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 from or inspired by natural languages. A few have been taken from previous projects or constructed languages such as Ajara (a cipherlang from my youth) and 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 - /muːja gaː/ - do Q - (What are you) doing?
- ina - /iːna/ - eat - (I am) eating.
- tamatse - /tamaːˌt͡ʃɛ/ - good-seem - (That looks) good.
- ueha ka - /weːɦa kaː/ - want Q - (Do you) want (some)?
- nyasak - /ɲaːʃak/ - thank-NEG - No, thank (you).
Notice that none of the above contains any pronouns, or nouns. Any contextually understood elements may be omitted unless indispensable. There can be considerable divergence from what is grammatical, and what is acceptably idiomatic. The spectrum of formality and grammatical to idiomatic can be seen in the example below:
- na’etla muyaye – 1s-P.4s do-PST – I did it. > [grammatical, formal]
- etla muyaye – P.4s do-PST – (I) did it. >> It was done. > [grammatical, formal, passive]
- na muyaye – 1s do-PST – I did (it). > [grammatical, informal]
- muyaye – do-PST – (I) did (it). > [semi-grammatical, idiomatic]
- muyye – /muːɟɛ/ – do-PST – (I) did (it). > [ungrammatical, idiomatic]
Borrowing
- See also: Kala etymology
Kala borrows extensively from various natural languages. This is a very small sample of borrowings:
- 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
So, some phrases can contain words from multiple natlangs:
- ta ke inu uasiye ka
- 2s O drink take-PST Q
- Did you take the drink?
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) | ||||
The glottal stop is not phonemic but is included in the chart above for completeness. It is only ever intervocalic, meaning it is pronounced between two vowels and/or diphthongs. Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes. However, certain sounds change in a predictable way. For example, /h/ becomes [ɦ] when preceded or followed by a front vowel, including when labialized or palatalized. The alveolar affricates are most often /t͡ʃ/ and /t͡ɬ/. The “s” is almost always /ʃ/ unless preceded or followed by a syllable with the onset /t͡ʃ/, in which case “s” becomes /s/. So, sama (sun; star; solar) is /ˈʃaːma/ where sitsa (heat; hot) is /ˈsiːt͡ʃa/ and tsisi (embroider; embroidery) is /t͡ʃiːsi/.
- 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
There is a limited set of syllables, of the type CV (consonant-vowel), allowed by Kala phonotactics, similar to Japanese or Chinese. Kala phonotactics does not typically allow the onsets of adjacent syllables to be identical, nor both to be labialized or palatalized. (There are a few exceptions to this, such as tata for the informal/familiar form of “father”, etc.) Syllables beginning with /l/ do not occur as the first syllable of a headword (except in loanwords and toponyms).
Syllables
Syllable structure in Kala is typically made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most lexemes having syllables exclusively of this type. The exception to this rule are the endings –m (indicating general plural), -n (indicating adverbial or adjectival use), and –k (indicating negative mood). These endings all are word final. In detail a Kala syllable can be analyzed thusly: (N)(C)(u, y)V(a, i) where (N) indicates nasalization, and u and y indicate labialization and palatalization respectively.
Syllable Chart
| 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.
Collating Order
The collating sequence (alphabetical order) is based on the order established in the Naua script.
| Consonants | p | t | k | m | n | s | h | ts | tl | l |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowels | a | e | i | o | u | ua | ue | ya | ye | yo |
Based on this order, ma would come before ha, etc. Prenasalized syllables are ordered after their non-prenasalized counterparts, i.e. mpa comes after pyo but before ta. To see the collating sequence in action, look through the lexicon.
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). Monosyllabic words are not stressed. So;
- masa - /ˈmaːsa/ → masako - /maːˈsako/
- tliyama - /tɬiːˈjama/ → tliyamalo - /tɬiːjaˈmalo/
- kam - /kaːm/ → kamyo - /ˈkaːmʲo/
Morphology
Kala is a mostly agglutinative 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. The words of Kala can be divided into two basic functional classes: verbs and nouns as content words, and particles and others as functional. Adjectives exist, but they generally behave like verbs and there are very few adjectives that are not derived from either verbal or nominal roots. The few adverbs that exist fall into the class of particles or are derived from verbs. The most important element of Kala lexemes to keep in mind is that they may function as a verb, noun, adjective, or an adverb based on where they fall in the phrase, and any various endings that may be affixed.
