Kala
The Kala conlang...
introduction
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characteristics
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parts of speech
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borrowing
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phonology
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word order
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nouns
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determiners
Determiners precede the noun they modify in Kala. Kala makes a three-way distinction. Typically there is a distinction between proximal or first person (objects near to the speaker), medial or second person (objects near to the addressee), and distal or third person (objects far from both).
- itla (i-) - this (near me)
- uatla (ua-) - that (near you)
- yetla (ye-) - that (over there)
The demonstratives can be prefixed to any noun to show deixis.
Quantifiers follow the noun that modify.
- kua (-kua) - all; every; whole
- oli (-li) - each; every
- ula (-la) - whatever; any; some
- mi (-mi) - few; little
- nke (-k) - none
- mpa (-mpa) - many; much; a lot
- maha - more; plus
- ohi - less; fewer
pronouns
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verbs
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particles
ke
- The patient, or object (O) marker.
conjunctions
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prepositions
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adjectives
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adverbs
Temporal adverbs in Kala precede the verb phrase they modify. Other adverbs follow the verb or adjective they modify and are explicitly marked by -n.
questions
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clauses
comparative
In Kala the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective (verb) are merged into a single form, the elative. How this form is understood or translated depends upon context and definiteness. In the absence of comparison, the elative conveys the notion of “greatest”, “supreme.”
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relative
In a relative clause, the verb has the suffix -tle (or -le if the final syllable contains /tl/) added to it. The order of the words in relative clauses remains the same as in regular clauses. The use of participles in Kala is rather different than in English and at first sight is difficult to understand. This is mainly due to the fact that the relative pronouns who, what, which, where are not used in Kala as in English.
- yalapa - to be able to walk produces: yalapatle - who/which/that can walk
- yalapak - not to be able to walk produces: yalapanketle - who/which/that can't walk
This nominalizes the verb in some cases, and makes it possible for it to be either the subject or the object.
- na ke tlaka nya inama talatle unya
- 1sg O man for eat-time come-REL know
- I know the man who is coming to lunch.
- ke naka patlole pako
- O woman sweep-REL young
- The woman who is sweeping is young.
The relative suffix is most often in the final position. In some cases, it may be followed by the negative -k.
- itsaka na sutahuetle
- PROX-house 1sg reside-LOC-REL
- This is the house in which I live.
- itsaka na sutahueyetle
- PROX-house 1sg reside-LOC-PST-REL
- This is the house in which I lived.
numbers
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