Kala
The Kala conlang...
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 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 /iːˈna/ "food; to eat". 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.
Borrowing
Kala borrows extensively from various natural languages. This is a very small sample of borrowings:
See also: etymology
- pato – duck (Anatidae); from Spanish pato
- kala – to speak, talk, converse; from Arabic takallama
- myonta – to allow, permit; from Finnish myöntää
- na – I, me; from Arabic ʾanā
- tsenka – orange; from Chinese chéng
- uasi – to take, get, acquire; from Lakota wasichu
- a – to be, exist, yes; from Japanese aru
Phonology
Consonants
- Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.
| 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
| 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
| 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 section serves as a working list with a consistent example across each script. The most commonly used script is the Hangul adaptation for Kala.
- na ke suku nya ina tsumpa ka'elaye
- /na kɛ suːˈku ɲaː iˈna t͡ʃuːˈᵐpa kaʔɛˈlaje/
- 1sg O market for food buy toward-MOT-PST
- I went to the market to buy some food.
Hangul
Han Moya is an adaptation of Hangul for writing Kala. It is written horizontally, in lines running from left to right. It can also be written vertically in columns.
This is the most commonly used script for translations and notes. Its written form is identical to the presentation page.
Moya
Moya is a strictly calligraphic abugida for Kala. Adapted from my oldest script Moj. It can be written left to right, or vertically, top to bottom.
This is the oldest script used by Kala. It is quite easy to write but does not have the aesthetic appeal of its presentation page unless written with certain types of pens.
Naua
Naua is a cursive or connective syllabic alphabet invented to write Kala. Naua is a decorative script for Kala and is adapted from Ajan, which was originally created around 2002 and inspired by Nüshu.
Difficult to write and somewhat harder to read, this script is hardly used as often as others but was specifically adapted to be the primary script for Kala. In the above; A) this is the calligraphic version B) this is the "textual" version.
No longer used, or only decorative
Kenaya
Kenaya (or kenamoya) is an abugida or alphasyllabary and consonant–vowel sequences are written as a unit: each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is secondary. It can be written vertically in columns, or horizontally in rows.
This script is rarely used and is mainly for decorative purposes. There is no handwritten form of this script. It's fairly impractical and requires a template for forming each glyph accurately.
Kitseya
Kitseya is a Brahmic inspired abugida for Kala. Adapted from the Norstrilian script by Ian James. It is written left to right.
This script is rarely used but is much easier to write than most of the other Kala scripts.
Omyatloko
Omyatloko These glyphs are logosyllabic, combining 252 logograms (which represent whole words) and 220 syllabograms (which represent syllables). These are primarily meant to be an epigraphic system, but a handwritten version is possible. Writing direction: vertical from top to bottom and from left to right. These glyphs are a mixed system like Japanese or Mayan, consisting of logograms and featural syllabic glyphs. Unlike Mayan glyphs which are logograms complemented by a set of syllabic glyphs, this system is primarily a syllabary complemented by logograms. The term tloko means “syllable”, while omya means “carve; etching”. Both can be used to refer to this writing system.
This script is under constant development but for the moment is on hold. The handwritten form is not used as often as the "glyphic" form. In the above; A) uses both logograms and syllables B) uses only syllables C) is the "handwritten" form and only uses syllables.
See also
Morphology
Kala is a mostly agglutinative, polysynthetic language that makes extensive use of compounding, incorporation and derivation. That is, it can add many different prefixes and suffixes to a root until very long words are formed, and a single word can sometimes constitute an entire sentence.
Nouns
Nouns in Kala are inflected only for number. Other relevant distinctions are animacy and possession, but these are not marked on the noun itself. Animacy plays a role both for pronoun choice and for the validity of some syntactic constructions.
Number
- Most nouns in Kala distinguish singular and plural number. There are several different “regular” ways to form the plural, which are to a certain degree predictable from the phonological shape of the singular form. Nouns can be marked plural (PL) by -m (or -lo if the final syllable contains /m/ or /p/, or, if the word begins with a vowel).
- In general the plural suffix is not used when the plurality of the noun is clear from context. For example, while the English sentence "there are three dogs" would use the plural "dogs" instead of the singular "dog", the Kala sentence mita ha'o a "dog three exist" keeps the word mita "dog" in its unmarked form, as the numeral makes the plural marker redundant.
- The collective plural is marked by tli-, derived from tatli, meaning "group; collection; gathering". It is mainly used to indicate collectives of animals, but can also indicate groups of flora, geographic features, and various other groupings. This is called the collective plural (COL).
