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A Grammar of Rar

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Rar language (the 645th 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 Rar.

Typological Profile

It has a relatively uncommon VOS word order and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Rar has 25 consonant phonemes, a size that falls within a broadly average range.

It has a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalretroflexvelarglottal
stopp b d t c ɟ ɖ ʈ k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef s ʃ ʂ h
approximantʋ l j
affricatet͡ʃ t͡ɕ

Vowels

Rar 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 Rar. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

frontcentralback
closei u
midə
opena

Stress and Tones

Rar 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

Rar 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 /c/d /d/
e /ə/f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/
i /i/j /j/k /k/l /l/
m /m/n /n/p /p/r /ɽ/
s /s/t /t/u /u/w /ʋ/
á /aː/é /əː/í /iː/ú /uː/
ć /t͡ɕ/č /t͡ʃ/ń /ɲ/š /ʃ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/cz /ʈ/
dz /ɖ/dź /ɟ/sz /ʂ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Rar does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Rar does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Jesut hiw geš dzíl čípis was czih ńasicuc dzíl paušic dzíl balic szidzadz.

[jəsut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl t͡ʃiːpis ʋas ʈih ɲasicuc ɖiːl pauʃic ɖiːl balic ʂiɖaɖ]

jəs
catch -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the t͡ʃiːp
blind -i
sing -s
GEN ʋas
yon ʈih
three ɲasic
mouse -u
plur -c
NOM ɖiːl
the pauʃ
woman -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the bal
knife -i
sing -c
NOM ʂiɖaɖ
COMIT

“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 Rar consists of first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -i /-i/ ‘sing’ and -u /-u/ ‘plur’; and finally, third, an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -c /-c/ ‘NOM’, -s /-s/ ‘GEN’, -f /-f/ ‘DAT’, -h /-h/ ‘INS’, -š /-ʃ/ ‘VOC’, -j /-j/ ‘ALL’, -d /-d/ ‘LOC’, -dz /-ɖ/ ‘ABL’ and -l /-l/ ‘PART’.

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

The pronoun in Rar has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -ef /-əf/ ‘plur’.

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

Šámut geš peh.

[ʃaːmut ɡəʃ pəh]

ʃaːm
love -ut
POS ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Šámut geš peh peh.

[ʃaːmut ɡəʃ pəh pəh]

ʃaːm
love -ut
POS ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing pəh
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Fuhuszut geš dzíl Behúcic dzíl Ćifanic.

[fuhuʂut ɡəʃ ɖiːl bəhuːcic ɖiːl t͡ɕifanic]

fuhuʂ
hate -ut
POS ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the bəhuːc
Bahuch -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the t͡ɕifan
Chifan -i
sing -c
NOM

“Chifan hates Bahuch.”

 (4)

Possession

dzíl dukis dzíl dzańulic

[ɖiːl dukis ɖiːl ɖaɲulic]

ɖiːl
the duk
boy -i
sing -s
GEN ɖiːl
the ɖaɲul
apple -i
sing -c
NOM

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
peh dzíl dzańulic

[pəh ɖiːl ɖaɲulic]

pəh
3.sing ɖiːl
the ɖaɲul
apple -i
sing -c
NOM

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
has dzíl dzańulic

[has ɖiːl ɖaɲulic]

has
1excl.sing ɖiːl
the ɖaɲul
apple -i
sing -c
NOM

“my apple”

 (7)
Dzidźaiczut hiw geš czep dzíl diczaćis dzíl czúdic dzíl dźačipis dzíl ćiczic.

[ɖiɟaiʈut hiʋ ɡəʃ ʈəp ɖiːl diʈat͡ɕis ɖiːl ʈuːdic ɖiːl ɟat͡ʃipis ɖiːl t͡ɕiʈic]

ɖiɟaiʈ
kiss -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ʈəp
2.sing ɖiːl
the diʈat͡ɕ
neighbour -i
sing -s
GEN ɖiːl
the ʈuːd
son -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the ɟat͡ʃip
hunter -i
sing -s
GEN ɖiːl
the t͡ɕiʈ
daughter -i
sing -c
NOM

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

 (8)

Derivation

Rar has no derivational processes.

bećebic

[bət͡ɕəbic]

bət͡ɕəb
lamb -i
sing -c
NOM

“a lamb”

 (9)

Note how none show up here:

Cutut hiw geš degut hiw geš dzíl ńáfis bećebic.

