Kala
THIS SECTION IS CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED TO REFLECT A NEW GRAMMAR.
The Kala conlang...
Predicates
In the simplest form, the adjective simply appears after the noun, in verbal position. Many statements that would be phrased as adjectival predicates in English are preferably expressed with stative intransitive verbs in Kala, requiring no copula. (For simplicity, such verbs are glossed without “be” in interlinears.)
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The same phrases can be formed using the copula a, this is grammatical but bulky and jarring.
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Negation
The negative mood [NEG] (always marked finally on the primary verb) is indicated by the suffix –k or –nke (when the last syllable contains /k/). See also: 3.2.3) Mood
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In general, contiguous serial verb constructions can only be negated as a whole. Negating one or more of the verbs in the construction separately is ungrammatical.
- na ke tsakahue nya ina ka’elatlik
- 1s O home-LOC for eat toward-MVT-FUT-NEG
- I'm not coming home for dinner.
However, if there is a modal auxiliary, negation may either take scope over the modal (and thus over the whole clause), or alternatively only over the non-modal part of the serial verb construction:
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In some serial verb constructions, where the middle noun phrase acts both as the object of the first verb and as the subject of the second verb, each verb phrase can be negated separately.
Voice
Passive voice emphasizes the process rather than who is performing the action. In Kala this form is called kemi. There are few patterns to help distinguish between active and passive voices in Kala verbs. Using the passive voice is not common in Kala. It can sometimes be used to emphasize what would normally have been the object of the sentence. In order to shift emphasis away from the agent and towards the patient or theme, a transitive sentence can be passivized simply by word order, or using the particle ni (“by”) [PASS].
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ACTIVE
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PASSIVE
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Relative Clauses
Relative clauses, i.e. subordinated clauses acting as an attribute to a noun phrase, are marked with the relativizer -tle (or -le if the last syllable has tl). A pronoun referring to the relativized noun is retained within the relative clause:
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- naku nayo ke yakokua na tikuyetle inapua
- sister 1s.GEN O strawberry-all 1s pick-PST-REL eat-PFV
- My sister has eaten all the strawberries that I picked.
If both subject and object of a transitive relative clause are represented by the same pronoun, the relativized noun will be assumed to be the subject of the subclause. In order to relativize the object in such a situation, the subject must be represented by one of the reflexive, or reciprocal pronouns instead, which explicitly refer back to the subject of the matrix clause:
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Relativization of oblique participants works very much the same way as relativization of subjects and objects, but the repeated pronoun needs to appear inside a prepositional phrase or coverb phrase which shows the role of the relativized noun within the subclause.
- ikamahi ena nasayetle
- PROX-city-DIM P.1s be.born-PST-REL
- This is the village in which I was born.
- ke taku tlakayo na tlayayetle nya teki matapua
- O brother man-GEN 1s wed-PST-REL by enemy kill-PFV
- The man whose brother I married has been killed by the enemy.
- iyoma ke yomatle ta’ena nya uapa talaue
- today O day-REL 2s-P.1s for visit come-VOL
- Today is the day on which you want to come and visit me.
In case a relative clause would contain only the subject and an intransitive verb phrase, speakers of Kala are likely to use an attributive construction instead. If the attributed verb phrase contains more than one verb, all of them need to appear in the attributive form.
- na ke nahi amyan pesoue
- 1s O girl like-ADV meet-VOL
- I want to meet a girl who is friendly. (lit. a friendly girl)
- kola sima ke ina kapyatli
- AG-INDEF sit O food receive-FUT
- Anyone who is sitting quietly gets food.
Note that both relative clauses and attributive constructions tend to be avoided when they refer to the subject of a sentence. Instead, the semantically ‘attributive’ verb describing the subject is treated syntactically as forming a sequential or simultaneous event together with the main verb of the sentence:
- tahi pina ke kema unya
- boy smart O task understand
- The smart boy understands the task.
