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A Grammar of Nost

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Nost language (the 1829th 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 Nost.

Typological Profile

It has has no interesting typological features.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Nost has a moderately small consonant inventory, comprising 15 phonemes.

It has an exceptionally dense sibilant inventory, a complete absence of affricates, a strikingly small set of lateral and rhotic consonants, a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts and a complete absence of laryngeal consonants.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarpalatalretroflexvelar
stopp t ʈ k
nasalm n ɲ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef s ʃ ʂ
approximantw j

Vowels

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

It has a fully developed system of nasal vowels matching the oral height distinctions, a fully contrastive long–short vowel distinction across the system, a maximally “square” vowel system balancing heights across backness, a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables and an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels.

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

frontcentralback
closei ĩ ɨ ɨ̃ u ũ
close-mide ẽ ɘ ɘ̃ o õ
open-midɛ ɛ̃ ɜ ɜ̃ ɔ ɔ̃
opena ã

Stress and Tones

Nost 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

Nost 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 /e/f /f/i /i/
j /j/k /k/m /m/n /n/
o /ɔ/p /p/s /s/t /t/
u /u/w /w/y /ɨ/æ /ɛ/
è /ɜ/ë /ɘ/ñ /ɲ/ó /o/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/an /ã/
anan /ãː/au /au/ee /eː/
en /ẽ/enen /ẽː/ii /iː/
in /ĩ/inin /ĩː/on /ɔ̃/
onon /ɔ̃ː/oo /ɔː/rr /ɽ/
rs /ʂ/rt /ʈ/sh /ʃ/
un /ũ/unun /ũː/uu /uː/
yn /ɨ̃/ynyn /ɨ̃ː/yy /ɨː/
æn /ɛ̃/ænæn /ɛ̃ː/ææ /ɛː/
èn /ɜ̃/ènèn /ɜ̃ː/èè /ɜː/
ën /ɘ̃/ënën /ɘ̃ː/ëë /ɘː/
ón /õ/ónón /õː/óó /oː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Nost does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Nost has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: fytununsh ‘belly’, fèsænñ ‘box’, jananp ‘human being’, maf ‘house’, mununnënënñ ‘bosom’, mynynp ‘father’, pununw ‘surface’, pææj ‘child’, pæætyrt ‘brick’, rrononwiik ‘God’, rsèf ‘knife’, rtininwènf ‘machine’, rtinm ‘friend’, shauñ ‘people’, siiñ ‘time’, siterr ‘hunter’, tiw ‘bed’, tæns ‘ear’, wyyf ‘west’, ñirr ‘man’.

Gender fem – for instance: foojaat ‘school’, fununrtit ‘bank’, jynt ‘land’, kaatuus ‘market’, kiitæærr ‘teacher’, mek ‘sky’, nununshóp ‘plain’, peerrónñ ‘wing’, poosanñ ‘smoke’, pæærr ‘book’, rrenenfës ‘neck’, rryyj ‘city’, rsènènrrej ‘ice’, rtaw ‘tree’, shanrr ‘sun’, sënënñ ‘fruit’, sómæm ‘flower’, sónónj ‘speech’, taist ‘star’, ñyrs ‘earth’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Niishaam ñiitiñ rsèfaam shèk rsum rtununsh ninj rsyyfonamens.

[niːʃaːm ɲiːtiɲ ʂɜfaːm ʃɜk ʂum ʈũːʃ nĩj ʂɨːfɔnamẽs]

niːʃ
woman -aːm
sing ɲiːtiɲ
COMIT ʂɜf
knife -aːm
sing ʃɜ
catch -k
PAST ʂu
yon -m
fem ʈũːʃ
three nĩj
blind ʂɨːfɔn
mouse -am
plur -ẽs
ACC

“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 an enclitic (placed finally), expressing possessor. a clitic expressing possessor, comprising rsars /ʂaʂ/ ‘1incl.sing’, kins /ki#s/ ‘1excl.sing’, rtas /ʈas/ ‘2.sing’, nurr /nuɽ/ ‘3.sing.masc’, rtot /ʈɔt/ ‘3.sing.fem’, sós /sos/ ‘1incl.plur’, karr /kaɽ/ ‘1excl.plur’, tosh /tɔʃ/ ‘2.plur’, muurt /muːʈ/ ‘3.plur.masc’ and kænænsh /kɛ#ːʃ/ ‘3.plur.fem’.

