Grammar Overview

Version: v0.2.3

Sounds & Spelling

7 consonants: k l m n p s t. 5 vowels: a e i o u. Syllables: (C)V(n) — optional consonant, vowel, optional /n/ coda. No consonant clusters. No adjacent vowels. Stress is always on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable. Pronounce as in Spanish (pure vowels, no reduction).

Word Formation

Every Luma word is a stem plus a vowel ending:

Stems end in a consonant. The ending determines the word’s role — no ambiguity. Any stem can take any ending: nipesa = coldness, nipeso = to cool, nipesi = cold.

Sentence Structure

SVO (Subject–Verb–Object), flat structure:

• sa seso. = I go.
• sa munlo munla. = I eat food.
• tomanka no popi. = The dog is big.

The BE verb (no) is required — never dropped. Non-objects always need a preposition: sa no pontu linpa (I am at this place), not sa no linpa.

Pronouns

Back-reference: pa refers to a previously mentioned entity.

Forward-reference: pa: (with colon) introduces an upcoming clause: sa lelo pa: musa seso. = I know this: you go.

Possession

Head-first: possessed + kipu + possessor.

• tomanka kipu sa = my dog (dog owned-by me)
• tinuma kipu pa = his/her name

Reflexives

Pronoun + si (self modifier):

• sa si = myself
• musa si = yourself
• pa si = himself/herself

pa si is the most important — without it, meaning changes completely:

• pa siko pa si. = He sees himself. (reflexive)
• pa siko pa. = He sees him/her (someone else). (back-reference)

Example: sa liseto sa si. = I clean myself.

Modifiers

Modifiers (-i) follow their head and modify what’s to their left:

• ketuma popi = big building
• sa munlo muneki munla = I eat slowly food (muneki modifies munlo)

Grammatical Words (-u)

The -u form precedes its target:

• ku seso = not go (negation)
• sutu ketuma = toward the building (preposition)
• latu munlo = want to eat (preverb)

Every -u word must have a following target — never sentence-final (except ku as standalone “No” and number quantifiers).

Preverbs

Preverbs are -u forms placed before a verb. They stack in order: tense → aspect → modal → negation → verb.

Example: sa mukopu latu munlo. = I wanted to eat. (I past want eat)

Tense & Aspect

Tense is unmarked by default — context determines past/present/future. Use preverbs only when emphasis is needed:

• sa mukopu seso. = I went. (past)
• sa tilepu seso. = I will go. (future)
• sa kapitu munlo. = I already ate. (completed)
• sa numesu seso. = I still go. (continuing)

Negation

ku before verb: sa ku lato. = I don’t want.

Standalone ku = No (as an answer).

Questions

milu before the questioned element:

• milu puna seso? = Who goes? (which person goes?)
• musa munlo milu tana? = What did you eat? (you eat which thing?)
• musa seso sutu milu ponta? = Where are you going? (toward which place?)
• petu milu tana? = Why? (because of which thing?)

The question word stays in place — never fronted like English.

Conjunctions

Between clauses, with a mandatory comma:

• kenu = and
• tumepu = or
• minsu = but

Example: sa seso, kenu pa seso. = I go, and she goes.

Note: kenu means “and” only (conjunction), NOT “with” (accompaniment). Use mopanu for “together with.”

Compounds

Head-first, hyphenated. All parts use -a only:

• ketuma-lela = building-knowledge = school
• ketuma-lomata = building-health = hospital
• munla-lesona = food-water = soup

Maximum 3 parts. Productive for buildings, transport, tools, family, etc.

Prepositions

Prepositions are -u forms before nouns:

Spatial:

Temporal:

Causation

Luma uses an explicit causative pattern — no ambitransitive verbs:

• pa peto pa: sa munlo. = She causes this: I eat. (= she feeds me)
• sa peto pa: pa pukoso. = I cause: he dies. (= I kill him)

Comparison

Use sonpu (about/regarding) + panpu (more):

• sonpu pa, sa no panpu popi. = Compared to him, I am bigger.
• sonpu koma = compared to all (superlative)
• sa no popi manutu pa. = I am as big as him. (equality with manutu)

Names & Foreign Content

Proper names require tinumu (NAME marker) before the name:

• tinumu Matu no moni. = Matu is good.
• tinumu Luma Luna = multi-word name — one marker only

Foreign content uses backtick passthrough: pelika-FR, kalina-JPY

Numbers

Digits are n-initial stems used as -u quantifiers before nouns:

• nepu puna = two people
• namu ketuma = one building
• nisu-nasasu = thirty (3 × 10)

Clause-Boundary Comma Rule

A comma is mandatory before any -u form that introduces a new clause (with its own subject + verb). No comma when -u introduces just a noun phrase.

• sa seso sutu ketuma. = I go toward the building. (no comma — noun phrase)
• sa seso, petu pa no kiteni. = I go, because she is angry. (comma — new clause)

Conventions

• Imperative: bare verb, no subject — seso! = Go! munlo moni! = Eat well!
• “Because”: use petu before a clause with mandatory comma — sa seso, petu pa no kiteni.
• No relative clauses: break into two sentences + pa back-reference — puna mukopu seso. pa no minena kipu sa. = A person left. That-one is my friend.
• No adjacent bare nouns: use preposition, compound, or punctuation
• No clause nesting: keep sentences flat (SVO)

Common Decompositions

More

This is a complete grammar overview. For the full specification including evidentials, vocabulary, and compounds, connect an LLM to the Luma MCP tools and ask it to call luma_get_rules. Or start learning with Lesson 1.