User:Masako/pataka

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akana.conlang.org/wiki/Ronc_Tyu

Introduction

Kala is a personal conlang (actually more of an artlang), based on my aesthetic preferences, not attached to any conworld or conculture. This language draws on natlangs (natural language), other conlangs, and of course imagination. Kala was started in late 2009. The phonemic inventory is based on Classical Nahuatl while the syllable structure and vowels are based on the strict (C)V structure of Japanese, and the presence of prenasalized stops is influenced by Bantu languages. Kala’s grammar was initially based on Japanese but has changed based on influence from several natural and constructed languages. Many – if not most – of Kala lexemes are derived or inspired by natural languages. A few have been taken from previous projects or constructed languages such as Ajara (a cipherlang from my youth), Qatama (a conlang that I abandoned several years ago).

Characteristics

Kala is a context-oriented language. In most cases, the more important elements of a phrase are clustered toward the end of the sentence (e.g. verbs and their modifiers). The less important an element is to the understanding of a sentence, the more likely it is to be dropped. Consequently, many Kala sentences end-up consisting solely of a verb (or adjectival verb). More so in conversation than in written Kala, these short phrases are grammatically correct and natural. Here are some examples:

  • muya ka - do Q - (What are you) doing?
  • ina - eat - (I am) eating.
  • tamatse - good-seem - (That looks) good.
  • ueha ka - want Q - (Do you) want (some)?
  • nyasak - thank-NEG - No, thank (you).

Notice that none of the above contain any pronouns, or nouns. Any contextually understood elements may be omitted unless indispensable.

Types of words

Kala has two parts of speech. Nouns and verbs are content words, while particles (and others) tend to be only functional. Many content words can be used as both nouns and verbs. The best, and most common example would be ina (food; to eat).

  • na ina - 1SG eat - I eat.
    • na ke ina anya - 1SG O food see - I see the food.

Borrowing

Kala borrows extensively from various natural languages. This is a very small sample of borrowings:

See also: etymology

  • patoduck (Anatidae); from Spanish pato
  • kalato speak, talk, converse; from Arabic takallama
  • myontato allow, permit; from Finnish myöntää
  • naI, me; from Arabic ʾanā
  • tsenkaorange; from Chinese chéng
  • uasito take, get, acquire; from Lakota wasichu
  • ato be, exist, yes; from Japanese aru

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m (m) n (n) ɲ (ny)
Plosive p~b (p) t~d (t) k~g (g) ʔ ( ' )
Affricate ts~t͡ʃ (ts) t͡ɬ~tl (tl)
Continuant s~ʃ (s) l~ɾ (l) h~ɦ (h)
Semivowel j (y) w (u)
  • Prenasalized: /ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk/
  • Labialized:/pʷ kʷ mʷ nʷ ʃʷ hʷ t͡ʃʷ/
  • Palatalized: /pʲ kʲ mʲ hʲ/

Note: Because of its small phoneme inventory, 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], /s l h/ as [ʃ ɾ ɦ], and /t͡s t͡ɬ/ as [t͡ʃ t͡l]; also, vowels may be either long or short.

Vowels

Vowels
Front Back
Close i~ɪ (i) u~u: (u)
Mid e~ɛ (e) o~o: (o)
Open a~a: (a)

Kala has five vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/ and /u/. Each occurs in both stressed and unstressed syllables. Phonetic nasalization occurs for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal, e.g. tsunka [ˈt͡ʃũᵑka] ('bug').

Diphthongs

Phonetically, Kala has only two diphthongs, both falling; [aɪ̯] and [aʊ̯], but there are five syllables that can be analyzed as rising diphthongs; [wa], [we], [ja], [je], and [jo]. The two triphthongs [waɪ̯] and [jaʊ̯] are very rare but should be noted as possible.

Phonotactics

Kala words are typically made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most words having syllables exclusively of this type. There is a limited set of syllables allowed by Kala phonotactics, similar to Japanese or Chinese.

  • /l/ cannot occur word initially (except in loan words and toponyms).

Syllables

the 136 basic Kala syllables
a e i o u ua ue ya ye yo ai ao uai yao
p (m)pa (m)pe (m)pi (m)po (m)pu pua pue pya pye pyo pai pao puai pyao
t (n)ta (n)te (n)ti (n)to tai tao
k (n)ka (n)ke (n)ki (n)ko (n)ku kua kue kya kye kyo kai kao kuai kyao
m ma me mi mo mu mua mue mya mye myo mai mao muai myao
n na ne ni no nu nua nue nya nye nyo nai nao nuai nyao
s sa se si so su sua sue sai sao suai
h ha he hi ho hu hua hue hya hye hyo hai hao huai hyao
ts tsa tse tsi tso tsu tsua tsue tsai tsao tsuai
tl tla tle tli tlo tlai tlao
l la le li lo lai lao
- a e i o u ua ue ya ye yo ai ao uai yao

Syllables such as nsa, ntla, or ntsa can occur but usually only in place names or loanwords. The red syllables above occur infrequently and most often as the final syllable of a word.

Stress

Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable, which means that stress is de facto initial in most lemma given that stems are most often (CVCV).

Orthography

  • Kala conscripts are many and varied. Rather than multiple pages explaining each of them, this page serves as a working list with a consistent example across each script.

