User:Masako/pataka

Function words

Function words serve only grammatical functions. They have no meaning by themselves. Function words have to be used together with Content Words to form a meaningful sentence or phrase. Function words are a much smaller category in number but more frequently used. Kala function words are divided into a few subcategories; particles, conjunctions, and interjections.

Particles

ke

The direct object particle. It can often be omitted, especially in simple phrases, when the object is understood.

• na mita anya

1sg dog see

I see the dog.

• na tahe yempa ke mita anyaye

1sg be.under table O dog see-PST

I saw the dog under the table.

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 me 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 both eats and runs.
The dog is eating and running simultaneously.

• 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.

pi - although; even though; even if ku - and; also; too; as well [CONJ] {clause level] ma / -m / -lo - and; also; too; as well [CONJ] ehe [me] - but; yet; however impo - therefore; as a result; so; consequently; thus ua - or; either ue - either X or Y uenke [uek] - neither X nor Y yatli - if X then Y yema - both X and Y

interjections

The most common interjections in Kala are as follows;

• kya - imperative particle

• kyo - imperative particle

• kyo'a - imperative particle

• nka - emphatic negative

• ya - vocative particle

• a - affirmative

• aya - expresses strong emotions such as surprise ('ah', 'argh') and pain ('ow')

sounds

consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labiovelar	Glottal
Plosives	p   b	t   d		k   g		ʔ (q)
Nasals	m	n
Fricatives		s	ʃ (sh)
Approximants		l	j (y)		w	h
Trill		r

Note: The glottal stop /ʔ/ q, is used as a "buffer" to keep vowels apart when adding suffixes.

vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i~ɪ		u~ʊ
Mid	e~ɛ		o
Open		a~ə

Vowel length is productive and is marked by an acute accent. á é í ú