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A Grammar of Nyagh

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Nyagh language (the 1944th 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 Nyagh.

Typological Profile

It has ergative case marking, i.e., the object of a transitive verb is marked the same as the subject of an intransitive one, and postpositions.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Nyagh has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 29 phonemes.

It has a broad set of voiced–voiceless oppositions, a system with marginal but genuine retroflex contrasts and a complete absence of laryngeal consonants.

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

labialalveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalretroflexvelar
stopp b d t ɖ ʈ k ɡ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ x ɣ
approximantw l j
affricatet͡ʃ
implosiveɓ

Vowels

Nyagh has 4 vowel qualities. This constitutes a relatively small inventory, with contrasts limited to the vowel categories displayed in the chart. The phonological system relies primarily on these few qualities to encode vocalic distinctions.

It has a vertical vowel system in which backness distinctions are largely absent and a triangular vowel system with few low vowels.

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

central
midə
opena

Stress and Tones

Nyagh 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

Nyagh 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 /ə/
f /f/g /ɡ/j /j/k /k/
l /l/m /m/n /n/p /p/
s /s/t /t/w /w/z /z/
ñ /ɲ/ğ /ɣ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

aa /aː/ai /ai/au /au/
bb /ɓ/ch /t͡ʃ/ee /əː/
kh /x/ng /ŋ/rd /ɖ/
rn /ɳ/rr /ɽ/rs /ʂ/
rt /ʈ/rz /ʐ/sh /ʃ/
zh /ʒ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Nyagh does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Nyagh does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

Ñej kheek kharsan chak pas zhard rzaush sek shaul zajek.

[ɲəj xəːk xaʂan t͡ʃak pas ʒaɖ ʐauʃ sək ʃaul zajək]

ɲəj
woman xəːk
knife xaʂan
COMIT t͡ʃak
ERG pas
catch ʒaɖ
PAST ʐauʃ
yon sək
three ʃaul
blind zajək
mouse

“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 chak /t͡ʃak/ ‘ERG’, khazh /xaʒ/ ‘GEN’, rzas /ʐas/ ‘DAT’, wağ /waɣ/ ‘INS’, tach /tat͡ʃ/ ‘VOC’, rnarz /ɳaʐ/ ‘ALL’, shañ /ʃaɲ/ ‘LOC’, rtat /ʈat/ ‘ABL’ and ğarn /ɣaɳ/ ‘PART’.

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

The Noun

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

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -rzarza /-ʐaʐa/ ‘little’ and -baza /-baza/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

Jarr ferd.

[jaɽ fəɖ]

jaɽ
love fəɖ
3

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

Ferd chak jarr ferd.

[fəɖ t͡ʃak jaɽ fəɖ]

fəɖ
3 t͡ʃak
ERG jaɽ
love fəɖ
3

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

Rdasrtak chak rtağauñ Rrasaaz.

[ɖasʈak t͡ʃak ʈaɣauɲ ɽasaːz]

ɖasʈak
Dastak t͡ʃak
ERG ʈaɣauɲ
hate ɽasaːz
Rasaz

“Dastak hates Rasaz.”

 (4)

Possession

zab jarnak

[zab jaɳak]

zab
boy jaɳak
apple

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
ferd jarnak

[fəɖ jaɳak]

fəɖ
3 jaɳak
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
ğeekh jarnak

[ɣəːx jaɳak]

ɣəːx
1excl jaɳak
apple

“my apple”

 (7)
Fastaan rsach chak ñamab zhard bam gatauk saiw.

[fastaːn ʂat͡ʃ t͡ʃak ɲamab ʒaɖ bam ɡatauk saiw]

fastaːn
hunter ʂat͡ʃ
daughter t͡ʃak
ERG ɲamab
kiss ʒaɖ
PAST bam
2 ɡatauk
neighbour saiw
son

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

bağel

[baɣəl]

baɣəl
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

bağelrzarza

[baɣəlʐaʐa]

baɣəl
lamb -ʐaʐa
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Nyagh are enclitics (placed finally), and there are four types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising zhard /ʒaɖ/ ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising mal /mal/ ‘imperative’, nash /naʃ/ ‘conditional’ and khañ /xaɲ/ ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising nard /naɖ/ ‘passive’; and finally, fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising lard /laɖ/ ‘NEG’.

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

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -rsama /-ʂama/ ‘begin’ and -lağa /-laɣa/ ‘stop’

Jarr bam.

[jaɽ bam]

jaɽ
love bam
2

“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.

rzef zhap

[ʐəf ʒap]

ʐəf
table ʒap
in_surface

“on the table”

 (12)
bangaich laarr

[baŋait͡ʃ laːɽ]

baŋait͡ʃ
box laːɽ
to_inside

“into the box”

 (13)
ğeekh kharsan

[ɣəːx xaʂan]

ɣəːx
1excl xaʂan
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.

Nyagh 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 Nyagh.

Ngaspaurr chak shach zhard fastaan.

[ŋaspauɽ t͡ʃak ʃat͡ʃ ʒaɖ fastaːn]

ŋaspauɽ
jaguar t͡ʃak
ERG ʃat͡ʃ
kill ʒaɖ
PAST fastaːn
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
Chasairt chak rtej zhard fastaan rsach gaang.

