Kala

The Kala conlang...

• calendar
• etymology
• lexicon
  • thematic lexicon
• phrases
• syllables
• word formation
• writing

introduction

Kala is a personal conlang (actually more of an artlang), not attached to any conworld or conculture.

characteristics

Kala is a context-oriented language. In most cases, the more important elements of a phrase are clustered toward the end of the sentence (e.g. verbs and their modifiers). The less important an element is to the understanding of a sentence, the more likely it is to be dropped. Consequently, many Kala sentences end-up consisting solely of a verb (or adjectival verb). More so in conversation than in written Kala, these short phrases are grammatically correct and natural. Here are some examples:

• muya ka - do Q - (What are you) doing?
• ina - eat - (I am) eating.
• tamatse - good-seem - (That looks) good.
• ueha ka - want Q - (Do you) want (some)?
• nyasak - thank-NEG - No, thank (you).

Notice that none of the above contain any pronouns, or nouns. Any contextually understood elements may be omitted unless indispensable.

parts of speech

Kala has three parts of speech, each with several subgroups. Nouns and verbs are substantive, while particles tend to be only functional. Many of the words can be used as both nouns and verbs. The best, and most common example would be ina (food; to eat).

• na ina - 1sg eat - I eat.
  • na ke ina anya - 1sg O food see - I see the food.

borrowing

Kala borrows extensively from various natural languages. This is a very small sample of borrowings:

See also: etymology

• kala – to speak, talk, converse; from Arabic takallama
• na – I, me; from Arabic ʾanā
• pato – duck (Anatidae); from Spanish pato
• tsenka – orange; from Chinese chéng
• uasi – to take, get, acquire; from Lakota wasichu
• myonta – to allow, permit; from Finnish myöntää
• a – to be, exist, yes; from Japanese aru

phonology

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word order

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nouns

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determiners

Determiners precede the noun they modify in Kala. Kala makes a three-way distinction. Typically there is a distinction between proximal or first person (objects near to the speaker), medial or second person (objects near to the addressee), and distal or third person (objects far from both).

• itla (i-) - this (near me)
• uatla (ua-) - that (near you)
• yetla (ye-) - that (over there)

The demonstratives can be prefixed to any noun to show deixis.

Quantifiers follow the noun that modify.

• kua (-kua) - all; every; whole
• oli (-li) - each; every
• ula (-la) - whatever; any; some
• mi (-mi) - few; little
• nke (-k) - none
• mpa (-mpa) - many; much; a lot
• maha - more; plus
• ohi - less; fewer

pronouns

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verbs

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particles

ke

• The patient, or object (O) marker.

conjunctions

There are three coordinating conjunctions in Kala and three correlative conjunctions:

coordinating

• ma - and; also

mita ina ma moku - dog eat and sleep - The dog eats and sleeps.

• ua - or

mita ina ua moku - dog eat or sleep - The dog eats or sleeps.

• ehe (me) - but; yet

mita ina ma mokunke - dog eat but sleep-NEG - The dog eats but does not sleep.

correlative

• yema - both X and Y

mita ina yema empa - dog eat both.X.and.Y run - The dog eats and runs.

• ue - either X or Y

mita ina ue empa - dog eat either.X.or.Y run - The dog is either eating or running.

• uenke (uek) - neither X nor Y

mita ina uenke empa - dog eat neither.X.nor.Y run - The dog is neither eating nor running.

prepositions

Kala does not have prepositions as a distinct part of speech. Instead, many locative verbs can be used as prepositions, in which case they precede the noun they modify. There is one general locative (-hue) which is affixed to nouns (and occasionally verbs) to indicate the sense of “at; in; on”.

adjectives

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adverbs

Temporal adverbs in Kala precede the verb phrase they modify. Other adverbs follow the verb or adjective they modify and are explicitly marked by -n.

questions

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clauses

comparative

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.”

• tsaka hayo ke nayo tahaka

house 3sg.POSS O 1sg.POSS big-AUG

His house is bigger than mine.

• ke mauam tayo yanaha

O flower.PL 2sg.POSS yellow-AUG

Your flowers are the most yellow.

• iyapo ke tsaka tayo pakoha

PROX-building O home 2sg new-AUG

This building is newer than your home.

relative

In a relative clause, the verb has the suffix -tle (or -le if the final syllable contains /tl/) added to it. The order of the words in relative clauses remains the same as in regular clauses. The use of participles in Kala is rather different than in English and at first sight is difficult to understand. This is mainly due to the fact that the relative pronouns who, what, which, where are not used in Kala as in English.

• yalapa - to be able to walk produces: yalapatle - who/which/that can walk
• yalapak - not to be able to walk produces: yalapanketle - who/which/that can't walk

This nominalizes the verb in some cases, and makes it possible for it to be either the subject or the object.

• na ke tlaka nya inama talatle unya

1sg O man for eat-time come-REL know

I know the man who is coming to lunch.

• ke naka patlole pako

O woman sweep-REL young

The woman who is sweeping is young.

The relative suffix is most often in the final position. In some cases, it may be followed by the negative -k.

• itsaka na sutahuetle

PROX-house 1sg reside-LOC-REL

This is the house in which I live.

• itsaka na sutahueyetle

PROX-house 1sg reside-LOC-PST-REL

This is the house in which I lived.

numbers

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