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A Grammar of Unang

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Unang language (the 792nd 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 Unang.

Typological Profile

It has a small but genuine set of click consonants and the VSO basic order, common globally but unusual in many families.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Unang has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 31 phonemes.

It has a strongly reduced sibilant system, a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants, a noticeable presence of pharyngealised phonemes and a small but genuine set of click consonants.

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

labialdentalphar. dentalalveolarphar. alveolarpostalveolarlateralpalatalvelarlab. velarglottal
stopp b d t dˤ tˤ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
nasalm n nˤ ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
fricativef s sˤ h
approximantw l j
affricatet͡s t͡sˤ t͡ʃ
clickᵏǀ ᵏǀˤ
click, nasalᵑǀ ᵑǀˤ

Vowels

Unang has 7 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 has a completely boring and uninteresting vowel system.

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

frontcentralback
closei u
mide o
opena

Stress and Tones

Unang 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

Unang is normally written using the Devanagari abugida, the script employed for Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi and several other Indo-Aryan languages. This grammar also makes systematic use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to present an exact account of pronunciation.

Devanagari’s syllabic structure differs markedly from the IPA’s segmental approach, so the two notations complement one another: the script shows the organisation of syllables, while the IPA supplies detail on individual sounds.

Orthography

Here are the various components of the orthography:

Simple letters

अ /a/आ /aː/इ /i/ई /iː/
उ /u/ऊ /uː/ए /e/ऐ /ai, eː/
ओ /o/औ /au, oː/क् /k/ग् /ɡ/
ङ् /ŋ/च् /t͡ʃ/ञ् /ɲ/त् /t/
त़् /tˤ/द् /d/द़् /dˤ/न् /n/
ऩ् /nˤ/प् /p/ब् /b/म् /m/
य् /j/ल् /l/व् /w/स् /s/
स़् /sˤ/ह् /h/फ़् /f/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

क्त् /ᵏǀ/क्त़् /ᵏǀˤ/क्व् /kʷ/
ग्व् /ɡʷ/ङ्त् /ᵑǀ/ङ्त़् /ᵑǀˤ/
ङ्व् /ŋʷ/त्स् /t͡s/त्स़् /t͡sˤ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Unang does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Unang does not have genders or noun classes.

The Nominal Phrase

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

लोप् याल् ङ्वद़् नेफ़ौप् ङ्वित़ोत्स् दोत्स़् त़िल् हस्।

[lop jaːl ŋʷadˤ nefaup ŋʷitˤot͡s dot͡sˤ tˤil has]

lo
blind -p
PRES jaː
catch -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM adˤ
woman nefaup
COMIT ŋʷ-
NOM itˤot͡s
knife dot͡sˤ
plur tˤil
3.plur has
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 is one type of clitic in the nominal phrase, namely a proclitic (placed initially), expressing number. a clitic expressing number, comprising दोत्स़् /dot͡sˤ/ ‘plur’.

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 Unang.

The Noun

The noun in Unang consists of an obligatory prefix expressing case, comprising ङ्व्- /ŋʷ-/ ‘NOM’, द्- /d-/ ‘DAT’, क्- /k-/ ‘INS’, ल्- /l-/ ‘VOC’, म्- /m-/ ‘ALL’, ग्- /ɡ-/ ‘LOC’, फ़्- /f-/ ‘ABL’ and क्त्- /ᵏǀ-/ ‘PART’ followed by the root.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -मु /-mu/ ‘little’ and -स़ि /-sˤi/ ‘big’

The Adjective

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

Numerals

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

Determiners

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

Pronouns

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

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

ङ्त़ैप् त्सौक्व्।

[ᵑǀˤaip t͡saukʷ]

ᵑǀˤai
love -p
PRES t͡saukʷ
3.sing

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

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

ङ्त़ैप् त्सौक्व् त्सौक्व्।

[ᵑǀˤaip t͡saukʷ t͡saukʷ]

ᵑǀˤai
love -p
PRES t͡saukʷ
3.sing t͡saukʷ
3.sing

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

ग्विग्वेप् ङ्व्अत्सोक्वम् ङ्व्ओगुलिस्।

[ɡʷiɡʷep ŋʷat͡sokʷam ŋʷoɡulis]

ɡʷiɡʷe
hate -p
PRES ŋʷ-
NOM at͡sokʷam
Atsokam ŋʷ-
NOM oɡulis
Ogulis

“Atsokam hates Ogulis.”