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
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.
Nouns are marked for number; plural and collective:
- mita - dog - a dog
- mitam - dog-PL - dogs
- tlimita - COL-dog - a dog pack / a pack of dogs
- tlimitam - COL-dog-PL - dog packs / packs of dogs
When the final syllable of a word contains an m, mp, and sometimes a p the plural marking changes to -lo.
- yama - mountain - a mountain
- yamalo - mountain-PL - mountains
- tliyama - COL-mountain - a mountain range / range of mountains
- tliyamalo - COL-mountain-PL - mountain ranges / ranges of mountains
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).
Gender
Gender is not normally marked but can be with the endings -na and -ta to mark the feminine and masculine, respectively 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.
- kuma - bear - a bear → kumana - bear-FEM - sow → kumata - bear-MASC - boar
- masa - deer - a deer → masana - deer-FEM - doe → masata - deer-MASC - stag
- uma - horse - a horse → umana - horse-FEM - mare → umata - horse-MASC - stallion
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. The pronoun na'am 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 |
Pronominal constructions
The agent and patient pronouns are linked in most constructions. That means that the agent and the patient form one word. This is done with the pronominal patient marking affix -e-.
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Reflexives and Reciprocals
Kala handles reflexives and reciprocals using suffixes that can be added to either the pronoun or the verb. The reflexive suffix added to pronouns is –i, when added to verbs it is –ki, from ki meaning “self; essence”. The reciprocal suffix added to pronouns and verbs is –nku, , from anku meaning “reciprocate; [in] return”.
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In order to differentiate non-singular reflexives from reciprocals, -li (“each; every”) can be added – to the subject for reflexives, and to the object for reciprocals. Note however that this construction usually implies that all members of the subject group were actually affected by the action.
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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 |
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 |
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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. Kala’s distinguishing three levels of both past and future time is a unique typological trait. The use of the variations of past and future are not subject to strict grammatical rules and are a question of pragmatics. The recent and immediate markers are most commonly used for near-scope, that is, things which have just happened or will happen very soon. Of the triad tense–aspect–mood this section will only cover basic uses of the marked tense categories, followed by a discussion of complex tense combinations such as past-in-future. Subsequent sections will provide more insight into the morphological marking of aspectual categories; and the following section deals with the morphology of mood marking in Kala. Verbs in Kala are unmarked for present tense, as it is the normal mode of speaking. Besides being used to comment or report on current events, the present tense is also used to make statements of general truth. Also, Kala does not strictly mark its verbs for past tense in narrative discourses (instead the adverbial aye (“it was”) will start the first phrase); verbs may therefore appear as a present-time reference in spite of recounting past events, whether historical or fictional.
| Kala | gloss | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| remote past | kamahi hinayeha or -hai |
town-DIM be.here-REM | There was a village here (long ago). (before the lifetime of the speaker) |
| past | naka mita anyaye | woman dog see-PST | The woman saw the dog. |
| recent past | ota namyo akyayehi or -hye |
father 1pl.GEN wake-REC | Our father just woke. (action just finished) |
| present | mita tahi yatsi | dog boy bite | The dog bites the boy. |
| future | naka tahi tlepatli | woman boy teach-FUT | The woman will teach the boy. |
| immediate future | na tlelatlihi or -tlai |
1s bathe-IMM | I'll bathe soon. (within the day) |
| distant future | panam opuatliha | rain-PL end-DIS | The rains will end. (months from now) |
The present tense can show immediacy by using the adverb ima, "now; at this time"; If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted:
- ima mita ina - now dog eat - The dog is eating right now.
- yomaye nam ina – yesterday 1pl eat – We ate yesterday.
- anyotli ha huato – year-FUT 3s move.about – He will move next year.
