Kala

• Kala is meant to be a simple and euphonic personal conlang.

• Many lexical entries are inspired and/or influenced by any number of natlangs

Phonology

consonants

• Plosives

p - [p~b] | t - [t~d] | k - [k~g] | ' - [?]

• Nasals

m - [m] | n - [n] | ny - [J]

• Fricatives

s - [s~S] | ts - [ts~tS] | h - [h~h\]

• Approximants

u - [w] | y - [j]

• Laterals

l - [l] | tl - [tK]

clusters

• ky - [k~g_j]
• mp - [mp]
• mh - [m_h\]
• my - [m_j]
• nt - [nt~d]
• nk - [Nk]
• nh - [n_h\]
• lh - [l_h\]
• ly - [l_j]

vowels

• a - /a~a:/ | e - /e~e:/ | i - /i~i:/ | o - /o~o:/ | u - /u~u:/

diphthongs

• ua - /wa:/ | ue - /we:/

phonotactics

• Kala allows only a single consonant at the start or end of a syllable, and up to two consonants word medially across a syllable boundary.

l cannot appear as an onset.

syllable structure

• (C)V(k, l, m, n, t)

syllable stress

• Kala stress is penultimate; that is, the next-to-last syllable of the word is stressed.

Grammar

word order

• The usual, declarative formal word order is subject noun phrase - (object noun phrase) - verb phrase.

Example : He/She is preparing food.

ha ina yaso

3sg food/eat prepare/ready

• The "indirect object" exists only in the form of a prepositional phrase, and follows the object noun phrase.

Example : The woman gives the house to me.

naka ke tsaka ika na yeta

woman the/a house to/at 1sg give

• This construction changes when both the subject (agent) and (indirect)/object (patient) are personal pronouns. In this case, the preposition/al (phrase) is unnecessary.

Example : She gives the house to me.

ha'ena ke tsaka yeta

3sg-TR-part-1sg the/a house give

• A chart of the agent-patient transitivity constructions;

A-P construction

	1st sing	2nd sing	3rd sing	1st plu	2nd plu	3rd plu
1st sing	-	na'eta	na'eha	-	na'etam	na'ekam
2nd sing	ta'ena	-	ta'eha	ta'enam	-	ta'ekam
3rd sing	ha'ena	ha'eta	-	ha'enam	ha'etam	ha'ekam
1st plu	-	nameta	nameha	-	nametam	namekam
2nd plu	tamena	-	tameha	tamenam	-	tamekam
3rd plu	kamena	kameta	kameha	kamenam	kametam	-

degree

• The diminutive is formed with -l, and the augmentative with -t.

Example : ina - food, meal | inal - snack, morsel | inat - feast, banquet

Example : tsaka - house, home, dwelling | tsakal - shack, hut, cabin | tsakat - palace, mansion

• These are also used to differentiate hue, or shade.

Example : yanal - light yellow, kuyat - dark green

plurals

• To make a noun plural, add -m to the end, or -im for words ending in a consonant.

Example : kono - stone | konom - stones

Example : sukal - piglet | sukalim - piglets

• Nouns need not be marked plural if a number is used to show quantity.

Example : sahi - color, sahim - colors, sahi ya'o - five color(s)

• Adjectives do not change when they are plural. However, when an adjective is used in place of a noun, it can be pluralized.

Example : nyeli - pink | nyelim - (the) pink (ones)

gender

• In general, nouns do not indicate their gender. To distinguish the sexes, one can use the adjectival endings -ta and -na.

Example : nikata "a male dog", nikana "a female dog".

articles

• There is only one article in Kala, ke. It is used primarily as a "noun marker".
• It is ambi-definite, meaning it can be either definite or indefinite. The distinction is made through context.

Example : kama "village", ke kama "the/a village", ke kamam "the villages"

Example : inal "snack", ke inal "the/a snack", ke inalim "the snacks"

questions

• When asking questions in Kala, the idea, or concept, is the subject, and the entire construction is followed by the interrogative particle ka.

• ama...ka - when, lit: time...INT

• ko...ka - who, lit: person [Agentive]...INT

• nye...ka - why, lit: reason...INT

• to...ka - what, lit: thing [Instrument]...INT

• koyo...ka - whose, lit: person-POSS...INT

• mo...ka - where, lit: place...INT

• no...ka - how, what manner, lit: manner/method...INT

• ko'o...ka - how much/many, lit: number/amount...INT

pronouns

personal pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1st	na	nam
2nd	ta	tam
3rd	ha	kam

possessive pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1st	nayo	namyo
2nd	tayo	tamyo
3rd	hayo	kamyo

reflexive pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1st	na'i	nami
2nd	ta'i	tami
3rd	ha'i	kami

Thematic Lexicon

numbers

• zero / nothing / 0 - e'o
• one / 1 - na'o
• two / 2 - ta'o
• three / 3 - ha'o
• four / 4 - ma'o
• five / 5 - ya'o
• six / 6 - tsa'o
• seven / 7 - ka'o
• eight / 8 - pa'o
• nine / 9 - sa'o
• ten / 10 - ue'o
• hundred / 100 - nye'o
• thousand / 1000 - tle'o

higher numbers

• eleven / 11 - uena'o

• twenty / 20 - taue'o

• one hundred one / 107 - nyeka'o

• three hundred twenty five / 326 - hanyetauetsa'o (long form) | hatatsa'o (short form)

• six thousand and twenty / 6020 - tsatletaue'o

ordinals, fractions etc.

