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| = Phonology = | | === |
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:400px;"
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| |+ Consonants ('''hapu''')
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| !
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| ! Labial !! Alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar !! Glottal
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| |-
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| ! Nasals
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| | m '''(m)''' || n '''(n)''' || ɲ '''(ny)''' || ||
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| |-
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| ! Plosives
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| | p~b '''(p)''' || t~d '''(t)''' || || k~g '''(k)''' || ʔ '''(')'''
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| |-
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| ! Affricates
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| | || t͡ɬ~tl '''(tl)''' / t͡ʃ~ts '''(ts)''' || || ||
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| |-
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| ! Continuants
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| | || l~r '''(l)''' / s~ʃ '''(s)''' || || || h~ɦ '''(h)'''
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| |-
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| ! Semivowels
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| | || || j '''(y)''' || w '''(u)''' ||
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| |}
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:200px;"
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| |+ Vowels ('''musa''')
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| !
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| ! Front !! Central !! Back
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| |-
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| ! Close
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| | i '''(i)''' || || u '''(u)'''
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| |-
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| ! Mid
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| | e '''(e)''' || || o '''(o)'''
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| |-
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| ! Open
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| | || a '''(a)''' ||
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| |}
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| == phonotactics ==
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| Kala phonotactics does not 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 <b>tata</b> for the informal/familiar form of father, etc.) Syllables beginning with /l/ do not occur as the first syllable of a headword.
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| == allophony ==
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| 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/. 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], /ts/ as [dz] or [tʃ] as well as [ts], /s/ as [z] or [ʃ] as well as [s], /l/ as [ɾ] as well as [l], and vowels may be either long or short.
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| == stress ==
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| In Kala stress is penultimate with the exceptions of negatives and words that end with a syllable onset palatal approximant, in which case stress is ultimate.
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| == syllable structure ==
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| All syllables are of the form (N)(C)V(n, m, k), that is, optional prenasal + optional consonant + vowel + optional final, or V, NCV, CV, VF, CVF, NCVF. CV is the most common syllable type. Most content words are disyllabic; while function words tend to be monosyllables.
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| = Word Classes =
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| Words in Kala can be divided into three basic types, content words ('''uati'''), particles ('''peya''') and interjections ('''nita'''). Ahu is unusual in completely lacking a lexical distinction between nouns and verbs.
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| '''Uati''' are a large class, making up the equivalents of the ''verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs'' and even ''prepositions''. Particles are a small, closed class of word which are used to order the interpretation of other parts of the sentence. Interjections are a small, mostly closed class of words which indicate isolated meanings, such as emotion.
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| == content words ==
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| There are no distinct classes of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions in Kala. The equivalents of all of these words come in the form of content words. However, these are described here in more traditional terms.
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| === nouns ===
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| ==== gender ====
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| === pronouns ===
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:400px;"
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| |+ Pronouns ('''nkalo''')
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| !
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| ! Agent !! Patient !! Possessive !! Reflexive !! Reciprocal
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| |-
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| ! 1sg
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| | '''na''' || '''ena''' || '''nayo''' || '''na'i''' || '' ''
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| |-
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| ! 2sg
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| | '''ta''' || '''eta''' || '''tayo''' || '''ta'i''' || '' ''
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| |-
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| ! 3sg
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| | '''ha''' || '''eha''' || '''hayo''' || '''ha'i''' || '' ''
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| |-
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| ! 4sg
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| | '''tla''' || '''etla''' || '''tlayo''' || '''tla'i''' || '' ''
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| |-
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| ! 1pl
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| | '''nam''' || '''enam''' || '''namyo''' || '''nami''' || '''nanku'''
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| |-
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| ! 1pl.excl
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| | '''na'am''' || '''ena'am''' || '''na'amyo''' || '''na'ami''' || '''na'anku'''
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| |-
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| ! 2pl
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| | '''tam''' || '''etam''' || '''tamyo''' || '''tami''' || '''tanku'''
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| |-
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| ! 3pl
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| | '''kam''' || '''ekam''' || '''kamyo''' || '''kami''' || '''kanku'''
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| |-
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| ! 4pl
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| | '''tlam''' || '''etlam''' || '''tlamyo''' || '''tlami''' || '''tlanku'''
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| |-
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| |}
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