Kala

The Kala conlang...

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• conversations
• etymology
• lexicon
  • thematic lexicon
• particles
• phrases
• word formation
• writing

Introduction

Kala is a personal conlang (actually more of an artlang), based on my aesthetic preferences, not attached to any conworld or conculture. This language draws on natlangs (natural language), other conlangs, and of course imagination. Kala was started in late 2009. The phonemic inventory is based on Classical Nahuatl while the syllable structure and vowels are based on the strict (C)V structure of Japanese, and the presence of prenasalized stops is influenced by Bantu languages. Kala’s grammar was initially based on Japanese but has changed based on influence from several natural and constructed languages. Many – if not most – of Kala lexemes are derived from or inspired by natural languages. A few have been taken from previous projects or constructed languages such as Ajara (a cipherlang from my youth) and Qatama (a conlang that I abandoned several years ago).

Characteristics

Kala has two parts of speech. Nouns and verbs are content words, while particles (and others) tend to be only functional. Many content words can be used as both nouns and verbs. The best and most common example would be ina /iːˈna/ "food; to eat". 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 - /muːja gaː/ - do Q - (What are you) doing?
• ina - /iːna/ - eat - (I am) eating.
• tamatse - /tamaːˌt͡ʃɛ/ - good-seem - (That looks) good.
• ueha ka - /weːɦa kaː/ - want Q - (Do you) want (some)?
• nyasak - /ɲaːʃak/ - thank-NEG - No, thank (you).

Notice that none of the above contains any pronouns, or nouns. Any contextually understood elements may be omitted unless indispensable. There can be considerable divergence from what is grammatical, and what is acceptably idiomatic. The spectrum of formality and grammatical to idiomatic can be seen in the example below:

• na’etla muyaye – 1s-P.4s do-PST – I did it. > [grammatical, formal]
• etla muyaye – P.4s do-PST – (I) did it. >> It was done. > [grammatical, formal, passive]
• na muyaye – 1s do-PST – I did (it). > [grammatical, informal]
• muyaye – do-PST – (I) did (it). > [semi-grammatical, idiomatic]
• muyye – /muːɟɛ/ – do-PST – (I) did (it). > [ungrammatical, idiomatic]

Borrowing

See also: Kala etymology

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

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

So, some phrases can contain words from multiple natlangs:

• ta ke inu uasiye ka

2s O drink take-PST Q

Did you take the drink?

• ta - Arabic ʾanta; ke - Chinese gè; inu - Hawaiian inu; uasi - Lakota wasichu; ka - Japanese か

Phonology

Consonants

• Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m (m)	n (n)		ɲ (ny)
Plosive	p~b (p)	t~d (t)			k~g (g)	ʔ ( ' )
Affricate		ts~t͡ʃ (ts)	t͡ɬ~tl (tl)
Continuant		s~ʃ (s)	l~ɾ (l)			h~ɦ (h)
Semivowel				j (y)	w (u)

The glottal stop is not phonemic but is included in the chart above for completeness. It is only ever intervocalic, meaning it is pronounced between two vowels and/or diphthongs. Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes. However, certain sounds change in a predictable way. For example, /h/ becomes [ɦ] when preceded or followed by a front vowel, including when labialized or palatalized. The alveolar affricates are most often /t͡ʃ/ and /t͡ɬ/. The “s” is almost always /ʃ/ unless preceded or followed by a syllable with the onset /t͡ʃ/, in which case “s” becomes /s/. So, sama (sun; star; solar) is /ˈʃaːma/ where sitsa (heat; hot) is /ˈsiːt͡ʃa/ and tsisi (embroider; embroidery) is /t͡ʃiːsi/.

• 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	Back
Close	i~ɪ (i)	u~u: (u)
Mid	e~ɛ (e)	o~o: (o)
Open	a~a: (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

There is a limited set of syllables, of the type CV (consonant-vowel), allowed by Kala phonotactics, similar to Japanese or Chinese. Kala phonotactics does not typically allow the onsets of adjacent syllables to be identical, nor both to be labialized or palatalized. (There are a few exceptions to this, such as tata for the informal/familiar form of “father”, etc.) Syllables beginning with /l/ do not occur as the first syllable of a headword (except in loanwords and toponyms).

