User:Masako/nkala

kamalo

phonology

consonants

• nasals: /m n ɲ/ m n ny
• plosives: /p t k kʷ/ p t k kw
• affricates: /t͡ɬ/ tl
• continuants: /l h~ɦ/ l h
• semivowels: /j w/ y w

All plosives, except the glottal stop, can be prenasalized: /ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk ᵑkʷ/.

vowels

Kamalo only uses three vowels; /a e o/, occasionally they contrast for length. ā ē ō

morphology

Kamalo is an agglutinative and polysynthetic language that makes extensive use of compounding, incorporation and derivation. That is, it can add many different prefixes and suffixes to a root until very long words are formed, and a single word can constitute an entire sentence.

nouns

pronouns

	singular	dual	plural
1	wa-	pwa-	kwa-
2	ne-	(m)pe-	(n)ke-
3	(h)o-	po-	ko-

possession

Possession is marked by the nominal suffix -o and a pronominal prefix attached to a stem.

• kwamalo - 1pl-speak-NOM - our word
• tlayemo - MASC-eat-NOM - his food
• popato - 3du-be.aware-NOM - their awareness
• wanyako - 1s-burn-NOM - my fire

pronominal prefixes

Verb arguments (i.e. subject, direct object, indirect object) are indicated with pronominal affixes which are added to verb stems. The pronominal affixes are inflected according to number (singular, dual, and plural) and person (1st, 2nd, etc.).

subject	object	verb	tense / aspect / mood
ko-	wa-	kop	-e
3pl	1sg	harm	PST
kowakope
They harmed me.

noun modifiers

• he- - color of ~
• ye- - feminine; female [FEM]
• tla- - masculine; male [MASC]
• -o - marks noun; nominalizer [NOM]

number

Nouns are marked for various quantities:

• pa- - dual; pair of; both [DU]
• ka- - plural [PL]
• te- - few; little [quantity]
• ma- - many; much
• mo- - group; collection; mass of
• mwa- - all; every
• no- - one; a
• yo- - piece of

verbs

The kamalo verb is quite complex and inflects for many grammatical categories. The verb is composed of a root, prefixes, and suffixes. The prefixes indicate the person of the subject, and person and number of the object and indirect object, whereas the suffixes indicate tense, aspect, mood and possession.

• wakoyemapotla

wa-ko-yem-ap-otl-a

1sg-3pl-eat-CAUS-DES-NPST

"I want to feed them"

verb modifiers

• -a - active; present tense [ACT]
• -at- - augmentative; large [AUG]
• -atl- - tentative; possible [TENT]
• -e - past tense; perfective [PST]
• -ok- - negative [NEG]

	non-past	past	nominalizer
-	mal-a to speak; be talking	mal-e to have spoken; talked	mal-o language; speech
-at-	mal-at-a to explain; speak at length	mal-at-e to have spoken a long while ago	mal-at-o lecture; presentation

particles

• ma - interrogative particle [INT]; "is it that"

used to form questions of all types

• oka - "no"

used as a negative response to polar questions

• we - "but" / "or"

used in conjunctions, and in contrasts

roots

• pat- - be awake; aware; focused
• t- - be; exist [COP]
• kam- - symbol; write; mark
• kop- - harm; hurt; corrupt
• mak- - want; desire; love
• mal- - speak; talk
• n- - know; see
• nay- - loud; noise; roar
• nyak- - fire; burn; light
• hen- - colored; non-white; non-ferrous (metals)
• wap- - rhythm; pulse; meter
• way- - go; move; walk
• lom- - sleep; rest; relax
• tlel- - bathe; wash
• y- - have; belong; get
• yam- - delight; happy; toy; glad
• yap- - be green; foliage; plant
• yat- - hand; five; grab
• yem- - eat; nourish; bread

samples

• wanemaka - 1-2-love-ACT - I love you.
• koyematloka - 3-eat-TENT-NEG-ACT - He might not eat.
• ma newane - INT 2-1-see-PST - Did you see me?

