User:Masako/pataka

Phonology

Consonants

• Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m (m)	n (n)		ɲ (ny)
Plosive	p~b (p)	t~d (t)			k~g (k)	ʔ ( ' )
Affricate		ts~t͡ʃ (ts)	t͡ɬ~tl (tl)
Continuant		s~ʃ (s)	l~ɾ (l)			h~ɦ (h)
Semivowel				j (y)	w (u)

The glottal stop is not phonemic but is included in the chart above for completeness. It is only ever intervocalic, meaning it is pronounced between two vowels and/or diphthongs.

• Prenasalized: /ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk/
• Labialized:/pʷ kʷ mʷ nʷ ʃʷ hʷ t͡ʃʷ/
• Palatalized: /pʲ kʲ mʲ hʲ/

Free variation

Because of its small phoneme inventory, Kala allows for quite a lot of allophonic variation. For example, /p t k/ may be pronounced [b d ɡ] as well as [p t k], /s l h/ as [ʃ ɾ ɦ], and /t͡s t͡ɬ/ as [t͡ʃ t͡l]; also, vowels may be either long or short, but are most often only lengthened when stressed.

Sound Changes

The phoneme /n/ undergoes an assimilatory process when followed by /p~b/ to become /m/. Words that are ostensibly “vowel-initial” tend to be pronounced with an initial glottal stop when occurring within phrases. Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes. However, certain sounds change in a predictable way. For example, /h/ becomes [ɦ] when preceded or followed by a front vowel, including when labialized or palatalized. It is also sometimes realized as [x], or even [χ]. The alveolar affricates are most often /t͡ʃ/ and /t͡ɬ/. The “s” is almost always /ʃ/ unless preceded or followed by a syllable with the onset /t͡ʃ/, in which case “s” becomes /s/. So, sama (sun; star; solar) is /ˈʃaːma/ where sitsa (heat; hot) is /ˈsiːt͡ʃa/ and tsisi (embroider; embroidery) is /t͡ʃiːsi/. /ts~t͡ʃ/ is typically realized as / t͡ʃ / when followed by front vowels, and /ts/ elsewhere. This is also the case with /s~ʃ/; /sa/ >> /ʃi/.

Vowels

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i~ɪ (i)	u~ʊ (u)
Mid	e~ɛ (e)	o~o: (o)
Open	a~ɑ (a)

Kala has five vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/ and /u/. Each occurs in both stressed and unstressed syllables. Phonetic nasalization occurs for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal, e.g. tsunka [ˈt͡ʃũᵑka] ('bug').

Diphthongs

Phonetically, Kala has only two diphthongs, both falling; [aɪ̯] ai and [aʊ̯] ao, but there are five syllables that can be analyzed as rising diphthongs; [wa] ua, [we] ue, [ja] ya, [je] ye, and [jo] yo. The two triphthongs [waɪ̯] uai and [jaʊ̯] yao are very rare but should be noted as possible.

Phonotactics

The maximal syllable structure is (strictly open syllables) (N)(C)(u, y)V(a, i) where (N) indicates nasalization, and u and y indicate labialization and palatalization respectively. Consonant clusters within a syllable typically only occur in place names or “foreign” words, so that the majority of syllables follow a simple (C)V(ː) pattern.

There is a limited set of syllables, of the type CV (consonant-vowel), allowed by Kala phonotactics, similar to Japanese or Chinese. Kala phonotactics does not typically allow the onsets of adjacent syllables to be identical, nor both to be labialized or palatalized. (There are a few exceptions to this, such as tata for the informal/familiar form of “father”, etc., as well as reduplication as a form of plurality.) Syllables beginning with /l/ do not occur as the first syllable of a headword (except in loanwords and toponyms).

When an affix causes reduplication of a syllable it is replaced by –u, which has no meaning. This is done to reduce duplicate syllables. An example might be tsuala’u meaning “to become prosperous”, from tsuala “prosper; be prosperous” and the suffix –la meaning “become; change into”, used to indicate the mutative.

