User:Masako/pataka

A short primer for Kala grammar. The full grammar can be found here:

Han Moya

Han Moya is an adaptation of Hangul for writing Kala. It is written horizontally, in lines running from left to right. It can also be written vertically in columns.

Consonants

• ㄱㄲㄴㄷㄸㄹㅁㅂㅃㅅㅆㅇㅈㅉㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎ

k nk n t nt l m p mp s ns a ts nts ts` k` tl p` h

/k~g ᵑk~ⁿg n t~d ⁿt~ⁿd l~ɾ m p~b ᵐp~ᵐb s~ʃ ⁿs~ⁿʃ - ts~t͡ʃ ⁿts~ⁿt͡ʃ tsʰ~t͡ʃʰ kʰ t͡ɬ~tl pʰ h~ɦ/

The adaptations of doubled consonants are used word initially to indicate prenasalization. Medial occurrences of nasalized syllables are written across syllables.

Vowels

• ㅏ ᅶ ㅐ ㅑ ᅸ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ

a ao ai ya yao e ye o ao yo ua uai ue u i

/a~a: aʊ̯ aɪ̯ ja~ʲa: jaʊ̯~ʲaʊ̯ e~ɛ je~ʲɛ o~o: jo~ʲo: wa~ʷa: waɪ̯~ʷaɪ̯ we~ʷe: u~u: i~ɪ/

• ㅘ This is pronounced /we/ in Korean because of the order of the vowels; however, because obsolete jamo are difficult to type and look junky as images, in Kala, this is used for /aʊ̯/ when typing. It is rarely seen due to the diphthong itself being uncommon.

Word order

SUBJECT - OBJECT - VERB

• naka ke mita itsa

woman O dog love

The woman loves the dog.

Kala lacks morphological adjectives and instead uses attributive verbs.

• ke tsaka taha

O house be.big

The big house / The house is big

Kala lacks morphological adverbs, verbs modified with the adverbial ending -n tend to precede the verb phrase they modify.

• tsumun nam yokone

cautious-ADV 1pl swim-SUG

We should swim cautiously.

Kala lacks morphological prepositions and instead uses locational and relational verbs.

• mita ke yempa tahe

dog O table be.under

The dog is under the table.

Nouns

Nouns are marked for number; plural and collective:

• mita - dog - a dog
  • mitam - dog-PL - dogs
  • tlimita - COL-dog - a dog pack / a pack of dogs
  • tlimitam - COL-dog-PL - dog packs / packs of dogs

When the final syllable of a word contains an m, mp, and sometimes a p the plural marking changes to -lo.

• yama - mountain - a mountain
  • yamalo - mountain-PL - mountains
  • tliyama - COL-mountain - a mountain range / range of mountains
  • tliyamalo - COL-mountain-PL - mountain ranges / ranges of mountains

Gender is not normally marked but can be with the endings -na and -ta to mark the feminine and masculine, respectively.

• uma - horse - a horse
  • umana - horse-FEM - mare
  • umata - horse-MASC - stallion

Determiners & Demostratives

The demonstratives can be prefixed to any noun to show deixis. Kala makes a three-way distinction. Typically there is a distinction between proximal or first person (objects near to the speaker), medial or second person (objects near to the addressee), and distal or third person (objects far from both).

• itla (i-) - this (near me)
• uatla (ua-) - that (near you)
• yetla (ye-) - that (over there)

Examples:

• imitami - PROX-dog-few - These few dogs (near me)
• yemitampa - DIST-dog-many - Those many dogs (over there)
• uamitali - MED-dog-each - Each dog (each of those dogs) (near you)

Quantifier suffixes follow the noun that modify.

• kua (-kua) - all; every; whole
• oli (-li) - each; every
• ula (-la) - whatever; any; some
• mi (-mi) - few; little
• nke (-k) - none
• mpa (-mpa) - many; much; a lot
• maha - more; plus
• ohi - less; fewer

Pronouns

Personal pronouns:

• na - 1st person
• ta - 2nd person
• ha - 3rd person
• tla - 4th person ("it", "one") (used for inanimate nouns)

• na'am - 1st person plural exclusive (we but not you)
• kam - 3rd person plural

Modifiers:

• -m - plural
• -nku - reciprocal (inherently plural)
• e- - patient
• -i - reflexive
• -yo - possessive

Other pronouns include:

• tlokua - everyone, everybody
• kola - someone, somebody; whomever, anyone, anybody
• tlok - no one, nobody
• nokua - everything
• nola - something; whatever, anything
• nok - nothing

Verbs

Verbs are marked for tense, aspect, and mood.

