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A Grammar of Anyez

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Anyez language (the 606th 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 Anyez.

Typological Profile

It has the highly uncommon basic word order OVS.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Anyez has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 33 phonemes.

It has a notable dental–alveolar contrast across several manners and a noticeably strong aspirated–unaspirated distinction.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalvelarlab. velarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
aspirated stoppʰ tʰ kʰ kʰʷ
ejective stopkʼ kʷʼ
nasalm n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
trill/tap/flapr
fricativef s z ʃ ʒ h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ
implosiveɓ

Vowels

Anyez has 5 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 has a completely boring and uninteresting vowel system.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Anyez 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

Anyez 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 /e/
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/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/bb /ɓ/ch /t͡ʃ/
ee /eː/gk /kʼ/gqu /kʼʷ/
gw /ɡʷ/ii /iː/kh /kʰ/
ng /ŋ/ngw /ŋʷ/oo /oː/
ph /pʰ/qu /kʷ/quh /kʰʷ/
sh /ʃ/th /tʰ/ty /t͡ɕ/
uu /uː/zh /ʒ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Anyez does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Anyez does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Kheshinik gub puqu tosing deef nar zuz quhobaw khabuf.

[kʰeʃinik ɡub pukʷ tosiŋ deːf nar zuz kʰʷobaw kʰabuf]

kʰ-
NOM eʃinik
mouse ɡub
three pukʷ
yon t-
GEN osiŋ
blind deːf
catch nar
PAST z-
ERG uz
woman kʰʷobaw
COMIT kʰ-
NOM abuf
knife

“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 Anyez consists of an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising kh- /kʰ-/ ‘NOM’, z- /z-/ ‘ERG’, qu- /kʷ-/ ‘ACC’, t- /t-/ ‘GEN’, gqu- /kʼʷ-/ ‘DAT’, r- /r-/ ‘INS’, h- /h-/ ‘VOC’, f- /f-/ ‘ALL’, ngw- /ŋʷ-/ ‘LOC’, k- /k-/ ‘ABL’ and gk- /kʼ-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -gko /-kʼo/ ‘little’ and -gu /-ɡu/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

The pronoun in Anyez has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -gqu /-kʼʷ/ ‘sing’ and -ng /-ŋ/ ‘plur’.

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

Negqu bbe.

[nekʼʷ ɓe]

ne
3.sing -kʼʷ
sing ɓe
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Negqu bbe negqu.

[nekʼʷ ɓe nekʼʷ]

ne
3.sing -kʼʷ
sing ɓe
love ne
3.sing -kʼʷ
sing

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

QuEchegkad khowem khAadebong.

[kʷet͡ʃekʼad kʰowem kʰaːdeboŋ]

kʷ-
ACC et͡ʃekʼad
Echekad kʰowem
hate kʰ-
NOM aːdeboŋ
Adebong

“Adebong hates Echekad.”

 (4)

Possession

khiikupej tish

[kʰiːkupej tiʃ]

kʰ-
NOM iːkupej
apple t-
GEN iʃ
boy

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
khiikupej negqu

[kʰiːkupej nekʼʷ]

kʰ-
NOM iːkupej
apple ne
3.sing -kʼʷ
sing

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
khiikupej ngiigqu

[kʰiːkupej ŋiːkʼʷ]

kʰ-
NOM iːkupej
apple ŋiː
1excl.sing -kʼʷ
sing

“my apple”

 (7)
Khaaz teshedagw mugqu radaf nar zib tigkifit.

[kʰaːz teʃedaɡʷ mukʼʷ radaf nar zib tikʼifit]

kʰ-
NOM aːz
son t-
GEN eʃedaɡʷ
neighbour mu
2.sing -kʼʷ
sing radaf
kiss nar
PAST z-
ERG ib
daughter t-
GEN ikʼifit
hunter

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

khichabboj

[kʰit͡ʃaɓoj]

kʰ-
NOM it͡ʃaɓoj
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

khichabbojgko

[kʰit͡ʃaɓojkʼo]

kʰ-
NOM it͡ʃaɓoj
lamb -kʼo
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Anyez are enclitics (placed finally), and there are four types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising nar /nar/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising gquañ /kʼʷaɲ/ ‘imperative’, chas /t͡ʃas/ ‘conditional’ and gki /kʼi/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising quingw /kʷiŋʷ/ ‘passive’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising luty /lut͡ɕ/ ‘NEG’.

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

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -gwa /-ɡʷa/ ‘begin’ and -gi /-ɡi/ ‘stop’

Mugqu bbe.

[mukʼʷ ɓe]

mu
2.sing -kʼʷ
sing ɓe
love

“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.

bobb khiity khigquezh

[boɓ kʰiːt͡ɕ kʰikʼʷeʒ]

boɓ
in kʰ-
NOM iːt͡ɕ
surface kʰ-
NOM ikʼʷeʒ
table

“on the table”

 (12)
thooqu khuty khiphutyuk

[tʰoːkʷ kʰut͡ɕ kʰipʰut͡ɕuk]

tʰoːkʷ
to kʰ-
NOM ut͡ɕ
inside kʰ-
NOM ipʰut͡ɕuk
box

“into the box”

 (13)
quhobaw ngiigqu

[kʰʷobaw ŋiːkʼʷ]

kʰʷobaw
COMIT ŋiː
1excl.sing -kʼʷ
sing

“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.

Anyez has Object–Verb–Subject (OVS) as its basic constituent order. Clauses begin with the object, followed by the verb, with the subject in final position. This is a rare but attested configuration in the world’s languages.