- semaye kamena ke mita yeta – week-PST 3pl-P.1s O dog give – (A) week(s) ago they gave me a dog.
Note that the recent and the remote past tense are not generally marked if the past context is clear, for instance, when a past context has already been established in discourse. This may also happen explicitly by using a temporal adverbial such as yomaye (“yesterday”) or anyoye nye’o (“a hundred years ago”). In the presence of an explicit temporal adverb, redundant tense marking is also dropped subsequently. Like the past tense, the future is often not explicitly marked if the time frame is clear from context or has been clarified with such adverbials as “tomorrow”.
“Already”, past in past & past in future; so far, we have only dealt with tense marking from the point of view of the present. However, it is also possible to refer to an event which precedes another event in the past. Kala uses the particle tso ("already; since") to indicate actions that took place prior to the primary tense of the verb. It is most often placed at the beginning of a verb phrase.
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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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous | na ke niye pukunko | 1s O undergarment wear-CONT | I am wearing underclothes. |
| Frequentative | tlaka ke apua tlatonua | man O song recite-FREQ | The man recites the song repetitively. |
| Inchoative | nahi yotimu | girl play-INCH | The girl begins to play. |
| Perfective | kam inapua | 3pl eat-PFV | They have eaten. |
A few aspectual derivations:
- kuali - drill; bore; dig into → kualinua - cultivate, farm
- oma – shout; yell → omanua - scream
- noko – stay; remain → nokonua - survive, be resilient
- moku – sleep; rest → mokumu – fall asleep
- yelo – ice → yelomu – freeze; solidify → yelopua – frozen; solid
Mood
Besides various aspects, Kala also marks moods other than realis: irrealis, imperative, hortative, and negative. These are also expressed by suffixes on the verb and typically follow aspectual marking where it is expressed by a suffix. As is common throughout natural and constructed languages, the indicative mood is unmarked. Subjunctive, conditional, and imperative moods are marked lexically, by various particles, and as such are covered in detail in the “particles” of this grammar.
| Kala | gloss | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abilitative | na mokuyepak | 1s sleep-PST-ABIL-NEG | I was unable to sleep. |
| Attemptative | neko ke panya matapya | cat O mouse kill-ATT | The cat is trying to kill the mouse. |
| Desiderative | otsokai ka'e moli yalaue | wolf-red toward forest go-DES | Redwolf wants/intends to go to the forest. |
| Dubitative | ha tsakahueke | 3s home-LOC-DUB | I guess he is at home. lit: He is at home, supposedly. |
| Hortative | yalakya | walk-HORT | Let's go! |
| Necessitative | mita inahe | dog eat-NEC | The dog needs to eat. |
| Negative | naku nayo hinak | sister 1s-GEN be.here-NEG | My sister is not here. |
| Permissive | ta ke hina simamyok | 2s O here sit-PERM-NEG | You are not allowed to sit here. |
| Precative | ke asi yetate | O salt give-PREC | Will you please pass me the salt? |
| Preparative | tahi mokusue | boy sleep-PREP | The boy is ready to sleep. |
| Propositive | ta mokune | 2s sleep-PROP | You should sleep. |
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.
Evidentiality
Verb clauses in Kala may optionally be marked for evidentiality, particularly if the described event took place in the past and/or when the speaker was not directly involved in it. This set of six verbal suffixes indicating the nature of the evidence supporting a statement. These morphemes are not obligatory; however, the lack of an evidential in a main clause not marked as interrogative or irrealis is usually taken as a sign of pure speculation and thus likely to raise suspicions about the statement's truth.