Syllables

Syllable structure in Kala is exclusively made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most lexemes having two syllables exclusively of this type. The exception to this rule are the word final endings –m (indicating general plural, deriving from ma, meaning “and, also”), -n (indicating accusative case, deriving from no, meaning “thing, object”), and –k (indicating negative mood, deriving from nke, meaning “no, not”).

Syllable Chart

the 136 basic Kala syllables

	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo	ai	ao	uai	yao
p	(m)pa	(m)pe	(m)pi	(m)po	(m)pu	pua	pue	pya	pye	pyo	pai	pao	puai	pyao
t	(n)ta	(n)te	(n)ti	(n)to							tai	tao
k	(n)ka	(n)ke	(n)ki	(n)ko	(n)ku	kua	kue	kya	kye	kyo	kai	kao	kuai	kyao
m	ma	me	mi	mo	mu	mua	mue	mya	mye	myo	mai	mao	muai	myao
n	na	ne	ni	no	nu	nua	nue	nya	nye	nyo	nai	nao	nuai	nyao
s	sa	se	si	so	su	sua	sue				sai	sao	suai
h	ha	he	hi	ho	hu	hua	hue	hya	hye	hyo	hai	hao	huai	hyao
ts	tsa	tse	tsi	tso	tsu	tsua	tsue				tsai	tsao	tsuai
tl	tla	tle	tli	tlo							tlai	tlao
l	la	le	li	lo							lai	lao
-	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo	ai	ao	uai	yao

Syllables such as nsa, ntla, or ntsa can occur but usually only in place names or loanwords. The A-O columns are called mpalo and are the most common, the U-YO are called puhyo, the AI-YAO/red syllables above occur infrequently and most often as the final syllable of a word, are referred to as paihyao.

Collating Order

The collating sequence (alphabetical order) is based on the order established in the Naua script.

Consonants	p	t	k	m	n	s	h	ts	tl	l
Vowels	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo

Based on this order, ma would come before ha, etc. Prenasalized syllables are ordered after their non-prenasalized counterparts, i.e. mpa comes after pyo but before ta. To see the collating sequence in action, look through the lexicon. This order can be vocalized as “pa, ta, ka, ma, na, nya, sa, ha, tsa, tla, ua, la, ya, a”, this aides in memorization and organization.

Stress

Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable, which means that stress is de facto initial in most lemma given that stems are most often (CVCV). Monosyllabic words are not stressed. So;

• masa - /ˈmaːsa/ → masako - /maːˈsako/
• tliyama - /tɬiːˈjama/ → tliyamalo - /tɬiːjaˈmalo/
• kam - /kaːm/ → kamyo - /ˈkaːmʲo/
• empahapak - /ɛᵐpaˈhaːpak/ → empahapayek - /ɛᵐpahaˈpaːjek/

Morphology

Number

In general the plural suffix is not used when the plurality of the noun is clear from context. For example, while the English sentence "there are three dogs" would use the plural "dogs" instead of the singular "dog", the Kala sentence mita ha'o a "dog three exist" keeps the word mita "dog" in its unmarked form, as the numeral makes the plural marker redundant. The collective plural is marked by tli-, derived from tatli, meaning "group; collection; gathering". It is mainly used to indicate collectives of animals, but can also indicate groups of flora, geographic features, and various other groupings. This is called the collective plural (COL). There are also markers for paucal (a few of something), distributive (each of a countable group), or inclusive, and an indefinite large number (many, much).

