User:Masako/nkala

sounds

consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p	t		k	(ʔ)
Affricate		ts~tʃ
Fricative		s~ʃ
Nasal	m	n
Approximant		l (t͡ɬ)	j	w

vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

nouns

Nouns can be marked for gender, number, size, and in several other ways.

• ka- - plural; several [PL]

- - PL-dog-NOM - dogs

pronouns

	singular	dual	plural
1	wa-	pwa-	kwa-
2	ni-	pi- / mpi-	ki- / nki-
3	o-	pa-	ku-

• The reflexive is marked by - -.

- - - They speak to each other.

- - - She did not see herself.

• The accusative/passive is marked by -.

- - - I am seen.

- - - You (two) were not spoken to.

verbs

• Pronominal prefix - VERB STEM - tense/aspect-modal

tenses

There are three tenses...nonpast, past, and distant past.

• -á - non-past [NPST]

wayimá - wa-yim-á - 1S-eat-NPST - I eat.

• -í - past [PST]

niyimí - ni-yim-í - 2S-eat-PST - You ate.

• -ũ - distant past [DSPT]

kwayimíyũ - kwa-yim-ũ - 1PL-eat-DPST - We ate long ago.

other modifiers

Various moods (or modals), aspects, and syntactic markers are used to add nuance and subtlety.

• -ak- - obligation [OBG]

wasapaká - wa-sap-ak-á - 1SG-go-OBG-NPST - I should go.

ninapakí - ni-nap-ak-í - 2SG-listen-OBG-PST - You should have listened.

• -ank- - negative [NEG]

pumatankí - pu-mat-ank-í - 3PL.OBJ-kill-NEG-PST - They were not killed.

nwanapanká - nwa-nap-ank-á - 1SG.OBJ-hear-NEG-NPST - I am not heard. | She/he doesn't hear/listen to me.

• -áts- - ability [ABIL]

yimátsá - yim-ás-á - eat-ABIL-NPST - She/he is able to eat.

lexicon

These are listed by stem, and do not distinguish nominal and verbal meanings or usages.

• kál - say; tongue; voice; language; talk

kalã (nkalu) - language; dialect

• mat - cut; kill; knife
• yim - eat; nourish; bread

yimã - food; sustenance

examples

speak

• kál - speak

wakálá - wa-kál-á - 1SG-speak-NPST - I speak.

nikálí - ni-kál-í - 2SG-speak-PST - You spoke.

kunyákálá - ku-nyá-kál-á - 3PL-REFL-speak-NPST - They speak to each other.

break

• tak - break