| Kala | gloss | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "so-called" * | kamahitai taha | village-so.called be.big | The so-called village is large. |
| Dubitative [DUB] | ha tsakahueke kam inyake |
3s home-LOC-DUB 3pl hunger-DUB |
I guess he is at home. lit: He is at home, supposedly. (It's doubtful that) they are hungry. |
| Hearsay [HSY] | ha inanu | 3s eat-HSY | She eats (I hear). / (It's said) She is eating. |
| Visual Sensory [VIS] | ke kana kupayenya | O chief die-PST-VIS | The chief died. and I saw it |
| Assumptive [ASS] | naka hinaho | woman be.here-ASS | The woman must be here. (I assume) (also used as "assertive") |
| Evidential [EVID] | nahi nya katso ke punka tsametsi | girl for meal O fruit gather-EVID | The girl is collecting fruit for dinner. |
- -tai indicates that the speaker thinks what he is referencing is not actually represented by the noun
- -tsi indicates inferred from physical or situational evidence
It is worth noting that none of the evidentials distinguish between direct and indirect evidence, i.e. they only assert that the relevant knowledge was indeed acquired in the specified way, but not necessarily by the speaker himself. By whom exactly can only be deduced from context.
Derivational morphology
Because Kala has only two main parts of speech (content and functional words), new words formed by derivation should be analyzed based on context. Functional words can rarely be used to form new words, but this is typically to form extensions of functions, or new functions.
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
Clipped compounding does occur and is distinctive. This clipping occurs consistently in content words, but is usually blocked in functional words and auxiliaries. Syllables are clipped based on euphonic choices but must remain recognizable and retain grammatical functionality.
- naka – woman & kana – leader → nakkan – chieftess; queen
- naua – to tie & ualo – bring → naualo – get someone involved in one's trouble
- uaso – cup; jug; vessel & sitsa – hot; heat → uassitsa – flask; thermos; bottle
- yasa – wind & sitsa – hot; heat → yassitsa – warm breeze
- yasa – wind & yesa – peace → yassa – peaceful-wind
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
In Kala, new words can be formed by adding prefixes or suffixes to existing words, or by combining two existing words as a compound noun. It's also possible to reuse adjectives as nouns, and verbs as nouns, without adding an affix.
The most common ending (other than tense, aspect, and modals) is the adverbial ending –n. It is used to mean "similar to ...", "-like", "-ish", "full of ..." or "made of ...", and "pertaining to ..." or "to do with ...".
Here are some common examples:
- kyo’a - "quiet" → kyo’an – quietly
- enke - "simple" → enken – simply
- ntahi - "child" → ntahin – childish; childlike
- putsu - "monster" → putsun – monstrous
- yoti - "game" → yotin – playful
- hanya - "nation" → hanyan – national
- kuaha - "science" → kuahan – scientific
- olo - "gold" → olon – made of gold
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
Honorific nouns can be formed from other nouns by prefixing o-.
- omasa - "stag" ← masa - deer; cervine
- okama - "capital" ← kama - town; village
Particles
Particles in Kala cover a broad spectrum of what are more accurately called function words. These include adverbs, prepositions (more accurately locative or relative verbs), conjunctions, interjections, onomatopes, and structural particles.
Locative Verbs
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:
- -hue – in; at; on (general locative)
- nahe – within; inside
- nyaue – out; outside of; exterior
- ma’e – before; in front of
- pue – behind; after; in back of
- ua’e – above; over; on
- tahe – below; under; beneath; bottom
- ya’e – near; close to
- uaye – away (from)
- maye – between; among
The above are used as prepositions, but can also function strictly as verbs.
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The suffix -la (from yala “go; walk; travel”) forms an allative (or motive) preposition, expressing movement in the indicated direction, stopping at the position indicated by the locative:
- nahela topu – into bed
- pahela ke ana tayo – onto your head
- tsayela tsaka – up to the house
The locative/allative pair works like English on/onto, in/into, but in Kala this distinction is made for all locatives: you must distinguish between them:
- pue’ela kuanu – go behind a bush - (motion implied → allative)
- pue kuanu koma – hide behind a bush - (no motion → locative)
Syntax
Kala has an extremely regular grammar, with very few exceptions to its rules. Sentences are made up of one or more phrases. Each phrase consists of a verb (optionally followed by modifying particles) and a subject (optionally followed by modifying particles). The subject, if understood, can be omitted at the end of an utterance: pana ("It is raining.") pana! ("Rain!") An utterance can be anything from an interjection to a story.
