Kala Grammar: Difference between revisions
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=== verbs === | === verbs === | ||
* A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action (run, stop), a relationship (have, lose), or a state (stand, melt). Most verbs can be reused without change as a noun. | ''See more'': [[Kala_Verbs|verbs]] | ||
* A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action (run, stop), a relationship (have, lose), or a state (stand, melt). Most verbs can be reused without change as a noun. If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted. Kala does not distinguish perfect and imperfect aspects of the verb (e.g. "I ate", "I used to eat", "I have eaten", "I had eaten"). | |||
==== tense ==== | ==== tense ==== | ||
Kala distinguishes three basic tenses; past, present, and future. These are marked '''-ye''', '''-Ø''', and '''tli''' respectively. | |||
* '''kam inaye''' | |||
: {{sc|3pl}} eat.{{sc|pst}} | |||
: ''They ate''. | |||
: | |||
: | |||
* | * '''ha yala''' | ||
: {{sc|3sg}} go | |||
: ''He goes''. / ''He is going''. | |||
*' | * '''nanku tanatli''' | ||
: {{sc|1pl.recp}} fight.{{sc|fut}} | |||
: ''We will/shall fight each other''. | |||
==== modifiers ==== | ==== modifiers ==== | ||
Kala uses several modifiers to add nuance and meaning to verbs. Many of the | |||
=== nouns === | === nouns === |
Revision as of 05:47, 15 September 2013
pronunciation
- Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.
vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i~i: (i) | u~u: (u) | |
Mid | e~e: (e) | o~o: (o) | |
Open | a~a: (a) |
diphthongs
- Both of the falling diphthongs as well as uai and yao only occur word finally.
falling
- [aɪ~aɪ:] - ai
- [aʊ~aʊ:] - ao
rising
- [wa~wa:] - ua
- [waɪ~waɪ:] - uai
- [ja~ja:] - ya
- [ja~jaɪ:] - yai
- [jaʊ~jaʊ:] - yao
- [je~je:] - ye
- [jo~jo:] - yo
consonants
Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | plain | labial | ||||
Nasal | m (m) | n (n) | ɲ (ny) | ||||
Plosive | p~b (p) | t~d (t) | k~g (k) | ʔ (') | |||
Fricative | s (s) | ʃ (s) | h~ɦ (h) | ||||
Affricate | ts (ts) | tɬ (tl) | tʃ (ts) | ||||
Approximant | l~r (l) | j (y) | w (u) |
allophony
- /h/ > /ɦ/ when preceded or followed by a front vowel.
- The glottal stop is not phonemic but is included in the chart above. It is pronounced between two vowels and/or diphthongs that are not connected.
- <s> & <ts> are /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ respectively, unless immediately preceded or followed by one another, then <s> is always /s/ and <ts> is always /tʃ/.
- However, one could pronounce them either way (e.g. always /s/ & /ts/) and still be understood.
- Example:
- sitsa - /'si:.tʃa/ - warmth, heat / warm, hot / to heat up
- tsasu - /'tʃa:.su/ - cursive writing; having successive letters joined together
phonotactics
- Kala phonotactics does not 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.
- Syllables beginning with /l/ do not occur as the first syllable of a headword.
syllable structure
- See also: Syllables
- (N)(C)V/D(F)
- N - nasal; prenasal; /n/ or /m/
- C - consonant
- V - vowel
- D - diphthong
- F - final; coda
- The three codas are /k/, /m/, and /n/; these only occur as a final codas to negate, pluralize or adverbialize verbs and nouns, respectively.
stress
- In Kala stress falls on the penultimate syllable with the exceptions of negatives and words that end with a syllable onset palatal approximant, in which case stress is ultimate.
prenasalized consonants
- In Kala, almost every consonant can be prenasalized, but primarily the plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/ can be analyzed as prenasalized,while most other instances could be easily analyzed as cases of syllabic /n/ or /m/.
- mp /ᵐp~ᵐb/
- Example: mpaka /ˈᵐpa.ka/ - n - boundary / border / line
- nt /ⁿt~ⁿd/
- Example: ntama /ˈⁿta.ma/ - n - calf (a young cow or bull)
- nk /ᵑk~ᵑ/
- Example: nkapa /ˈᵑka.pa/ - n - alcohol / grog
sentence structure
See also: Kala Sentences
- Most sentences in Kala contain a verb phrase, typically denoting the occurrence of an action. A verb phrase consists of a verb plus any modifiers.
- Most sentences also contain at least one noun phrase, typically denoting a person or thing. A noun phrase consists of a noun plus any modifiers.
- The two most important noun phrases are the subject and the object. Their exact meaning depends on the choice of verb, but
- loosely speaking, the subject is the person or thing that carries out the action, and the object is the person or thing that is directly affected by the action.