[cutut hiʋ ɡəʃ dəɡut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl ɲaːfis bət͡ɕəbic]

cut
want -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ dəɡ
have -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the ɲaːf
little -i
sing -s
GEN bət͡ɕəb
lamb -i
sing -c
NOM

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Rar are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising hiw /hiʋ/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising biw /biʋ/ ‘imperative’, muf /muf/ ‘conditional’ and dziń /ɖiɲ/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising dźah /ɟah/ ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing obj, comprising tacz /taʈ/ ‘1incl.sing’, ćud /t͡ɕud/ ‘1excl.sing’, de /də/ ‘2.sing’, geš /ɡəʃ/ ‘3.sing’, faf /faf/ ‘1incl.plur’, tal /tal/ ‘1excl.plur’, ćidź /t͡ɕiɟ/ ‘2.plur’ and ćih /t͡ɕih/ ‘3.plur’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising tiń /tiɲ/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing negation, comprising -af /-af/ ‘NEG’ and -ut /-ut/ ‘POS’; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing subj, comprising -ed /-əd/ ‘1incl.sing’, -at /-at/ ‘1excl.sing’, -if /-if/ ‘2.sing’, -it /-it/ ‘1incl.plur’, -eh /-əh/ ‘1excl.plur’, -ik /-ik/ ‘2.plur’ and -ej /-əj/ ‘3.plur’.

Šámutat de czep.

[ʃaːmutat də ʈəp]

ʃaːm
love -ut
POS -at
1excl.sing.SUBJ də
2.sing.OBJ ʈəp
2.sing

“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.

dzíl čuwic dźasz

[ɖiːl t͡ʃuʋic ɟaʂ]

ɖiːl
the t͡ʃuʋ
table -i
sing -c
NOM ɟaʂ
in_surface

“on the table”

 (12)
dzíl naćísic čadz

[ɖiːl nat͡ɕiːsic t͡ʃaɖ]

ɖiːl
the nat͡ɕiːs
box -i
sing -c
NOM t͡ʃaɖ
to_inside

“into the box”

 (13)
has szidzadz

[has ʂiɖaɖ]

has
1excl.sing ʂiɖaɖ
COMIT

“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.

Rar displays Verb–Object–Subject (VOS) as its primary word order. The verb is followed by the object, with the subject appearing clause-finally. Although relatively uncommon, VOS is well documented cross-linguistically.

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

Sétut hiw geš dzíl dźačipic dzíl tufawic.

[səːtut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl ɟat͡ʃipic ɖiːl tufaʋic]

səːt
kill -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the ɟat͡ʃip
hunter -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the tufaʋ
jaguar -i
sing -c
NOM

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Dzaičut hiw geš dzíl dźačipis dzíl ćiczis dzíl gisic dzíl ćeléčic.

[ɖait͡ʃut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl ɟat͡ʃipis ɖiːl t͡ɕiʈis ɖiːl ɡisic ɖiːl t͡ɕələːt͡ʃic]

ɖait͡ʃ
eat -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the ɟat͡ʃip
hunter -i
sing -s
GEN ɖiːl
the t͡ɕiʈ
daughter -i
sing -s
GEN ɖiːl
the ɡis
dog -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the t͡ɕələːt͡ʃ
lion -i
sing -c
NOM

“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 Rar 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, Rar 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.

czep dzíl czúdis dzíl timis dzíl cigéhic

[ʈəp ɖiːl ʈuːdis ɖiːl timis ɖiːl ciɡəːhic]

ʈəp
2.sing ɖiːl
the ʈuːd
son -i
sing -s
GEN ɖiːl
the tim
friend -i
sing -s
GEN ɖiːl
the ciɡəːh
book -i
sing -c
NOM

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Rar does not use case marking to distinguish the core participants of the clause. There is therefore no regular nominative, accusative, ergative, active or stative marking on subjects and objects. Instead, the roles of the participants are identified by other means, cf. the examples below.

Matut dzíl daudic.

[matut ɖiːl daudic]

mat
sleep -ut
POS ɖiːl
the daud
cat -i
sing -c
NOM

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Česut dzíl daudic.

[t͡ʃəsut ɖiːl daudic]

t͡ʃəs
run -ut
POS ɖiːl
the daud
cat -i
sing -c
NOM

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Labaszut geš dzíl ńasicic dzíl daudic.

[labaʂut ɡəʃ ɖiːl ɲasicic ɖiːl daudic]

labaʂ
chase -ut
POS ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the ɲasic
mouse -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the daud
cat -i
sing -c
NOM

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Jesut hiw geš dzíl ńasicic dzíl daudic.