	Kala	gloss	English
Singular [SG]	mita	dog	a/the dog
Plural [PL]	mita-m	dog-PL	(the) dogs
Paucal [PAU]	mita-mi	dog-PAU	(a) few dogs
Collective [COL]	tli-mita	COL-dog	(a) dog pack
Distributive [DIS]	mita-li [or -kua]	dog-DIS/INCL	each/every dog
Indefinite Mass [IM]	mita-mpa	dog-IM	many dogs

These endings can sometimes be combined to add nuance to the meaning, such as; tlimitam - COL-dog-PL - dog packs / packs of dogs; imitalin malo - PROX-dog-DIS-ACC be.brown – each of these dogs is brown

When the final syllable of a word contains a labial consonant, ‘m’, ‘mp’, and ‘p’ the plural marking changes to -lo. The –lo ending is also used when the word begins with a vowel, and when the –m ending conflicts phonotactically with a given case suffix. An example of this would be; 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.

Reduplication

Nominal reduplication in Kala indicates a plurality and that the items are scattered about in a disorderly manner. It can also indicate uncountable version of a countable noun. Occasionally, it reflects a juvenile or informal register; in this respect, it can be compared to the English diminutive ending "-y" or "-ie" (kitty, “doggie", etc.) Verb reduplication is also common in Kala as it marks adverbs. Often, this adverb is an informal and/or temporary character of the action. It may also indicate a nominal form of the verb.

• kya o’unkonke - IMP be.loud-NEG - Don’t speak loudly!

The morphological process of reduplication is irregular in Kala and is based primarily on the initial syllable of the word. The nasals (N), plosives (P), affricates (A), continuants (C), and semivowels and vowels (S) each undergo various changes during reduplication.

• N → N/(y/u)

• muku - knife → mumuku – knives scattered around
• muela - raspberry → memuela – raspberries scattered around / a bunch of raspberries
• nyahi - snow → nanyahi – snow all around

• P → nP/(y/u) or nP → P/(y/u)

• pana - rain → pampana – rain all around (“It’s raining all over.”)
• ntasi – excitement → ntatasi – chaotic fits
• kano – dear; darling → kankano – “sweetie; lovey”
• kyo’a – be quiet → konko’a – quietly

• A → C/(y/u)

• tloso – annoy; bother → tloloso – bothersome
• tsima – hour → tsisima – hourly; regularly
• tsuama – sandwich → tsasuama – sandwiches scattered about / a sandwich tray

• C → ~/(y/u) [mostly s → ts and h → k]

• sama - sun → satsama – sunny; sunshine all around
• suku - shop → sutsuku – marketplace; bazaar
• hama – protect; defend → hakama – protective

• S → ‘u or ~

• ima – now; yet → i’uma – immediately [sounds like /ˈjuːma/]
• ampi – mucus; snot; snivel → a'umpi – a runny nose; snively

Case

Case is marked with suffixes. The regular forms of the case markers are given in the list below. Case is marked on noun phrases using null marking for agents, and -n for patients. The clitic -n can appear on multiple noun phrases in a single sentence at once, such as the direct object, indirect object, and adverbial nouns.

Case	Suffix	Example
Nominative [NOM]	-Ø	yona (the/a) book
Accusative [ACC]	-n	yonan (the/a) book [dir. object/patient]
Genitive [GEN]	-yo	yonayo of, belonging to (the/a) book
Dative [DAT]	-la	yonala for, to, at (the/a) book [indir. object/patient]
Locative [LOC]	-hue	yonahue in, on, at (the/a) book
Ablative [ABL]	-nte / -uai	yonante from, of (the/a) book
Comitative [COM]	-mua	yonamua with, by, via, using (the/a) book
Abessive [ABE]	-mue	yonamue without (the/a) book
Terminative [TERM]	-mpe	yonampe up to, just, only (the/a) book