- ata - name > atalo - names
- mita – dog > mitam - dogs > tlimita – a pack of dogs
- yama – mountain > tliyamalo – mountain ranges
- tsaka – house > tlitsaka – neighborhood
- puku – clothing > tlipuku – wardrobe
Gender
Gender is not normally marked but can be by -na (FEM), -ta (MASC), or nouns such as naka, tlaka, nahi, or tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc. A gender neutral suffix, -nta may be used when the gender is unknown or ambiguous.
Pronouns
Kala agent pronouns are often omitted when the person is obvious from context. There are four persons in Kala. The 4th being inanimate, or indefinite. There is a special pronoun na'am which is used as the 1st person plural exclusive, meaning "We, but not you." The 3rd person plural is irregular, all other pronoun decline regularly. Pronouns do not inflect for gender; if gender is significant, one can use words like naka, tlaka, nahi, tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc.
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Personal pronouns:
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Modifiers:
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Other pronouns include:
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| Agent | Patient | Reflexive | Possessive | Reciprocal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | na | ena | na'i | nayo | - |
| 2sg | ta | eta | ta'i | tayo | - |
| 3sg | ha | eha | ha'i | hayo | - |
| 4sg | tla | etla | tla'i | tlayo | - |
| 1pl 1pl exclusive |
nam na'am |
enam ena'am |
nami na'ami |
namyo na'amyo |
nanku na'anku |
| 2pl | tam | etam | tami | tamyo | tanku |
| 3pl | kam | ekam | kami | kamyo | kanku |
| 4pl | tlam | etlam | tlami | tlamyo | tlanku |
Determiners & Demostratives
The demonstratives can be prefixed to any noun to show deixis. 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).
Examples:
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Quantifiers follow the noun that modify.
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Correlatives
| Proximal i- |
Medial ua- |
Distal ye- |
Inclusive -kua |
Negative -k |
Indefinite -la | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mo (place) |
hina here |
uana there |
yemua over there |
mokua everywhere |
mok nowhere |
mola somewhere; anywhere |
| ko (person) |
iko this person |
uako that person |
yeko that person (over there) |
tlokua everyone |
tlok no one |
kola someone; anyone |
| uku (amount) |
iku this much |
uaku that much |
- | kua all; every |
ok none |
ula some; any |
| ama (time) |
ima now, at present |
uama then; at that time |
- | kuama always |
amak never |
tlama sometime; anytime |
| so (kind, type) |
iso this kind |
so'o that kind |
yeso that kind (over there) |
sokua all kinds |
sok no kind (at all) |
sola some/any kind |
| no (thing) |
itla this |
uatla that |
yetla that (over there) |
nokua everything |
nok nothing; none |
nola something; anything |
| to (manner, way) |
yoto thus; like this; this way |
uato that way |
ato that way (over there) |
tokua every way |
tok no way |
tola somehow; anyway |
Numbers
| Kala | number | English | Kala | number | English | Kala | number | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ye'o | 0 | zero | tsa'o | 6 | six | nya'o | 500 | five hundred |
| na'o | 1 | one | ka'o | 7 | seven | tle'o | 103 | (one) thousand |
| ta'o | 2 | two | pa'o | 8 | eight | mue'o | 104 | ten thousand |
| ha'o | 3 | three | sa'o | 9 | nine | kye'o | 105 | (one) hundred thousand |
| ma'o | 4 | four | ue'o | 10 | ten | nte'o | 106 | (one) million |
| ya'o | 5 | five | nye'o | 100 | (one) hundred | hue'o | 109 | (one) billion |
Forming Larger Numbers
- uena'o - eleven / 11
- taue'o - twenty / 20
- nyeka'o - one hundred seven / 107
- hanyetauetsa'o (long form) / hatatsa'o (short form) - three hundred twenty six / 326
- tsatletauema'o - six thousand and twenty four / 6024
Other Number Forms
| Kala | number | English | ordinal | multiple | fractional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| na'o | 1 | one | kina'o first |
tina'o once |
- |
| ueta'o | 12 | twelve | kiueta'o twelfth |
tiueta'o twelve times |
iueta'o a twelfth |
| yauema'o (yama'o) |
54 | fifty four | kiyama'o fifty fourth |
tiyama'o 54 times |
iyama'o a fifty fourth |
| nyetsa'o | 106 | one hundred (and) six | kinyetsa'o 106th |
tinyetsa'o 106 times |
inyetsa'o a 106th |
| katle'o | 7000 | seven thousand | kikatle'o seven thousandth |
tikatle'o 7000 times |
ikatle'o 1/7000 |
Math Operations
- ha'o ma ya'o ke pa'o a
- 3 and 5 O 8 COP
- Three plus five is eight.