Syllables

Syllable structure in Kala is typically made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most lexemes having syllables exclusively of this type. The exception to this rule are the endings –m (indicating general plural), -n (indicating adverbial or adjectival use), and –k (indicating negative mood). These endings all are word final. In detail a Kala syllable can be analyzed thusly: (N)(C)(u, y)V(a, i) where (N) indicates nasalization, and u and y indicate labialization and palatalization respectively.

Syllable Chart

the 136 basic Kala syllables

	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo	ai	ao	uai	yao
p	(m)pa	(m)pe	(m)pi	(m)po	(m)pu	pua	pue	pya	pye	pyo	pai	pao	puai	pyao
t	(n)ta	(n)te	(n)ti	(n)to							tai	tao
k	(n)ka	(n)ke	(n)ki	(n)ko	(n)ku	kua	kue	kya	kye	kyo	kai	kao	kuai	kyao
m	ma	me	mi	mo	mu	mua	mue	mya	mye	myo	mai	mao	muai	myao
n	na	ne	ni	no	nu	nua	nue	nya	nye	nyo	nai	nao	nuai	nyao
s	sa	se	si	so	su	sua	sue				sai	sao	suai
h	ha	he	hi	ho	hu	hua	hue	hya	hye	hyo	hai	hao	huai	hyao
ts	tsa	tse	tsi	tso	tsu	tsua	tsue				tsai	tsao	tsuai
tl	tla	tle	tli	tlo							tlai	tlao
l	la	le	li	lo							lai	lao
-	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo	ai	ao	uai	yao

Syllables such as nsa, ntla, or ntsa can occur but usually only in place names or loanwords. The red syllables above occur infrequently and most often as the final syllable of a word.

Collating Order

The collating sequence (alphabetical order) is based on the order established in the Naua script.

Consonants	p	t	k	m	n	s	h	ts	tl	l
Vowels	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo

Based on this order, ma would come before ha, etc. Prenasalized syllables are ordered after their non-prenasalized counterparts, i.e. mpa comes after pyo but before ta. To see the collating sequence in action, look through the lexicon.

Stress

Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable, which means that stress is de facto initial in most lemma given that stems are most often (CVCV). Monosyllabic words are not stressed. So;

• masa - /ˈmaːsa/ → masako - /maːˈsako/
• tliyama - /tɬiːˈjama/ → tliyamalo - /tɬiːjaˈmalo/
• kam - /kaːm/ → kamyo - /ˈkaːmʲo/

Morphology

Kala is a mostly agglutinative 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 sometimes constitute an entire sentence. The words of Kala can be divided into two basic functional classes: verbs and nouns as content words, and particles and others as functional. Adjectives exist, but they generally behave like verbs and there are very few adjectives that are not derived from either verbal or nominal roots. The few adverbs that exist fall into the class of particles or are derived from verbs. The most important element of Kala lexemes to keep in mind is that they may function as a verb, noun, adjective, or an adverb based on where they fall in the phrase, and any various endings that may be affixed.

Nouns

Nouns in Kala are inflected only for number. Other relevant distinctions are animacy and possession, but these are not marked on the noun itself. Animacy plays a role both for pronoun choice and for the validity of some syntactic constructions.

Number

In general the plural suffix is not used when the plurality of the noun is clear from context. For example, while the English sentence "there are three dogs" would use the plural "dogs" instead of the singular "dog", the Kala sentence mita ha'o a "dog three exist" keeps the word mita "dog" in its unmarked form, as the numeral makes the plural marker redundant.

Nouns are marked for number; plural and collective:

• mita - dog - a dog
  • mitam - dog-PL - dogs
  • tlimita - COL-dog - a dog pack / a pack of dogs
  • tlimitam - COL-dog-PL - dog packs / packs of dogs

When the final syllable of a word contains an m, mp, and sometimes a p the plural marking changes to -lo.

• yama - mountain - a mountain
  • yamalo - mountain-PL - mountains
  • tliyama - COL-mountain - a mountain range / range of mountains
  • tliyamalo - COL-mountain-PL - mountain ranges / ranges of mountains

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).

