User:Masako/nkala

This is kata, a simple language with vocabulary based on the most widely spoken languages and an easily understood, mostly analytic grammar.

phonology

kata has nine consonants (/p, t, k, s, m, n, l, j, w/) and five vowels (/a, e, i, o, u/). Stress is word final.

consonants

	Labial	Coronal	Dorsal
Nasal	m	n
Plosive	p	t	k
Fricative		s
Approximant	w	l	j (y)

vowels

Vowels	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Open	a

diphthongs

There are two diphthongs [ai̯] ai, and [au̯] au. These are rare and typically only occur word-finally.

syllable structure

All syllables are of the form (C)V(N), that is, optional consonant + vowel + optional final nasal, or V, CV, VN, CVN.

phonotactics

A few syllables sequences are disallowed; /ji, wu, wo/. Also, a syllable-final nasal may not occur before /m/ or /n/ in the same root.

allophony

The nasal at the end of a syllable can be pronounced as any nasal stop, though it is normally assimilated to the following consonant. That is, it typically occurs as an [n] before /t/ or /s/, as an [m] before /p/, as an [ŋ] before /k/, and as an [ɲ] before /j/. Because of its small phoneme inventory, kata 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/ as [z] or [ʃ] as well as [s], /l/ as [ɾ] as well as [l], and vowels may be either long or short. Both its sound inventory and phonotactics (patterns of possible sound combinations) are found in the majority of human languages and are therefore readily accessible.

writing system

kata uses a modified form of Hangul.

consonants

• ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇ

k n t l m p s a

/k n t l m p s -/

vowels

• ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅘ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ

a ya e ye o wa yo u we wi yu - i

/a ja e je o wa jo u we wi ju - i/

word order

kata has a strict word order. The basic word order is subject–verb–object.

• * 와 고모 반

wa komo pan

1s eat bread - "I eat bread."

nouns

plurals

kata nouns and other parts of speech are not generally marked for number, meaning that plural forms are mostly the same as the singular. However, there is a plural marker -lo, which has limited usage. It is used with personal pronouns, as in walo, meaning "we" or "us" (from wa, "I, me"), and can be used with other nouns for clarity or specificity. Its use in such cases is optional. It is never used when the noun has indefinite reference, or when it is qualified by a numeral. The demonstrative pronouns pu ("this; these") and su ("that; theose") are never pluralized.

determiners

Determiners in kata precede the noun they modify.

• ayo - any; whatever; whichever; whatsoever
• koye - some; a few; a little
• kula - all; each; every
• pu - this; these
• su - that; those

pronouns

kata has three basic pronouns; wa (first person), ni (second person), and ko (third person). These words do not indicate number or gender, but may be modified to do so if necessary. -lo marks all nouns as plural, and the gender modifiers are -ku (masculine), and -ki (feminine). In cases of singular distinction of gender, koku ("he"), or koki ("she") can be reduced to simply ku and ki. There is also a possessive suffix -yo.

	singular	possessive
1s	wa I; me	wayo my; mine
2s	ni you	niyo your
3s	ko / ku / ki it / he; him / she; her	koyo / kuyo / kiyo its / his / her
1pl	walo us; we	waloyo our
2pl	nilo you (all)	niloyo your
3pl	kolo / kulo / kilo they; them / (MASC) / (FEM)	koloyo / kuloyo / kiloyo their

verbs

A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action ("run, stop"), a relationship ("have, lose"), or a state ("stand, melt"). In kata, verbs do not change to indicate such things as tense or mood. Instead, particles are used specifically, le (completed action), and sa (indicating an as yet undertaken action). Any verb can be reused without change as a noun.

tense

The indicative, progressive, and present are all encompassed in the basic verb form. The past tense, perfect, and perfective is indicated by the particle le. The future, potential, and propositive are indicated by the particle sa.

example	gloss	English
wa komo	1s eat	I eat. / I am eating.
wa komo le	1s eat PST	I ate. / I did eat. / I have eaten.
wa komo sa	1s eat FUT	I will eat. / I may eat.

prepositions

• yu - in; at; on; by

en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Updated_jan_Pije's_lessons

numbers

• nula - zero; nothing; 0
• un - one; single; alone; 1
• tu - two; 2
• tin - three; 3
• si - four; 4
• pen - five; 5
• lu - six; 6
• na - seven; 7
• pa - eight; 8
• nun - nine; 9
• ten - ten; 10
• aku - hundred; 100
• mila - thousand; 1000

larger numbers

• tentu - twelve; 12
• tenpa - twelve; 18
• tutensi - twenty-four; 24 (short form tu-si)
• sitentin - forty-three; 43 (short form si-tin)
• aku patenun - one hundred eighty-one; 181 (short form un-pa-un)
• namila luku tintennun - seven thousand six hundred thirty-nine; 7639 (short form na-lu-tin-nun)

lexicon

kata word	class	meaning	etymology
ayo	det	any; whatever; whichever; whatsoever	أي
enpo	v	be away from; move away	遠方
ila	v	be near; move toward; in direction of	إلى
kasa	n	house; building; apartment; room; residence	casa
ki	pro	she; her	هي
ko	pro	it	هُوَ
komo	v	eat; consume	comer
koye	det	some; a few; a little	кое-
ku	pro	he; him	هُوَ
kula	det	all; whole; entire; every; complete	كل
le	part	completed action marker	了
loka	n	place; location; spot; point	local
ma	part	interrogative particle	嗎
mama	n	mother	mama
ni	pro	you	你
o	part	direct object particle	を
oma	n	grandmother	oma
opa	n	grandfather	opa
pan(a)	n	food; bread	pan
papa	n	father	papa
pu	det	this; these	bu
sa	part	indicating the future tense	سَـ
simu	n	letter (of the alphabet)	字母
su	det	that; those	şu
tanko	n	word; morpheme	単語
wa	pro	I; me	我
wita	v	see; look; watch; observe	видеть
yati	n; v	hand; five; hold	يد
yu	v	be in; at; on	於

references

• Language list