Revision as of 06:31, 30 November 2010

This construction changes when both the subject (agent) and (indirect)/object (patient) are personal pronouns. In this case, the preposition/al (phrase) is unnecessary.

Example : She gives the house to me.

ha'ena ke tsaka yeta

3sg-TR-part-1sg the/a house give

A chart of the agent-patient transitivity constructions;

**A-P** *construction*
	1^st sing	2^nd sing	3^rd sing	1^st plu	2^nd plu	3^rd plu
1^st sing	-	na'eta	na'eha	-	na'etam	na'ekam
2^nd sing	ta'ena	-	ta'eha	ta'enam	-	ta'ekam
3^rd sing	ha'ena	ha'eta	-	ha'enam	ha'etam	ha'ekam
1^st plu	-	nameta	nameha	-	nametam	namekam
2^nd plu	tamena	-	tameha	tamenam	-	tamekam
3^rd plu	kamena	kameta	kameha	kamenam	kametam	-

verbs

tense

The present tense is indicated by the basic form.

ha apua

3SG sing

He/She sings.

The simple past tense is indicated by the suffix -ye.

ha apua ye

3SG sing-PAST

He/She sang.

The simple future tense is indicated by the suffix -tli.

ha apua tli

3SG sing-FUT

He/She will sing.

The tense may be left out if it is clearly indicated by another word in the same sentence, or when telling a story (the "historical" tense).

ha yoma tli apua

3SG day-FUT sing

He/She will sing tomorrow.

ha sema ye apua

3SG week-PAST sing

He/She sang last week.

mood

The negative mood is indicated by the suffix -k, it is affixed in all tenses.

kam ina k

3PL eat-NEG

They are not eating. / They do not eat.

kam ina ye k

3PL eat-PAST-NEG

They did not eat.

kam ina tli k

3PL eat-FUT-NEG

They will not eat.

nouns

degree

The diminutive is formed with hi- and hy- when the word is vowel initial, unless the vowel is i or u, then it is placed as the suffix -hi, and the augmentative with -ha.

Example : ina - food, meal | inahi - snack, morsel | inaha - feast, banquet

Example : haya - animal | hi'aya - cub, kitten...etc. | hayaha - beast, giant animal

Example : tsaka - house, home, dwelling | hitsaka - shack, hut, cabin | tsakaha - palace, mansion

These are also used to differentiate hue, or shade.

Example : hiyana - light yellow, kuyaha - dark green

plurals

To make a noun plural, add -m to the end.

Example : kono - stone | konom - stones

Example : hi suka - piglet | hi sukam - piglets

Nouns need not be marked plural if a number is used to show quantity.

Example : sahi - color, sahim - colors, sahi ya'o - five color(s)

Adjectives do not change when they are plural. However, when an adjective is used in place of a noun, it can be pluralized.

Example : nyeli - pink | nyelim - (the) pink (ones)

gender

In general, nouns do not indicate their gender. To distinguish the sexes, one can use the adjectival endings -ta and -na.

Example : nikata "a male dog", nikana "a female dog".

articles

There is only one article in Kala, ke. It is used primarily as a "noun marker".
It is ambi-definite, meaning it can be either definite or indefinite. The distinction is made through context.

Example : kama "village", ke kama "the/a village", ke kamam "the villages"

Example : inal "snack", ke inal "the/a snack", ke inalim "the snacks"

questions

When asking questions in Kala, the idea, or concept, is the subject, and the entire construction is followed by the interrogative particle ka.

ama...ka - when, lit: time...INT

ko...ka - who, lit: person [Agentive]...INT

nye...ka - why, lit: reason...INT

to...ka - what, lit: thing [Instrument]...INT

koyo...ka - whose, lit: person-POSS...INT

mo...ka - where, lit: place...INT

no...ka - how, what manner, lit: manner/method...INT

ko'o...ka - how much/many, lit: number/amount...INT

examples

ama nam yalatli ka

time 1PL go-FUT INT

When will we go?

ko ke tlaka ka

person the/that man INT

Who is that man?

nye kam hina ka

reason 3PL here INT

Why are they here?

to a ka

thing be INT

What is this?

koyo kama ke yama hina ka

person-POSS village the mountain near INT

Whose village is near the mountain?

mo nayo satila ka

place 1SG-POSS sandwich INT

Where is my sandwich?

no nam yalatli ka

manner 1PL travel-FUT INT

How will we travel?

ko'o ekam yetaye ka

number/amount TR-3PL give-PAST INT

How many were they given?

pronouns

	Nominative	Accusative	Possessive	Reflexive	Reciprocal
1^st sing	na	ena	nayo	na'i
2^nd sing	ta	eta	tayo	ta'i
3^rd sing	ha	eha	hayo	ha'i
1^st plu	nam	enam	namyo	nami	nanku
2^nd plu	tam	etam	tamyo	tami	tanku
3^rd plu	kam	ekam	kamyo	kami	kanku

examples

namyo ina

1PL-POSS food

Our food.

kami itsa

3PL-REFL love

They love themselves.

tanku moto ka

2PL-RECP remember/familiar INT

Do you remember each other?

eha unyatlik

ACC-3SG understand-FUT-NEG

He/She will not be understood.

