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A Grammar of Paba

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Paba language (the 1941st 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 Paba.

Typological Profile

It has a complete absence of fricative consonants, no inflections (clitics do the hard work) and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Paba has a moderately small consonant inventory, comprising 16 phonemes.

It has a complete absence of fricative consonants, a maximally contrastive voicing system, a complete absence of affricates and a strongly reduced sibilant system.

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

labialalveolarlateralpalatalvelarglottal
stopp b d t k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ
fricatives z h
approximantw ɾ j

Vowels

Paba 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 fully contrastive long–short vowel distinction across the system, a full range of vowel qualities even in reduced syllables and occasional ghost vowels that surface only weakly.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Paba 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

Paba 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/
g /ɡ/h /h/i /i/j /j/
k /k/m /m/n /n/o /o/
p /p/r /ɾ/s /s/t /t/
u /u/w /w/z /z/ñ /ɲ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ee /eː/ii /iː/
oo /oː/uu /uː/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Paba does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Paba does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Ruu su ruu tunu hadi ramee hu tujote zee mokee piiza raaro.

[ɾuː su ɾuː tunu hadi ɾameː hu tujote zeː mokeː piːza ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the su
woman ɾuː
the tunu
knife hadi
COMIT ɾameː
blind hu
yon tujote
mouse zeː
three mokeː
ACC piːza
catch ɾaːɾo
PAST

“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 case. a clitic expressing case, comprising mokee /mokeː/ ‘ACC’, bizi /bizi/ ‘GEN’, maza /maza/ ‘DAT’, duso /duso/ ‘INS’, wabi /wabi/ ‘VOC’, baari /baːɾi/ ‘ALL’, sopi /sopi/ ‘LOC’, giimaa /ɡiːmaː/ ‘ABL’ and kedoo /kedoː/ ‘PART’.

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 Paba.

The Noun

The noun in Paba stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -zu /-zu/ ‘little’ and -pe /-pe/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Kakuu.

[kakuː]

kakuː
love

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Do kakuu.

[do kakuː]

do
3 kakuː
love

“He loves her.”

 (3)

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

Do mokee kakuu.

[do mokeː kakuː]

do
3 mokeː
ACC kakuː
love

“He loves her.”

 (4)

Proper Nouns

Ruu Wezakee ruu Zomamu mokee waahabe.

[ɾuː wezakeː ɾuː zomamu mokeː waːhabe]

ɾuː
the wezakeː
Wezake ɾuː
the zomamu
Zomamu mokeː
ACC waːhabe
hate

“Wezake hates Zomamu.”

 (5)

Possession

ruu di ruu nodaagu

[ɾuː di ɾuː nodaːɡu]

ɾuː
the di
boy ɾuː
the nodaːɡu
apple

“the boy’s apple”

 (6)
do ruu nodaagu

[do ɾuː nodaːɡu]

do
3 ɾuː
the nodaːɡu
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (7)
saa ruu nodaagu

[saː ɾuː nodaːɡu]

saː
1excl ɾuː
the nodaːɡu
apple

“my apple”

 (8)
Ruu gazaakii ruu nii ro ruu ñooñemii ruu mii mokee weeriwii raaro.

[ɾuː ɡazaːkiː ɾuː niː ɾo ɾuː ɲoːɲemiː ɾuː miː mokeː weːɾiwiː ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the ɡazaːkiː
hunter ɾuː
the niː
daughter ɾo
2 ɾuː
the ɲoːɲemiː
neighbour ɾuː
the miː
son mokeː
ACC weːɾiwiː
kiss ɾaːɾo
PAST

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

 (9)

Derivation

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

kikejo

[kikejo]

kikejo
lamb

“a lamb”

 (10)

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

kikejozu

[kikejozu]

kikejo
lamb -zu
little

“a little lamb”

 (11)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Paba are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising raaro /ɾaːɾo/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising tazi /tazi/ ‘imperative’, putee /puteː/ ‘conditional’ and mañu /maɲu/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising baza /baza/ ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising siri /siɾi/ ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising tikii /tikiː/ ‘Q’.

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

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -gu /-ɡu/ ‘begin’ and -paa /-paː/ ‘stop’

Kakuu.

[kakuː]

kakuː
love

“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.

ruu juñii kuu re

[ɾuː juɲiː kuː ɾe]

ɾuː
the juɲiː
table kuː
surface ɾe
in

“on the table”

 (13)
ruu wamigaa bu mee

[ɾuː wamiɡaː bu meː]

ɾuː
the wamiɡaː
box bu
inside meː
to

“into the box”

 (14)
saa hadi

[saː hadi]

saː
1excl hadi
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.

Paba has basic Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. The subject precedes the object, and the verb appears at the end of the clause. This is one of the most frequent patterns cross-linguistically.

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

Ruu ñipedu ruu gazaakii mokee baga raaro.

[ɾuː ɲipedu ɾuː ɡazaːkiː mokeː baɡa ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the ɲipedu
jaguar ɾuː
the ɡazaːkiː
hunter mokeː
ACC baɡa
kill ɾaːɾo
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (16)
Ruu koojeeñi ruu gazaakii ruu nii ruu ñaa mokee rina raaro.