Basic Sentences
The importance of word order can be seen by comparing the following sentences:
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In both sentences, the words are identical: mita – “dog”, tlaka – “man”, anya - “eye; see”. The only way to know who is seeing whom is by the order of the words in the sentence. Intransitive (including those of the existential type) clauses in Kala minimally consist of a subject followed by an intransitive verb, giving SV word order.
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Transitive clauses follow a SOV pattern and grammatically require the object particle ke.
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Predicates
In the simplest form, the adjective simply appears after the noun, in verbal position. Many statements that would be phrased as adjectival predicates in English are preferably expressed with stative intransitive verbs in Kala, requiring no copula. (For simplicity, such verbs are glossed without “be” in interlinears.)
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The same phrases can be formed using the copula a, this is grammatical but bulky and jarring.
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Negation
The negative mood [NEG] (always marked finally on the primary verb) is indicated by the suffix –k or –nke (when the last syllable contains /k/). See also: 3.2.3) Mood
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In general, contiguous serial verb constructions can only be negated as a whole. Negating one or more of the verbs in the construction separately is ungrammatical.
- na ke tsakahue nya ina ka’elatlik
- 1s O home-LOC for eat toward-MVT-FUT-NEG
- I'm not coming home for dinner.
However, if there is a modal auxiliary, negation may either take scope over the modal (and thus over the whole clause), or alternatively only over the non-modal part of the serial verb construction:
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In some serial verb constructions, where the middle noun phrase acts both as the object of the first verb and as the subject of the second verb, each verb phrase can be negated separately.
Voice
Passive voice emphasizes the process rather than who is performing the action. In Kala this form is called kemi. There are few patterns to help distinguish between active and passive voices in Kala verbs. Using the passive voice is not common in Kala. It can sometimes be used to emphasize what would normally have been the object of the sentence. In order to shift emphasis away from the agent and towards the patient or theme, a transitive sentence can be passivized simply by word order, or using the particle ni (“by”) [PASS].
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ACTIVE
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PASSIVE
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Compound Sentences
Two sentences may be joined together to form a longer compound sentence. Both sentences must be able to stand alone as properly formed sentences. When combined, they simply come one after the other, joined by a conjunction. Common Conjunctions:
| Kala | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| pa | although; even; despite | She is here despite my protest. |
| po | so; thus | He seems nice so I ate with him. |
| ku | and; also; too | I see it and I see you. |
| ma | and; also; too | I see it and you. |
| ua | and/or; either | You may eat and/or drink. |
| ue | either X or Y | You may either eat or drink. |
| uenke (uek) | neither X or Y | You may neither eat nor drink. |
| yema | both X and Y | I ate both soup and bread. |
| yo | if X then Y; therefore | If she comes then we’ll eat. |
| ehe (me) | but ; however | I dislike him, but he is my brother. |
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Note: ku is a clause level conjunction used to join to independent clauses.
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Clause-level conjunctions such as ku (“and; also; too”), ua (“or; either; otherwise”), or ehe (“but; however”) are placed clause-initially. Note that these conjunctions (except for ku) can be used to connect noun phrases.
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Non-subject noun phrases are coordinated using the conjunction ma "and" (sometimes "with").
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Noun phrases can be presented as alternatives to each other with the conjunction ua ("or; other"). This conjunction can be used with both subjects and non-subjects. The conjunction ue ("(exclusive) either X or Y") is used to delimit other nouns from the conjunction phrase.
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Contrastive coordination of noun phrases is achieved with ehe ("but; however") (or me more informally) if the noun phrases appear in subject position.
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Compliment Clauses
Complement clauses, i.e. subordinated clauses acting as a noun (most importantly as the subject or object of a sentence), and are formed exactly like ordinary main clauses, preceded by the particle ke (“topic particle”).
- nakkan ke eya tekim kamahi hyoka munaye
- woman-chief O maybe enemy-PL city-DIM attack worry-PST
- The queen was worried that the enemies might attack the village.
- itomatle ke maliya noyamya
- wood-carve O Mary happy-CAUS
- Carving wood makes Mary happy.
