Koha

Location

Koha is the trade language of the Pacific nations of the Earth of the Eislehrenwelt, where Imperial Germany was the colonizing power and the moon, its icy surface shining brilliantly, illuminates the dalliances of servicemen and native women.

Phoneme Inventory

The phoneme inventory of Koha is small: /a, e, i, k, h, l, m, n, o, p, q, u, w/. /q/ represents the glottal stop {{[ʔ]}}. /w/ is pronounced {{[v]}}

Nouns

Koha nouns have gender, definiteness, and number.

Gender and Definiteness

There are two genders in Koha: masculine and feminine. The definite masculine article is /ka/; the definite feminine article is /ki/.

Ka Haka. The father.

Ki Muka. The mother.

The indefinite masculine article is /a/, while the indefinite feminine article is /ana/.

A Haka. A father.

Ana Muka. A mother.

The mother language of Koha, Tosa, possessed three cases (nominative, accusative, and prepositional) in addition to definiteness and gender, although not every combination received an individual form.

Definite Father – ta Fata (nom.), te Fata (acc./prep.) Mother – ti Muta (nom./acc.), ta Muta (prep.) Indefinite Father – a Fata (nom.), ana Fata (acc./prep.) Mother – ana Muta (nom./acc./prep.)

Number

Koha has only two numbers: singular and plural. The plural is indicated by placing /hi/ after the noun.

Ka Ho hi. The sons.

Ki Koka hi. The daughters.

There are some nouns, all feminine gender, which are inherently plural and therefore do not use the plural indicator /hi/. These include:

ki Eka – parents, elders ki Qeheweqa – siblings

Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives are placed between the article and the noun:

ka loka Waqa – the red car. Hi apa ka loka Waqa qaha. I bought the red car. Apa ki ka loka Waqa aqaha? Have you sold the red car?

ki hena Ta – the beautiful city. Mi apa i kiha hena Ta wona. I lived in that beautiful city.

Predicate adjectives follow the copula /ha/

ka Waqa ha loka – the car is red

ki Ta ha hena – the city is beautiful

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Koha personal pronouns are as follows: I/me – mi you (sg) – ku he – i she – hi we – wi they – i hi

/i hi/ is used for both male and female. /ku/ is an unusual choice (one would have expected /ki/ given the origin of Tosa) but the choice seems to reflect a desire to avoid homophony of “thou” and “the (fem)”

Demonstrative Pronouns

There is one demonstrative pronoun is Koha: /kiha/.

Kiha Ma. This man.

Kiha Ha. This woman.

Kiha Qi hi. These children.

Interrogative Pronouns

wa – Who? What? we'e – Which? wo -Where? waha – When? (from Tosa /wa sa/ 'what time?') walo – Why? wi – How?

Syntax

Tosa syntax is essentially that of Standard German, albeit somewhat regularized.

Ki Muka hea ka Haka. The mother sees the father.

Hea ki Muka ka Haka? Does the mother see the father?

Ki Muka apa ka Haka hea. The mother saw the father.

Apa ki Muka ka Haka hea? Did the mother see the father?

Ki Muka weka ka Haka hea. The mother will see the father.

Ki Muka wola ka Haka hea. The mother wants to see the father.

Ki Muka apa ka Haka hea wola. The mother wanted to see the father.

Ka Haka weka ho ki Muka hea. The father is seen by the mother.

Ka Haka apa ho ki Muka hea weka. The father was seen by the mother.

Ka Haka weka ho ki Muka hea weka. The father will be seen by the mother.

Ka Haka apa hu ki Muka ka Qepa qepa. The father gave the gift to the mother.

Ka Haka apa hu ki Qi hi ho i ka Qepa hi qepa. The father gave the gifts to her children.

Lexicon

a - indef. masc, art.

ana - indef. fem. art.

apa - PST

aqaha - v. sell

Eka - pl. parents

Haka - m. father

hea - v. see

hena - a. beautiful

Ha - f. woman; v. copula

hi - 1. plural marker 2. pro. she

Ho - m. son

hu - prep. to, towards

i - pro. he

i ... hi - pro. they

ka - art. masculine singular

ka ... hi - masculine plural

ki - art. feminine singular

ki ... hi - feminine plural

kiha - dem. this, these

Koha - f. Koha language

Koka - f. daughter

ku - pro. you (singular)

loka - a. red

mi - pro. I, me

Muka - f. mother

Ta - f. city

qaha - v. buy

Qeheweqa - pl. siblings

qepa - m. Qepa; v. give

Qi - m. child

wa - who? what?

waha - when? (< Tosa /wa sa/ 'what time')

walo - why?

Waqa - m. car

weka - FUT

weqe - which?

wi - pro. we; how?

wo -where?

wola - v. want to

wona - v. live