Gender

Gender is not normally marked but can be with the endings -na and -ta to mark the feminine and masculine, respectively or nouns such as naka, tlaka, nahi, or tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc. A gender neutral suffix, -nta may be used when the gender is unknown or ambiguous.

• kuma - bear - a bear → kumana - bear-FEM - sow → kumata - bear-MASC - boar
• masa - deer - a deer → masana - deer-FEM - doe → masata - deer-MASC - stag
• uma - horse - a horse → umana - horse-FEM - mare → umata - horse-MASC - stallion

Pronouns

Kala agent pronouns are often omitted when the person is obvious from context. There are four persons in Kala. The 4th being inanimate, or indefinite. The pronoun na'am is used as the 1st person plural exclusive, meaning "We, but not you." The 3rd person plural is irregular, all other pronoun decline regularly. 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.

Personal pronouns:

• na - 1st person
• ta - 2nd person
• ha - 3rd person
• tla - 4th person ("it", "one") (used for inanimate nouns)

Modifiers:

• -m - plural
• -nku - reciprocal (only attaches to plural pronouns)
• e- - patient
• -i - reflexive
• -yo - possessive

Other pronouns include:

• tlokua - everyone, everybody
• kola - someone, somebody; whomever, anyone, anybody
• tlok - no one, nobody
• nokua - everything
• nola - something; whatever, anything
• nok - nothing

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

Pronominal constructions

The agent and patient pronouns are linked in most constructions. That means that the agent and the patient form one word. This is done with the pronominal patient marking affix -e-.

• na’eha anya

1s-P.3s see

I see her.

• kameta motoyek

3pl-P.2s remember-PST-NEG

They didn’t remember you.

• tametla yohauek

2pl-P.4s have-DES-NEG

You (all) don’t want to have it.

• nye ta’ena tapya ka

reason 2s-P.1s follow Q

Why are you following me?

Reflexives and Reciprocals

Kala handles reflexives and reciprocals using suffixes that can be added to either the pronoun or the verb. The reflexive suffix added to pronouns is –i, when added to verbs it is –ki, from ki meaning “self; essence”. The reciprocal suffix added to pronouns and verbs is –nku, , from anku meaning “reciprocate; [in] return”.

• na'i sepaye

1s.REFL injure-PST

I hurt myself.

• ha'i tlela

3s.REFL bathe

She bathes herself.

• kanku ke onta nayo itsa

3pl.RECP O parent 1s.GEN love

My parents love each other.

• na'anku amyapak

1pl.EXCL.RECP like-ABIL-NEG

We (but not you) are not able to like each other.

In order to differentiate non-singular reflexives from reciprocals, -li (“each; every”) can be added – to the subject for reflexives, and to the object for reciprocals. Note however that this construction usually implies that all members of the subject group were actually affected by the action.

• tanakoli matakiye

fight-AG-each kill-REFL-PST

Each one of the warriors killed himself.

• kanku ke tanakoli matakiye

3pl.RECP O fight-AG-each kill-REFL-PST

The warriors killed each other [and nobody survived].

Determiners & Demostratives

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

Examples:

• imitami - PROX-dog-few - These few dogs
• yemitampa - DIST-dog-many - Those many dogs (over there)
• uamitali - MED-dog-each - Each dog (each of those dogs) (near you)

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

Correlatives

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

Verbs

Kala relies on analytic serial verb constructions, and can therefore get by with very little verbal morphology. Each verb has at most two possible forms: the active and the stative. Passivity is marked on the subject thus verbs are unmarked and must be analyzed based on surrounding morphology. Active verbs solely denote actions and occurrences and never states in Kala. Stative verbs are the words that modify nouns in an attributive and often adjectival way. They often express a state like a quality or result. Verbs can be marked with several suffixes to add or change meaning. The modals and tense affixes can be added in different order to a verb to create a new meaning; their placement is not always fixed. The negative, adverbial, and plural endings are always final, while other affixes can be varied, but in general they should be ordered:

STEM-(SIZE/IMPORTANCE)-(MOOD)-(ASPECT)-(TENSE)-(NEGATIVE)

Example:

Verb Stem	Size/Importance	Mood	Aspect	Tense	Negative
empa	-hi	-pa	-nko	-ye	-k
run	DIM	ABIL	PROG	PST	NEG

• na empahipankoyek

1s run-DIM-able-PROG-PST-NEG

I was not able to keep jogging.

