Kala
The Kala conlang...
glossing
Glossing abbreviations.
phonology
consonants
vowels
diphthongs
syllable structure
syllables
stress
orthography
- Kala conscripts are many and varied. Rather than multiple pages explaining each of them, this page serves as a working list with a consistent example across each script.
word order
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.
content words
nouns
plural
- 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 – 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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pronoun declensions
| 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 |
demonstratives
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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correlative pronouns
| 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
Verbs in Kala are either active or or stative. 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.
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.
- Example: 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
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.
affix ordering
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, adjectival, and plural ending 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.
adjectives
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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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 |
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| 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 |
function words
particles
ke
The most common particle in Kala. It marks the object...
conjunctions
There are three coordinating conjunctions in Kala and three correlative conjunctions:
coordinating
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correlative
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interjections
The most common interjections in Kala are as follows;
- kya - imperative particle
- kyo - imperative particle
- kyo'a - imperative particle
- nka - emphatic negative
- ya - vocative particle
- a - affirmative
- aya - expresses strong emotions such as surprise ('ah', 'argh') and pain ('ow')
questions
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? |