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 Nost.

The Noun

The noun in Nost consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -aam /-aːm/ ‘sing’ and -am /-am/ ‘plur’; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -ens /-e#s/ ‘ACC’, -uus /-uːs/ ‘GEN’, -om /-ɔm/ ‘DAT’, -órt /-oʈ/ ‘INS’, -ææp /-ɛːp/ ‘VOC’, -ej /-ej/ ‘ALL’, -eet /-eːt/ ‘LOC’, -ónrs /-o#ʂ/ ‘ABL’ and -ëë /-ɘː/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 suffixes, namely -ush /-uʃ/ ‘little’, -enensh /-e#ːʃ/ ‘big’, -aash /-aːʃ/ ‘old’, -iik /-iːk/ ‘new’, -ip /-ip/ ‘good’, -it /-it/ ‘bad’, -enkë /-e#kɘ/ ‘have’, -ónónmóó /-o#ːmoː/ ‘use’, -ansu /-a#su/ ‘see’, -inpa /-i#pa/ ‘make’ and -ëshii /-ɘʃiː/ ‘break’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Nost, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -k /-k/ ‘masc’ and -m /-m/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

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

Jós waurt.

[jos wauʈ]

jo
love -s
PRES wauʈ
3.sing.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Ki jós waurt.

[ki jos wauʈ]

ki
3.sing.masc jo
love -s
PRES wauʈ
3.sing.fem

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Móóñyrtaam rtææpënëns Kafèrsaamens.

[moːɲɨʈaːm ʈɛːpɘ̃ːs kafɜʂaːmẽs]

moːɲɨʈ
Monyit -aːm
sing ʈɛːpɘ̃ː
hate -s
PRES kafɜʂ
Kaferash -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

“Monyit hates Kaferash.”

 (4)

Possession

mununfemaam nurr shonrsaamuus

[mũːfemaːm nuɽ ʃɔ̃ʂaːmuːs]

mũːfem
apple -aːm
sing nuɽ
3.sing.masc.POSS ʃɔ̃ʂ
boy -aːm
sing -uːs
GEN

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
mununfemaam nurr ki

[mũːfemaːm nuɽ ki]

mũːfem
apple -aːm
sing nuɽ
3.sing.masc.POSS ki
3.sing.masc

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
mununfemaam kins

[mũːfemaːm kĩs]

mũːfem
apple -aːm
sing kĩs
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

 (7)
Næænaam nurr siterraamuus kówènènk nauñaamens nurr ñananpiikaamuus rtas.

[nɛːnaːm nuɽ siteɽaːmuːs kowɜ̃ːk nauɲaːmẽs nuɽ ɲãːpiːkaːmuːs ʈas]

nɛːn
daughter -aːm
sing nuɽ
3.sing.masc.POSS siteɽ
hunter -aːm
sing -uːs
GEN kowɜ̃ː
kiss -k
PAST nauɲ
son -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC nuɽ
3.sing.masc.POSS ɲãːpiːk
neighbour -aːm
sing -uːs
GEN ʈas
2.sing.POSS

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

 (8)

Derivation

ñyykijaam

[ɲɨːkijaːm]

ɲɨːkij
lamb -aːm
sing

“a lamb”

 (9)
ñyykijushaam

[ɲɨːkijuʃaːm]

ɲɨːkij
lamb -uʃ
little -aːm
sing

“a little lamb”

 (10)
Ñyykijushenkëk.

