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A Grammar of Vich

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Vich language (the 1917th 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 Vich.

Typological Profile

It has postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

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

It has a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants and a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts.

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

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolaralveolo-palatallateralpalatalretroflexvelarlab. velarglottal
stopb d t ɖ ʈ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ ʔ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ ŋʷ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef θ s ʃ ʂ x xʷ h
approximantʋ ɾ j
affricatet͡s t͡ʃ t͡ɕ
implosiveɓ

Vowels

Vich has 8 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 maximally “square” vowel system balancing heights across backness.

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

frontback
closei u
mide o
openæ ɑ

Stress and Tones

Vich 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

Vich 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 /ɑ/b /b/d /d/e /e/
f /f/g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/
j /j/k /k/m /m/n /n/
o /o/q /ʔ/r /ɾ/s /s/
t /t/u /u/w /ʋ/ä /æ/
ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

ai /ai/au /au/bb /ɓ/
ch /t͡ʃ/gw /ɡʷ/kh /x/
khw /xʷ/ng /ŋ/ngw /ŋʷ/
qu /kʷ/rd /ɖ/rn /ɳ/
rr /ɽ/rs /ʂ/rt /ʈ/
sh /ʃ/th /θ/ty /t͡ɕ/
tz /t͡s/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Vich does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Vich has the following genders:

Gender masc – for instance: buk ‘book’, chäf ‘fruit’, chäquäkh ‘lamb’, dichej ‘teacher’, däkad ‘dust’, gaurn ‘father’, higwag ‘dialect’, khwash ‘sound’, kibbarn ‘worm’, ngebbagw ‘hunter’, rdamoñ ‘grass’, rim ‘speech’, rrigwotz ‘mouse’, rsubaw ‘restaurant’, rtauj ‘road’, rus ‘bed’, saurn ‘fire’, tyad ‘stone’, ñeng ‘year’, ñeñas ‘court’.

Gender fem – for instance: bboqaib ‘knee’, bosh ‘tongue’, cheñow ‘stick’, dangw ‘back’, fob ‘meat’, har ‘water’, jotaugw ‘mammal’, juwaish ‘guts’, khut ‘woman’, khätyaid ‘snow’, makit ‘market’, rdetz ‘colour’, rsithaubb ‘brick’, rtatag ‘salt’, rtuch ‘daughter’, rtäbbaus ‘lake’, susaurr ‘vagina’, sängw ‘head’, tzers ‘eye’, ñirren ‘library’.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Khutangw khwotz gwaurangw khwoqu gwafod fegw sitzahutz sodäwutz woq chom rrigwotzek rsiqu.

[xutɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ɡʷauɾɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ɡʷɑfod feɡʷ sit͡sɑhut͡s sodæʋut͡s ʋoʔ t͡ʃom ɽiɡʷot͡sek ʂikʷ]

xut
woman -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ɡʷauɾ
knife -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ɡʷɑfod
COMIT feɡʷ
3.sing.fem.SUBJ s-
active it͡sɑ
catch -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active odæ
blind -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS t͡ʃom
three ɽiɡʷot͡s
mouse -ek
plur ʂi
yon -kʷ
masc

“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 a proclitic (placed initially), expressing possessor. a clitic expressing possessor, comprising quen /kʷen/ ‘1incl.sing’, rsin /ʂin/ ‘1excl.sing’, gweng /ɡʷeŋ/ ‘2.sing’, ñus /ɲus/ ‘3.sing.masc’, woq /ʋoʔ/ ‘3.sing.fem’, sun /sun/ ‘1incl.plur’, sot /sot/ ‘1excl.plur’, rsuth /ʂuθ/ ‘2.plur’, dun /dun/ ‘3.plur.masc’ and rting /ʈiŋ/ ‘3.plur.fem’.