Copular Sentences
The copula a (to be; exist; yes) is not used as it is in English. It is primarily used to affirm Yes/No questions. ta inaye ka (Did you eat?) a (Yes.) However, it can be used to add emphasis or nuance to a descriptive phrase. In an adjectival predicate the verb [to be] is not normally used.
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Questions
There are two types of questions: Polar, those which may be answered "yes" or "no," and those which require explanations as answers.
Polar questions
Any statement can become a polar question by adding the interrogative particle ka at the end of the sentence.
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Content questions
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
- 2s 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 2s 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:
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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-GEN 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 | INDEF dog eat Q | Which dog eats? |
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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When comparing the amount of involvement of several participants in a transitive verb, an appositional construction is used with competing subjects, and complement clauses are used with competing objects:
- tsaneya ke ona pa’e naku hayo itsaha
- Jane O mother other.than sister 3s.GEN love-AUG
- Jane loves her mother more than her sister does.
- imukuhi ke asua uahe tleno telaniha
- PROX-blade-DIM O leather instead.of timber cut-nice-AUG
- This knife cuts leather better than it cuts wood.
Indirect Objects
Kala verb phrases have only a single object slot. As a result, the recipient of a ditransitive clause needs to be introduced with the help of an adverbial preposition. The same strategy is also used to introduce other participants in oblique roles.
- ka’e – to; toward [Dative]
- ma’a – with; using [Instrumental] / with; together [Comitative]
- mue – without; lacking [Abessive]
- nya – for (the benefit of) [Benefactive] / by [Passive]
- -hue – at; in; on [Locative]
Dative
Dative participants can be marked with ka’e (“toward; to”), nya (“for; by”), or be syntactically indicated.
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Instrumental
Instrumental participants can be marked with ma’a (“with; using”), nya (“for; by”), or be syntactically indicated.
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Comitative
Comitative participants are marked with the preposition ma’a (“with; together”), and anticomitative (or abessive) participants are marked with the preposition mue (“without”).
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Locative
Locative participants can be marked with a variety of adverbial prepositions, most typically -hue (“at; in; on”). See also: 5.1) Locative verbs.
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Semantic Fields and Pragmatics
Kala, like all languages relies on the relationship of meanings instead of meanings in isolation. Additionally, morphemes tend to have a range of meanings that exist on a spectrum. A morpheme often can only be defined by its relationship to other morphemes within an utterance, or to other words of a similar semantic field.
One example would be in discussing temperature. Of course there is a system of degrees, but that is a quantitative statement, a qualitative statement would be more relative and open to interpretation.
English divides temperature into "hot, warm, cool, cold", while Kala has just sitsa, tlolo, and manka. However, these can be expanded to be more specific;
- manka – cold
- tlolo – cool; warm (mild)
- sitsa – hot; heat
Using the augmentative -ha and the diminutive -hi adds even more nuance to expressing temperature. mankaha (or mankampa, mankahu) being the coldest, and sitsaha (or sitsampa, sitsahu) the hottest means that tloloha is closer to sitsahi and tlolohi is closer to mankahi. This means that tlolotso (mild-middle) is likely how someone would describe their ideal temperature.
- ya iyoma kihua tlolotso!
- VOC PROX-day fine.weather mild-middle
- Oh, how today’s weather is so mild!
Of course, some meanings do exist in a binary state;
- asa - alive / kupa - dead
Meanings may also be divided into non-linear semantic space — e.g. color, social classes, directions, parts of the body, time, geographical features.
Numbers
Kala uses a base 10 number system. The basic numbers are as follows:
| 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
Long form numbers are used in formal situations, including financial transactions, especially involving large sums. Short form numbers are used in everyday speech and when calculating basic math.
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 duodecuple |
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 |
Math Operations
Kala math is fairly basic and relies on particles and verbs to express functions. Notable is the use of the copular a to express the result of an equation.
Addition uses ma (and; also). There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation. Subtraction uses ma (and; also) and a negative form of the smaller integer. There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation.
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Multiplication uses ma (and; also) and a multiple form of one of the integers. There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation. Division uses ma (and; also) and a multiple-negative form of one of the integers. There is no specific order to the numbers in the phrase/equation.