The nominative [NOM] is not marked [-Ø] and is in the absolutive form. It indicates a syntactic core participant of the action, agent, force, or experiencer. The accusative is marked with the clitic -n (from no - thing; object) and indicates a patient, theme or goal (used as Oblique [OBL] occasionally), instrument, or experiencer. The genitive -yo (from yoha - have; possess) indicates inalienable association or possession, whereas the particle te (of; from)indicates alienable association or possession and is roughly equivalent to the ablative case. The dative/(al)lative -la (from yala - go; walk) indicates the recipient/beneficiary of an action, or movement towards object. The locative -hue indicates location or circumstance, and can be used to indicate the durative for stative verb constructions. The ablative -nte (from te - of; from) / -uai (from uaye - from out of/away) indicates origin, source, or movement away from a location. The comitative/instrumental/inclusive/coordinative -mua (from mua - with; (be) together) indicates instrument, or in company of something. The abessive -mue indicates the lack or absence of something, it is roughly analogous to the English suffix -less. The terminative/limitative -mpe (from amye - be alone; final) indicates the extent, finality, or limit of a thing.

Postpositional Verbs

In addition to the case system, there are several pospositional stative verbs. These are used interchangeably as pospositions and/or serial verbs.

Locational

• pahe - against; touching
• pue - after; back; behind; rear; beyond
• tahe - below; beneath; under
• ka'e - to; towards; at
• mahe - between; among [intrative INTR]
• ma'e - before; in front (of)
• nahe - inside; interior; during; within
• nyaue - outside of; exterior to
• sahe - across; opposite; other side
• tsa'e - across; through
• tla'e - around; encircling; surrounding; approximately
• uaye - from [out/away]
• ua'e - above; over; on
• ya'e - near; close to

Relational

• pa'e - apart from; other than; except for
• nka'e - in spite of; regardless of
• tsahe - for [in exchange for]
• tsaue - so long as; provided that
• tlaye - according to; based on
• te - of [belonging to; = GEN]; about
• uahe - instead of; rather than
• kue - like; similar to
• nya / nya'e - for [BEN]; purpose of; in order
• nyahe - by means of; per; via
• yahe - of [containing specified quantity]

Temporal

• maye - before
• kaye - until; up to; as far as
• naye - during; while
• maue - as soon as; when
• tsaye - during; start to end
• paye - after
• taye - since; from the end

Gender

Gender is not normally marked but can be with the endings -na and -ta to mark the feminine and masculine, respectively or nouns such as naka, tlaka, nahi, or tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc. A gender neutral suffix, -nta may be used when the gender is unknown or ambiguous.

• kuma - bear - a bear → kumana - bear-FEM - sow → kumata - bear-MASC - boar
• masa - deer - a deer → masana - deer-FEM - doe → masata - deer-MASC - stag
• uma - horse - a horse → umana - horse-FEM - mare → umata - horse-MASC - stallion

Pronouns and Determiners

Kala agent pronouns are often omitted when the person is obvious from context. There are four persons in Kala. The 4th being inanimate, or indefinite. The pronoun na'am is used as the 1st person plural exclusive, meaning "We, but not you." The 3rd person plural is irregular, all other pronoun decline regularly. Pronouns do not inflect for gender; if gender is significant, one can use words like naka, tlaka, nahi, tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc.

Personal pronouns:

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

Modifiers:

• -m - plural
• -nku - reciprocal (only attaches to plural pronouns)
• 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

nkalo

	Agent	Patient	Reflexive	Possessive	Reciprocal
1sg	na	ena	na'i	nayo	-
2sg	ta	eta	ta'i	tayo	-
3sg	ha	eha	ha'i	hayo	-
4sg	tla	etla	tla'i	tlayo	-
1pl 1pl exclusive	nam na'am	enam ena'am	nami na'ami	namyo na'amyo	nanku na'anku
2pl	tam	etam	tami	tamyo	tanku
3pl	kam	ekam	kami	kamyo	kanku
4pl	tlam	etlam	tlami	tlamyo	tlanku

Pronominal constructions

The agent and patient pronouns are linked in most constructions. That means that the agent and the patient form one word. This is done with the pronominal patient marking affix -e-.

• neha anya

1s-P.3s see

I see her.

• kameta motoyek

3pl-P.2s remember-PST-NEG

They didn’t remember you.