Thematic Lexicon

numbers

zero / nothing / 0 - e'o
one / 1 - na'o
two / 2 - ta'o
three / 3 - ha'o
four / 4 - ma'o
five / 5 - ya'o
six / 6 - tsa'o
seven / 7 - ka'o
eight / 8 - pa'o
nine / 9 - sa'o
ten / 10 - ue'o
hundred / 100 - nye'o
thousand / 1000 - tle'o

higher numbers

eleven / 11 - uena'o

twenty / 20 - taue'o

one hundred one / 107 - nyeka'o

three hundred twenty five / 326 - hanyetauetsa'o (long form) | hatatsa'o (short form)

six thousand and twenty / 6020 - tsatletaue'o

ordinals, fractions etc.

ki- - ordinal/multiple prefix

Example : kisa'o - ninth, or nine times

Example : kiyanyepa'o - 508^th, or 508 times

i- - fractional prefix

Example : isa'o - a ninth

Example : iha'o pa'o - three eighths, ⅜

family

family / kin - tlika
parent - onata
grandparent - onataha
spouse - tlanata
sibling - uanata
child - inata
father / uncle - ota
mother / aunt - ona
husband - tla'ota
wife - tla'ona
grandfather - otaha
grandmother - onaha
brother / cousin - otaua
sister / cousin - onaua
boy / son - ota'i
girl / daughter - ona'i
man / masculine / male - tlaka
woman / feminine / female - naka

colors

red - ketla
orange - tliyo
yellow - yana
green - kuya
blue - tsuku
indigo, violet, purple - tlaku
white, pale - nyahi
black, dark - oya
clear - yehi

time

moment, instant - imal
occasion | present, now (yet) - ima
hour, period - imat
day - yoma
week (7 days) - sema
month (~30 days) - huama
season - amal
time, year (~365 days) - ama
era - amat
past - amaye
future - amatli
always, forever - kuama
never - amak

Examples

mo ta yala ka

place/locale 2sg go/walk/travel INT-part

Where are you going?

nam tsala inaye

1pl sauce/paste eat-PAST

We ate the sauce.

ko tayo onatam ka

person 2sg-POSS parent-PL INT-part

Who are your parents?

na yalaye nye ta talaye

1SG go-PAST because 2SG return-PAST

I left because you returned.

Article 1, UDHR

Writing System

sample

sayoma

**ke sayoma**
yoma	sayo	anyo
ya'o	pa'o	uema'o

munta

To use a proper name like Egbert or Titicaca in Toki Pona, you need to adapt it the sounds of Toki Pona. Follow these steps:

Convert all the word's sounds to Toki Pona letters
Make it fit Toki Pona syllable rules
Apply final touch-ups

Converting sounds to Toki Pona letters

Vowels

	front	central	back
close	i	u
mid	e	schwa	o
open	a		a/o

In the vowel chart above, front includes near-front, back includes near-back, mid includes close-mid and open-mid, and open includes near-open.

Roundedness is ignored, except in open back vowels. Open back unrounded vowels are transcribed as a in Toki Pona. Open back rounded vowels are o.

So, for example, [y] becomes i in Toki Pona, and [æ] becomes a.

Consonants

	labial	coronal	dorsal
nasal	m	n
plosive	p	t	k
fricative, affricate or lateral fricative		s
trill, tap, flap or lateral flap		l
lateral approximant		l
approximant	w

In the consonant chart above, labial includes bilabial and labiodental, coronal includes dental, alveolar, postalveolar and retroflex, and dorsal includes palatal, velar and uvular

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 == Thematic Lexicon ==
-=== family ===
-* family / kin - '''tlika'''
-* parent - '''onata'''
-* grandparent - '''onataha'''
-* spouse - '''tlanata'''
-* sibling - '''uanata'''
-* child - '''inata'''
-* father / uncle - '''ota'''
-* mother / aunt - '''ona'''
-* husband - '''tla'ota'''
-* wife - '''tla'ona'''
-* grandfather - '''otaha'''
-* grandmother - '''onaha'''
-* brother / cousin - '''otaua'''
-* sister / cousin - '''onaua'''
-* boy / son - '''ota'i'''
-* girl / daughter - '''ona'i'''
-* man / masculine / male - '''tlaka'''
-* woman / feminine / female - '''naka'''
 === time ===
@@ Line 39: / Line 18: @@
 * always, forever - '''kuama'''
 * never - '''amak'''
-=== prepositions ===
-* '''pa'e''' - in / into / during
-* '''paye''' - across / through
-* '''po'a''' - behind / after
-* '''tahe''' - below / under
-* '''kima''' - like / similar to
-* '''ma'a''' - with / in company of / using
-* '''ma'ak''' - without / except
-* '''ma'e''' - in front of / before
-* '''mina''' - from / out of / since / of
-* '''na'e''' - on / on top of
-* '''nya''' - by (actor / author)
-* '''sana''' - outside
-* '''hata''' - by / beside / up to / until
-* '''tsa'e''' - beyond / past / across
-* '''ua'e''' - above / over / about / concerning
-* '''uana''' - there / far / distant
-* '''yane''' - along / beside
-* '''ita'e''' - between / among
-* '''ika''' - to / at / toward
-* '''o'a''' - opposite / against / in spite of
-* '''oma''' - around / approximately / close to
-* '''uta''' - for / in order to / benefiting / on behalf of
-* '''ue''' - above / over / on
 == grammar ==

User:Masako/sandbox: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:31, 30 November 2010

moj

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Phonology

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phonotactics

syllable structure

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Grammar

word order

verbs

tense

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nouns

degree

plurals

gender

articles

questions

examples

pronouns

examples

Thematic Lexicon

numbers

higher numbers

ordinals, fractions etc.

family

colors

time

Examples

Article 1, UDHR

Writing System

sample

sayoma

munta

Converting sounds to Toki Pona letters

Vowels

Consonants

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