User:Masako/pataka

Kala’s grammar is fairly regular and equally as simple. This is an explanation based on a story. The story is fairly simple and involves a few situations that are common to the human experience.

John, his dog, and his friends

• yohano ina

John eat

John eats. or John is eating.

• This is the simplest type of phrase in Kala. It includes the subject yohano and the action ina. The important thing to recognize is that ina can also mean food. The clue to its meaning in this phrase is word order, which, in Kala, is always (Subject)-(Object)-Verb. Verbs can be used alone when the phrase is an interjection, simply a statement of observance, or response to a question. Note the example below:

• pana

rain

It is raining or Rain!

tense

• To express the tense, simple suffixes are used:

• yohano inaye

John eat-PST

John ate.

• yohano inatli

John eat-FUT

John will eat.

• There are a few temporal adverbs that specify tense, they precede the verb phrase:

• ayehi yohano ina

past-DIM John eat

John ate a short while ago.

• ayeha yohano ina

past-AUG John eat

John ate a long while ago.

• atlihi yohano ina

future-DIM John eat

John will eat in a short while.

• atliha yohano ina

future-AUG John eat

John will eat long while from now.

subject vs object

• yohano nyoma inaye

John rice eat-PST

John ate the rice

• In the above phrase the strict SVO word order indicates that the rice is the object, or patient (recipient of the action). The particle ke marks the patient. It also function as a nominalizer (makes it a noun). The below is an example of a phrase that lacks a subject:

• ke nyoma inaye

O rice eat-PST

The rice was eaten.

• mita yohanoyo ke nyoma inaye

dog John-POSS O rice eat-PST

John's dog ate the rice.