Grammar overview

Sentence structure

Toaq word order is "verb, subject, object".

Verbs are in the falling tone . Pronouns are in the rising tone .

Guaı jí.
I work.

Dua jí hóq.
I know it.

Verbs can be preceded by tense, aspect, and polarity (negation) words.

Sentences can end with a speech act particle whose tone is lexical (i.e. part of the word): da for a statement, móq for a question, ba for a wish, nha for a promise…

The default is da if there are no question words, and móq if there are.

Jıa guaı jí nha.
[future] I'll work. [promise]

You can start a subclause by saying a complementizer in the glottal tone . There's ꝡä "that", mä "whether", tïo "to what degree" and more.

Dua jí, wä guaı súq.
I know that you work.

Bu dua jí, mä guaı súq.
I don't know whether you work.

You can also use these complementizers in in the main clause. Ꝡa doesn't change the meaning, but ma and tıo are how you ask questions.

In English it seems weird to have a complementizer in the main clause (*That I'll work.) but in Toaq it's fine.

Ꝡa guaı jí.
I work.

Ma chum guaı súq?
Are you working?

Tıo foı súq móq?
How bored are you?

Nouns

In Toaq, nouns and verbs and adjectives are all the same part of speech, called verbs.

Kato jí.
I am-a-cat.

Jara nháo.
I run.

Nuı jí.
I am-small.

We can make noun phrases (really, determiner phrases) by combining a determiner (particle in ) with a verb.

sá kato
some that are-cats, i.e. some cat(s)

tú jara
each that runs, i.e. each runner

báq nuı
kind that is-small, i.e. small things in general

This always binds a "variable" that can be accessed by repeating the verb itself in the rising tone .

Dua tú poq wä suao póq.
Each person knows that they are important.