 (4)

Possession

ङ्वौल् ङ्वैऩेत्सङ्व्

[ŋʷaul ŋʷainˤet͡saŋʷ]

ŋʷ-
NOM aul
boy ŋʷ-
NOM ainˤet͡saŋʷ
apple

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)
त्सौक्व् ङ्वैऩेत्सङ्व्

[t͡saukʷ ŋʷainˤet͡saŋʷ]

t͡saukʷ
3.sing ŋʷ-
NOM ainˤet͡saŋʷ
apple

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)
ऩूङ् ङ्वैऩेत्सङ्व्

[nˤuːŋ ŋʷainˤet͡saŋʷ]

nˤuːŋ
1excl.sing ŋʷ-
NOM ainˤet͡saŋʷ
apple

“my apple”

 (7)
क्तबाल् ङ्वाऩद़त् ङ्वोम् हत् ङ्वोसेद़ग् ङ्वान्।

[ᵏǀabaːl ŋʷaːnˤadˤat ŋʷom hat ŋʷosedˤaɡ ŋʷaːn]

ᵏǀabaː
kiss -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM aːnˤadˤat
hunter ŋʷ-
NOM om
daughter hat
2.sing ŋʷ-
NOM osedˤaɡ
neighbour ŋʷ-
NOM aːn
son

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

 (8)

Derivation

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

ङ्विस़स़िङ्व्

[ŋʷisˤasˤiŋʷ]

ŋʷ-
NOM isˤasˤiŋʷ
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

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

ङ्विस़स़िङ्व्मु

[ŋʷisˤasˤiŋʷmu]

ŋʷ-
NOM isˤasˤiŋʷ
lamb -mu
little

“a little lamb”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Unang fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing negation, comprising नुब् /nub/ ‘NEG’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising स़ञ् /sˤaɲ/ ‘imperative’, बङ्व् /baŋʷ/ ‘conditional’ and मिल् /mil/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising सल् /sal/ ‘passive’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing ta, comprising -प् /-p/ ‘PRES’ and -ल् /-l/ ‘PAST’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -ले /-le/ ‘begin’ and -त्स /-t͡sa/ ‘stop’

ङ्त़ैप् हत्।

[ᵑǀˤaip hat]

ᵑǀˤai
love -p
PRES hat
2.sing

“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.

क्त़ात़् ङ्वेत्सल्

[ᵏǀˤaːtˤ ŋʷet͡sal]

ᵏǀˤaːtˤ
in_surface ŋʷ-
NOM et͡sal
table

“on the table”

 (12)
क्वीत़् ङ्वोत्स़ुबव्

[kʷiːtˤ ŋʷot͡sˤubaw]

kʷiːtˤ
to_inside ŋʷ-
NOM ot͡sˤubaw
box

“into the box”

 (13)
नेफ़ौप् ऩूङ्

[nefaup nˤuːŋ]

nefaup
COMIT nˤuːŋ
1excl.sing

“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.

The basic constituent order of Unang is Verb–Subject–Object (VSO). Clauses begin with the verb, followed by the subject, with the object in final position. This pattern is attested among various verb-initial languages.

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

ङ्त़ुल् ङ्वोत़फ़द़् ङ्वाऩद़त्।

[ᵑǀˤul ŋʷotˤafadˤ ŋʷaːnˤadˤat]

ᵑǀˤu
kill -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM otˤafadˤ
jaguar ŋʷ-
NOM aːnˤadˤat
hunter

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)
बिल् ङ्वागुयुऩ् ङ्वाऩद़त् ङ्वोम् ङ्वीन्।

[bil ŋʷaːɡujunˤ ŋʷaːnˤadˤat ŋʷom ŋʷiːn]

bi
eat -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM aːɡujunˤ
lion ŋʷ-
NOM aːnˤadˤat
hunter ŋʷ-
NOM om
daughter ŋʷ-
NOM iːn
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 Unang 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, Unang 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.

हत् ङ्वान् ङ्विऩ् ङ्वैबुक्

[hat ŋʷaːn ŋʷinˤ ŋʷeːbuk]

hat
2.sing ŋʷ-
NOM aːn
son ŋʷ-
NOM inˤ
friend ŋʷ-
NOM eːbuk
book

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Unang 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.