- tsa'o ma ya'ok ke na'o a
- 6 and 5-NEG O 1 COP
- Six and five-less is one.
- ha'o ma tima'o ke ueta'o a
- 3 and multiple-4 O 12 COP
- Three times four is twelve.
- tama'o ma ha'o ke pa'o yeka
- 24 and 3 O 8 division
- Twenty-four divided by three is eight.
Verbs
Kala relies on analytic serial verb constructions, and can therefore get by with very little verbal morphology. Each verb has at most two possible forms: the active and the stative. Passivity is marked on the subject thus verbs are unmarked and must be analyzed based on surrounding morphology. Active verbs solely denote actions and occurrences and never states in Kala. Stative verbs are the words that modify nouns in an attributive and often adjectival way. They often express a state like a quality or result. Verbs can 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. The negative, adverbial, and plural endings are always final, while other affixes can be varied, but in general they should be ordered:
STEM-(SIZE/IMPORTANCE)-(MOOD)-(ASPECT)-(TENSE)-(NEGATIVE)
Example:
| Verb Stem | Size/Importance | Mood | Aspect | Tense | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| empa | -hi | -pa | -nko | -ye | -k |
| run | DIM | ABIL | PROG | PST | NEG |
- na empahipankoyek
- 1SG run-DIM-able-PROG-PST-NEG
- I was not able to keep jogging.
Tense
Kala has three simple tenses; past, present, and future. Present tense is unmarked. However, past (-ye) and future (-tli) tenses can be modified to include immediate future ("is about to..."), distant future ("will...in a long while"), recent past ("just ..."), and remote past ("...a long while ago"). These distinctions are made with the augmentative and diminutive endings -ha and -hi.
- The present tense can show immediacy by using the adverb ima, "now; at this time":
- ima mita ina - now dog eat - The dog is eating right now.
- If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted:
- yomaye nam ina - yesterday 1pl eat - We ate yesterday.
| Kala | gloss | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | mita ina | dog eat | The dog eats. |
| Past | mita inaye | dog eat-PST | The dog ate. |
| Recent Past | mita inayehi or -hye |
dog eat-REC | The dog just ate. (action just finished) |
| Remote Past | mita inayeha | dog eat-REM | The dog ate long ago. (before the lifetime of the speaker) |
| Future | mita inatli | dog eat-FUT | The dog will eat. |
| Immediate Future | mita inatlihi or -tlai |
dog eat-IMM | The dog will eat soon. (within the day) |
| Distant Future | mita inatliha | dog eat-DIS | The dog will eat a long while from now. (months from now) |
Aspect
There are four aspects in Kala. The progressive, also called the continuous [CONT], this is used to express an incomplete action or state in progress at a specific time. It is marked with -nko, from nkoso - "to continue; proceed; progress". The perfective aspect indicates that an action is completed [PFV]. It is often translated by the English present perfect (have done some-thing). It is marked with -pua, from opua - "to end; finish; complete". The inchoative aspect refers to the beginning of a state [INCH]. It is marked with -mu, from mula - "to begin; start; initiate". The frequentative aspect refers to a repeated action [FREQ]. It is marked with -nua, from nua - "frequent; often; regular".
| Kala | gloss | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | mita inanko | dog eat-CONT | The dog is eating. |
| Perfective | mita inapua | dog eat-PFV | The dog has eaten. |
| Inchoative | mita inamu | dog eat-INCH | The dog begins to eat. |
| Frequentative | mita inanua | dog eat-FREQ | The dog eats often. |
Mood
Negative
The negative mood (always marked finally) is indicated by the suffix –k or –nke (when the last syllable contains /k/).
- mita inayek - dog eat-PST-NEG - The dog did not eat.
- mita mokunke - dog sleep-NEG - The dog does not sleep.
Stative verbs
A large proportion of intransitive verbs are stative verbs, taking over the role of English adjectives. Examples are taha "be big" and ahi "be small". This type of verb is most often used in non-predicative situations, performing an adjective-like function. With intransitive verbs it describes the subject; with transitive verbs it usually describes the patient or theme and is thus roughly comparable to a passive participle in meaning. Essentially, Kala does not have adjectives as a distinct part of speech. Instead, many intransitive verbs can be used as adjectives. This leaves open to interpretation many phrases.