• ki- - ordinal/multiple prefix

Example : kisa'o - ninth, or nine times

Example : kiyanyepa'o - 508^th, or 508 times

• i- - fractional prefix

Example : isa'o - a ninth

Example : iha'o pa'o - three eighths, ⅜

family

• family / kin - tlika
• parent - onata
• grandparent - onataha
• spouse - tlanata
• sibling - uanata
• child - inata
• father / uncle - ota
• mother / aunt - ona
• husband - tla'ota
• wife - tla'ona
• grandfather - otaha
• grandmother - onaha
• brother / cousin - otaua
• sister / cousin - onaua
• boy / son - ota'i
• girl / daughter - ona'i
• man / masculine / male - tlaka
• woman / feminine / female - naka

colors

• red - ketla
• orange - tliyo
• yellow - yana
• green - kuya
• blue - tsuku
• indigo, violet, purple - tlaku
• white, pale - nyahi
• black, dark - oya
• clear - yehi

time

• moment, instant - imal
• occasion | present, now (yet) - ima
• hour, period - imat
• day - yoma
• week (7 days) - sema
• month (~30 days) - huama
• season - amal
• time, year (~365 days) - ama
• era - amat
• past - amaye
• future - tli'ama

General Lexica

• The majority of lexical units in Kala can have multiple roles.
• Most have a primary role, such as verb, noun or adjective, but almost all can serve in at least two roles.
• Because of this, this list is sorted alphabetically and not by part of speech or category.

p t k m n s h l a

p

• pameya - okra, ladies' fingers
• pana - (to) rain | perspire, moisten | dew
• petsa - mild, soft
• pila - to saw, rip, crush
• puna - dirt, soil | sand

k

• ka - interrogative particle
• kata - nature, universe | essence
• kama - village, town, city
• kana - to lead, command | chief, leader
• kasuma - onion
• kaua - coffee
• kala - to speak, talk, say | language, dialect
• kalo - be difficult | burden | cumbersome
• ketla - red | blood | to bleed
• kipa - tooth | to bite, chew
• kita - to greet, welcome | hello, hi
• kito - symbol | mark | glyph
• ko - person | agentive
• kopa - mushroom | fungi
• koni - skunk
• kono - gray | stone, rock
• ko'o - number, amount, quantity | to count
• kue'a - deer, cervine
• kuna - to expel | to excrete, shit, defecate
• kulu - all, every, each
• kuya - green | grass, foliage

m

• ma - and, also, as well | plus | more
• mata - to kill, murder
• mala - bad, unfavorable, negative
• matla - stew, casserole, goulash
• maya - water, fluid | wet
• metla - to whistle | sound of wind | flute
• mo - to locate, place | locative | location [where]

n

• naso - wolf, lupine
• naha - river, stream | lake, pond
• naho - to regulate | rule | grammar
• nika - dog, canine

ny

• nyahi - white | snow | to snow
• nye - reason, cause | because
• nyeli - pink

h

• hani - land | a country or region
• hika - to stop, halt | wait
• hina - near, close, here

y

• yato - finger | hand
• yaka - arm, leg | appendage
• yama - mountain, hill | pile, mound
• ya'asa - wind, breeze | air
• yesa - be quiet, tranquil | peaceful

tl

• tlayo - to wed, marry | marriage, matrimony
• tlela - to wash, bathe | clean, pure

a

• a - to be, exist | yes
• aposi - outhouse, toilette
• ato - body, anatomy | corpse
• ato'a - torso | chest, belly
• ama - time, year, season
• ani - wish, hope | to aspire
• ahi - potato
• ala - to be born | to birth
• aya - beauty | to be beautiful

i

• ito - wood
• itola - to fall, drop, plummet
• ikana - friend, ally
• impa - table | desk | flat work surface
• ina - food, sustenance | to eat, consume
• iso - to hit, strike | slap
• itsa - love, affection | to love, care for
• ila - bird, avian | to fly, glide

o

• omo - to exchange, trade | commerce, business

Examples

• mo ta yala ka

place/locale 2sg go/walk/travel INT-part

Where are you going?

• nam tsala inaye

1pl sauce/paste eat-PAST

We ate the sauce.

• ko tayo onatam ka

person 2sg-POSS parent-PL INT-part

Who are your parents?

• na yalaye nye ta talaye

1SG go-PAST because 2SG return-PAST

I left because you returned.

Article 1, UDHR

• kuluko ekam ala tsiyaso ma sayoso ma kimaso ma kuelasom

all-person P-PART-they born/birthed free-with and equal-with dignity-with and right-with-PL

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.