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A Grammar of Hama

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Hama language (the 1924th 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 Hama.

Typological Profile

It has postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Hama has a moderately small consonant inventory, comprising 17 phonemes.

It has a complete absence of affricates and a markedly rich set of labial consonants.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopb d t k ɡ ʔ
nasalm n ɲ
fricativef s ʃ h
approximantw l j

Vowels

Hama 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 a moderately reduced system of unstressed vowels.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Hama 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

The language employs vowel harmony. To be specific, the following vowels change to match the first vowel of the root: /i/ becomes /u/, /e/ becomes /o/.

Writing System

Introduction

Hama 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/q /ʔ/s /s/
t /t/u /u/w /w/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

sh /ʃ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Hama does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Hama does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Sadi sheqana mubu maga tani shibanaqi jaja ña.

[sadi ʃeʔana mubu maɡa tani ʃibanaʔi jaja ɲa]

sa
woman -di
ACT ʃeʔa
knife -na
LOC mibu
COMIT maɡ
catch -a
PAST tani
three ʃibana
mouse -ʔi
STA jaja
blind ɲa
yon

“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 Hama consists of the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing case, comprising -qi /-ʔi/ ‘STA’, -di /-di/ ‘ACT’, -ni /-ni/ ‘GEN’, -da /-da/ ‘DAT’, -wi /-wi/ ‘INS’, -fi /-fi/ ‘VOC’, -ja /-ja/ ‘ALL’, -na /-na/ ‘LOC’, -ma /-ma/ ‘ABL’ and -fa /-fa/ ‘PART’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 suffixes, namely -ñali /-ɲali/ ‘little’, -nila /-nila/ ‘big’, -fiqi /-fiʔi/ ‘old’, -nasa /-nasa/ ‘new’, -libi /-libi/ ‘good’, -hiti /-hiti/ ‘bad’, -wash /-waʃ/ ‘have’, -qat /-ʔat/ ‘use’, -sif /-sif/ ‘see’, -gañ /-ɡaɲ/ ‘make’ and -faf /-faf/ ‘break’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

Hama always includes the personal pronouns, even if they are not stressed. This is similar to English, where the only way to distinguish "he loves her" from "he loves her" and "he loves her" is the stress. So the following corresponds exactly to English in this regard:

Ju shiñi ju.

[ju ʃiɲi ju]

ju
3 ʃiɲ
love -i
PRES ju
3

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

Proper Nouns

Hishatidi ñamiqi Gajaqiqi.

[hiʃatidi ɲamiʔi ɡajaʔiʔi]

hiʃati
Hishati -di
ACT ɲamiʔ
hate -i
PRES ɡajaʔi
Gayai -ʔi
STA

“Hishati hates Gayai.”

 (3)

Possession

wasunuqu gonu

[wasunuʔu ɡonu]

wasuni
apple -ʔi
STA ɡo
boy -ni
GEN

“the boy’s apple”

 (4)
wasunuqu ju

[wasunuʔu ju]

wasuni
apple -ʔi
STA ju
3

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (5)
wasunuqu fu

[wasunuʔu fu]

wasuni
apple -ʔi
STA fu
1excl

“my apple”

 (6)
Dodu sinemini suquda nuqu qadabini na.

[dodu sinemini suʔuda nuʔu ʔadabini na]

do
daughter -di
ACT sinemi
hunter -ni
GEN siʔud
kiss -a
PAST nu
son -ʔi
STA ʔadabi
neighbour -ni
GEN na
2

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

 (7)

Derivation

fuloshaqu

[fuloʃaʔu]

filoʃa
lamb -ʔi
STA

“a lamb”

 (8)
fuloshañaluqi

[fuloʃaɲaluʔi]

filoʃa
lamb -ɲali
little -ʔi
STA

“a little lamb”

 (9)
Ju fuloshañaluwasha.

[ju fuloʃaɲaluwaʃa]

ju
3 filoʃa
lamb -ɲali
little -waʃ
have -a
PAST

“She had a little lamb.”

 (10)

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:

Ju shiña fuloshaqu wo.

[ju ʃiɲa fuloʃaʔu wo]

ju
3 ʃiɲ
love -a
PAST filoʃa
lamb -ʔi
STA wo
black

“She loved a black lamb.”

 (11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Hama are enclitics (placed finally), and there are three types: first, a clitic expressing mode, comprising kisi /kisi/ ‘imperative’, wishi /wiʃi/ ‘conditional’ and faki /faki/ ‘optative’; second, a clitic expressing voice, comprising fifi /fifi/ ‘passive’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing comp, comprising bifi /bifi/ ‘COMP’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, the root; second, an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising -i /-i/ ‘PRES’ and -a /-a/ ‘PAST’; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing negation, comprising -ñiqa /-ɲiʔa/ ‘NEG’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five suffixes, namely -añaw /-aɲaw/ ‘begin’, -ijiw /-ijiw/ ‘stop’, -atish /-atiʃ/ ‘continue’, -ilib /-ilib/ ‘try’ and -amij /-amij/ ‘start’

Fu shiñi na.

