A Grammar of Osaka
Introduction
Scope and Purpose
This grammar provides a systematic description of the Osaka language (the 2000th 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 Osaka.
Typological Profile
It has a complete absence of bilabial or labiodental consonants, a total lack of nasal consonants, a complete absence of fricative consonants and no inflections (clitics do the hard work).Phonology
Phoneme Inventory
Consonants
Osaka has 6 consonant phonemes, forming a relatively small inventory.
It has a complete absence of bilabial or labiodental consonants, a total lack of nasal consonants, a complete absence of fricative consonants, a complete absence of affricates and a conspicuous absence of approximants.The table below presents the full inventory of consonant phonemes in Osaka. The chart lists all places and manners of articulation attested in the language.
| alveolar | velar | glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| stop | t | k | ʔ |
| fricative | s | h |
Vowels
Osaka has 10 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 fully developed system of nasal vowels matching the oral height distinctions.The table below presents the full inventory of vowel phonemes in Osaka. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.
| front | central | back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | i ĩ | u ũ | |
| mid | e ẽ | o õ | |
| open | a ã |
Stress and Tones
Osaka 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 /i#/, /u/ becomes /u#/, /e/ becomes /e#/, /o/ becomes /o#/, /a/ becomes /a#/.
Writing System
Introduction
Osaka 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/ | e /e/ | h /h/ | i /i/ |
| k /k/ | o /o/ | q /ʔ/ | s /s/ |
| t /t/ | u /u/ |
Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs
| an /ã/ | en /ẽ/ | in /ĩ/ |
| on /õ/ | un /ũ/ |
Word Classes and Morphology
Number and Gender
Number
Osaka distinguishes singular and plural.
Gender
Osaka does not have genders or noun classes.
The Nominal Phrase
Nominal phrases in Osaka can be exemplified by the following example:
Ti teqa kusu kikiqi kotisasati tanhen tutu ti qe. [ti teʔa kusu kikiʔi kotisasati tãhẽ tutu ti ʔe] ti 3.plur teʔa blind k- sing usu woman kikiʔi COMIT k- sing otisa knife -sati def.LOC tãhẽ catch tutu PAST.active.POS ti 3.plur ʔe then “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 Osaka consists of first, an obligatory prefix expressing number, comprising k- /k-/ ‘sing’ and s- /s-/ ‘plur’; second, the root; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing def.case, comprising -tiqan /-tiʔa#/ ‘not.def.NOM’, -kutu /-kutu/ ‘not.def.GEN’, -tisin /-tisi#/ ‘not.def.DAT’, -sisu /-sisu/ ‘not.def.INS’, -qanqa /-ʔa#ʔa/ ‘not.def.VOC’, -sintun /-si#tu#/ ‘not.def.ALL’, -qaqun /-ʔaʔu#/ ‘not.def.LOC’, -hatin /-hati#/ ‘not.def.ABL’, -suka /-suka/ ‘not.def.PART’, -saka /-saka/ ‘def.NOM’, -qaka /-ʔaka/ ‘def.GEN’, -siqi /-siʔi/ ‘def.DAT’, -sita /-sita/ ‘def.INS’, -kiqi /-kiʔi/ ‘def.VOC’, -kati /-kati/ ‘def.ALL’, -sati /-sati/ ‘def.LOC’, -tisun /-tisu#/ ‘def.ABL’ and -tita /-tita/ ‘def.PART’.
The noun displays the following derivational morphology: 11 circumfixes, namely aq-si /aʔ-si/ ‘little’, iq-kan /iʔ-ka#/ ‘big’, ik-ti /ik-ti/ ‘old’, aq-qi /aʔ-ʔi/ ‘new’, ank-qa /a#k-ʔa/ ‘good’, ik-sa /ik-sa/ ‘bad’, q-ku /ʔ-ku/ ‘have’, q-tun /ʔ-tu#/ ‘use’, s-ka /s-ka/ ‘see’, s-ta /s-ta/ ‘make’ and h-qu /h-ʔu/ ‘break’
The Adjective
The adjective in Osaka stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.
Numerals
The numeral in Osaka stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.
Determiners
The determiner in Osaka stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.
Pronouns
The pronoun in Osaka stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.