[t͡ʃasaiʈ t͡ʃak ʈəj ʒaɖ fastaːn ʂat͡ʃ ɡaːŋ]

t͡ʃasaiʈ
lion t͡ʃak
ERG ʈəj
eat ʒaɖ
PAST fastaːn
hunter ʂat͡ʃ
daughter ɡaːŋ
dog

“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 Nyagh 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, Nyagh 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.

bam saiw tard beek

[bam saiw taɖ bəːk]

bam
2 saiw
son taɖ
friend bəːk
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Nyagh uses ergative–absolutive case marking. The subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are treated alike and take the absolutive case, while the subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case. From the point of view of such a system, this is a perfectly natural way to organise the clause: the absolutive marks the participant most directly involved in the event or state, while the ergative marks the additional participant that causes or controls a transitive event.

Rdeng rrag.

[ɖəŋ ɽaɡ]

ɖəŋ
cat ɽaɡ
sleep

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
Rdeng lem.

[ɖəŋ ləm]

ɖəŋ
cat ləm
run

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
Rdeng chak sasairr zajek.

[ɖəŋ t͡ʃak sasaiɽ zajək]

ɖəŋ
cat t͡ʃak
ERG sasaiɽ
chase zajək
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
Rdeng chak pas zhard zajek.

[ɖəŋ t͡ʃak pas ʒaɖ zajək]

ɖəŋ
cat t͡ʃak
ERG pas
catch ʒaɖ
PAST zajək
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Fastaan chak shach zhard ngaspaurr rsard jangaarr rsard chasairt.

[fastaːn t͡ʃak ʃat͡ʃ ʒaɖ ŋaspauɽ ʂaɖ jaŋaːɽ ʂaɖ t͡ʃasaiʈ]

fastaːn
hunter t͡ʃak
ERG ʃat͡ʃ
kill ʒaɖ
PAST ŋaspauɽ
jaguar ʂaɖ
and jaŋaːɽ
tiger ʂaɖ
and t͡ʃasaiʈ
lion

“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 Nyagh 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

Nyagh forms relative clauses by placing the relative clause after the noun it modifies. The clause follows the internal word order of ordinary finite clauses. A dedicated relativising marker introduces the clause and identifies the relationship between the head noun and its role inside the relative clause.

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

Masat zhard rdeng.

[masat ʒaɖ ɖəŋ]

masat
pat ʒaɖ
PAST ɖəŋ
cat

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Masat zhard rdeng, zharr chak pas zhard zajek.

[masat ʒaɖ ɖəŋ, ʒaɽ t͡ʃak pas ʒaɖ zajək]

masat
pat ʒaɖ
PAST ɖəŋ
cat ʒaɽ
RELPRON t͡ʃak
ERG pas
catch ʒaɖ
PAST zajək
mouse

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Masat zhard rdeng, zharr chak pas zhard zajek, zharr chak rtej zhard lamas.

[masat ʒaɖ ɖəŋ, ʒaɽ t͡ʃak pas ʒaɖ zajək, ʒaɽ t͡ʃak ʈəj ʒaɖ lamas]

masat
pat ʒaɖ
PAST ɖəŋ
cat ʒaɽ
RELPRON t͡ʃak
ERG pas
catch ʒaɖ
PAST zajək
mouse ʒaɽ
RELPRON t͡ʃak
ERG ʈəj
eat ʒaɖ
PAST lamas
cheese

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

 (25)

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

Masat zhard rdeng, zharr chak pas zhard zajek, zharr chak rtej zhard lamas, zharr zhauñ zhard ğeekh chak.

[masat ʒaɖ ɖəŋ, ʒaɽ t͡ʃak pas ʒaɖ zajək, ʒaɽ t͡ʃak ʈəj ʒaɖ lamas, ʒaɽ ʒauɲ ʒaɖ ɣəːx t͡ʃak]

masat
pat ʒaɖ
PAST ɖəŋ
cat ʒaɽ
RELPRON t͡ʃak
ERG pas
catch ʒaɖ
PAST zajək
mouse ʒaɽ
RELPRON t͡ʃak
ERG ʈəj
eat ʒaɖ
PAST lamas
cheese ʒaɽ
RELPRON ʒauɲ
buy ʒaɖ
PAST ɣəːx
1excl t͡ʃak
ERG

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Nyagh 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:

Zab khad zhard meeñ rzas jarnak chak pazabb zhard dacheel rzas.

[zab xad ʒaɖ məːɲ ʐas jaɳak t͡ʃak pazaɓ ʒaɖ dat͡ʃəːl ʐas]

zab
boy xad
give ʒaɖ
PAST məːɲ
girl ʐas
DAT jaɳak
apple t͡ʃak
ERG pazaɓ
surprise ʒaɖ
PAST dat͡ʃəːl
teacher ʐas
DAT

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

 (27)

Quotes

Nyagh 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:

Zab chak naurr zhard meeñ rzas ğeekh jarr bam.

[zab t͡ʃak nauɽ ʒaɖ məːɲ ʐas ɣəːx jaɽ bam]

zab
boy t͡ʃak
ERG nauɽ
tell ʒaɖ
PAST məːɲ
girl ʐas
DAT ɣəːx
1excl jaɽ
love bam
2

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Nyagh. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 3 November 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6HAG0

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-6HAG0,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Nyagh}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6HAG0}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 3 November 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Nyagh / Nyagh–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/6HAG0

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