Kalama

Phonology

kalama has nine consonants (/p, t, k, s, m, n, l, j, w/) and five vowels (/a, e, i, o, u/). Stress is word final.

consonants

	Labial	Coronal	Dorsal
Nasal	m	n
Plosive	p	t	k
Fricative		s
Approximant	w	l	j (y)

vowels

Vowels	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Open	a

diphthongs

There are two diphthongs [ai̯] ai, and [au̯] au. These are rare and typically only occur word-finally.

syllable structure

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

phonotactics

A few syllables sequences are disallowed; /ji, wu, wo/. Also, a syllable-final nasal may not occur before /m/ or /n/ in the same root.

allophony

The nasal at the end of a syllable can be pronounced as any nasal stop, though it is normally assimilated to the following consonant. That is, it typically occurs as an [n] before /t/ or /s/, as an [m] before /p/, as an [ŋ] before /k/, and as an [ɲ] before /j/. Because of its small phoneme inventory, kalama 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. Both its sound inventory and phonotactics (patterns of possible sound combinations) are found in the majority of human languages and are therefore readily accessible.

Word Order

kalama has a strict word order. The general word order is:

subject noun phrase — verb phrase (— object noun phrase)

yano payo - "John runs"

mailya sami yano - "Maria hears John"

A noun phrase has this order:

(determiners —) noun (- quantifiers) (— adjectives)

nano santo ta - "The three large men"

ona aku malu - "The many small women"

A verb phrase has this order:

(leading verb —) verb (— tense/mood) (— adverb)

nesa le kome sali - "needed to eat quick(ly)"

nesa sa kome lento - "will have to eat slow(ly)"

A prepositional phrase generally follows what it modifies, and has this order:

noun phrase — prepositional verb

o kusina loka yu - "in the kitchen"

o wala loka note-naka yu - "after midnight"

Nouns

Nouns only decline for number and possession. They are altered with -lo to show plurality, and possessiveness with -yo.

Determiners

Determiners in kalama precede the noun they modify.

• kula - all
• pu - this; these
• su - that; those
• xxx - every; each
• xxx - whichever; whatever
• xxx - some; several; a few
• ne - no; none; zero

• aku - many; much (one hundred)
• malu - few; a little
• xxx - more
• xxx - less; fewer
• xxx - other
• xxx - same
• xxx - such

Pronouns

kalama has three basic pronouns; wa [1sg], ni [2sg], and ko [3sg]. These do not indicate gender.

Verbs

Verbs do not change and are only ever modified by particles.

• maka - do; make; cause (from make)
• yo - possess; have; hold (from 有)

Tense

Past tense is indicated by the particle le following the verb. Future tense is indicated by the particle sa.

• ko ne kome le

3sg NEG eat PST

He didn't eat.

• walo wite sa ko

1pl see FUT 3sg

We will see her.

Questions

The interrogative particle ma (taken from Chinese (嗎) is used in conjunction with various nouns, adverbs, and adjectives to form specific questions.

• ma - what; which
• ma pun - who, whom
• ma te pun - whose, of whom

• ma - when
• ma loka - where
• ma - how
• ma - how much, how many
• ma - why

Number

• sunya - zero; nothing
• wa - one; single; alone
• li - two; double; duo
• san - three; triple
• si - four
• pen - five
• we - six
• na - seven
• pa - eight
• nun - nine
• ye - ten
• aku / ku - hundred
• mila - thousand

When numbers one through ten occur independantly, the indicator "-ma" is affixed.

• ko o kasa lima yo le

3sg O house two have PST

She had two houses.

• wa o nano sima wite

1sg O man four see

I see four men.

Higher Numbers

• yewa - 11; eleven
• yeli - 12; twelve
• liye - 20; twenty
• liyesi - 24; twenty-four
• kuyeli - 112; one-hundred-twelve
• sankuweyepen - 365; three-hundred-sixty-five

palalo

• aku / ku - num - hundred - (ひゃく)
• ama - part - but; yet; however - (ama)
• awa - part - or; either - (أو)
• ayo - part - any; whatever; whichever; whatsoever - (أي)
• ila - part - be near; move toward; in direction of - (إلى)
• kalama - v - speak; talk; utter - (كلم)
• kasa - n - house; home; abode, dwelling - (casa)
• kawi - n - coffee; tea [brewed warm drink] - (قهوة)
• ke - part - number indicator - (个)
• ko - pro - he; she; (it) [3sg] - (個)
• kome - v - eat; consume - (comer)
• koye - part - some; a few; a little - (кое-)
• kula - adv - all; whole; entire; every; complete - (كل)
• kute - v - listen; hear - (écouter)
• le - part - past tense [PST] - (了)
• lento - v - slow(ly); gradual; tardy - (lento)
• li - num - two; double; duo - (两)
• lo - part - many (more than one) / -lo - plural [PL] - (摞)
• loka - n - place; location - (local)
• loma - n - bump, nose, hill, mountain, button - (loma)
• ma - part - what; which - (吗)
• -ma - aff - number indicator - (碼)
• maka - v - do; make; cause - (make)
• maliya - n - Maria - (Maria)
• malo - v - mistake; wrong; bad; evil - (malo)
• meya - v - beautiful; fine; good - (美)
• mila - num - thousand - (mil)
• miyo - n - feline; cat; lion; tiger - (猫)
• muki - n - ocean; sea; bay - (مُحِيط)
• na - num - seven - (なな)
• nama - v - sleep; rest; relax - (نَامَ)
• nano - n - man; male - (男)
• ne - adv - no; not; negative [NEG] - (nay)
• nesa - v - need; necessary; must; require; oblige - (necesitar)
• ni - pro - you [2sg] - (你)
• note - n - night; darkness - (noche)
• nun - num - nine - (h₁néwn̥)
• o - part - direct object [DO] - (を)
• oma - n - mother - (Oma)
• ona - n - woman; female - (おんな)
• opa - n - father - (Opa)
• pa - num - eight - (八)
• pala - n - word; morpheme; unit of language - (palabra)
• pan - n - food; bread - (饭 / pan)
• paya - n - white; whiteness - (白)
• payo - v - run; flee; move quickly - (跑)
• pen - num - five - (πέντε)
• pu - part - this; these - (bu)
• pun - n - person; individual - (분)
• sa - part - future tense [FUT] - (سَـ)
• saki - v - be small; little; tiny - (صغير)
• sali - v - quick(ly); fast; hurry; rapid - (سَرِيع)
• san - num - three; triple - (三)
• sapa - v - be aware of; know; understand - (saber)
• si - num - four - (四)
• su - part - that; those - (şu)
• sunya - num - zero; nothing - (शून्य)
• ta - v - be big; large; grand - (大)
• tale - v - give; transfer; donate - (dar)
• toku - part - be away from; move away - (遠く)
• u - part - and; also; too; as well - (وَ)
• wa - num - one; single; alone - (وَاحِد)
• wa - pro - I, me [1sg] - (我)
• waka - n - bovine; cattle; livestock - (vaca)
• we - num - six - (swéḱs)
• wite - v - see; look; watch; observe - (videō)
• ya - part - vocative / imperative particle - (يا)
• yano - n - John - (John)
• yati - n - hand; arm - (يَد)
• ye - num - ten - (열)
• yo - v / aff - have; possess; hold / -yo - possessive; genitive - (有)
• yu - v - (be) in; at; on; by; near - (于)
• yuma - n - day; daylight - (يَوْم)
• yunta - v - gather; collect; amass - (junta)

phrases

• wa tani ko

1sg know 3sg

I know her.

• ma loka kasa niyo

Q place house 2sg.GEN

Where is your house?