User:Masako/nkala

sounds

consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p	t		k	(ʔ)
Affricate		ts~tʃ
Fricative		s~ʃ
Nasal	m	n
Approximant		l (t͡ɬ)	j	w

vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

nouns

Nouns can be marked for gender, number, size, and in several other ways.

• ka- - plural; several [PL]

- - PL-dog-NOM - dogs

pronouns

	singular	plural
1	wa-	kwa-
2	ni-	ki- / nki-
3	o-	ku-

• The reflexive/reciprocal is marked by -nya-.

kunyakala - ku-nya-kal-a - 3PL-REFL-speak-NPST - They speak to each other.

onyananke - o-nya-n-ank-e - 3SG-REFL-see-NEG-PST - She did not see herself.

• The accusative/passive is marked by i-.

iwana - i-wa-n-a - ACC-1SG-see-NPST - I am seen.

ipikalanke - i-pi-kal-ank-e - ACC-2DU-speak-NEG-PST - You (two) were not spoken to.

NOTE: The dual pronouns pwa, pi (mpi), and pu are used infrequently.

verbs

• Pronominal prefix - VERB STEM - tense/aspect-modal

tenses

There are two tenses...nonpast, past.

• -a - non-past [NPST]

wayema - wa-yem-a - 1S-eat-NPST - I eat.

• -e - past [PST]

niyeme - ni-yem-e - 2S-eat-PST - You ate.

other modifiers

Various moods (or modals), aspects, and syntactic markers are used to add nuance and subtlety.

lexicon

• kal - say; tongue; voice; language; talk

kalo (nkalu) - language; dialect

• mat - cut; kill; knife
• yem - eat; nourish; bread

yemo - food; sustenance

examples

speak

• kal - speak

wakala - wa-kal-a - 1SG-speak-NPST - I speak.

nikale - ni-kal-e - 2SG-speak-PST - You spoke.

kunyakala - ku-nya-kal-a - 3PL-REFL-speak-NPST - They speak to each other.

break

• tak - break