• na empahik

1s run-DIM-able-NEG

I don’t jog.

• na empankoye

1s run-PROG-PST

I was running.

• na empa’uk

1s run-ABIL-NEG

I can’t run.

• na empayepak

1s run-PST-ABIL-NEG

I couldn’t run.

• na empahahye

1s run-AUG-REC

I just sprinted.

Tense

Kala has three simple tenses; past, present, and future. Present tense is unmarked. However, past (-ye) and future (-tli) tenses can be modified to include immediate future ("is about to..."), distant future ("will...in a long while"), recent past ("just ..."), and remote past ("...a long while ago"). These distinctions are made with the augmentative and diminutive endings -ha and -hi. Kala’s distinguishing three levels of both past and future time is a unique typological trait. The use of the variations of past and future are not subject to strict grammatical rules and are a question of pragmatics. The recent and immediate markers are most commonly used for near-scope, that is, things which have just happened or will happen very soon. Of the triad tense–aspect–mood this section will only cover basic uses of the marked tense categories, followed by a discussion of complex tense combinations such as past-in-future. Subsequent sections will provide more insight into the morphological marking of aspectual categories; and the following section deals with the morphology of mood marking in Kala. Verbs in Kala are unmarked for present tense, as it is the normal mode of speaking. Besides being used to comment or report on current events, the present tense is also used to make statements of general truth. Also, Kala does not strictly mark its verbs for past tense in narrative discourses (instead the adverbial aye (“it was”) will start the first phrase); verbs may therefore appear as a present-time reference in spite of recounting past events, whether historical or fictional.

eme

	Kala	gloss	English
remote past	kamahi hinayeha or -hai	town-DIM be.here-REM	There was a village here (long ago). (before the lifetime of the speaker)
past	naka mita anyaye	woman dog see-PST	The woman saw the dog.
recent past	ota namyo akyayehi or -hye	father 1pl.GEN wake-REC	Our father just woke. (action just finished)
present	mita tahi yatsi	dog boy bite	The dog bites the boy.
future	naka tahi tlepatli	woman boy teach-FUT	The woman will teach the boy.
immediate future	na tlelatlihi or -tlai	1s bathe-FUT	I'll bathe soon. (within the day)
distant future	panam opuatliha	rain-PL end-FUT	The rains will end. (months from now)

The present tense can show immediacy by using the adverb ima, "now; at this time"; If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted:

• ima mita ina - now dog eat - The dog is eating right now.
• yomaye nam ina – yesterday 1pl eat – We ate yesterday.
• anyotli ha huato – year-FUT 3s move.about – He will move next year.
• semaye kamena ke mita yeta – week-PST 3pl-P.1s O dog give – (A) week(s) ago they gave me a dog.

Note that the recent and the remote past tense are not generally marked if the past context is clear, for instance, when a past context has already been established in discourse. This may also happen explicitly by using a temporal adverbial such as yomaye (“yesterday”) or anyoye nye’o (“a hundred years ago”). In the presence of an explicit temporal adverb, redundant tense marking is also dropped subsequently. Like the past tense, the future is often not explicitly marked if the time frame is clear from context or has been clarified with such adverbials as “tomorrow”.

“Already”, past in past & past in future; so far, we have only dealt with tense marking from the point of view of the present. However, it is also possible to refer to an event which precedes another event in the past. Kala uses the particle tso ("already; since") to indicate actions that took place prior to the primary tense of the verb. It is most often placed at the beginning of a verb phrase.

• tso mikelo yetla inaye

already Michael DIST-4s eat-PST

Michael already ate that (before).

• tso maliya yetla inatli ama nam talatli

already Mary DIST-4s eat-FUT time 1pl arrive-FUT

Mary will have already eaten that (before) when we (will) arrive.