Types of words

Content words

Nouns

Pronouns

Verbs

Numbers

Function words

Particles

Conjunctions

Interjections

Word formation

Compounding

Derivation

Verbalization

Nominalization

Basic syntax

The basic structure of a Kala sentence is:

AGENT--PATIENT--VERB (or SOV)

The agent is the person or thing doing the action described by the verb; The patient is the recipient of that action. The importance of word order can be seen by comparing the following sentences:

  • mita tlaka anya
dog man see
The dog sees the man.
  • tlaka mita anya
man dog see
The man sees the dog.

In both sentences, the words are identical, the only way to know who is seeing whom is by the order of the words in the sentence.

Simple sentences

Intransitive clauses

Intransitive clauses in Kala minimally consist of a subject followed by an intransitive verb, giving SV word order.

  • nta'i moku
baby sleep
The baby sleeps.
  • mita ina
dog eat
The dog eats.
  • sama nala
sun shine
The sun shines.
  • kamahi ke naha ya'e
town-DIM O river be.near
There is a village near the river.
  • ke apua muyapua
O song do-PFV
The song has been sung.

Transitive clauses

Clauses with transitive verbs follow a SOV pattern.

  • ona ke matla kuha
mother O stew cook
The mother is cooking stew.
  • tasako ke masala yake
hunt-AG O deer-INDEF chase
The hunters are chasing some deer.
  • kyali ke itohuatla peha
spear O tree-oak pierce
The spear pierces the oak tree.
  • tasako ke mitla hita ma ne masa mata
hunt-AG O arrow cast and DO deer kill
The hunter shoots an arrow and kills the deer.

Predication

Nominal predicates are formed with the copula a, using SOV word order. However, more common is the idiomatic omission of the copula and object marker.

  • tsola ke haya a
fox O animal COP
The fox is an animal. (grammatical)
  • tsola haya
fox animal
The fox is an animal. (idiomatic)
  • itlaka ke taya nayo a
PROX-man O husband 1sg.POSS COP
This man is my husband. (grammatical)
  • itlaka ke taya nayo
PROX-man O husband 1sg.POSS
This man is my husband. (idiomatic)

Oblique participants

Kala verb phrases have only a single object slot. As a result, the patient of a ditransitive clause needs to be introduced with the help of a preposition.

Dative and benefactive

Dative participants are marked with the preposition nya ‘for, by, via’.

  • ntahi ke nyotlomi nya kinti yeta
child O nut-PAUC BEN squirrel give
The child gives a few nuts to the squirrel.
  • ikema nya na tlahi
PROX-task BEN 1sg be.easy
This task is easy for me.

Benefactive participants are also marked with the preposition nya ‘for, by, via’.

  • mekatlo nya ntakum ke tsani yomu
holy-AG BEN sibling-PL O story recite
The shaman recites a story for the siblings.

Antibenefactive participants are marked like ordinary datives using nya:

  • tekim nya kamahi namyo tanyaye
enemy-PL BEN town-DIM 1pl.POSS destroy-PST
The enemies destroyed our village.

Instrumental

Comitative

Locative

Negation

Negation, both of noun phrases and of clauses, is made with the negating suffix -k (or -nke), which affixes to the negated element. Kala utilizes multiple negation, like tlok ak (AG-NEG COP-NEG) - (there isn't anyone / there is no-one).

  • intahi ke nok onyotlik
PROX-child O thing-NEG learn-FUT-NEG
This child will learn nothing.
  • mita inyak
dog hunger-NEG
The dog is not hungry.

The suffix -nke also marks the abessive, meaning without, or lacking.

  • ha ke’e hatsanke nya potsi hayo kayoye
3SG so luck-ABE for wallet 3SG.POSS lose-PST
He was unlucky enough to lose his wallet.

Interrogatives

There are two types of questions: Polar, those which may be answered "yes" or "no," and those which require explanations as answers.

Polar questions

Any statement can become a polar question by adding the interrogative particle ka at the end of the sentence.

  • mita ina
dog eat
The dog eats.
  • nta'i moku
baby sleep
The baby is sleeping. / The baby sleeps.
  • ta ke tlo'o anyaye
2SG O elephant see-PST
You saw the elephant.
  • tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye
heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST
The doctor gave you the medicine.
  • mita ina ka
dog eat Q
Does the dog eat?
  • nta'i moku ka
baby sleep Q
Is the baby sleeping?
  • ta ke tlo'o anyaye ka
2SG O elephant see-PST Q
Did you see the elephant?
  • tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye ka
heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST Q
Did the doctor give you the medicine?


Content questions

Questions that give a list of possible answers are formed like polar questions, with the conjunction ue ‘or’ introducing each alternative (which must appear in the form of a noun phrase).

  • ta ke nkapa ue maya inuue ka
2SG O beer or.EXCL water drink-VOL Q
Do you want to drink beer or water?
  • uala ta ke sinka mataye ue empa ma koma ka
truly 2sg O lion kill-PST or.EXCL flee CONJ hide Q
Did you really kill the lion, or did you run away and hide?

Open content questions are most easily formed with the correlatives, such as ko ‘person’, mo ‘place’, to ‘manner’, etc. These correlatives always appear clause-initially:

  • ko ta ka
person 2sg Q
Who are you?
  • itla ka
this Q
What is this?
  • to kihu ka
manner weather Q
What's the weather like?

Passives

Reflexives and reciprocals

Complex sentences

Clause coordination

Coordination of noun phrases

Complement clauses

Relative clauses

Adverbial clauses