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

The Noun

The noun in Vich consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing number, comprising -angw /-ɑŋʷ/ ‘sing’ and -ek /-ek/ ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: six suffixes, namely -iw /-iʋ/ ‘little’, -ibb /-iɓ/ ‘big’, -ad /-ɑd/ ‘old’, -aw /-ɑʋ/ ‘new’, -ish /-iʃ/ ‘good’ and -aj /-ɑj/ ‘bad’, and five circumfixes, namely a-iqua /ɑ-ikʷɑ/ ‘have’, u-äthä /u-æθæ/ ‘use’, a-ero /ɑ-eɾo/ ‘see’, ä-ibbo /æ-iɓo/ ‘make’ and ä-ojä /æ-ojæ/ ‘break’

The Adjective

In Vich, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -äb /-æb/ ‘NOM’, -oth /-oθ/ ‘ACC’, -uj /-uj/ ‘DAT’, -äj /-æj/ ‘INS’, -äqu /-ækʷ/ ‘VOC’, -äf /-æf/ ‘ALL’, -at /-ɑt/ ‘LOC’, -ok /-ok/ ‘ABL’ and -äch /-æt͡ʃ/ ‘PART’.

Numerals

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

Determiners

In Vich, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -qu /-kʷ/ ‘masc’ and -tz /-t͡s/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

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

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

Singewutz.

[siŋeʋut͡s]

s-
active iŋe
love -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Rdärs singewutz.

[ɖæʂ siŋeʋut͡s]

ɖæʂ
3.sing.masc s-
active iŋe
love -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

Singewutz jaty.

[siŋeʋut͡s jɑt͡ɕ]

s-
active iŋe
love -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q jɑt͡ɕ
3.sing.fem

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

Chärimangw khwoqu sogwiquewutz Bbiquaijangw khwotz.

[t͡ʃæɾimɑŋʷ xʷokʷ soɡʷikʷeʋut͡s ɓikʷaijɑŋʷ xʷot͡s]

t͡ʃæɾim
Charim -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active oɡʷikʷe
hate -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q ɓikʷaij
Bikaiy -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem

“Charim hates Bikaiy.”

 (5)

Possession

ñus rtochiquangw khwotz ngwigwangw khwoqu

[ɲus ʈot͡ʃikʷɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ŋʷiɡʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

ɲus
3.sing.masc.POSS ʈot͡ʃikʷ
apple -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ŋʷiɡʷ
boy -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)
ñus rtochiquangw khwotz rdärs

[ɲus ʈot͡ʃikʷɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ɖæʂ]

ɲus
3.sing.masc.POSS ʈot͡ʃikʷ
apple -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ɖæʂ
3.sing.masc

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)
rsin rtochiquangw khwotz

[ʂin ʈot͡ʃikʷɑŋʷ xʷot͡s]

ʂin
1excl.sing.POSS ʈot͡ʃikʷ
apple -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem

“my apple”

 (8)
Ñus rtuchangw khwotz ngebbagwangw khwoqu fegw setoñähutz ñus minangw khwoqu gweng fotyangangw khwoqu.

[ɲus ʈut͡ʃɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ŋeɓɑɡʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ feɡʷ setoɲæhut͡s ɲus minɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ɡʷeŋ fot͡ɕɑŋɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

ɲus
3.sing.masc.POSS ʈut͡ʃ
daughter -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ŋeɓɑɡʷ
hunter -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc feɡʷ
3.sing.fem.SUBJ s-
active etoɲæ
kiss -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q ɲus
3.sing.masc.POSS min
son -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ɡʷeŋ
2.sing.POSS fot͡ɕɑŋ
neighbour -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

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

 (9)

Derivation

chäquäkhangw

[t͡ʃækʷæxɑŋʷ]

t͡ʃækʷæx
lamb -ɑŋʷ
sing

“a lamb”

 (10)
chäquäkhiwangw

[t͡ʃækʷæxiʋɑŋʷ]

t͡ʃækʷæx
lamb -iʋ
little -ɑŋʷ
sing

“a little lamb”

 (11)
Fegw sachäquäkhiwiquahutz.

[feɡʷ sɑt͡ʃækʷæxiʋikʷɑhut͡s]

feɡʷ
3.sing.fem.SUBJ s-
active ɑ-
have₁ t͡ʃækʷæx
lamb -iʋ
little -ikʷɑ
have₂ -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q

“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:

Fegw singehutz sauwutz woq chäquäkhangw.

[feɡʷ siŋehut͡s sauʋut͡s ʋoʔ t͡ʃækʷæxɑŋʷ]

feɡʷ
3.sing.fem.SUBJ s-
active iŋe
love -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active au
black -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS t͡ʃækʷæx
lamb -ɑŋʷ
sing

“She loved a black lamb.”