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Comparison
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 - to not be able to walk produces: yalapanketle - who/which/that can't walk
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This nominalizes the verb in some cases, and makes it possible for it to be either the subject or the object.
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The relative suffix is most often in the final position. In some cases, it may be followed by the negative -k.
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Adpositionals
Kala does not have prepositions (or postpositions) as a distinct part of speech. Instead, many locative verbs can be used as adpositionals, in which case they precede the noun they modify. There is one general locative (-hue) which is affixed to nouns (and occasionally verbs) to indicate the sense of “at; in; on”. Here are some common verbs used as adpositions:
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- na ke ito yamahue anyapa
- 1sg O tree hill-LOC see-ABIL
- I can see a tree on the hill.
- ntahim nyaue tsaka yoti
- child-PL outside.of house play
- The children are playing outside of the house.
Word formation
Compounding
New nouns are usually created through head-initial compounding, using both nominal and verbal stems as the second, dependent element of the compound. The resulting lexical entries usually behave as single phonological words, which, however, have four full syllables: kuatlatloha "grass snake". Compounding of more than two elements is not common.
- kayapusu - "earthquake" > kaya - earth + pusu - vibrate
- asuaseka - "leather" > asua - skin + seka - dry
There are also numerous affixes used to form new meanings. A few examples are;
- tiyasu - "bakery" > tiya - bread + -su - market; shop
- onyomo - "school" > onyo - learn + -mo - place; location
- kuhasa - "kitchen" > kuha - cook + -sa - room; chamber
- pyetampu - "egg-shaped" > pyeta - egg + -mpu - shape; form
Derivation
Verbalization
Causative verbs (as well as achievement verbs) can be formed from other verbs by adding -mya (from muya - "do, make, cause") or -la (from ela - "become; change into; turn into"). This type of derivation is fairly common; however, verbs created in this way are syntactically defective and tend to appear only in serial verb constructions.
- tinamya - "bend" < tina - be bent
- pitamya - "hollow out" < pita - be hollow; void
- enomya - "annoy, bother" < eno - be angry
- tsipuela - "slow down" < tsipue - be slow
- kyolola - "speed up" < kyolo - be quick
Intensive verbs can be formed from other verbs by adding -mpa (from mpa - "many; much; very"), or more commonly -hu (from kyohu - "be drastic; extreme; aggressive").
- ketsahu - "dismiss, reject, repudiate" < ketsa - doubt
- amyampa - "fall in love with" < amya - be fond of; like; prefer (of people)
Adjective-like stative verbs which name an associated quality may be formed from nouns by -n (from no - "thing" (-ish, -ly, -ous)).
- timan - "be cruel, be bloody" < tima - blood
- amyan - "be welcoming, be hospitable" < amya - be fond of
Nominalization
Agentive
Nouns referring to a human subject of a verb (usually in a habitual sense) can be formed with the agentive suffix -ko (from ko - "individual; person"). This suffix changes to -tlo when a velar stop is present in the preceding syllable.
- kitlako - "craftsman" < kitla - create; invent; make-up
- sutako - "inhabitant (of)" < suta - live; reside; dwell; inhabit; settle
- yekatlo - "unmarried young adult" < yeka - be separate, be on one's own
- makatlo - "musician" < maka - music; play ~; tune
- tsaniko - "storyteller" < tsani - recite, tell (a story)
Instrumental
Instrument nouns and names for tools and other inanimates can be derived from verbs or from other nouns by adding the suffix -nyo (from mayo - "device; equipment; tool").
- hitanyo - "atlatl (spear-thrower)" < hita - throw; cast; expel
- amonyo - "handle (for carrying)" < amo - transport; carry
- kusunyo - "clasp, brooch, fibula" < kusu - squeeze
- toponyo - "lock" < topo - door; gate
Locative
Location nouns can be formed from both nouns and verbs by several suffixes. These indicate specific places where either something happens, or something resides there are a few affixes which modify both verbs and nouns.
-mo (from mo - "location; place; site"). This suffix is used to form the general idea of where something happens or resides.