[ɲɨːkijuʃẽkɘk]

ɲɨːkij
lamb -uʃ
little -ẽkɘ
have -k
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:

Jók mæt ñyykijaamens.

[jok mɛt ɲɨːkijaːmẽs]

jo
love -k
PAST mɛt
black ɲɨːkij
lamb -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

“She loved a black lamb.”

 (12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Nost are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing mode, comprising sy /sɨ/ ‘imperative’, mëërs /mɘːʂ/ ‘conditional’ and ñananf /ɲa#ːf/ ‘optative’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising fëj /fɘj/ ‘passive’; third, a clitic expressing negation, comprising tynrs /tɨ#ʂ/ ‘NEG’; fourth, a clitic expressing question, comprising ñort /ɲɔʈ/ ‘Q’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing comp, comprising ñiw /ɲiw/ ‘COMP’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising -s /-s/ ‘PRES’ and -k /-k/ ‘PAST’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -si /-si/ ‘begin’, -ñii /-ɲiː/ ‘stop’, -shè /-ʃɜ/ ‘continue’, -næ /-nɛ/ ‘try’ and -tu /-tu/ ‘start’

Jós nooñ.

[jos nɔːɲ]

jo
love -s
PRES nɔːɲ
2.sing

“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.

ñininrr shanankaam

[ɲĩːɽ ʃãːkaːm]

ɲĩːɽ
in_surface ʃãːk
table -aːm
sing

“on the table”

 (14)
maw fèsænñaam

[maw fɜsɛ̃ɲaːm]

maw
to_inside fɜsɛ̃ɲ
box -aːm
sing

“into the box”

 (15)
ñiitiñ næsh

[ɲiːtiɲ nɛʃ]

ɲiːtiɲ
COMIT nɛʃ
1excl.sing

“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.

Nost 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 Nost.

Rrenenrsinkaam kink siterraamens.

[ɽẽːʂĩkaːm kĩk siteɽaːmẽs]

ɽẽːʂĩk
jaguar -aːm
sing kĩ
kill -k
PAST siteɽ
hunter -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (17)
Ñishirraam mææk nasaamens rtot næænaamuus nurr siterraamuus.

[ɲiʃiɽaːm mɛːk nasaːmẽs ʈɔt nɛːnaːmuːs nuɽ siteɽaːmuːs]

ɲiʃiɽ
lion -aːm
sing mɛː
eat -k
PAST nas
dog -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC ʈɔt
3.sing.fem.POSS nɛːn
daughter -aːm
sing -uːs
GEN nuɽ
3.sing.masc.POSS siteɽ
hunter -aːm
sing -uːs
GEN

“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 Nost 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, Nost 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.

pæærraam nurr rtinmaamuus nurr nauñaamuus rtas

[pɛːɽaːm nuɽ ʈĩmaːmuːs nuɽ nauɲaːmuːs ʈas]

pɛːɽ
book -aːm
sing nuɽ
3.sing.masc.POSS ʈĩm
friend -aːm
sing -uːs
GEN nuɽ
3.sing.masc.POSS nauɲ
son -aːm
sing -uːs
GEN ʈas
2.sing.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (19)

Case Marking

Nost 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.

Jejaam wys.

[jejaːm wɨs]

jej
cat -aːm
sing wɨ
sleep -s
PRES

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (20)
Jejaam jyys.

[jejaːm jɨːs]

jej
cat -aːm
sing jɨː
run -s
PRES

“The cat is running.”

 (21)
Jejaam ñiwëës rsyyfonaamens.

[jejaːm ɲiwɘːs ʂɨːfɔnaːmẽs]

jej
cat -aːm
sing ɲiwɘː
chase -s
PRES ʂɨːfɔn
mouse -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (22)
Jejaam shèk rsyyfonaamens.

[jejaːm ʃɜk ʂɨːfɔnaːmẽs]

jej
cat -aːm
sing ʃɜ
catch -k
PAST ʂɨːfɔn
mouse -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (23)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Siterraam kink rrenenrsinkamens fars maarsaukamens fars ñishirramens.