Aspect

There are four aspects in Kala. The progressive, also called the continuous [CONT], this is used to express an incomplete action or state in progress at a specific time. It is marked with -nko, from nkoso - "to continue; proceed; progress". The perfective aspect indicates that an action is completed [PFV]. It is often translated by the English present perfect (have done some-thing). It is marked with -pua, from opua - "to end; finish; complete". The inchoative aspect refers to the beginning of a state [INCH]. It is marked with -mu, from mula - "to begin; start; initiate". The frequentative aspect refers to a repeated action [FREQ]. It is marked with -nua, from nua - "frequent; often; regular".

	Kala	gloss	English
Continuous	na ke niye pukunko	1s O undergarment wear-CONT	I am wearing underclothes.
Frequentative	tlaka ke apua tlatonua	man O song recite-FREQ	The man recites the song repetitively.
Inchoative	nahi yotimu	girl play-INCH	The girl begins to play.
Perfective	kam inapua	3pl eat-PFV	They have eaten.

A few aspectual derivations:

• kuali - drill; bore; dig into → kualinua - cultivate, farm
• oma – shout; yell → omanua - scream
• noko – stay; remain → nokonua - survive, be resilient
• moku – sleep; rest → mokumu – fall asleep
• yelo – ice → yelomu – freeze; solidify → yelopua – frozen; solid

Mood

Besides various aspects, Kala also marks moods other than realis: irrealis, imperative, hortative, and negative. These are also expressed by suffixes on the verb and typically follow aspectual marking where it is expressed by a suffix. As is common throughout natural and constructed languages, the indicative mood is unmarked. Subjunctive, conditional, and imperative moods are marked lexically, by various particles, and as such are covered in detail in the “particles” of this grammar.

	Kala	gloss	English
Abilitative	na mokuyepak	1s sleep-PST-ABIL-NEG	I was unable to sleep.
Attemptative	neko ke panya matapya	cat O mouse kill-ATT	The cat is trying to kill the mouse.
Desiderative	otsokai ka'e moli yalaue	wolf-red toward forest go-DES	Redwolf wants/intends to go to the forest.
Dubitative	ha tsakahueke	3s home-LOC-DUB	I guess he is at home. lit: He is at home, supposedly.
Hortative	yalakya	walk-HORT	Let's go!
Necessitative	mita inahe	dog eat-NEC	The dog needs to eat.
Negative	naku nayo hinak	sister 1s-GEN be.here-NEG	My sister is not here.
Permissive	ta ke hina simamyok	2s O here sit-PERM-NEG	You are not allowed to sit here.
Precative	ke asi yetate	O salt give-PREC	Will you please pass me the salt?
Preparative	tahi mokusue	boy sleep-PREP	The boy is ready to sleep.
Propositive	ta mokune	2s sleep-PROP	You should sleep.

The negative mood (always marked finally) is indicated by the suffix –k or –nke (when the last syllable contains /k/).

• mita inayek - dog eat-PST-NEG - The dog did not eat.
• mita mokunke - dog sleep-NEG - The dog does not sleep.

Evidentiality

Verb clauses in Kala may optionally be marked for evidentiality, particularly if the described event took place in the past and/or when the speaker was not directly involved in it. This set of six verbal suffixes indicating the nature of the evidence supporting a statement. These morphemes are not obligatory; however, the lack of an evidential in a main clause not marked as interrogative or irrealis is usually taken as a sign of pure speculation and thus likely to raise suspicions about the statement's truth.

	Kala	gloss	English
"so-called" *	kamahitai taha	village-so.called be.big	The so-called village is large.
Dubitative [DUB]	ha tsakahueke kam inyake	3s home-LOC-DUB 3pl hunger-DUB	I guess he is at home. lit: He is at home, supposedly. (It's doubtful that) they are hungry.
Hearsay [HSY]	ha inanu	3s eat-HSY	She eats (I hear). / (It's said) She is eating.
Visual Sensory [VIS]	ke kana kupayenya	O chief die-PST-VIS	The chief died. and I saw it
Assumptive [ASS]	naka hinaho	woman be.here-ASS	The woman must be here. (I assume) (also used as "assertive")
Evidential [EVID]	nahi nya katso ke punka tsametsi	girl for meal O fruit gather-EVID	The girl is collecting fruit for dinner.