Complement clauses can also act as the object of a motional/locational verb:
- ta ke naha ka’elak yatli ke tlohi kuyepak
- 2s O river toward-MVT-NEG if.X.then.Y O salmon grab-ABIL-NEG
- You can't catch salmon if you don't go to the river.
- kam ka’e tsiua uahe moku ma ina yalayenko
- 3pl toward lake instead.of rest and eat walk-PST-CONT
- Instead of taking a rest and eating, they continued to walk towards the lake.
Since complement clauses behave like nouns syntactically, they may participate in existential constructions as well. Semantically, this indicates that the occurrence of the action described in the complement clause is emphatically affirmed.
- uala ke yemua tlana masenko
- verily O DIST-place person dance-CONT
- There is dancing over there. (lit. it's true that people are dancing there)
In addition to the particle ke, Kala possesses a few other words which may fill the same syntactic position under special circumstances. The most common of these appears in the context of reported speech. A couple of other specialized particles have a more limited distribution, appearing mainly in evidential constructions.
Relative Clauses
Relative clauses, i.e. subordinated clauses acting as an attribute to a noun phrase, are marked with the relativizer -tle (or -le if the last syllable has tl). A pronoun referring to the relativized noun is retained within the relative clause:
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- naku nayo ke yakokua na tikuyetle inapua
- sister 1s.GEN O strawberry-all 1s pick-PST-REL eat-PFV
- My sister has eaten all the strawberries that I picked.
If both subject and object of a transitive relative clause are represented by the same pronoun, the relativized noun will be assumed to be the subject of the subclause. In order to relativize the object in such a situation, the subject must be represented by one of the reflexive, or reciprocal pronouns instead, which explicitly refer back to the subject of the matrix clause:
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Relativization of oblique participants works very much the same way as relativization of subjects and objects, but the repeated pronoun needs to appear inside a prepositional phrase or coverb phrase which shows the role of the relativized noun within the subclause.
- ikamahi ena nasayetle
- PROX-city-DIM P.1s be.born-PST-REL
- This is the village in which I was born.
- ke taku tlakayo na tlayayetle nya teki matapua
- O brother man-GEN 1s wed-PST-REL by enemy kill-PFV
- The man whose brother I married has been killed by the enemy.
- iyoma ke yomatle ta’ena nya uapa talaue
- today O day-REL 2s-P.1s for visit come-VOL
- Today is the day on which you want to come and visit me.
In case a relative clause would contain only the subject and an intransitive verb phrase, speakers of Kala are likely to use an attributive construction instead. If the attributed verb phrase contains more than one verb, all of them need to appear in the attributive form.
- na ke nahi amyan pesoue
- 1s O girl like-ADV meet-VOL
- I want to meet a girl who is friendly. (lit. a friendly girl)
- kola sima ke ina kapyatli
- AG-INDEF sit O food receive-FUT
- Anyone who is sitting quietly gets food.
Note that both relative clauses and attributive constructions tend to be avoided when they refer to the subject of a sentence. Instead, the semantically ‘attributive’ verb describing the subject is treated syntactically as forming a sequential or simultaneous event together with the main verb of the sentence:
- tahi pina ke kema unya
- boy smart O task understand
- The smart boy understands the task.
Adverbial clauses
Kala has several different ways to express adverbial elements – adverbial suffix, adpositional phrases, serial verb constructions, and full-scale adverbialized subclauses. For most types of adverbials, more than one of these methods can be used. Because an adequate description of this gets rather lengthy, and because it presupposes an understanding of how serial verb constructions work in Kala, it is described in a later section of this document. Adverbial constructions which are valid constituents typically appear near the beginning of a sentence, with adpositional phrases preceding subclauses, but they may be topic-fronted for emphasis. If several adverbial constituents of the same syntactic type are present, they are generally ordered place → manner → reason → purpose → result → time.
Copular Sentences
The copula a (to be; exist; yes) is not used as it is in English. It is primarily used to affirm Yes/No questions. ta inaye ka (Did you eat?) a (Yes.) However, it can be used to add emphasis or nuance to a descriptive phrase. In an adjectival predicate the verb [to be] is not normally used.