wordgen seed

C=ptkqmnfhwylx
V=aeo

q|kw
f|ny
x|tl
wo|wa

stems

	p	t	k	kw	m	n	ny	h	l	tl	w	y
a	pa	ta	ka	kwa	ma	na	nya	ha	la	tla	wa	ya
ap	-	tap	kap	kwap	map	nap	nyap	hap	lap	tlap	wap pulse; rhythm	yap grow; foliage
at	pat be awake	-	kat	kwat	mat	nat	nyat	hat	lat	tlat	wat	yat hold; have
ak	pak	tak	-	-	mak love	nak	nyak burn; fire	hak	lak	tlak	wak	yak
akw	pakw	takw	-	-	makw	nakw	nyakw	hakw	lakw	tlakw	-	yakw
am	pam	tam	kam write; mark	kwam	-	nam	nyam	ham	lam	tlam	wam	yam enjoy
an	pan	tan	kan	kwan	man	-	nyan	han	lan	tlan	wan	yan
any	pany	tany	kany	kwany	many	nany	-	hany	lany	tlany	wany	-
ah	pah	tah	kah	kwah	mah	nah	nyah	-	lah	tlah	wah	yah
al	pal	tal	kal	kwal	mal speak	nal	nyal	hal	-	tlal	wal	yal
atl	patl	tatl	katl	kwatl	matl	natl	nyatl	hatl	latl	-	watl	yatl
aw	paw	taw	kaw	-	maw	naw	nyaw	haw	law	tlaw	-	yaw
ay	pay	tay	kay	kway	may	nay be loud	-	hay	lay	tlay	way go; move	-
e	pe	te	ke	kwe	me	ne	nye	he	le	tle	we	ye
ep	-	tep	kep	kwep	mep	nep	nyep	hep	lep	tlep	wep	yep
et	pet	-	ket	kwet	met	net	nyet	het	let	tlet	wet	yet
ek	pek	tek	-	-	mek	nek	nyek	hek	lek	tlek	wek	yek
ekw	pekw	tekw	-	-	mekw	nekw	nyekw	hekw	lekw	tlekw	-	yekw
em	pem	tem	kem	kwem	-	nem	nyem	hem	lem	tlem	wem	yem eat; nourish
en	pen	ten	ken	kwen	men	-	nyen	hen	len	tlen	wen	yen
eny	peny	teny	keny	kweny	meny	neny	-	heny	leny	tleny	weny	-
eh	peh	teh	keh	kweh	meh	neh	nyeh	-	leh	tleh	weh	yeh
el	pel	tel	kel	kwel	mel	nel	nyel	hel	-	tlel wash	wel	yel
etl	petl	tetl	ketl	kwetl	metl	netl	nyetl	hetl	letl	-	wetl	yetl
ew	pew	tew	kew	-	mew	new	nyew	hew	lew	tlew	-	yew
ey	pey	tey	key	kwey	mey	ney	-	hey	ley	tley	wey	-
o	po	to	ko	kwo	mo	no	nyo	ho	lo	tlo	-	yo
op	-	top	kop harm; hurt	-	mop	nop	nyop	hop	lop	tlop	-	yop
ot	pot	-	kot	-	mot	not	nyot	hot	lot	tlot	-	yot
ok	pok	tok	-	-	mok	nok	nyok	hok	lok	tlok	-	yok
okw	pokw	tokw	-	-	mokw	nokw	nyokw	hokw	lokw	tlokw	-	yokw
om	pom	tom	kom	-	-	nom	nyom	hom	lom rest	tlom	-	yom
on	pon	ton	kon	-	mon	-	nyon	hon	lon	tlon	-	yon
ony	pony	tony	kony	-	mony	nony	-	hony	lony	tlony	-	-
oh	poh	toh	koh	-	moh	noh	nyoh	-	loh	tloh	-	yoh
ol	pol	tol	kol	-	mol	nol	nyol	hol	-	tlol	-	yol
otl	potl	totl	kotl	-	motl	notl	nyotl	hotl	lotl	-	-	yotl
ow	pow	tow	kow	-	mow	now	nyow	how	low	tlow	-	yow
oy	poy	toy	koy	-	moy	noy	-	hoy	loy	tloy	-	-