[ɾuː koːjeːɲi ɾuː ɡazaːkiː ɾuː niː ɾuː ɲaː mokeː ɾina ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the koːjeːɲi
lion ɾuː
the ɡazaːkiː
hunter ɾuː
the niː
daughter ɾuː
the ɲaː
dog mokeː
ACC ɾina
eat ɾaːɾo
PAST

“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 Paba 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, Paba 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.

ro ruu mii ruu daa ruu siihoo

[ɾo ɾuː miː ɾuː daː ɾuː siːhoː]

ɾo
2 ɾuː
the miː
son ɾuː
the daː
friend ɾuː
the siːhoː
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (18)

Case Marking

Paba 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.

Ruu nu joo.

[ɾuː nu joː]

ɾuː
the nu
cat joː
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (19)
Ruu nu nee.

[ɾuː nu neː]

ɾuː
the nu
cat neː
run

“The cat is running.”

 (20)
Ruu nu ruu tujote mokee degape.

[ɾuː nu ɾuː tujote mokeː deɡape]

ɾuː
the nu
cat ɾuː
the tujote
mouse mokeː
ACC deɡape
chase

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (21)
Ruu nu ruu tujote mokee piiza raaro.

[ɾuː nu ɾuː tujote mokeː piːza ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the nu
cat ɾuː
the tujote
mouse mokeː
ACC piːza
catch ɾaːɾo
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (22)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Ruu gazaakii ruu ñipedu mi ruu mumoru mi ruu koojeeñi mokee baga raaro.

[ɾuː ɡazaːkiː ɾuː ɲipedu mi ɾuː mumoɾu mi ɾuː koːjeːɲi mokeː baɡa ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the ɡazaːkiː
hunter ɾuː
the ɲipedu
jaguar mi
and ɾuː
the mumoɾu
tiger mi
and ɾuː
the koːjeːɲi
lion mokeː
ACC baɡa
kill ɾaːɾo
PAST

“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 Paba 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

Paba 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:

Ruu nu mokee duñanii raaro.

[ɾuː nu mokeː duɲaniː ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the nu
cat mokeː
ACC duɲaniː
pat ɾaːɾo
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (24)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Ruu tujote mokee piiza raaro ruu nu mokee duñanii raaro.

[ɾuː tujote mokeː piːza ɾaːɾo ɾuː nu mokeː duɲaniː ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the tujote
mouse mokeː
ACC piːza
catch ɾaːɾo
PAST ɾuː
the nu
cat mokeː
ACC duɲaniː
pat ɾaːɾo
PAST

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (25)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Ruu señewo mokee rina raaro ruu tujote mokee piiza raaro ruu nu mokee duñanii raaro.

[ɾuː seɲewo mokeː ɾina ɾaːɾo ɾuː tujote mokeː piːza ɾaːɾo ɾuː nu mokeː duɲaniː ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the seɲewo
cheese mokeː
ACC ɾina
eat ɾaːɾo
PAST ɾuː
the tujote
mouse mokeː
ACC piːza
catch ɾaːɾo
PAST ɾuː
the nu
cat mokeː
ACC duɲaniː
pat ɾaːɾo
PAST

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

 (26)

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

Saa duno raaro ruu señewo mokee rina raaro ruu tujote mokee piiza raaro ruu nu mokee duñanii raaro.

[saː duno ɾaːɾo ɾuː seɲewo mokeː ɾina ɾaːɾo ɾuː tujote mokeː piːza ɾaːɾo ɾuː nu mokeː duɲaniː ɾaːɾo]

saː
1excl duno
buy ɾaːɾo
PAST ɾuː
the seɲewo
cheese mokeː
ACC ɾina
eat ɾaːɾo
PAST ɾuː
the tujote
mouse mokeː
ACC piːza
catch ɾaːɾo
PAST ɾuː
the nu
cat mokeː
ACC duɲaniː
pat ɾaːɾo
PAST

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

 (27)

Complementation Strategies

Paba 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:

Ruu di ruu je maza nodaagu mokee hema raaro ruu seesaañee maza zuuterii raaro.

[ɾuː di ɾuː je maza nodaːɡu mokeː hema ɾaːɾo ɾuː seːsaːɲeː maza zuːteɾiː ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the di
boy ɾuː
the je
girl maza
DAT nodaːɡu
apple mokeː
ACC hema
give ɾaːɾo
PAST ɾuː
the seːsaːɲeː
teacher maza
DAT zuːteɾiː
surprise ɾaːɾo
PAST

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

 (28)

Quotes

Paba 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:

Ruu di ruu je maza saa ro mokee kakuu mokee beeko raaro.

[ɾuː di ɾuː je maza saː ɾo mokeː kakuː mokeː beːko ɾaːɾo]

ɾuː
the di
boy ɾuː
the je
girl maza
DAT saː
1excl ɾo
2 mokeː
ACC kakuː
love mokeː
ACC beːko
tell ɾaːɾo
PAST

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

 (29)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Paba. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 1 November 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6GPX9

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-6GPX9,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Paba}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6GPX9}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 1 November 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Paba / Paba–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/6GPX9

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