Kala: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 05:52, 27 December 2015
The Kala conlang...
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | |||||
Nasal | m (m) | n (n) | ɲ (ny) | |||
Plosive | p~b (p) | t~d (t) | k~g (k) | ʔ (`) | ||
Affricate | ts (ts) | t͡ɬ~tl (tl) | t͡ʃ (ts) | |||
Continuant | s (s) | l~ɾ (l) | ʃ (s) | h~ɦ (h) | ||
Semivowel | j (y) | w (u) |
- Prenasalized: /ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk/
- Labialized:/pʷ kʷ mʷ nʷ ʃʷ hʷ t͡ʃʷ/
- Palatalized: /pʲ kʲ mʲ hʲ/
Note: Because of its small phoneme inventory, Kala allows for quite a lot of allophonic variation. For example, /p t k/ may be pronounced [b d ɡ] as well as [p t k], /s l h/ as [ʃ ɾ ɦ], and /t͡s t͡ɬ/ as [t͡ʃ t͡l]; also, vowels may be either long or short.
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |
Kala has five vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/ and /u/. Each occurs in both stressed and unstressed syllables. Phonetic nasalization occurs for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal, e.g. tsunka [ˈt͡ʃũᵑka] ('bug').
Diphthongs
Phonetically, Kala has only two diphthongs, both falling; [aɪ̯] and [aʊ̯], but there are five syllables that can be analyzed as rising diphthongs; [wa], [we], [ja], [je], and [jo]. The two triphthongs [waɪ̯] and [jaʊ̯] are very rare but should be noted as possible.
Phonotactics
Syllable Structure
Kala syllable structure is ((N)C)(y, u)V(F). As in most languages, CV is the most common syllable type, accounting for the majority of Kala lemmas. The finals /n/, /m/, and /k/ are grammatical and indicate adverbs, plurals, and negatives, respectively. They only occur word finally. So, nkapa (alcohol) is permitted, but nakpa is not; kyopo (fear) is acceptable, but koypo is not, etc. There is a limited set of syllables allowed by Kala phonotactics, similar to Japanese or Chinese. They are listed here: Syllable Chart, or here.
- Only /l/ cannot occur word initially (except in loan words and toponyms).
Morphology
Nouns
Number
general plural
Kala does not require the plural be marked if it is understood through context, and only inanimate pronouns are marked, whereas inanimate nouns need not be marked. General plurals are formed with –m (or –lo if the final syllable contains m).
- mita / mitam - dog / dogs
- kuma / kumalo - bear / bears
mass nouns
Mass nouns include liquids, powders, and substances, such as maya (water), hyeka (sand), and tleno (wood). They do not normally require determiners or the plural. However, one may add these to indicate specific examples or different types:
- tlenom – woods (e.g. various kinds)
- mayam - waters (e.g. various locations)
collective
The collective plural is marked by tli-, derived from tatli, meaning group; collection; gathering. It is mainly used to indicate collectives of animals, but can also indicate groups of flora, geographic features, and various other groupings. This is called the collective plural (COL).
- mita – dog / tlimita – pack of dogs
- yama – mountain / tliyamalo – mountain range
- tsaka – house / tlitsaka – neighborhood
- puku – clothing / tlipuku – wardrobe
other quantifiers
Personal Pronouns
Kala agent pronouns are often omitted when the person is obvious from context. Kala personal pronouns also encode clusivity. That is, there are different words for "we" depending on whether the speaker is including the person spoken to or not. Pronouns do not inflect for gender; if gender is significant, one can use words like naka, tlaka, nahi, tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc.
Agent | Patient | Reflexive | Possessive | Reciprocal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1sg | na | ena | na'i | nayo | |
2sg | ta | eta | ta'i | tayo | |
3sg | ha | eha | ha'i | hayo | |
4sg | tla | etla | tla'i | tlayo | |
1pl 1pl exclusive |
nam na'am |
enam ena'am |
nami na'ami |
namyo na'amyo |
nanku na'anku |
2pl | tam | etam | tami | tamyo | tanku |
3pl | kam | ekam | kami | kamyo | kanku |
4pl | tlam | etlam | tlami | tlamyo | tlanku |
Demonstratives
Proximal i- |
Medial ua- |
Distal ye- |
Inclusive -kua |
Negative -k |
Indefinite -la | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mo place |
hina here |
uana there |
yemua over there |
mokua everywhere |
mok nowhere |
mola somewhere; anywhere |
ko person |
iko this person |
uako that person |
yeko that person (over there) |
tlokua everyone |
tlok no one |
kola someone; anyone |
uku amount |
iku this much |
uaku that much |
- | kua all; every |
ok none |
ula some; any |
ama time |
ima now, at present |
uama then; at that time |
- | kuama always |
amak never |
tlama sometime; anytime |
so kind, type |
iso this kind |
so'o that kind |
yeso that kind (over there) |
sokua all kinds |
sok no kind (at all) |
sola some/any kind |
no thing |
itla this |
uatla that |
yetla that (over there) |
nokua everything |
nok nothing; none |
nola something; anything |
to manner, way |
yoto thus; like this; this way |
uato that way |
ato that way (over there) |
tokua every way |
tok no way |
tola somehow; anyway |