[fu ʃiɲi na]

fu
1excl ʃiɲ
love -i
PRES na
2

“I love you.”

 (12)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

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

gafana lu

[ɡafana lu]

ɡafa
table -na
LOC lu
in_surface

“on the table”

 (13)
galotana ho

[ɡalotana ho]

ɡalota
box -na
LOC ho
to_inside

“into the box”

 (14)
fu mubu

[fu mubu]

fu
1excl mibu
COMIT

“with me”

 (15)

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.

Hama 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 Hama.

Nalushudu wita sinemiqi.

[naluʃudu wita sinemiʔi]

naluʃi
jaguar -di
ACT wit
kill -a
PAST sinemi
hunter -ʔi
STA

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)
Shañekadi sida maqi donu sinemini.

[ʃaɲekadi sida maʔi donu sinemini]

ʃaɲeka
lion -di
ACT sid
eat -a
PAST ma
dog -ʔi
STA do
daughter -ni
GEN sinemi
hunter -ni
GEN

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

 (17)

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 Hama 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, Hama 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.

shiqiqi nonu nunu na

[ʃiʔiʔi nonu nunu na]

ʃiʔi
book -ʔi
STA no
friend -ni
GEN nu
son -ni
GEN na
2

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Hama uses active case marking. Intransitive subjects are divided according to how they participate in the event. More agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘run’ or ‘shout’, pattern with transitive subjects and take the active or agentive case. Less agent-like subjects, such as the subject of ‘sleep’ or ‘be ill’, pattern with transitive objects and take the patientive or absolutive case. This system makes sense where the grammar treats control, volition or affectedness as more important than the simple distinction between subject and object.

Taqi badi.

[taʔi badi]

ta
cat -ʔi
STA bad
sleep -i
PRES

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)
Tadi siqi.

[tadi siʔi]

ta
cat -di
ACT siʔ
run -i
PRES

“The cat is running.”

 (20)
Tadi labini shibanaqi.

[tadi labini ʃibanaʔi]

ta
cat -di
ACT labin
chase -i
PRES ʃibana
mouse -ʔi
STA

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)
Tadi maga shibanaqi.

[tadi maɡa ʃibanaʔi]

ta
cat -di
ACT maɡ
catch -a
PAST ʃibana
mouse -ʔi
STA

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Sinemidi wita nalushuqu ko bumonaqu ko shañekaqi.

[sinemidi wita naluʃuʔu ko bumonaʔu ko ʃaɲekaʔi]

sinemi
hunter -di
ACT wit
kill -a
PAST naluʃi
jaguar -ʔi
STA ko
and bimona
tiger -ʔi
STA ko
and ʃaɲeka
lion -ʔi
STA

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

 (23)

Modifiers and Determiners

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

Hama 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:

Fu suwowa taqi.

[fu suwowa taʔi]

fu
1excl siwow
pat -a
PAST ta
cat -ʔi
STA

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Fu suwowa tadi maga bifi shibanaqi.

[fu suwowa tadi maɡa bifi ʃibanaʔi]

fu
1excl siwow
pat -a
PAST ta
cat -di
ACT maɡ
catch -a
PAST bifi
COMP ʃibana
mouse -ʔi
STA

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Fu suwowa tadi maga bifi shibanadi sida bifi badediqi.

[fu suwowa tadi maɡa bifi ʃibanadi sida bifi badediʔi]

fu
1excl siwow
pat -a
PAST ta
cat -di
ACT maɡ
catch -a
PAST bifi
COMP ʃibana
mouse -di
ACT sid
eat -a
PAST bifi
COMP badedi
cheese -ʔi
STA

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

 (26)

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

Fu suwowa tadi maga bifi shibanadi sida bifi fu wiqa bifi badediqi.

[fu suwowa tadi maɡa bifi ʃibanadi sida bifi fu wiʔa bifi badediʔi]

fu
1excl siwow
pat -a
PAST ta
cat -di
ACT maɡ
catch -a
PAST bifi
COMP ʃibana
mouse -di
ACT sid
eat -a
PAST bifi
COMP fu
1excl wiʔ
buy -a
PAST bifi
COMP badedi
cheese -ʔi
STA

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

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Hama 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:

Godu nuja bifi guda wasunuqu sihaha sishañida.

[ɡodu nuja bifi ɡuda wasunuʔu sihaha siʃaɲida]

ɡo
boy -di
ACT nuj
give -a
PAST bifi
COMP ɡu
girl -da
DAT wasuni
apple -ʔi
STA sihah
surprise -a
PAST siʃaɲi
teacher -da
DAT

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

 (28)

Quotes

Hama 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:

Godu teta guda fu shiñi bifi na.

[ɡodu teta ɡuda fu ʃiɲi bifi na]

ɡo
boy -di
ACT tet
tell -a
PAST ɡu
girl -da
DAT fu
1excl ʃiɲ
love -i
PRES bifi
COMP na
2

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

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Hama. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 October 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6D9FS

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-6D9FS,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Hama}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6D9FS}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 28 October 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Hama / Hama–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/6D9FS

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