User:Masako/nkala

sounds

consonants

Consonants	Labial	Coronal	Dorsal
Nasal	m	n~ɲ
Plosive	p~ᵐp	t	k~kʷ
Fricative		s~t͡ʃ
Approximant	w	l~t͡ɬ	j (y)

vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i~iː		u~uː
Open		a~aː

A macron is used to indicate vowel length.

• ā ī ū

nouns

gender

Gender is typically not indicated. If necessary, nouns may be prefixed with mu- (male) or yi- (female).

• yimala

FEM-speak-NPST

She speaks.

• mulumātli

MASC-sleep-maybe-PST

He may have slept.

pronouns

	singular	plural
1	wa-	kwa-
2	ni-	pi- (-mpi-)
3	(u)-	ku-

• ki is the indefinite pronoun "someone, something"

kikwita - INDEF-eat-NPST - Someone is eating.

• nyi is the reflexive

wanyina - 1sg-REFL-know-NPST - I know myself.

• pwa is the first person plural exclusive [we but not you]

pwakini - 1pl.EXCL-INDEF-see-PST - We saw someone.

• The third person singular is used in pronominal constructions to indicate the subject.

uwani - 3sg-1sg-see-PST - She saw me.

possession

	singular	plural
1	wapaku my house	kwapaku our house
2	nipaku your house	pipaku y'all's house
3	(u)paku her/his house	kupaku their house

case marking

case	affix	English
nominative	-	paku house
accusative	-ta	pakuta the house
instrumental; inclusive; comitative	tlā-	tlāpaku along with; including; and the house
abessive	tlā-X-ūk	tlāpakūku without the house
dative; benefactive	sī-	sīpaku to/for the house

verbs

Verbs are the workhorses of Malu. They can mark for both agent and patient as well as tense. Many simple sentences are composed of only a verb. Verbs can also be marked with several suffixes to add or change meaning. The modals and tense affixes can be added in different order to a verb to create a new meaning…their placement is not always fixed.

Subject	Number	Gender	Object	Root	Mood/Aspect	Mood/Aspect	Tense
0	ka-	mu-	wa-	mal	-āp	-ūk	-i
0	PL	MASC	1SG	speak	VOL	NEG	PST

• kamuwamalāpūki

The men did not intend to speak to me.

tense

Tense is also distinguished, but only in the indicative. There are two tenses:

• present, which is also used for future events (nonpast tense), marked with -a.
  • kwita

eat-NPST

She/he/it eats.

• general past, marked with -i.
  • kwiti

eat-PST

She/he/it ate.

examples

• wanimalūki

wa-ni-mal-ūk-i

1sg-2sg-speak-NEG-PST

I did not speak to you

• wata

wa-t-a

1sg-be-NPST

I am

• kuwani

ku-wa-n-i

3pl-1sg-see-PST

They saw me (I was seen)

• kutūki

ku-t-ūk-i

3pl-be-NEG-PST

They were not

• tatimu

ta-tim-u

animal-bleed-NOM

animal blood

• kwitūka

kwit-ūk-a

eat-NEG-NPST

(She/He/It) does not eat

• kimpimalātli

ki-mpi-mal-ātl-i

SB-2pl-speak-maybe-PST

Someone may have spoken to you (all)

• kiluma

ki-lum-a

SB-sleep-NPST

Someone is sleeping

• utlākwakwitūki

u-tlā-kwa-kwit-ūk-i

3sg-COM-1pl-eat-NEG-PST

She did not eat with us.

stems

• kam - symbol; write; marking
• kwit - eat; consume; drink
• lak - go; move; walk; travel
• lum - sleep; rest; relax
• mal - speak; word; say
• mun - come; arrive; return
• n - see; know; visual
• nal - burn; illuminate; bright
• pak - reside; dwell
• t - be; exist; yes
• tan - one; head; single
• tim - bleed; leak; pour
• tsip - be over; above; far from
• wats - be between; among; around
• y - have; hold; keep
• yat - five; hand; grasp

nominal modifiers

• ka - plural [PL]
• kwi - small; diminutive; dear
• la - before; in front of
• ma - question marker [Q]
• mu - male [MASC]
• nā - in; at; on [LOC]
• ta - animal
• tī - behind; after; in back of
• tlā - near; beside; with
• wī - under; below; on
• yi - female [FEM]

verbal modifiers

The Verb-Modifiers are useful for expressing new concepts, as with -ūmp, to try, attempt

• wanūmpa

wa-n-ūmp-a

1sg-know-try-NPST

I am studying. / I am trying to know.

• kukwakinkūmpi

ku-kwa-kink-ūmp-i

3pl-1pl-find-try-PST

They were looking for us.

modifiers

• āk - too much/many ~
• ām - always; often; habitually
• āny - repetitive
• āp - want to; intend to ~
• ātl - maybe; possible
• īk - to undo ~
• īl - while; during
• īnt - then; thereafter
• īny - instead; rather; but
• īts - probably; likely
• īy - necessity; obligation
• ūk - negative mood [NEG]
• ūl - then; therefore
• ūmp - try to; attempt
• ūny - because; since
• ūts - so that; in order to