- tanamo - "battlefield; boxing ring; wrestling mat, etc." < tana - fight; combat
- uelomo - "bicycle-place; bike path; bike rack, etc." < uelo - bicycle; bike
- inamo - "eat-place; dining room; restaurant" [This can also mean food-place; pantry, etc.] < ina - food; eat
- onyomo - "learn-place; school" < onyo - learn; study
-su (from suku - "market; shop; store"). This suffix is used to specify a business where items are produced and/or sold.
- tiyasu - "bread-shop; bakery" < tiya - bread
- inasu - "food-market; grocery store; restaurant" < ina - food; eat
- uelosu - "bicycle-shop" < uelo - bicycle; bike
-kyo (from hakyo - "college; school; university"). This suffix is used to specify a location where students learn. This can also be used to indicate a school of thought, or ideology.
- tanakyo - "dojo; martial arts training academy; etc." < tana - fight; combat
- kuhakyo - "culinary-school; chef’s academy" < kuha - cook; prepare food
- tsiyakyo - "liberalism" < tsiya - freedom; liberty
- ya'akyo - "medical-school" < ya'a - medicine; drug; cure
-sa (from sala - "chamber; room; section"). This is more specific than -mo and used primarily for spaces inside buildings.
- kuhasa - "cook-room; kitchen" < kuha - cook; prepare food
- mokusa - "sleep-room; bedroom" < moku - sleep; rest
- inasa - "eat-room; dining room" < ina - food; eat
- onyosa - "learn-room; classroom" < onyo - learn; study
Diminutive
Diminutive nouns and endearment terms can be formed from verbs and other nouns by adding the suffix -hi (from ahi - "few; small"). This becomes -ki after a syllable that contains a glottal fricative.
- mukuhi - "blade" < muku - knife
- umahi - "foal" < uma - horse; equine
- mitahi - "puppy" < mita - dog; canine
- ohuaki - "indulgence" < ohua - luxurious; extravagant
Augmentative
Augmentative nouns can be formed from verbs and other nouns by adding the suffix -ha (from taha - "big; large; grand"). This becomes -ka after a syllable that contains a glottal fricative.
- kamaha - "city" < kama - village; town
- ohaka - "dislocate one's jaw" < oha - yawn; open one's mouth
- mosaha - "epic; novel" < mosa - book; letter; scroll
- tiniha - "hurricane" < tini - spiral; whorl
Honorific
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
Instrumental participants are marked with the preposition wo ‘with, by, using’.
- ona ke nta'i hayo ma'a tlimu nohya
- mother O baby 3sg.POSS with blanket wrap
- The mother wraps her baby in a blanket.
In passive sentences, agents may be reintroduced with the preposition nya ‘by’:
- ke aha nya ntahi apua'u
- O melody by child sing-PFV
- The song has been sung by the child.
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.
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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?
The other type contains a question word and is followed by ka:
| Kala | gloss | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| object | ke mita ina ka | O dog eat Q | What does the dog eat? |
| person | ko ina ka | person eat Q | Who eats? |
| possession | koyo mita ina ka | person-POSS dog eat Q | Whose dog eats? |
| manner | to mita ina ka | manner dog eat Q | How does the dog eat? |
| place | mo mita ina ka | place dog eat Q | Where does the dog eat? |
| reason | nye mita ina ka | reason dog eat Q | Why does the dog eat? |
| time | ama mita ina ka | time dog eat Q | When does the dog eat? |
| amount | uku mita ina ka | amount dog eat Q | How much/many does the dog eat? |
| which | ula mita ina ka | any dog eat Q | Which dog eats? |
Passives
The passive voice is formed by prefixing e- (patient marker) to pronouns, and the object marker ke for nouns, or nya "for, by, via". Compare these simple sentences:
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Kala can also passivize some intransitive verbs (especially verbs that describe activities rather than states). This has the effect of creating an impersonal predicate without any syntactic subject, often carrying existential semantics.
- ke kema
- O work
- There is work to do. (lit. it is work)
- ke hina kyo'a
- P.4sg by 3sg build
- It's quiet around here. (lit. here is quieted)
Reflexives and reciprocals
Kala has reflexive and reciprocal pronoun forms, and as such declarative phrases are regular and predictable.
- na'i sepaye
- 1sg.REFL injure-PST
- I hurt myself.
- ha'i tlela
- 3sg.REFL bathe
- She bathes herself.
- kanku ke onta nayo itsa
- 3pl.RECP O parent 1sg.POSS love
- My parents love each other.
- na'anku amyapak
- 1pl.EXCL.RECP like-ABIL-NEG
- We (but not you) are not able to like each other.