• -tai indicates that the speaker thinks what he is referencing is not actually represented by the noun

• -tsi indicates inferred from physical or situational evidence

It is worth noting that none of the evidentials distinguish between direct and indirect evidence, i.e. they only assert that the relevant knowledge was indeed acquired in the specified way, but not necessarily by the speaker himself. By whom exactly can only be deduced from context.

Derivational morphology

Because Kala has only two main parts of speech (content and functional words), new words formed by derivation should be analyzed based on context. Functional words can rarely be used to form new words, but this is typically to form extensions of functions, or new functions.

Compounding

New nouns are usually created through head-initial compounding, using both nominal and verbal stems as the second, dependent element of the compound. The resulting lexical entries usually behave as single phonological words, which, however, have four full syllables: kuatlatloha "grass snake". Compounding of more than two elements is not common.

• kayapusu - "earthquake" → kaya - earth + pusu - vibrate
• asuaseka - "leather" → asua - skin + seka - dry

Clipped compounding does occur and is distinctive. This clipping occurs consistently in content words, but is usually blocked in functional words and auxiliaries. Syllables are clipped based on euphonic choices but must remain recognizable and retain grammatical functionality.

• naka – woman & kana – leader → nakkan – chieftess; queen
• naua – to tie & ualo – bring → naualo – get someone involved in one's trouble
• uaso – cup; jug; vessel & sitsa – hot; heat → uassitsa – flask; thermos; bottle
• yasa – wind & sitsa – hot; heat → yassitsa – warm breeze
• yasa – wind & yesa – peace → yassa – peaceful-wind

There are also numerous affixes used to form new meanings. A few examples are;

• tiyasu - "bakery" → tiya - bread + -su - market; shop
• onyomo - "school" → onyo - learn + -mo - place; location
• kuhasa - "kitchen" → kuha - cook + -sa - room; chamber
• pyetampu - "egg-shaped" → pyeta - egg + -mpu - shape; form

Derivation

Verbalization

Causative verbs (as well as achievement verbs) can be formed from other verbs by adding -mya (from muya - "do, make, cause") or -la (from ela - "become; change into; turn into"). This type of derivation is fairly common; however, verbs created in this way are syntactically defective and tend to appear only in serial verb constructions.

• tinamya - "bend" ← tina - be bent
• pitamya - "hollow out" ← pita - be hollow; void
• enomya - "annoy, bother" ← eno - be angry
• tsipuela - "slow down" ← tsipue - be slow
• kyolola - "speed up" ← kyolo - be quick

Intensive verbs can be formed from other verbs by adding -mpa (from mpa - "many; much; very"), or more commonly -hu (from kyohu - "be drastic; extreme; aggressive").

• ketsahu - "dismiss, reject, repudiate" ← ketsa - doubt
• amyampa - "fall in love with" ← amya - be fond of; like; prefer (of people)

Adjective-like stative verbs which name an associated quality may be formed from nouns by -n (from no - "thing" (-ish, -ly, -ous)).

• timan - "be cruel, be bloody" ← tima - blood
• amyan - "be welcoming, be hospitable" ← amya - be fond of

Nominalization

Agentive

Nouns referring to a human subject of a verb (usually in a habitual sense) can be formed with the agentive suffix -ko (from ko - "individual; person"). This suffix changes to -tlo when a velar stop is present in the preceding syllable.

• kitlako - "craftsman" ← kitla - create; invent; make-up
• sutako - "inhabitant (of)" ← suta - live; reside; dwell; inhabit; settle
• yekatlo - "unmarried young adult" ← yeka - be separate, be on one's own
• makatlo - "musician" ← maka - music; play ~; tune
• tsaniko - "storyteller" ← tsani - recite, tell (a story)

Instrumental

Instrument nouns and names for tools and other inanimates can be derived from verbs or from other nouns by adding the suffix -nyo (from mayo - "device; equipment; tool").

• hitanyo - "atlatl (spear-thrower)" ← hita - throw; cast; expel
• amonyo - "handle (for carrying)" ← amo - transport; carry
• kusunyo - "clasp, brooch, fibula" ← kusu - squeeze
• toponyo - "lock" ← topo - door; gate

Locative

Location nouns can be formed from both nouns and verbs by several suffixes. These indicate specific places where either something happens, or something resides there are a few affixes which modify both verbs and nouns.

