User:Masako/naho

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grammar outline and resources

  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_Franca_Nova_grammar
  • zompist.com/virtuver.htm
  • languagesgulper.com/eng/languages.html

Introduction (soka)

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), Qatama (a conlang that I abandoned several years ago).

Characteristics (tomilo)

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. 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 - /muˌja gaː/ - do Q - (What are you) doing?
  • ina - /iːˈna/ - 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 muyaye1s-P.4s do-PSTI did it. > [grammatical, formal]
  • etla muyayeP.4s do-PST(I) did it. >> It was done. > [grammatical, formal, passive]
  • na muyaye1s do-PSTI did (it). > [grammatical, informal]
  • muyayedo-PST(I) did (it). > [semi-grammatical, idiomatic]
  • muyye – /muːjjɛ/ – do-PST – (I) did (it). > [ungrammatical, idiomatic]

Borrowing (kasu)

Kala borrows extensively from various natural languages. This is a very small sample of borrowings:

  • patoduck (Anatidae); from Spanish pato
  • kalato speak, talk, converse; from Arabic takallama
  • myontato allow, permit; from Finnish myöntää
  • naI, me; from Arabic ʾanā
  • tsenkaorange; from Chinese chéng
  • uasito take, get, acquire; from Lakota wasichu
  • ato be, exist, yes; from Japanese aru

Phonology (otonaho)

Consonants (hapu)

Consonants
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 that are not connected. 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 (musa)

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 (umomusa)

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 (otomato)

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 (tloko)

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 (ualitloko)

the 136 basic Kala 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.

Collating Order (pataka)

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.

Stress (otomana)

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) with the exceptions of negatives and words that end with a syllable onset palatal approximant, in which case stress is ultimate.

Syntax (teyeto)

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.

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.

The use of the object marker ke indicates the recipient of the action.

  • naka ke mita itsa
woman O dog love
The woman loves the dog.

Kala lacks morphological adjectives and instead uses predicative verbs.

  • ke tsaka taha
O house be.big
The big house / The house is big

Kala lacks morphological adverbs, verbs modified with the adverbial ending -n tend to precede the verb phrase they modify.

  • tsumun nam yokone
cautious-ADV 1pl swim-SUG
We should swim cautiously.

Kala lacks morphological prepositions and instead uses locational and relational verbs.

  • mita ke yempa tahe
dog O table be.under
The dog is under the table.

Morphology (umpu)

Nouns (noma)

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 (uku)

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 (saka)

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.

  • uma - horse - a horse
    • umana - horse-FEM - mare
    • umata - horse-MASC - stallion

Pronouns (nkalo)

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.

Personal pronouns:

  • na - 1st person
  • ta - 2nd person
  • ha - 3rd person
  • tla - 4th person ("it", "one") (used for inanimate nouns)

Modifiers:

  • -m - plural
  • -nku - reciprocal (only attaches to plural pronouns)
  • e- - patient
  • -i - reflexive
  • -yo - possessive

Other pronouns include:

  • tlokua - everyone, everybody
  • kola - someone, somebody; whomever, anyone, anybody
  • tlok - no one, nobody
  • nokua - everything
  • nola - something; whatever, anything
  • nok - nothing


nkalo
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 (milahani)

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).

  • itla (i-) - this (near me)
  • uatla (ua-) - that (near you)
  • yetla (ye-) - that (over there)

Examples:

  • imitami - PROX-dog-few - These few dogs
  • yemitampa - DIST-dog-many - Those many dogs (over there)
  • uamitali - MED-dog-each - Each dog (each of those dogs) (near you)

Quantifiers follow the noun that modify.

  • kua (-kua) - all; every; whole
  • oli (-li) - each; every
  • ula (-la) - whatever; any; some
  • mi (-mi) - few; little
  • nke (-k) - none
  • mpa (-mpa) - many; much; a lot
  • maha - more; plus
  • ohi - less; fewer


Correlatives (uatse)

uatse
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 (uati)

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 (eme)

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.

eme
Kala gloss English
remote past kamahi hinayeha 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-FUT I'll bathe soon.
(within the day)
distant future panam opuatliha rain-PL end-FUT The rains will end.
(months from now)
  • 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.

Aspect (ti'a)

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.

Mood (toka)

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.
Assumptive naka hinaho woamn be.here-ASS The woman must be here. (I assume) (also used as "assertive")
Attemptative neko ke panya matapya cat O mouse kill-ATT The cat is trying to kill the mouse.
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.
Volitive otsokai ka'e moli yalaue wolf-red toward forest go-VOL Redwolf wants/intends to go to the forest.


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.

adjectives

  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attributive_verb#Japanese
  • zompist.com/cuezi.htm#Participles
  • akana.conlang.org/wiki/Ronc_Tyu#The_attributive


  • Attributes
    • Adjectives used attributively appear after the noun, without modification: nahi aya 'a beautiful girl'; paka hikya 'an old idiot'.
  • Predicates
    • As predicates they are a bit more complicated; in effect they are partially converted into verbs. No copula is used. In the simplest form, the adjective simply appears after the noun, in verbal position:

adverbs

  • japaneselanguageguide.com/grammar/adverb.asp
  • bruce-the-korean.blogspot.com/2015/11/adverbs-and-adverbials.html

prepositions

particles

Conjunctions (penku)

Words and phrases may be coordinated in Kala with the following words:

  • pa - although; even though; even if
  • ku - and; also [clause level]
  • ma - and; also; too; as well
  • ehe / (me) - but; yet; however
  • impo - therefore; as a result; so; consequently; thus
  • ua - or; other; else
  • ue - either X or Y
  • uenke / (uek) - neither X nor Y
  • yatli - if X then Y
  • yema - both X and Y
  • yetli - if it were not; if not X then Y >> X yatli Y
  • ha'ena itsa ehe hinak
3s-P.1s love but be.here-NEG
She loves me but is not here.
  • aye na tala ku matsu
PST 1s come CONJ conquer
I came, I conquered.


interjections / pragmatic markers

Questions (kanyo)

There are two types of questions: Polar, those which may be answered "yes" or "no," and those which require explanations as answers.

Polar Questions (pa'ekanyo)

Any statement can become a polar question by adding the interrogative particle ka at the end of the sentence.

  • mita ina
dog eat
The dog eats.
  • nta'i moku
baby sleep
The baby is sleeping. / The baby sleeps.
  • ta ke tlo'o anyaye
2SG O elephant see-PST
You saw the elephant.
  • tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye
heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST
The doctor gave you the medicine.
  • mita ina ka
dog eat Q
Does the dog eat?
  • nta'i moku ka
baby sleep Q
Is the baby sleeping?
  • ta ke tlo'o anyaye ka
2SG O elephant see-PST Q
Did you see the elephant?
  • tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye ka
heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST Q
Did the doctor give you the medicine?


Content questions (no-kanyo)

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:

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-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?

Clauses

Numbers