क्तुप् ङ्वूक्।

[ᵏǀup ŋʷuːk]

ᵏǀu
sleep -p
PRES ŋʷ-
NOM uːk
cat

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)
ङुप् ङ्वूक्।

[ŋup ŋʷuːk]

ŋu
run -p
PRES ŋʷ-
NOM uːk
cat

“The cat is running.”

 (19)
लुमुप् ङ्वूक् ङ्वीऩिग्वित्।

[lumup ŋʷuːk ŋʷiːnˤiɡʷit]

lumu
chase -p
PRES ŋʷ-
NOM uːk
cat ŋʷ-
NOM iːnˤiɡʷit
mouse

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)
याल् ङ्वूक् ङ्वीऩिग्वित्।

[jaːl ŋʷuːk ŋʷiːnˤiɡʷit]

jaː
catch -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM uːk
cat ŋʷ-
NOM iːnˤiɡʷit
mouse

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

ङ्त़ुल् ङ्वाऩद़त् दोत्स़् ङ्वोत़फ़द़् वग् दोत्स़् ङ्वबपुक् वग् दोत्स़् ङ्वागुयुऩ्।

[ᵑǀˤul ŋʷaːnˤadˤat dot͡sˤ ŋʷotˤafadˤ waɡ dot͡sˤ ŋʷabapuk waɡ dot͡sˤ ŋʷaːɡujunˤ]

ᵑǀˤu
kill -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM aːnˤadˤat
hunter dot͡sˤ
plur ŋʷ-
NOM otˤafadˤ
jaguar waɡ
and dot͡sˤ
plur ŋʷ-
NOM abapuk
tiger waɡ
and dot͡sˤ
plur ŋʷ-
NOM aːɡujunˤ
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 Unang 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

Unang 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:

तयाल् ङ्वूक्।

[tajaːl ŋʷuːk]

tajaː
pat -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM uːk
cat

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

याल् ङ्वीऩिग्वित् तयाल् त्सौक्व् हस्।

[jaːl ŋʷiːnˤiɡʷit tajaːl t͡saukʷ has]

jaː
catch -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM iːnˤiɡʷit
mouse tajaː
pat -l
PAST t͡saukʷ
3.sing has
then

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

बिल् ङ्विपिङिस् याल् त्सौक्व् हस् तयाल् त्सौक्व् हस्।

[bil ŋʷipiŋis jaːl t͡saukʷ has tajaːl t͡saukʷ has]

bi
eat -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM ipiŋis
cheese jaː
catch -l
PAST t͡saukʷ
3.sing has
then tajaː
pat -l
PAST t͡saukʷ
3.sing has
then

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

 (25)

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

दूल् त्सौक्व् बिल् त्सौक्व् हस् याल् त्सौक्व् हस् तयाल् त्सौक्व् हस्।

[duːl t͡saukʷ bil t͡saukʷ has jaːl t͡saukʷ has tajaːl t͡saukʷ has]

duː
buy -l
PAST t͡saukʷ
3.sing bi
eat -l
PAST t͡saukʷ
3.sing has
then jaː
catch -l
PAST t͡saukʷ
3.sing has
then tajaː
pat -l
PAST t͡saukʷ
3.sing has
then

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

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Unang 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:

ङ्तिदिल् फ़ील् ङ्वौल् ङ्वैऩेत्सङ्व् ङ्वेफ़् त्सहौल् ङ्वैद़िचेल्।

[ᵑǀidil fiːl ŋʷaul ŋʷainˤet͡saŋʷ ŋʷef t͡sahoːl ŋʷeːdˤit͡ʃel]

ᵑǀidi
surprise -l
PAST fiː
give -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM aul
boy ŋʷ-
NOM ainˤet͡saŋʷ
apple ŋʷ-
NOM ef
girl t͡sahoːl
COMP ŋʷ-
NOM eːdˤit͡ʃel
teacher

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

 (27)

Quotes

Unang 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:

गेल् ङ्वौल् ङ्त़ैप् ऩूङ् हत् त्सहौल् ङ्वेफ़्।

[ɡel ŋʷaul ᵑǀˤaip nˤuːŋ hat t͡sahoːl ŋʷef]

ɡe
tell -l
PAST ŋʷ-
NOM aul
boy ᵑǀˤai
love -p
PRES nˤuːŋ
1excl.sing hat
2.sing t͡sahoːl
COMP ŋʷ-
NOM ef
girl

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

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Unang. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 12 July 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/75MDV

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-75MDV,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Unang}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/75MDV}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.92, on 12 July 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Unang / Unang–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/75MDV

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