User:Masako/pataka

Morphology

Case

The nominative [NOM] is not marked [-Ø] and is in the absolutive form. It indicates a syntactic core participant of the action, agent, force, or experiencer.

• mita ina

dog-∅ eat

The dog eats.

The accusative [ACC] is marked with the clitic -n and indicates a patient, theme or goal (used as Oblique occasionally), instrument, or experiencer.

• mitan anya

dog-ACC see

The dog is seen.

Genitive [GEN] -yo indicates alienable association or possession (see also te) .

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

Syntax

Basic Word Order

The default word order in Kala is SOV, although case marking allows some flexibility.

• mita tlakan yatsiye

dog man-ACC bite-PST

The dog bit the man.

Derivation

Gemination

Gemination is only found as a product of word compounding and not as a phonological process, however it affects the pronunciation as the phonemic variation is lost and all geminated consonants are voiceless. naka (woman) can be /ˈnaːka/ or /ˈnaːga/, whereas nakkan (chieftess) can only be /ˈnaːkkan/. All consonants except for semivowels can undergo gemination.