Osaka 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:
Hu hute qati hu. [hu hute ʔati hu] hu 3.sing hute love ʔati PRES.active.POS hu 3.sing “He (the boy) loves her (the girl).” | (2) |
Proper Nouns
KOnkantinhin sihoqa qati kUqasaqa. [kõkãtĩhĩ sihoʔa ʔati kuʔasaʔa] k- sing okatihĩ Okatihi sihoʔa hate ʔati PRES.active.POS k- sing uʔasaʔa Uasaa “Okatihi hates Uasaa.” | (3) |
Possession
kusisusi kosaqaka [kusisusi kosaʔaka] k- sing usisusi apple k- sing osa boy -ʔaka def.GEN “the boy’s apple” | (4) |
kusisusi hu [kusisusi hu] k- sing usisusi apple hu 3.sing “his (the boy’s) apple” | (5) |
kusisusi hen [kusisusi hẽ] k- sing usisusi apple hẽ 1excl.sing “my apple” | (6) |
Kantan kikaqiqaqaka sinqunqin tutu kanqin ketakuhiqaka hi. [kãtã kikaʔiʔaʔaka sĩʔũʔĩ tutu kãʔĩ ketakuhiʔaka hi] k- sing atã daughter k- sing ikaʔiʔa hunter -ʔaka def.GEN siʔuʔĩ kiss tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing ãʔi son k- sing etakuhi neighbour -ʔaka def.GEN hi 2.sing “The hunter’s daughter kissed your neighbour’s son.” | (7) |
Derivation
konsanqinqun [kõsãʔĩʔũ] k- sing osaʔiʔũ lamb “a lamb” | (8) |
kanqonsanqinqunsin [kãʔõsãʔĩʔũsĩ] k- sing aʔ- little₁ osaʔiʔũ lamb -si little₂ “a little lamb” | (9) |
Hu qanqonsanqinqunsinku tutu. [hu ʔãʔõsãʔĩʔũsĩku tutu] hu 3.sing ʔ- have₁ aʔ- little₁ osaʔiʔũ lamb -si little₂ -ku have₂ tutu PAST.active.POS “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:
Hu ken hu hute tutu hu qe. [hu kẽ hu hute tutu hu ʔe] hu 3.sing kẽ black hu 3.sing hute love tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing ʔe then “She loved a black lamb.” | (11) |
Compounding
Verbs
Inflectional Categories
The verbal phrase clitics in Osaka fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing question, comprising kuqu /kuʔu/ ‘Q’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising kisu /kisu/ ‘imperative’, sasun /sasu#/ ‘conditional’ and hinsi /hi#si/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing ta.voice.negation, comprising qasun /ʔasu#/ ‘PRES.active.NEG’, qati /ʔati/ ‘PRES.active.POS’, tasan /tasa#/ ‘PRES.passive.NEG’, sisa /sisa/ ‘PRES.passive.POS’, tusin /tusi#/ ‘PAST.active.NEG’, tutu /tutu/ ‘PAST.active.POS’, husi /husi/ ‘PAST.passive.NEG’ and kaqun /kaʔu#/ ‘PAST.passive.POS’.
The verb itself does not have any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.
The verb displays the following derivational morphology: five circumfixes, namely ku-sa /ku-sa/ ‘begin’, kan-sa /ka#-sa/ ‘stop’, tu-qi /tu-ʔi/ ‘continue’, tan-ti /ta#-ti/ ‘try’ and su-tu /su-tu/ ‘start’
Hen hute qati hi. [hẽ hute ʔati hi] hẽ 1excl.sing hute love ʔati PRES.active.POS hi 2.sing “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.
saki kaqasusati [saki kaʔasusati] saki in_surface k- sing aʔasu table -sati def.LOC “on the table” | (13) |
tintun kakataqusati [tĩtũ kakataʔusati] tĩtũ to_inside k- sing akataʔu box -sati def.LOC “into the box” | (14) |
kikiqi hen [kikiʔi hẽ] kikiʔi COMIT hẽ 1excl.sing “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.
Osaka 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 Osaka.
Kunkintinkin sunkin tutu kikaqiqa. [kũkĩtĩkĩ sũkĩ tutu kikaʔiʔa] k- sing ukitĩkĩ jaguar sukĩ kill tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing ikaʔiʔa hunter “The jaguar killed the hunter.” | (16) |
Katitisi sunkun tutu kasi kantanqankan kikaqiqaqaka. [katitisi sũkũ tutu kasi kãtãʔãkã kikaʔiʔaʔaka] k- sing atitisi lion sũku eat tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing asi dog k- sing atã daughter -ʔaka def.GEN k- sing ikaʔiʔa hunter -ʔaka def.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 Osaka 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, Osaka 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.
ketuki konkanqankan kanqinqankan hi [ketuki kõkãʔãkã kãʔĩʔãkã hi] k- sing etuki book k- sing õka friend -ʔaka def.GEN k- sing ãʔi son -ʔaka def.GEN hi 2.sing “your son’s friend’s book” | (18) |
Case Marking
Osaka 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.
