Kala: Difference between revisions
From FrathWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
m (→clusters) |
m (→diphthongs) |
||
Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
==== diphthongs ==== | ==== diphthongs ==== | ||
* '''ua''' - /wa:/ | '''ue''' - /we:/ | * '''ai''' - /aI:/ | '''ao''' - /aU:/ | '''ua''' - /wa:/ | '''ue''' - /we:/ | ||
=== phonotactics === | === phonotactics === |
Revision as of 10:45, 5 November 2009
- Kala is meant to be a simple and euphonic personal conlang.
- Many lexical entries are inspired/influenced/borrowed by/from any number of natlangs
Phonology
consonants
- Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.
- Plosives
- p - [p~b] | t - [t~d] | k - [k~g] | ' - [?]
- Nasals
- m - [m] | n - [n] | ny - [J]
- Fricatives
- s - [s~S] | h - [h~h\]
- Africates
- ts - [ts~tS] | tl - [tK]
- Approximants
- u - [w] | l - [l] | y - [j]
clusters
- ky - [k_j]
- mp - [mp] (can occur initially)
- mh - [m_h\]
- my - [m_j]
- nt - [nt] (can occur initially)
- nk - [Nk] (can occur initially)
- nh - [n_h\]
vowels
- a - /a~a:/ | e - /e~e:/ | i - /i~i:/ | o - /o~o:/ | u - /u~u:/
diphthongs
- ai - /aI:/ | ao - /aU:/ | 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, the glottal stop, ' , only appears between vowels.
syllable structure
- (C)V(k, m, n)
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
- ha ina yaso
- 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.
- naka ke tsaka ika na yeta
- Example : She gives the house to me.
- ha'ena ke tsaka yeta
- 3sg-TR-part-1sg the/a house give
- ha'ena ke tsaka yeta
- A chart of the agent-patient transitivity constructions;
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 | - |
verbs
tense
- The present tense is indicated by the basic form.
- ha apua
- 3SG sing
- He/She sings.
- 3SG sing
- The simple past tense is indicated by the suffix -ye.
- ha apuaye
- 3SG sing-PAST
- He/She sang.
- 3SG sing-PAST
- The simple future tense is indicated by the suffix -tli.
- ha apuatli
- 3SG sing-FUT
- He/She will sing.
- 3SG sing-FUT
- The tense may be left out if it is clearly indicated by another word in the same sentence, or when telling a story (the "historical" tense).
- ha yomatli apua
- 3SG day-FUT sing
- He/She will sing tomorrow.
- 3SG day-FUT sing
- ha semaye apua
- 3SG week-PAST sing
- He/She sang last week.
- 3SG week-PAST sing
mood
- The negative mood is indicated by the suffix -k, it is affixed in all tenses.
- kam inak
- 3PL eat-NEG
- They are not eating. / They do not eat.
- 3PL eat-NEG
- kam inayek
- 3PL eat-PAST-NEG
- They did not eat.
- 3PL eat-PAST-NEG
- kam inatlik
- 3PL eat-FUT-NEG
- They will not eat.
- 3PL eat-FUT-NEG
nouns
degree
- The diminutive is formed with hi- or -hi on words that begin with a vowel, and the augmentative with -ha.
- Example : ina - food, meal | inahi - snack, morsel | inaha - feast, banquet
- Example : tsaka - house, home, dwelling | hitsaka - shack, hut, cabin | tsakaha - palace, mansion
- These are also used to differentiate hue, or shade.
- Example : hiyana - light yellow, kuyaha - 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
- 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 : inahi "snack", ke inahi "the/a snack", ke inahim "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
examples
- ama nam yalatli ka
- time 1PL go-FUT INT
- When will we go?
- ko ke tlaka ka
- person the/that man INT
- Who is that man?
- nye kam hina ka
- reason 3PL here INT
- Why are they here?
- to a ka
- thing be INT
- What is this?
- koyo kama ke yama hina ka
- person-POSS village the mountain near INT
- Whose village is near the mountain?
- mo nayo satila ka
- place 1SG-POSS sandwich INT
- Where is my sandwich?
- no nam yalatli ka
- manner 1PL travel-FUT INT
- How will we travel?
- ko'o ekam yetaye ka
- number/amount TR-3PL give-PAST INT
- How many were they given?
pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | Possessive | Reflexive | Reciprocal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st sing | na | ena | nayo | na'i | |
2nd sing | ta | eta | tayo | ta'i | |
3rd sing | ha | eha | hayo | ha'i | |
1st plu | nam | enam | namyo | nami | nanku |
1st plu (EXCL) | na'am | ena'am | na'amyo | na'ami | na'anku |
2nd plu | tam | etam | tamyo | tami | tanku |
3rd plu | kam | ekam | kamyo | kami | kanku |
examples
- namyo ina
- 1PL-POSS food
- Our food.
- kami itsa
- 3PL-REFL love
- They love themselves.
- tanku moto ka
- 2PL-RECP remember/familiar INT
- Do you remember each other?
- eha unyatlik
- ACC-3SG understand-FUT-NEG
- He/She will not be understood.
Thematic Lexicon
Full lexicon: Kala 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
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
time
- moment, instant - imahi
- occasion | present, now (yet) - ima
- hour, period - imaha
- day - yoma
- week (7 days) - sema
- month (~30 days) - huama
- season - amahi
- time, year (~365 days) - ama
- era - amaha
- past - amaye
- future - amatli
- always, forever - kuama
- never - amak
prepositions
- pa'e - in / into / during
- paye - across / through
- po'a - behind / after
- tahe - below / under
- kima - like / similar to
- ma'a - with / in company of / using
- ma'ak - without / except
- ma'e - in front of / before
- mina - from / out of / since / of
- na'e - on / on top of
- nya - by (actor / author)
- sana - outside
- hata - by / beside / up to / until
- tsa'e - beyond / past / across
- ua'e - above / over / about / concerning
- uana - there / far / distant
- yane - along / beside
- ita'e - between / among
- ika - to / at / toward
- o'a - opposite / against / in spite of
- oma - around / approximately / close to
- uta - for / in order to / benefiting / on behalf of
- ue - above / over / on
Article 1, UDHR