 (13)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Vich fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing subj, comprising rrij /ɽij/ ‘1incl.sing’, dukh /dux/ ‘1excl.sing’, säm /sæm/ ‘2.sing’, fegw /feɡʷ/ ‘3.sing.fem’, na /nɑ/ ‘1incl.plur’, mo /mo/ ‘1excl.plur’, tzart /t͡sɑʈ/ ‘2.plur’, khwäkhw /xʷæxʷ/ ‘3.plur.masc’ and si /si/ ‘3.plur.fem’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising werr /ʋeɽ/ ‘imperative’, sungw /suŋʷ/ ‘conditional’ and qungw /ʔuŋʷ/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing negation, comprising sikhw /sixʷ/ ‘NEG’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, an obligatory prefix expressing voice, comprising s- /s-/ ‘active’ and rd- /ɖ-/ ‘passive’; second, the root; third, an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising -w /-ʋ/ ‘PRES’ and -h /-h/ ‘PAST’; and finally, fourth, an obligatory suffix expressing question, comprising -äñ /-æɲ/ ‘Q’ and -utz /-ut͡s/ ‘not.Q’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -te /-te/ ‘begin’, -shi /-ʃi/ ‘stop’, -rde /-ɖe/ ‘continue’, -rne /-ɳe/ ‘try’ and -bba /-ɓɑ/ ‘start’

Dukh singewutz.

[dux siŋeʋut͡s]

dux
1excl.sing.SUBJ s-
active iŋe
love -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q

“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.

nithangw khwoqu sird

[niθɑŋʷ xʷokʷ siɖ]

niθ
table -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc siɖ
in_surface

“on the table”

 (15)
bochotyangw khwotz sas

[bot͡ʃot͡ɕɑŋʷ xʷot͡s sɑs]

bot͡ʃot͡ɕ
box -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem sɑs
to_inside

“into the box”

 (16)
rsik gwafod

[ʂik ɡʷɑfod]

ʂik
1excl.sing ɡʷɑfod
COMIT

“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.

Vich 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 Vich.

Duwoshangw khwoqu saitzehutz ngebbagwangw khwoqu.

[duʋoʃɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sait͡sehut͡s ŋeɓɑɡʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

duʋoʃ
jaguar -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active ait͡se
kill -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q ŋeɓɑɡʷ
hunter -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (18)
Nibbätyangw khwoqu sesihutz woq raichangw khwoqu ñus rtuchangw khwotz ngebbagwangw khwoqu.

[niɓæt͡ɕɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sesihut͡s ʋoʔ ɾait͡ʃɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ɲus ʈut͡ʃɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ŋeɓɑɡʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

niɓæt͡ɕ
lion -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active esi
eat -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS ɾait͡ʃ
dog -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ɲus
3.sing.masc.POSS ʈut͡ʃ
daughter -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ŋeɓɑɡʷ
hunter -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“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 Vich 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, Vich 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.

ñus bukangw khwoqu ñus gotzangw khwoqu gweng minangw khwoqu

[ɲus bukɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ɲus ɡot͡sɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ɡʷeŋ minɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

ɲus
3.sing.masc.POSS buk
book -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ɲus
3.sing.masc.POSS ɡot͡s
friend -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ɡʷeŋ
2.sing.POSS min
son -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (20)

Case Marking

Vich 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.

Khengwangw khwoqu sotzäwutz.

[xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sot͡sæʋut͡s]

xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active ot͡sæ
sleep -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (21)
Khengwangw khwoqu säkhwiwutz.

[xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sæxʷiʋut͡s]

xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active æxʷi
run -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q

“The cat is running.”

 (22)
Khengwangw khwoqu sufakäwutz rrigwotzangw khwoqu.

[xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sufɑkæʋut͡s ɽiɡʷot͡sɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active ufɑkæ
chase -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q ɽiɡʷot͡s
mouse -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (23)
Khengwangw khwoqu sitzahutz rrigwotzangw khwoqu.

[xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sit͡sɑhut͡s ɽiɡʷot͡sɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active it͡sɑ
catch -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q ɽiɡʷot͡s
mouse -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Ngebbagwangw khwoqu saitzehutz duwoshek khwoqu gwikhw fatzathek khwotz gwikhw nibbätyek khwoqu.

[ŋeɓɑɡʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sait͡sehut͡s duʋoʃek xʷokʷ ɡʷixʷ fɑt͡sɑθek xʷot͡s ɡʷixʷ niɓæt͡ɕek xʷokʷ]

ŋeɓɑɡʷ
hunter -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active ait͡se
kill -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q duʋoʃ
jaguar -ek
plur xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ɡʷixʷ
and fɑt͡sɑθ
tiger -ek
plur xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ɡʷixʷ
and niɓæt͡ɕ
lion -ek
plur xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“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 Vich 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

Vich forms relative clauses by using a head-internal strategy. The head noun appears inside the clause itself, occupying its regular syntactic position. The entire clause functions as a modifier, and its external syntactic behaviour is identical to that of a noun-modifying phrase.

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

Dukh saichaquihutz khengwangw khwoqu.

[dux sait͡ʃɑkʷihut͡s xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

dux
1excl.sing.SUBJ s-
active ait͡ʃɑkʷi
pat -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“I patted the cat.”

 (26)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Dukh saichaquihutz sitzahutz rrigwotzangw khwoqu woq khengwangw khwoqu.

[dux sait͡ʃɑkʷihut͡s sit͡sɑhut͡s ɽiɡʷot͡sɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ʋoʔ xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

dux
1excl.sing.SUBJ s-
active ait͡ʃɑkʷi
pat -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active it͡sɑ
catch -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q ɽiɡʷot͡s
mouse -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (27)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Dukh saichaquihutz sitzahutz sesihutz bithaigwangw khwotz woq rrigwotzangw khwoqu woq khengwangw khwoqu.

[dux sait͡ʃɑkʷihut͡s sit͡sɑhut͡s sesihut͡s biθaiɡʷɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ʋoʔ ɽiɡʷot͡sɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ʋoʔ xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

dux
1excl.sing.SUBJ s-
active ait͡ʃɑkʷi
pat -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active it͡sɑ
catch -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active esi
eat -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q biθaiɡʷ
cheese -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS ɽiɡʷot͡s
mouse -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

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

 (28)

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

Dukh saichaquihutz sitzahutz sesihutz sishähutz bithaigwangw khwotz woq rsik woq rrigwotzangw khwoqu woq khengwangw khwoqu.

[dux sait͡ʃɑkʷihut͡s sit͡sɑhut͡s sesihut͡s siʃæhut͡s biθaiɡʷɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ʋoʔ ʂik ʋoʔ ɽiɡʷot͡sɑŋʷ xʷokʷ ʋoʔ xeŋʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

dux
1excl.sing.SUBJ s-
active ait͡ʃɑkʷi
pat -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active it͡sɑ
catch -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active esi
eat -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q s-
active iʃæ
buy -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q biθaiɡʷ
cheese -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS ʂik
1excl.sing ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS ɽiɡʷot͡s
mouse -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS xeŋʷ
cat -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

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

 (29)

Complementation Strategies

Vich 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:

Sinohutz nibangw khwotz rtochiquangw woq ngwigwangw khwoqu fegw sanidihutz dichejangw khwoqu.

[sinohut͡s nibɑŋʷ xʷot͡s ʈot͡ʃikʷɑŋʷ ʋoʔ ŋʷiɡʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ feɡʷ sɑnidihut͡s dit͡ʃejɑŋʷ xʷokʷ]

s-
active ino
give -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q nib
girl -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem ʈot͡ʃikʷ
apple -ɑŋʷ
sing ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS ŋʷiɡʷ
boy -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc feɡʷ
3.sing.fem.SUBJ s-
active ɑnidi
surprise -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q dit͡ʃej
teacher -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc

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

 (30)

Quotes

Vich 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:

Ngwigwangw khwoqu sutzihutz nibangw khwotz singewutz cha woq rsik.

[ŋʷiɡʷɑŋʷ xʷokʷ sut͡sihut͡s nibɑŋʷ xʷot͡s siŋeʋut͡s t͡ʃɑ ʋoʔ ʂik]

ŋʷiɡʷ
boy -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -kʷ
masc s-
active ut͡si
tell -h
PAST -ut͡s
not.Q nib
girl -ɑŋʷ
sing xʷo
the -t͡s
fem s-
active iŋe
love -ʋ
PRES -ut͡s
not.Q t͡ʃɑ
2.sing ʋoʔ
3.sing.fem.POSS ʂik
1excl.sing

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

 (31)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Vich. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 27 October 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6BVHD

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-6BVHD,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Vich}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6BVHD}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 27 October 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

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