsə hə kəf hɛ nəp]

se
the
-t
cl.6
həskeməf
hunter
se
the
-f
cl.3
pəpamət
jaguar

plur
kak
and
se
the
-f
cl.3
həkonət
tiger

plur
kak
and
se
the
-f
cl.3
nəføsə
lion

plur
kəf
ACC

kill
nəp
PAST

“The hunter killed the jaguars, the tigers and the lions.”

(25)

Modifiers and Determiners

The ordering of demonstratives, articles (if present), and other modifiers in Tisan 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

Tisan 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:

Séf nas kef meto nep.

[sef nas kəf mətɔ nəp]

se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
kəf
ACC
mətɔ
pat
nəp
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

(26)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Meto nep séf nas, sip höm nep séf semustef kef.

[mətɔ nəp sef nas, sip høm nəp sef səmustəf kəf]

mətɔ
pat
nəp
PAST
se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
sip
RELPRON
høm
catch
nəp
PAST
se
the
-f
cl.3
səmustəf
mouse
kəf
ACC

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(27)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Meto nep séf nas, sip höm nep séf semustef, sip nés nep sén nenómep kef.

[mətɔ nəp sef nas, sip høm nəp sef səmustəf, sip nes nəp sen nənoməp kəf]

mətɔ
pat
nəp
PAST
se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
sip
RELPRON
høm
catch
nəp
PAST
se
the
-f
cl.3
səmustəf
mouse
sip
RELPRON
nes
eat
nəp
PAST
se
the
-n
cl.5
nənoməp
cheese
kəf
ACC

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

(28)

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

Meto nep séf nas, sip höm nep séf semustef, sip nés nep sén nenómep, sip kef pók nep sos.

[mətɔ nəp sef nas, sip høm nəp sef səmustəf, sip nes nəp sen nənoməp, sip kəf pok nəp sɔs]

mətɔ
pat
nəp
PAST
se
the
-f
cl.3
nas
cat
sip
RELPRON
høm
catch
nəp
PAST
se
the
-f
cl.3
səmustəf
mouse
sip
RELPRON
nes
eat
nəp
PAST
se
the
-n
cl.5
nənoməp
cheese
sip
RELPRON
kəf
ACC
pok
buy
nəp
PAST
sɔs
1excl.sing

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

(29)

Complementation Strategies

Tisan 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:

Sép pön sét fœf kek fenösek kef ko nep setöp sét tefises kek senyk nep.

[sep pøn set fœf kək fənøsək kəf kɔ nəp sətøp set təfisəs kək sənyk nəp]

se
the
-p
cl.7
pøn
boy
se
the
-t
cl.6
fœf
girl
kək
DAT
fənøsək
apple
kəf
ACC

give
nəp
PAST
sətøp
COMP
se
the
-t
cl.6
təfisəs
teacher
kək
DAT
sənyk
surprise
nəp
PAST

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

(30)

Quotes

Tisan 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:

Sép pön sét fœf kek sos sik kef tós setöp kef kók nep.

[sep pøn set fœf kək sɔs sik kəf tos sətøp kəf kok nəp]

se
the
-p
cl.7
pøn
boy
se
the
-t
cl.6
fœf
girl
kək
DAT
sɔs
1excl.sing
sik
2.sing
kəf
ACC
tos
love
sətøp
COMP
kəf
ACC
kok
tell
nəp
PAST

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

(31)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Tisan. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 June 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5MF5Q

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-5MF5Q,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Tisan}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5MF5Q}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 June 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Tisan / Tisan–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/5MF5Q

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Language creation took 0.02 seconds; writing the grammar 0.08 seconds.