- Kala has an extremely regular grammar, with very few exceptions to its rules. Sentences are made up of one or more phrases. Each phrase consists of a subject (optionally followed by modifying particles) and a verb (optionally followed by modifying particles).
word order
- Kala phrase structure can be represented as follows:
- (temporal adverb) subject-(modifier) (particle) ((object)-(modifier)) verb-(modifier) (particle)
- or, more simply SOV
parts of speech
verbs
See more: verbs
- A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action (run, stop), a relationship (have, lose), or a state (stand, melt). Most verbs can be reused without change as a noun. If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted. Kala does not distinguish perfect and imperfect aspects of the verb (e.g. "I ate", "I used to eat", "I have eaten", "I had eaten").
tense
Kala distinguishes three basic tenses; past, present, and future. These are marked -ye, -Ø, and tli respectively.
- kam inaye
- 3pl eat.pst
- They ate.
- ha yala
- 3sg go
- He goes. / He is going.
- nanku tanatli
- 1pl.recp fight.fut
- We will/shall fight each other.
modifiers
Kala uses several modifiers to add nuance and meaning to verbs. Many of the
nouns
- Nouns include pronouns, adjectives (nouns of quality), and determiners.
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.
- 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
comparative / superlative
- In Kala the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective (verb) 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
- taha'u
- bigger/biggest
- tsaka hayo ke nayo taha'u
- house 3sg-poss obj 1sg-poss big-aug
- His house is bigger than mine.
- Example
- yanaha
- more yellow/most yellow
- ke mauam tayo yanaha
- obj flower.pl 2sg-poss yellow-aug
- 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
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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1sg | na | ena | nayo | na'i | |
2sg | ta | eta | tayo | ta'i | |
3sg | ha | eha | hayo | ha'i | |
4sg | tla | etla | tlayo | tla'i | |
1pl | nam | enam | namyo | nami | nanku |
1pl.excl | na'am | ena'am | na'amyo | na'ami | na'anku |
2pl | tam | etam | tamyo | tami | tanku |
3pl | kam | ekam | kamyo | kami | kanku |
4pl | tlam | etlam | tlamyo | tlami | tlanku |
correlative pronouns
query | proximal | medial | distal | indefinite | negative | ambiguous | universal | generalized | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
adjective | ote which |
itla this |
uatla that |
yetla that (there) |
iha some |
-k none |
ula any |
kua every |
ote whichever |
person | ko who |
iko this person |
uako that person |
yeko that person (there) |
hyako someone |
tlok no one |
kola anyone |
tlokua everyone |
teko who(m)ever |
thing | ke what |
itla this |
uatla that |
yetla that (there) |
hyano something |
nok no thing |
nola anything |
nokua everything |
ote whatever |
time | ama when |
ima now |
uama then |
yeme then (yon) |
hyama sometime |
amak never |
tlama anytime |
kuama always |
tema whenever |
place | mo where |
hina here |
uana there |
yemo there (away) |
hyamo somewhere |
mok nowhere |
mola anywhere |
mokua everywhere |
temo wherever |
way | to how |
yoto thus |
hyato somehow |
tok no way |
heto however | ||||
amount | uku how many |
ok none |
teku however much/many | ||||||
reason | nye why |
tenye whyever |
- To form a question, the queries are placed at the begining of a phrase and ka is placed at the end. Example:
- tam yala - 2pl go - You all are going.
- ama tam yala ka - time 2pl go q - When are you all going?
compound sentences (subordinate clauses)
- While he was hunting wolf, he heard a bird singing.
ha naye nya otso tasa ke tsikua apua anuye 3sg during for wolf hunt p bird sing hear-pst
- If you want good beer, you should make your own beer.
- While looking for tubers, I saw a nun in a clearing.
- If you ate the toad (which you might have), you might get sick.
- If you ate the toad (which you didn't), you would be dead.
adjectives
- Kala uses verbs instead of having proper adjectives. For example;
- na nyota
- 1sg thirst
- I am thirsty.
- tla kiha
- 4sg be.tall
- It is tall. (lit: it talls)
- nam ke punka ketla inaye
- 1pl obj fruit be.red eat-pst
- We ate the red fruit.
adverbs
- An adverbial precedes the clause it modifies.
- I drank thirstily.
nyotan na inuye thirst.adv 1sg drink-pst
- She will sleep quietly.
kyo'an ha mokutli quiet.adv 3sg sleep-fut
prepositions & conjunctions
prepositions
- relational
- taye - pertaining to; regarding; about; a matter of
- te - of; from [gen]
- mahe - approximately; around; close to
- ma'a - with [accompanied by; furnished with]; together
- ma'ak - without; with no ...