Kutu kasi qati. [kutu kasi ʔati] k- sing utu cat kasi sleep ʔati PRES.active.POS “The cat is sleeping.” | (19) |
Kutu tanqun. [kutu tãʔũ] k- sing utu cat tãʔu run “The cat is running.” | (20) |
Kutu quntunkan kinkunhunqan. [kutu ʔũtũkã kĩkũhũʔã] k- sing utu cat ʔutũkã chase k- sing ikũhuʔa mouse “The cat is chasing the mouse.” | (21) |
Kutu tanhen tutu kinkunhunqan. [kutu tãhẽ tutu kĩkũhũʔã] k- sing utu cat tãhẽ catch tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing ikũhuʔa mouse “The cat caught the mouse.” | (22) |
Conjunctions
Here is an example of a conjunction.
Kikaqiqa sunkin tutu sunkintinkin tin sunqinqintan tin satitisi. [kikaʔiʔa sũkĩ tutu sũkĩtĩkĩ tĩ sũʔĩʔĩtã tĩ satitisi] k- sing ikaʔiʔa hunter sukĩ kill tutu PAST.active.POS s- plur ukitĩkĩ jaguar tĩ and s- plur ũʔiʔitã tiger tĩ and s- plur atitisi lion “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 Osaka 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
Osaka 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:
Hen kinsunsin tutu kutu. [hẽ kĩsũsĩ tutu kutu] hẽ 1excl.sing kisusĩ pat tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing utu cat “I patted the cat.” | (24) |
We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:
Hu tanhen tutu kinkunhunqan hen kinsunsin tutu hu qe. [hu tãhẽ tutu kĩkũhũʔã hẽ kĩsũsĩ tutu hu ʔe] hu 3.sing tãhẽ catch tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing ikũhuʔa mouse hẽ 1excl.sing kisusĩ pat tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing ʔe then “I patted the cat that caught the mouse.” | (25) |
Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:
Hu sunkun tutu koqaqatu hu tanhen tutu hu qe hen kinsunsin tutu hu qe. [hu sũkũ tutu koʔaʔatu hu tãhẽ tutu hu ʔe hẽ kĩsũsĩ tutu hu ʔe] hu 3.sing sũku eat tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing oʔaʔatu cheese hu 3.sing tãhẽ catch tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing ʔe then hẽ 1excl.sing kisusĩ pat tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing ʔe then “I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese.” | (26) |
Finally, here is an example containing several layers of embedding:
Hen qunsen tutu hu hu sunkun tutu hu qe hu tanhen tutu hu qe hen kinsunsin tutu hu qe. [hẽ ʔũsẽ tutu hu hu sũkũ tutu hu ʔe hu tãhẽ tutu hu ʔe hẽ kĩsũsĩ tutu hu ʔe] hẽ 1excl.sing ʔũsẽ buy tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing hu 3.sing sũku eat tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing ʔe then hu 3.sing tãhẽ catch tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing ʔe then hẽ 1excl.sing kisusĩ pat tutu PAST.active.POS hu 3.sing ʔe then “I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese that I bought.” | (27) |
Complementation Strategies
Osaka introduces complement clauses with a dedicated complementiser, similar to English that. The complementiser appears at the beginning of the embedded clause and signals that the clause functions as a syntactic argument. The embedded clause is fully finite and displays the same tense, aspect and agreement patterns as independent clauses.
The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:
Kosa suku tutu kusi kusisusi takuki tintunqan tutu kehisisi. [kosa suku tutu kusi kusisusi takuki tĩtũʔã tutu kehisisi] k- sing osa boy suku give tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing usi girl k- sing usisusi apple takuki COMP tĩtuʔa surprise tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing ehisisi teacher “It surprised the teacher that the boy had given the girl an apple.” | (28) |
Quotes
Osaka 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:
Kosa tisa tutu kusi hen hute qati hi takuki. [kosa tisa tutu kusi hẽ hute ʔati hi takuki] k- sing osa boy tisa tell tutu PAST.active.POS k- sing usi girl hẽ 1excl.sing hute love ʔati PRES.active.POS hi 2.sing takuki COMP “The boy told the girl that he loved her.” | (29) |
How to cite this grammar
Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Osaka. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.93, on 6 November 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6UL32
In BibTeX format:
@misc{LC-6UL32,
year = 2026,
author = {{Language Creator}},
title = {A Grammar of {Osaka}},
howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/6UL32}},
note = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.93, on 6 November 2026}
}
Supplementary Materials
A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Osaka / Osaka–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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