-mo (from mo - "location; place; site"). This suffix is used to form the general idea of where something happens or resides.

• tanamo - "battlefield; boxing ring; wrestling mat, etc." ← tana - fight; combat
• uelomo - "bicycle-place; bike path; bike rack, etc." ← uelo - bicycle; bike
• inamo - "eat-place; dining room; restaurant" [This can also mean food-place; pantry, etc.] ← ina - food; eat
• onyomo - "learn-place; school" ← onyo - learn; study

-su (from suku - "market; shop; store"). This suffix is used to specify a business where items are produced and/or sold.

• tiyasu - "bread-shop; bakery" ← tiya - bread
• inasu - "food-market; grocery store; restaurant" ← ina - food; eat
• uelosu - "bicycle-shop" ← uelo - bicycle; bike

-kyo (from hakyo - "college; school; university"). This suffix is used to specify a location where students learn. This can also be used to indicate a school of thought, or ideology.

• tanakyo - "dojo; martial arts training academy; etc." ← tana - fight; combat
• kuhakyo - "culinary-school; chef’s academy" ← kuha - cook; prepare food
• tsiyakyo - "liberalism" ← tsiya - freedom; liberty
• ya'akyo - "medical-school" ← ya'a - medicine; drug; cure

-sa (from sala - "chamber; room; section"). This is more specific than -mo and used primarily for spaces inside buildings.

• kuhasa - "cook-room; kitchen" ← kuha - cook; prepare food
• mokusa - "sleep-room; bedroom" ← moku - sleep; rest
• inasa - "eat-room; dining room" ← ina - food; eat
• onyosa - "learn-room; classroom" ← onyo - learn; study

Diminutive

Diminutive nouns and endearment terms can be formed from verbs and other nouns by adding the suffix -hi (from ahi - "few; small"). This becomes -ki after a syllable that contains a glottal fricative.

• mukuhi - "blade" ← muku - knife
• umahi - "foal" ← uma - horse; equine
• mitahi - "puppy" ← mita - dog; canine
• ohuaki - "indulgence" ← ohua - luxurious; extravagant

Augmentative

Augmentative nouns can be formed from verbs and other nouns by adding the suffix -ha (from taha - "big; large; grand"). This becomes -ka after a syllable that contains a glottal fricative.

• kamaha - "city" ← kama - village; town
• ohaka - "dislocate one's jaw" ← oha - yawn; open one's mouth
• mosaha - "epic; novel" ← mosa - book; letter; scroll
• tiniha - "hurricane" ← tini - spiral; whorl

Honorific

Honorific nouns can be formed from other nouns by prefixing o-.

• omasa - "stag" ← masa - deer; cervine
• okama - "capital" ← kama - town; village

Syntax

Kala has an extremely regular grammar, with very few exceptions to its rules. Sentences are made up of one or more phrases. Each phrase consists of a verb (optionally followed by modifying particles) and a subject (optionally followed by modifying particles). The subject, if understood, can be omitted at the end of an utterance: pana ("It is raining.") pana! ("Rain!") An utterance can be anything from an interjection to a story.

Basic Sentences

The importance of word order can be seen by comparing the following sentences:

• mita tlaka anya

dog man see

The dog sees the man.

• tlaka mita anya

man dog see

The man sees the dog.

In both sentences, the words are identical: mita – “dog”, tlaka – “man”, anya - “eye; see”. The only way to know who is seeing whom is by the order of the words in the sentence. Intransitive (including those of the existential type) clauses in Kala minimally consist of a subject followed by an intransitive verb, giving SV word order.

• nta’i moku

baby sleep

The baby sleeps.

• sama nala

sun shine

The sun shines.

Transitive clauses follow a SOV pattern and grammatically require the object particle ke.

• ona ke matla kuha

mother O stew cook

(The) mother is cooking (the) stew.

• tasako ke masami yake

hunt-AG O deer-PAU pursue

The hunters are chasing some deer.