User:Masako/nkala: Difference between revisions

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'''kamalo'''
'''kamalo'''


= Phonology =
= phonology =


== Consonants ==
== consonants ==


{| class=wikitable
* '''''nasals''''': /m n ɲ/ '''m n ny'''
|-
* '''''plosives''''': /p t k kʷ/ '''p t k kw'''
! ''Consonants'' !! Labial !! Coronal !! Dorsal
* '''''affricates''''': /t͡ɬ/ '''tl'''
|- align=center
* '''''continuants''''': /l h~ɦ/ '''l h'''
! Nasal
* '''''semivowels''''': /j w/ '''y w'''
| m || n ||
 
|- align=center
All plosives, except the glottal stop, can  be prenasalized: /ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk ᵑkʷ/.
! Plosive
 
| p || t || k
== vowels ==
|- align=center
 
! Fricative
'''Kamalo''' only uses three vowels; /a e o/, occasionally they contrast for length. '''ā ē ō'''
| || s ||
|- align=center
! Approximant
| w || l || j ('''y''')
|}


== Vowels ==
== phonotactics ==


{| class="wikitable"
= morphology =
|-
!''Vowels''!! Front !! Back
|- align="center"
!Close
|i||u
|- align="center"
!Mid
|e||o
|- align="center"
!Open
| colspan="2" |a
|}


== Syllable Structure ==
'''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.


All syllables are of the form (C)V(N), that is, optional consonant + vowel + optional final nasal, or V, CV, VN, CVN.
= nouns =


== Phonotactics ==
== pronouns ==


The following sequences are not allowed: /wo, wu, yi, yu, lu, tu/.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 200px;"
!
! ''singular''
! ''dual''
! ''plural''
|-align=center
! 1
| '''wa-'''
| '''pwa-'''
| '''kwa-'''
|-align=center
! 2
| '''ne-'''
| '''(m)pe-
| '''(n)ke-'''
|-align=center
! 3
| '''(h)o-'''
| '''po-'''
| '''ko-'''
|}


== Allophony ==
==== possession ====


Because of its small phoneme inventory, '''kamalo''' 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/ as [z] or [ʃ] as well as [s], /l/ as [ɾ] as well as [l], and vowels may be either long or short.
Possession is marked by the nominal suffix '''-o''' and a pronominal prefix attached to a stem.


= Parts of Speech =
* '''kwamalo''' - <small>1pl-speak-NOM</small> - ''our word''
* '''tlayemo''' - <small>MASC-eat-NOM</small> - ''his food''
* '''popato''' - <small>3du-be.aware-NOM</small> - ''their awareness''
* '''wanyako''' - <small>1s-burn-NOM</small> - ''my fire''


All '''kamalo''' words are built from basic roots. These roots are always CVC (consonant+vowel+consonant) and surrounded by various affixes to subtly add nuance and change meaning. The majority of these roots are primarily verbal. The only other part of speech is particles.
==== pronominal prefixes ====


== Verbals ==
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.).


Verbs are the centerpiece of a '''kamalo''' sentence. They can mark for both agent and patient as well as tense. Many simple sentences are composed of only a verb.  An unconjugated verb root can consist of as little as a single consonant. As a rule, all verb roots must start and end with a consonant. Verbs, inflect heavily to indicate tense, aspect or mood, primarily in their ending. The two tenses are perfective (often considered past tense) and present (or technically, non-past, as the future tense is not indicated). Two levels of formality indicated are plain and polite.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 400px;"
|-
! ''subject''
! ''object''
! ''verb''
! ''tense / aspect / mood''
|-
| '''ko-''' || '''wa-''' || '''kop''' || '''-e'''
|-
| 3pl || 1sg || harm || PST
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | '''kowakope'''
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | ''They harmed me.''
|}


* '''wata'''
== noun modifiers ==
: '''''wa-t-a'''''
: <small>1-COP-NPST</small>
: ''I am.'' / ''We are.''


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


Past tense is marked finally on the verb by '''-e'''. Non-past is marked by '''-a'''.
=== number ===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
* '''wamala'''
: '''''wa-mal-a'''''
: <small>1-speak-NPST</small>
: ''I speak.''
{{col-break}}
* '''komale'''
: '''''ko-mal-e'''''
: <small>3-speak-PST</small>
: ''They spoke.''
{{col-end}}


=== Aspect ===
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


=== Mood ===
= verbs =


== Nominals ==
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'''
: <small>1sg-3pl-eat-CAUS-DES-NPST</small>
: ''"I want to feed them"''


=== Pronouns ===
== verb modifiers ==


'''kamalo''' has the basic pronouns '''wa-''' (first person), '''ni-''' (second person), and '''ko-''' (third person). The above words do not specify number or gender. Thus, '''ko-''' can mean "he", "she", "it", or "they". In practice, the plural prefix '''ka-''' can be used for plural pronouns. Both subject and object are marked on the verb.
* '''-a''' - active; present tense [ACT]
* '''-at-''' - augmentative; large [AUG]
* '''-atl-''' - tentative; possible [TENT]
* '''-e''' - past tense; perfective [PST]
* '''-ok-''' - negative [NEG]


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 200px;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 600px;"
!
!
! ''singular''
! ''non-past''
! ''plural''
! ''past''
|-align=center
! ''nominalizer''
! 1
| '''wa-'''
| '''kawa-'''
|-align=center
|-align=center
! 2
! -
| '''ni-'''
| '''mal-a'''<br>to speak; be talking
| '''kani-'''
| '''mal-e'''<br>to have spoken; talked
| '''mal-o'''<br>language; speech
|-align=center
|-align=center
! 3
! -at-
| '''ko-'''
| '''mal-at-a'''<br>to explain; speak at length
| '''kako-'''
| '''mal-at-e'''<br>to have spoken a long while ago
| '''mal-at-o'''<br>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
= syntax =
= 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''' - <small>1-2-love-ACT</small> - ''I love you.''
* '''koyematloka''' - <small>3-eat-TENT-NEG-ACT</small> - ''He might not eat.''
* '''ma newane''' - <small>INT 2-1-see-PST</small> - ''Did you see me?''
== wordgen seed ==
C=ptkqmnfhwylx
V=aeo
q|kw
f|ny
x|tl
wo|wa

Revision as of 16:33, 3 November 2017

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

phonotactics

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

syntax

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
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