• tametla yohauek

2pl-P.4s have-DES-NEG

You (all) don’t want to have it.

• nya tena tapya ka

for 2s-P.1s follow Q

Why are you following me?

A/P	1sg	2sg	3sg	4sg	1pl	1pl.EXCL	2pl	3pl	4pl
1sg	-	neta	neha	netla	-	-	netam	nekam	netlam
2sg	tena	-	teha	tetla	tenam	tena'am	-	tekam	tetlam
3sg	hena	heta	-	hetla	henam	hena'am	hetam	-	hetlam
4sg	tlena	tleta	tleha	-	tlenam	tlena'am	tletam	tlekam	-
1pl	-	nameta	nameha	nametla	-	-	nametam	namekam	nametlam
1pl.EXCL	-	na'ameta	na'ameha	na'ametla	-	-	na'ametam	na'amekam	na'ametlam
2pl	tamena	-	tameha	tametla	tamenam	tamena'am	-	tamekam	tametlam
3pl	kamena	kameta	-	kametla	kamenam	kamena'am	kametam	-	kametlam
4pl	tlamena	tlameta	tlameha	-	tlamenam	tlamena'am	tlametam	tlamekam	-

Reflexives and Reciprocals

Kala handles reflexives and reciprocals using suffixes that can be added to either the pronoun or the verb. The reflexive suffix added to pronouns is –i, when added to verbs it is –ki, from ki meaning “self; essence”. The reciprocal suffix added to pronouns and verbs is –nku, , from anku meaning “reciprocate; [in] return”.

• na'i sepaye

1s.REFL injure-PST

I hurt myself.

• ha'i tlela

3s.REFL bathe

She bathes herself.

• kanku ontan nayo itsa

3pl.RECP parent-ACC 1s.GEN love

My parents love each other.

• na'anku amyapak

1pl.EXCL.RECP like-ABIL-NEG

We (but not you) are not able to like each other.

In order to differentiate non-singular reflexives from reciprocals, -li (“each; every”) can be added – to the subject for reflexives, and to the object for reciprocals. Note however that this construction usually implies that all members of the subject group were actually affected by the action.

• tanakoli matakiye

fight-AG-each kill-REFL-PST

Each one of the warriors killed himself.

• kanku tanakolin matakiye

3pl.RECP fight-AG-each-ACC kill-REFL-PST

The warriors killed each other [and nobody survived].

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

Quantifiers 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

Correlatives

correlatives

	Proximal i-	Medial ua-	Distal ye-	Inclusive -kua	Negative -k	Indefinite -la
mo (place)	hina here	uana there	yemua over there	mokua everywhere	mok nowhere	mola somewhere; anywhere
ko (person)	iko this person	uako that person	yeko that person (over there)	tlokua everyone	tlok no one	kola someone; anyone
uku (amount)	iku this much	uaku that much	-	kua all; every	ok none	ula some; any
ama (time)	ima now, at present	uama then; at that time	-	kuama always	amak never	tlama sometime; anytime
so (kind, type)	iso this kind	so'o that kind	yeso that kind (over there)	sokua all kinds	sok no kind (at all)	sola some/any kind
no (thing)	itla this	uatla that	yetla that (over there)	nokua everything	nok nothing; none	nola something; anything
to (manner, way)	yoto thus; like this; this way	uato that way	ato that way (over there)	tokua every way	tok no way	tola somehow; anyway

Syntax

Basic Word Order

The default word order in Kala is SOV, although case marking allows some flexibility.

• mita tlakan yatsiye

dog man-ACC bite-PST

The dog bit the man.

Derivation

Gemination

Gemination is only found as a product of word compounding and not as a phonological process, however it affects the pronunciation as the phonemic variation is lost and all geminated consonants are voiceless. naka (woman) can be /ˈnaːka/ or /ˈnaːga/, whereas nakkan (chieftess) can only be /ˈnaːkkan/. All consonants except for semivowels can undergo gemination.