Tense:

Simple past, present, and future.

• naka ke mita anyaye

woman O dog see-PST

The woman saw the dog.

• mita ke tahi yatsi

dog O boy bite

The dog bites the boy.

• naka ke tahi tlepatli

woman O boy teach-FUT

The woman will teach the boy.

Aspect:

Continuous, Perfective, Inchoative, and Frequentative.

• na ke niye pukunko

1s O undergarment wear-CONT

I am wearing underclothes.

• kam inapua

3pl eat-PFV

They have eaten.

• nahi yotimu

girl play-INCH

The girl begins to play.

• tlaka ke apua tlatonua

man O song recite-FREQ

The man recites the song repetitively.

Mood:

Abilitative, Attemptative, Hortative, Precative, Dubitative, Propositive,
Necessitative, Negative, Preparative, Volitive, Assumptive, and Permissive.

• na mokuyepak

1s sleep-PST-ABIL-NEG

I was unable to sleep.

• neko ke panya matapya

cat O mouse kill-ATT

The cat is trying to kill the mouse.

• yalakya

walk-HORT

Let's go!

• ke asi yetate

O salt give-PREC

Will you please pass me the salt?

• ha tsakahueke

3s home-LOC-DUB

I guess he is at home. lit: He is at home, supposedly.

• mita inahe

dog eat-NEC

The dog needs to eat.

• naku nayo hinak

sister 1s-GEN be.here-NEG

My sister is not here.

• tahi mokusue

boy sleep-PREP

The boy is ready to sleep.

• otsokai ka'e moli yalaue

wolf-red toward forest go-VOL

Redwolf wants/intends to go to the forest.

• naka hinaho

woamn be.here-ASS

The woman must be here. (I assume) (also used as "assertive")

• ta ke hina simamyok

2s O here sit-PERM-NEG

You are not allowed to sit here.

The modals and tense affixes can be added in different order to a verb to create a new meaning; their placement is not always fixed. The negative, adverbial, and plural endings are always final, while other affixes can be varied, but in general they should be ordered:

Example:

Verb Stem	Size/Importance	Mood	Aspect	Tense	Negative
empa	-hi	-pa	-nko	-ye	-k
run	DIM	ABIL	PROG	PST	NEG

• na empahipankoyek

1SG run-DIM-able-PROG-PST-NEG

I was not able to keep jogging.

Adjectives

Kala does not have morphologically distinct adjectives. Stative verbs are the words that modify nouns in an attributive and often adjectival way. They often express a state like a quality or result.

• tsaka ketla

house be.red

The house is red.

The comparative is made by using the augmentative or diminutive ending on the verb.

• tsaka hayo ke nayo ketlaha

house 3s.GEN O 1s.GEN be.red-AUG

His house is more red than mine.

Equivalence is indicated with either kue (as, like), or mya (as...as).

• tsaka hayo kue nayo ketla

house 3s.GEN as 1s.GEN be.red

His house is red like mine.

• tsaka hayo mya nayo ketla

house 3s.GEN as.X.as 1s.GEN be.red

His house is as red as mine.

Like verbs, adjectives can be used as nouns. For example, aya means "beautiful", but ayako means "a beautiful one" or "a beauty." An adjective can be made into an abstract noun by adding -n (-ity, -ness, -ship, -hood). In this way aya becomes ayan, meaning "beauty". This can also be used with nouns: ona (mother) becomes onan (motherhood).

Adverbs

Kala does not have morphologically distinct adverbs. Adverbs can be formed from all adjectives (or stative verbs) by adding -n to the root. Since this rule is regular, it is not generally indicated in grammatical examples or in the lexicon.