[siteɽaːm kĩk ɽẽːʂĩkamẽs faʂ maːʂaukamẽs faʂ ɲiʃiɽamẽs]

siteɽ
hunter -aːm
sing kĩ
kill -k
PAST ɽẽːʂĩk
jaguar -am
plur -ẽs
ACC faʂ
and maːʂauk
tiger -am
plur -ẽs
ACC faʂ
and ɲiʃiɽ
lion -am
plur -ẽs
ACC

“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 Nost 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

Nost 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:

Rtakèk jejaamens.

[ʈakɜk jejaːmẽs]

ʈakɜ
pat -k
PAST jej
cat -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

“I patted the cat.”

 (25)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Rtakèk shèk ñiw rsyyfonaamens jejaamens.

[ʈakɜk ʃɜk ɲiw ʂɨːfɔnaːmẽs jejaːmẽs]

ʈakɜ
pat -k
PAST ʃɜ
catch -k
PAST ɲiw
COMP ʂɨːfɔn
mouse -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC jej
cat -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (26)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Rtakèk shèk ñiw mææk ñiw fæærtanrsaamens rsyyfonaamens jejaamens.

[ʈakɜk ʃɜk ɲiw mɛːk ɲiw fɛːʈãʂaːmẽs ʂɨːfɔnaːmẽs jejaːmẽs]

ʈakɜ
pat -k
PAST ʃɜ
catch -k
PAST ɲiw
COMP mɛː
eat -k
PAST ɲiw
COMP fɛːʈãʂ
cheese -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC ʂɨːfɔn
mouse -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC jej
cat -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

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

 (27)

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

Rtakèk shèk ñiw mææk ñiw næsh finink ñiw fæærtanrsaamens rsyyfonaamens jejaamens.

[ʈakɜk ʃɜk ɲiw mɛːk ɲiw nɛʃ fĩːk ɲiw fɛːʈãʂaːmẽs ʂɨːfɔnaːmẽs jejaːmẽs]

ʈakɜ
pat -k
PAST ʃɜ
catch -k
PAST ɲiw
COMP mɛː
eat -k
PAST ɲiw
COMP nɛʃ
1excl.sing fĩː
buy -k
PAST ɲiw
COMP fɛːʈãʂ
cheese -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC ʂɨːfɔn
mouse -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC jej
cat -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC

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

 (28)

Complementation Strategies

Nost marks complement clauses with subordinating verbal morphology. The embedded verb is fully finite and carries a subordinating suffix that identifies the clause as a complement. No structural changes occur within the clause apart from this verbal marking.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

Shonrsaam tink ñiw penñaamom mununfemaamens shiirsak kiitæærraamom.

[ʃɔ̃ʂaːm tĩk ɲiw pẽɲaːmɔm mũːfemaːmẽs ʃiːʂak kiːtɛːɽaːmɔm]

ʃɔ̃ʂ
boy -aːm
sing tĩ
give -k
PAST ɲiw
COMP pẽɲ
girl -aːm
sing -ɔm
DAT mũːfem
apple -aːm
sing -ẽs
ACC ʃiːʂa
surprise -k
PAST kiːtɛːɽ
teacher -aːm
sing -ɔm
DAT

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

 (29)

Quotes

Nost 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:

Shonrsaam faak penñaamom næsh jós ñiw nooñ.

[ʃɔ̃ʂaːm faːk pẽɲaːmɔm nɛʃ jos ɲiw nɔːɲ]

ʃɔ̃ʂ
boy -aːm
sing faː
tell -k
PAST pẽɲ
girl -aːm
sing -ɔm
DAT nɛʃ
1excl.sing jo
love -s
PRES ɲiw
COMP nɔːɲ
2.sing

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

 (30)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Nost. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 13 October 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5U4P5

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-5U4P5,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Nost}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/5U4P5}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 13 October 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Nost / Nost–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/5U4P5

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