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Questions
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
- 2s 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 2s 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:
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The other type contains a question word and is followed by ka:
| kanyo | 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-GEN 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 | INDEF dog eat Q | Which dog eats? |
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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When comparing the amount of involvement of several participants in a transitive verb, an appositional construction is used with competing subjects, and complement clauses are used with competing objects:
- tsaneya ke ona pa’e naku hayo itsaha
- Jane O mother other.than sister 3s.GEN love-AUG
- Jane loves her mother more than her sister does.
- imukuhi ke asua uahe tleno telaniha
- PROX-blade-DIM O leather instead.of timber cut-nice-AUG
- This knife cuts leather better than it cuts wood.
Indirect Objects
Kala verb phrases have only a single object slot. As a result, the recipient of a ditransitive clause needs to be introduced with the help of an adverbial preposition. The same strategy is also used to introduce other participants in oblique roles.
- ka’e – to; toward [Dative]
- ma’a – with; using [Instrumental] / with; together [Comitative]
- mue – without; lacking [Abessive]
- nya – for (the benefit of) [Benefactive] / by [Passive]
- -hue – at; in; on [Locative]
Dative
Dative participants can be marked with ka’e (“toward; to”), nya (“for; by”), or be syntactically indicated.
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Instrumental
Instrumental participants can be marked with ma’a (“with; using”), nya (“for; by”), or be syntactically indicated.
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Comitative
Comitative participants are marked with the preposition ma’a (“with; together”), and anticomitative (or abessive) participants are marked with the preposition mue (“without”).
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Locative
Locative participants can be marked with a variety of adverbial prepositions, most typically -hue (“at; in; on”). See also: 5.1) Locative verbs.
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Semantic Fields and Pragmatics
Kala, like all languages relies on the relationship of meanings instead of meanings in isolation. Additionally, morphemes tend to have a range of meanings that exist on a spectrum. A morpheme often can only be defined by its relationship to other morphemes within an utterance, or to other words of a similar semantic field.
One example would be in discussing temperature. Of course there is a system of degrees, but that is a quantitative statement, a qualitative statement would be more relative and open to interpretation.
English divides temperature into "hot, warm, cool, cold", while Kala has just sitsa, tlolo, and manka. However, these can be expanded to be more specific;
- manka – cold
- tlolo – cool; warm (mild)
- sitsa – hot; heat
Using the augmentative -ha and the diminutive -hi adds even more nuance to expressing temperature. mankaha (or mankampa, mankahu) being the coldest, and sitsaha (or sitsampa, sitsahu) the hottest means that tloloha is closer to sitsahi and tlolohi is closer to mankahi. This means that tlolotso (mild-middle) is likely how someone would describe their ideal temperature.
- ya iyoma kihua tlolotso!
- VOC PROX-day fine.weather mild-middle
- Oh, how today’s weather is so mild!
Of course, some meanings do exist in a binary state;
- asa - alive / kupa - dead
Meanings may also be divided into non-linear semantic space — e.g. color, social classes, directions, parts of the body, time, geographical features.
Numbers
Kala uses a base 10 number system. The basic numbers are as follows:
| 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
Long form numbers are used in formal situations, including financial transactions, especially involving large sums. Short form numbers are used in everyday speech and when calculating basic math.
Other Number Forms
| Kala | number | English | ordinal | multiple | fractional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| na'o | 1 | one | kina'o first |
tina'o once |
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| ueta'o | 12 | twelve | kiueta'o twelfth |
tiueta'o duodecuple |
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
Kala math is fairly basic and relies on particles and verbs to express functions. Notable is the use of the copular a to express the result of an equation.
Addition uses ma (and; also). There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation. Subtraction uses ma (and; also) and a negative form of the smaller integer. There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation.
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Multiplication uses ma (and; also) and a multiple form of one of the integers. There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation. Division uses ma (and; also) and a multiple-negative form of one of the integers. There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation.
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