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* [[Kala/calendar|calendar]]
* [[Kala/calendar|calendar]]
* [[Kala/glyphs|glyphs]]
* [[Kala/lexicon|lexicon]]
* [[Kala/lexicon|lexicon]]
* [[Kala/phrases|phrases]]
* [[Kala/phrases|phrases]]

Revision as of 05:52, 27 December 2015

The Kala conlang...

Phonology

Consonants

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

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.

nkalo
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

uatse
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