[jəsut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl ɲasicic ɖiːl daudic]

jəs
catch -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the ɲasic
mouse -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the daud
cat -i
sing -c
NOM

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Sétut hiw ćih dzíl tufawuc czíg dzíl ficzaguc czíg dzíl ćeléčuc dzíl dźačipic.

[səːtut hiʋ t͡ɕih ɖiːl tufaʋuc ʈiːɡ ɖiːl fiʈaɡuc ʈiːɡ ɖiːl t͡ɕələːt͡ʃuc ɖiːl ɟat͡ʃipic]

səːt
kill -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST t͡ɕih
3.plur.OBJ ɖiːl
the tufaʋ
jaguar -u
plur -c
NOM ʈiːɡ
and ɖiːl
the fiʈaɡ
tiger -u
plur -c
NOM ʈiːɡ
and ɖiːl
the t͡ɕələːt͡ʃ
lion -u
plur -c
NOM ɖiːl
the ɟat͡ʃip
hunter -i
sing -c
NOM

“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 Rar 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

Rar uses the correlative strategy to form relative clauses. The relative clause is introduced by a dedicated relativiser and appears as an independent clause. The main clause contains a demonstrative that corresponds to the relativiser and identifies the element being modified. The relative clause precedes the main clause when used on its own, and follows the head noun when it functions as a modifier. The internal structure of both clauses is fully finite.

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

Testamutat hiw geš dzíl daudic.

[təstamutat hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl daudic]

təstam
pat -ut
POS -at
1excl.sing.SUBJ hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the daud
cat -i
sing -c
NOM

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Jesut hiw geš dzíl ńasicic testamutat hiw geš peh kudz.

[jəsut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl ɲasicic təstamutat hiʋ ɡəʃ pəh kuɖ]

jəs
catch -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the ɲasic
mouse -i
sing -c
NOM təstam
pat -ut
POS -at
1excl.sing.SUBJ hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing kuɖ
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Dzaičut hiw geš dzíl bifaric jesut hiw geš peh kudz testamutat hiw geš peh kudz.

[ɖait͡ʃut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖiːl bifaɽic jəsut hiʋ ɡəʃ pəh kuɖ təstamutat hiʋ ɡəʃ pəh kuɖ]

ɖait͡ʃ
eat -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖiːl
the bifaɽ
cheese -i
sing -c
NOM jəs
catch -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing kuɖ
then təstam
pat -ut
POS -at
1excl.sing.SUBJ hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing kuɖ
then

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

 (25)

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

Húwutat hiw geš peh dzaičut hiw geš peh kudz jesut hiw geš peh kudz testamutat hiw geš peh kudz.

[huːʋutat hiʋ ɡəʃ pəh ɖait͡ʃut hiʋ ɡəʃ pəh kuɖ jəsut hiʋ ɡəʃ pəh kuɖ təstamutat hiʋ ɡəʃ pəh kuɖ]

huːʋ
buy -ut
POS -at
1excl.sing.SUBJ hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing ɖait͡ʃ
eat -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing kuɖ
then jəs
catch -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing kuɖ
then təstam
pat -ut
POS -at
1excl.sing.SUBJ hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ pəh
3.sing kuɖ
then

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Rar 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:

Czalílut hiw dzíl szicícic dzíl dukic dźaibut hiw geš dzańulic dzíl raidic.

[ʈaliːlut hiʋ ɖiːl ʂiciːcic ɖiːl dukic ɟaibut hiʋ ɡəʃ ɖaɲulic ɖiːl ɽaidic]

ʈaliːl
surprise -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɖiːl
the ʂiciːc
teacher -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the duk
boy -i
sing -c
NOM ɟaib
give -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST ɡəʃ
3.sing.OBJ ɖaɲul
apple -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the ɽaid
girl -i
sing -c
NOM

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

 (27)

Quotes

Rar 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:

Dzeczut hiw ćud has šámut de czep dzíl raidic dzíl dukic.

[ɖəʈut hiʋ t͡ɕud has ʃaːmut də ʈəp ɖiːl ɽaidic ɖiːl dukic]

ɖəʈ
tell -ut
POS hiʋ
PAST t͡ɕud
1excl.sing.OBJ has
1excl.sing ʃaːm
love -ut
POS də
2.sing.OBJ ʈəp
2.sing ɖiːl
the ɽaid
girl -i
sing -c
NOM ɖiːl
the duk
boy -i
sing -c
NOM

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Rar. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 10 July 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6A0DU

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-6A0DU,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Rar}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6A0DU}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 10 July 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

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