Kala Nouns: Difference between revisions

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::'''ke mauam tayo yanaha''' - Your flowers are the most yellow.
::'''ke mauam tayo yanaha''' - Your flowers are the most yellow.


==Gender==
== gender ==
* Nouns do not normally indicate their gender. To distinguish the sexes, the suffixes '''-ta''' and '''-na''' are used:


*In general, nouns do not indicate their gender. To distinguish the sexes, one can use the adjectival endings '''-ta''' and '''-na'''.
* '''uma''' - horse
:Example : '''nikata''' "a male dog", '''nikana''' "a female dog".
: '''umata''' - a male horse, a stallion
: '''umana''' - a female horse, a mare


== Articles ==
== Articles ==

Revision as of 04:10, 23 March 2013

Nouns

plurality

  • A countable noun (or "count noun") can be modified by a number, and can accept the plural. Typical countable nouns represent objects that are clearly individual entities, such as houses, cats, and thoughts. For example:
root usage example
-m ma general plural tsakam
houses
-mha ma + -ha indefinite abundance tsakamha
many/a lot houses
-mi ma + -hi indefinite insufficiency tsakami
few houses
tli- tatli collective plural tlikuma
sleuth of bears
-lo ma alternative to -m yamalo
mountains
  • When modified by a number, general plurals need not be marked. Example:
tsaka ta'o - Two houses.

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 onset is /h/.

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 mauam tayo yanaha - Your flowers are the most yellow.

gender

  • Nouns do not normally indicate their gender. To distinguish the sexes, the suffixes -ta and -na are used:
  • uma - horse
umata - a male horse, a stallion
umana - a female horse, a mare

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"


Pronouns

  • Kala generally distinguishes four persons, the fourth person indicating abstract and inanimate nouns – both in the singular and plural numbers.

There is also a distinction between inclusive (I/we and you) and exclusive (we but not you) forms of the first person plural.

Nominative Accusative Possessive Reflexive Reciprocal
1S na ena nayo na'i
2S ta eta tayo ta'i
3S ha eha hayo ha'i
4S tla etla tlayo tla'i
1P nam enam namyo nami nanku
1P (EXCL) na'am ena'am na'amyo na'ami na'anku
2P tam etam tamyo tami tanku
3P kam ekam kamyo kami kanku
4P tlam etlam tlamyo tlami tlanku
  • 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 -

Correlative Pronouns

Index

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