- nya - for [benefit; purpose of], [ben]; by [actor; author]
- atse - opposite; the other side
- spatial
- pue - back; behind; rear
- tahe - below; under; beneath; underneath
- kaye - around; encircling; surrounding
- ka'e - to; towards; at [moving toward]
- maye - between; among
- ma'e - before; ahead of; in front of
- nahe - into; within; in [located inside of]
- saye - along; following [a line]
- hue - at [in the same location as]
- tsa'e - across ; through; beyond; past
- atse - across; opposite; the other side
- enye - outside of; exterior to
- uaye - from [moving out of or away from]
- ua'e - above; over [space]
- yane - beside; by; next to; near; close to
- temporal
- pue - afterwards; after; later
- ma'e - before; earlier
- naye - during; hence
- tsaye - since; until
conjunctions
- ma - and; also; too; as well
- me - but, however, and not
- ua - or
- - so, therefore
- ke - that, whether
- ama - when (temporal)
- naye - while, during, as
- iya - if (conditional)
- nye - because, since
- - in order that (purpose)
- - even when, even if, albeit, still
- - anyway, although, on the other hand
relative clauses
- He broke the bone which I gave him.
- ha ke ueso na'eha yetaye tanyaye
- 3sg p bone 1sg-a.p-3sg give-pst break-pst
- I saw the car that he bought.
- na ke nkale ha tsumpaye anyaye
- 1sg p car 3sg buy-pst see-pst
interjections
- a - yes
- ak - no
- nka - no! emp.neg
- yata - hello / goodbye
- hala - hey, hi (on the phone)
- tsepa - please
- nyasa - thank you
- hako - you're welcome
- niha - fine, OK, great
cursing
- katse - epithet; similar to "bastard", "bitch" or "asshole."
- kuna - shit (lit: to defecate)
- kyosa - fornicate; have sex
- nanka - general invective; "Damn it!"
- tsaya (-tsa) - general invective; "Fuck!" or "Shit!"
- eta kuna
- p.2sg shit
- You are shat. / You are shit.
- kya ta'i kyosa
- imp 2sg.refl fornicate
- Fuck yourself!
- onatsa tayo
- mother.damned 2sg.poss
- mother fucker / your damned mother
numbers
cardinal numbers
- e'o - zero; null
- na'o - one
- ta'o - two
- ha'o - three
- ma'o - four
- ya'o - five
- tsa'o - six
- ka'o - seven
- pa'o - eight
- sa'o - nine
- ue'o - ten
-
- nye'o - (one) hundred; 102
- nya'o - five hundred
- tle'o - (one) thousand; 103
- mue'o - ten thousand; 104
- kye'o - (one) hundred thousand; 105
- nte'o - (one) million; 106
- hue'o - (one) billion; 109
higher numbers
- uena'o - eleven / 11
- taue'o - twenty / 20
- nyeka'o - one hundred seven / 107
- hanyetauetsa'o (long form) | hatatsa'o (short form) - three hundred twenty six / 326
- tsatletauema'o - six thousand and twenty four / 6024
expressions of time
- Tense markers are often replaced by time expressions. Here are a few of the more common ones:
- iyoma - today
- iyohua - tonight
- yomaye - yesterday
- yomatli - tomorrow
- yomua - morning
- puama - evening
- yomuatli - tomorrow morning
- yohuaye - last night
- sayo - month
- anyo - year
- anyotlipua - end of next year
- anyoye ue'o - ten years ago
- sayotli ta'o - in two months
ordering of phrases
- I will eat pig.
- It is pig that I will eat.
- He broke the bone.
- The bone broke/was broken.
- I was bitten.
- He wants to be beaten.
- The broken bone.
- I gave the fruit to the child.
- I gave (it) to the child.
- I gave the fruit.
- The fruit was given to the child.
- Give (me) the big bone now.
causative constructions
- Constructions with -mya (from muya), to do, make:
- I am making the beer.
- I am keeping him from eating.
- I will kill him.
- What did you kill?
- Note: In English, verbs can be transitive or intransitive, as in "The house burned" or "I burned the house". In Kala, a causative construction is used:
- The house is burning.
- I am burning the house.
compounding
- Kala compounding is right-branching. Kala also reduces redundant syllables.
- nyepana - raincloud
- nyepa - cloud
- pana - rain
- ilamo - airport
- ila - fly; hover
- mo - place; locale
creating nouns from verbs
- A noun can be created from a verb root, as with ina, to eat:
- ina-ko - eater
- ina-no - food, thing eaten
- ina-ma - eating-time
- ina-mo - eating-place
- ina-mya - act of eating
- ina-nyo - eating instrument
- ina-pe - portion of food; morsel, crumb
- ina-to - manner of eating