• aya - beautiful >> ayan - beautifully
• tama - good >> taman - well
• poyo - rich >> poyon - richly
• tsipue - slow >> tsipuen - slowly (this can also be marked on the main verb with -tsue)
• tlaki - fluent >> tlakin - fluently

Prepositions

Kala does not have prepositions (or postpositions) as a distinct part of speech. Instead, many locative verbs can be used as adpositionals, in which case they precede the noun they modify. There is one general locative (-hue) which is affixed to nouns (and occasionally verbs) to indicate the sense of “at; in; on”. Here are some common verbs used as adpositions:

• pahe - against; touching
• pa'e - apart from; other than; except for
• paye - beyond; exceeding; farther than
• pue - after; back; behind; rear
• tahe - below; beneath; under
• ka'e - to; towards; at [moving toward]
• kaye - around; encircling; surrounding
• mahe - around; approximate; close to
• ma'a - with [accompanied by / furnished with]
• ma'e - before; in front
• maye - between; among

• nahe - in [located inside of]; internal
• nyaue - outside of; exterior to
• sahe - across; opposite; other side
• saye - along; following [a line]
• hue / -hue - at [in the same location as] [LOC]
• tsa'e - across; through
• ua'e - above; over / on
• uaye - from [moving out of or away from]
• ya'e - near; close to
• yomo - to the right of
• yoso - to the left of

• na ke ito yamahue anyapa

1sg O tree hill-LOC see-ABIL

I can see a tree on the hill.

• ntahim nyaue tsaka yoti

child-PL outside.of house play

The children are playing outside of the house.

Conjunctions

Words and phrases may be coordinated in Kala with the following words:

• pa - although; even though; even if
• ku - and; also [clause level]
• ma - and; also; too; as well
• ehe / (me) - but; yet; however
• impo - therefore; as a result; so; consequently; thus
• ua - or; other; else
• ue - either X or Y
• uenke / (uek) - neither X nor Y
• yatli - if X then Y
• yema - both X and Y
• yetli - if it were not; if not X then Y >> X yatli Y

• ha'ena itsa ehe hinak

3s-P.1s love but be.here-NEG

She loves me but is not here.

• aye na tala ku matsu

PST 1s come CONJ conquer

I came, I conquered.

Questions

There are two types of questions: Polar, those which may be answered "yes" or "no," and those which require explanations as answers.

polar questions

Any statement can become a polar question by adding the interrogative particle ka at the end of the sentence.

• mita ina

dog eat

The dog eats.

• nta'i moku

baby sleep

The baby is sleeping. / The baby sleeps.

• ta ke tlo'o anyaye

2SG O elephant see-PST

You saw the elephant.

• tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye

heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST

The doctor gave you the medicine.

• mita ina ka

dog eat Q

Does the dog eat?

• nta'i moku ka

baby sleep Q

Is the baby sleeping?

• ta ke tlo'o anyaye ka

2SG O elephant see-PST Q

Did you see the elephant?

• tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye ka

heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST Q

Did the doctor give you the medicine?

content questions

Questions that give a list of possible answers are formed like polar questions, with the conjunction ue ‘or’ introducing each alternative (which must appear in the form of a noun phrase).

• ta ke nkapa ue maya inuue ka

2SG O beer or.EXCL water drink-VOL Q

Do you want to drink beer or water?

• uala ta ke sinka mataye ue empa ma koma ka

truly 2sg O lion kill-PST or.EXCL flee CONJ hide Q

Did you really kill the lion, or did you run away and hide?

Open content questions are most easily formed with the correlatives, such as ko ‘person’, mo ‘place’, to ‘manner’, etc. These correlatives always appear clause-initially:

• ko ta ka

person 2sg Q

Who are you?

• itla ka

this Q

What is this?

• to kihu ka

manner weather Q

What's the weather like?

The other type contains a question word and is followed by ka:

kanyo

	Kala	gloss	English
object	ke mita ina ka	O dog eat Q	What does the dog eat?
person	ko ina ka	person eat Q	Who eats?
possession	koyo mita ina ka	person-POSS dog eat Q	Whose dog eats?
manner	to mita ina ka	manner dog eat Q	How does the dog eat?
place	mo mita ina ka	place dog eat Q	Where does the dog eat?
reason	nye mita ina ka	reason dog eat Q	Why does the dog eat?
time	ama mita ina ka	time dog eat Q	When does the dog eat?
amount	uku mita ina ka	amount dog eat Q	How much/many does the dog eat?
which	ula mita ina ka	any dog eat Q	Which dog eats?