Kala

• 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]

vowels

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

diphthongs

• ya - /ja:/ | ye - /je:/ | yo - /jo:/ | ua - /wa:/ | ue - /we:/

• ai - /aI:/ | ao - /aU:/ | uai - /waI:/ | yao - /jaU:/

phonotactics

• Kala allows only a single consonant at the start or end of a syllable (the exception being prenasalization), 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

• (m, n)(C)V(k, m, n)

Prenasalization primarily occurs with k, t and p. (See also: Moya)

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 ka'e na ke tsaka yeta

woman to/at 1sg the/a house 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	-

verbs

tense

• The present tense is indicated by the basic form.

ha apua

3SG sing

He/She sings.

• The simple past tense is indicated by the suffix -ye.

ha apuaye

3SG sing-PAST

He/She sang.

• The simple future tense is indicated by the suffix -tli.

ha apuatli

3SG sing-FUT

He/She will sing.

• 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.

ha semaye apua

3SG week-PAST sing

He/She sang last week.

mood

• Moods are indicated by affixes appended to verbs in all tenses.

• The negative mood is indicated by the suffix -k.

kam inak

3PL eat-NEG

They are not eating. / They do not eat.

• The volitive mood is indicated by the suffix -ue (from ueha - to want, desire).

nam tsomaueye

1PL smoke-VOL-PAST

We wanted to smoke.

• The necessitative mood is indicated by the suffix -he (from heta - to need, require).

ta simahetlik

2S sit-NEC-FUT-NEG

You will not need to sit.

• The abilitative mood is indicated by the suffix -pa (from pala - to be able).

na mokupa

1S sleep-ABIL

I can sleep. / I am able to sleep.

nouns

affect/degree

• The diminutive is formed with -hi, and the augmentative with -ha. These are respectively realized as -ki and -ka when attached to a word that has a final syllable containing h or y.

Example : ina - food, meal | inahi - snack, morsel | inaha - feast, banquet

Example : tsaka - house, home, dwelling | tsakahi - shack, hut, cabin | tsakaha - palace, mansion

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

Example : yanahi - light yellow, kuyaha - dark green

• In Kala the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective are merged into a single form, the elative. How this form is understood or translated depends upon context and definiteness. In the absence of comparison, the elative conveys the notion of “greatest”, “supreme.”

Example : tahaka - bigger/biggest | tsaka hayo ke nayo tahaka - His house is bigger than mine.

Example : yanaha - more yellow/most yellow | ke huam tayo yanaha - Your flowers are the most yellow.

plurals

• Concrete nouns are pluralized by suffixing -m.

Examples : kono - stone > konom - stones | naka - woman > nakam - women

• When the last syllable of a word contains an m, the plural is marked by reduplicating the final vowel.

Examples : kama - village > kama'a - villages | yama - mountain > yama'a - mountains

• Collective (plural) nouns are marked by prefixing tli-.

Examples : tsaka - house > tlitsaka - neighborhood | yama - mountain > tliyama - mountain range

• 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 show plural agreement. However, when an adjective is used nominally, 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 kama'a "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

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

• nye...ka - why, lit: reason...INT

• no...ka - what, lit: thing [Instrument]...INT

• mo...ka - where, lit: place...INT

• to...ka - how, what manner, lit: manner/method...INT

• ku / 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 that man INT

Who is that man?

• nye kam hina ka

reason 3PL here INT

Why are they here?

• no a ka / itla ka

thing be INT / this INT

What is this?

• koyo kama ke yama hina ka

person-POSS village the mountain near INT

Whose village is near the mountain?

• mo satila nayo ka

place sandwich 1SG-POSS INT

Where is my sandwich?

• to nam yalatli ka

manner 1PL travel-FUT INT

How will we travel?

• ku ekam yetaye ka

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

• ina namyo

food 1PL-POSS

Our food.

• kami itsa

3PL-REFL love

They love themselves.

• tanku moto ka

2PL-RECP remember INT

Do you remember each other?

• eha unyatlik

ACC-3SG understand-FUT-NEG

He/She will not be understood.

Index

grammar outline | sentences | questions | lexicon | thematic lexicon | writing