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

Khigkifit maab nar ziipawity.

[kʰikʼifit maːb nar ziːpawit͡ɕ]

kʰ-
NOM ikʼifit
hunter maːb
kill nar
PAST z-
ERG iːpawit͡ɕ
jaguar

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Khaw tib tigkifit gquak nar zahithung.

[kʰaw tib tikʼifit kʼʷak nar zahitʰuŋ]

kʰ-
NOM aw
dog t-
GEN ib
daughter t-
GEN ikʼifit
hunter kʼʷak
eat nar
PAST z-
ERG ahitʰuŋ
lion

“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 Anyez 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, Anyez 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.

kheekitab taan taaz mugqu

[kʰeːkitab taːn taːz mukʼʷ]

kʰ-
NOM eːkitab
book t-
GEN aːn
friend t-
GEN aːz
son mu
2.sing -kʼʷ
sing

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Anyez uses split case marking. In the present tense, the grammar follows a nominative–accusative pattern, where intransitive and transitive subjects are treated alike and objects are marked with the accusative. In the past tense, however, it follows an ergative–absolutive pattern, here called ergative–nominative, where intransitive subjects and transitive objects are treated alike and transitive subjects are marked with the ergative. This makes sense because present-tense clauses often describe events as ongoing, habitual or controlled by an active participant, so the grammar treats the subject as the central argument. Past-tense clauses, by contrast, often present an event as completed, making the affected participant especially salient. The ergative marking then singles out the transitive agent as the additional participant responsible for bringing about that result.

Daf khiiw.

[daf kʰiːw]

daf
sleep kʰ-
NOM iːw
cat

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Hut khiiw.

[hut kʰiːw]

hut
run kʰ-
NOM iːw
cat

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Queshinik quabbif khiiw.

[kʷeʃinik kʷaɓif kʰiːw]

kʷ-
ACC eʃinik
mouse kʷaɓif
chase kʰ-
NOM iːw
cat

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Kheshinik deef nar ziiw.

[kʰeʃinik deːf nar ziːw]

kʰ-
NOM eʃinik
mouse deːf
catch nar
PAST z-
ERG iːw
cat

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Khiipawity kor khiityiphizh kor khahithung maab nar zigkifit.

[kʰiːpawit͡ɕ kor kʰiːt͡ɕipʰiʒ kor kʰahitʰuŋ maːb nar zikʼifit]

kʰ-
NOM iːpawit͡ɕ
jaguar kor
and kʰ-
NOM iːt͡ɕipʰiʒ
tiger kor
and kʰ-
NOM ahitʰuŋ
lion maːb
kill nar
PAST z-
ERG ikʼifit
hunter

“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 Anyez 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

Anyez 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:

Khiiw phided nar.

[kʰiːw pʰided nar]

kʰ-
NOM iːw
cat pʰided
pat nar
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Kheshinik deef nar tyuñiigw khiiw phided nar.

[kʰeʃinik deːf nar t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ kʰiːw pʰided nar]

kʰ-
NOM eʃinik
mouse deːf
catch nar
PAST t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP kʰ-
NOM iːw
cat pʰided
pat nar
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Khinubip gquak nar tyuñiigw kheshinik deef nar tyuñiigw khiiw phided nar.

[kʰinubip kʼʷak nar t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ kʰeʃinik deːf nar t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ kʰiːw pʰided nar]

kʰ-
NOM inubip
cheese kʼʷak
eat nar
PAST t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP kʰ-
NOM eʃinik
mouse deːf
catch nar
PAST t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP kʰ-
NOM iːw
cat pʰided
pat nar
PAST

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

 (25)

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

Ragk nar ngiigqu tyuñiigw khinubip gquak nar tyuñiigw kheshinik deef nar tyuñiigw khiiw phided nar.

[rakʼ nar ŋiːkʼʷ t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ kʰinubip kʼʷak nar t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ kʰeʃinik deːf nar t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ kʰiːw pʰided nar]

rakʼ
buy nar
PAST ŋiː
1excl.sing -kʼʷ
sing t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP kʰ-
NOM inubip
cheese kʼʷak
eat nar
PAST t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP kʰ-
NOM eʃinik
mouse deːf
catch nar
PAST t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP kʰ-
NOM iːw
cat pʰided
pat nar
PAST

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Anyez 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:

Gquuukalim ñitel nar khiikupej gqueng then nar zish tyuñiigw.

[kʼʷuːkalim ɲitel nar kʰiːkupej kʼʷeŋ tʰen nar ziʃ t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ]

kʼʷ-
DAT uːkalim
teacher ɲitel
surprise nar
PAST kʰ-
NOM iːkupej
apple kʼʷ-
DAT eŋ
girl tʰen
give nar
PAST z-
ERG iʃ
boy t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP

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

 (27)

Quotes

Anyez 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:

Mugqu bbe ngiigqu tyuñiigw gqueng laaqu nar zish.

[mukʼʷ ɓe ŋiːkʼʷ t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ kʼʷeŋ laːkʷ nar ziʃ]

mu
2.sing -kʼʷ
sing ɓe
love ŋiː
1excl.sing -kʼʷ
sing t͡ɕuɲiːɡʷ
COMP kʼʷ-
DAT eŋ
girl laːkʷ
tell nar
PAST z-
ERG iʃ
boy

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Anyez. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 4 July 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/62589

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-62589,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Anyez}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/62589}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 4 July 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Anyez / Anyez–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/62589

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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