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Writing system
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. The most commonly used script is the Hangul adaptation for Kala.
Han Moya
Han Moya is an adaptation of Hangul for writing Kala. It is written horizontally, in lines running from left to right. It can also be written vertically in columns.
consonants
- ㄱㄲㄴㄷㄸㄹㅁㅂㅃㅅㅆㅇㅈㅉㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎ
- k nk n t nt l m p mp s ns a ts nts ts` k` tl p` h
- /k~g ᵑk~ⁿg n t~d ⁿt~ⁿd l~ɾ m p~b ᵐp~ᵐb s~ʃ ⁿs~ⁿʃ - ts~t͡ʃ ⁿts~ⁿt͡ʃ tsʰ~t͡ʃʰ kʰ t͡ɬ~tl pʰ h~ɦ/
The adaptations of doubled consonants are used word initially to indicate prenasalization. Medial occurrences of nasalized syllables are written across syllables.
- Example:
- 까바 - nkapa - alcohol; liquor / 단가 - tanka - eagle; hawk; falcon
- 감바 - kampa - Cheers! / 쁘라 - mpula - lamp; lantern; light
vowels
- ㅏ ᅶ ㅐ ㅑ ᅸ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ
- a ao ai ya yao e ye o ao yo ua uai ue u i
- /a~a: aʊ̯ aɪ̯ ja~ʲa: jaʊ̯~ʲaʊ̯ e~ɛ je~ʲɛ o~o: jo~ʲo: wa~ʷa: waɪ̯~ʷaɪ̯ we~ʷe: u~u: i~ɪ/
- ㅘ This is pronounced /wa/ in Korean because of the order of the vowels; however, because obsolete jamo are difficult to type and look junky as images, in Kala, this is used for /aʊ̯/ when typing. It is rarely seen due to the diphthong itself being uncommon.
Examples
- 어하 거 거하 가먀터 하요 마아 타감 뱌사하먀여
- eha ke keha kamyatle hayo ma’a tlakam pyasahamyaye
- [eːɦa kɛ keːɦa kamʲaːt͡ɬe haːjo maːʔa t͡ɬaːkam pʲaʃahamʲaːjɛ]
- P.3s O body stun-REL 3s.POSS with man-PL be.popular-AUG-CAUS-PST
- Her bewitching body made her very popular with men.
Examples
- seko saye puani nahayo yalaye ma ke tsa’eto omoye
- scorpion along bank river-GEN walk-PST and TOP across-way think-PST
- A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side.
- haye seko ke tsola anyaye
- sudden scorpion TOP fox see-PST
- Suddenly, he saw a fox.
- seko nya tsa’e naha amo ua’e muta tsolayo kanyoye
- scorpion for across river carry on back fox-GEN ask-PST
- He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river.
- tsola kye ak na’eta amo yatli ta’ena kute nuesitli
- fox IND.SP COP.NEG 1SG-P.2SG carry if.X.then.Y 2SG-P.1SG sting drown-FUT
- The fox said, “No. If I do that, you’ll sting me, and I’ll drown.”
- seko kye na’eta kute yatli nam nuesitli
- scorpion IND.SP 1SG-P.2SG sting if.X.then.Y 1PL drown-FUT
- The scorpion assured him, “If I do that, we’ll both drown.”
- tsola pue omo nkataye
- fox after think agree-PST
- The fox thought about it and finally agreed.
- ya seko ua’e muta tsolayo uayaye ma tsola yokomuye
- VOC scorpion on back fox-GEN climb and fox swim-begin-PST
- So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim.
- me tsa’etsohue nahayo seko ke tsola kuteye
- however across-half-LOC river-GEN scorpion TOP fox sting-PST
- But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him.
- tsola ike sunu ke sila hayo yeno ka’e seko muka kye nye ta’ena kuteye ka ima ta nuesitli
- fox while poison TOP vein 3SG.POSS fill toward scorpion face IND.SP reason 2SG-P.1SG sting-PST Q now 2SG drown-FUT
- As poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, “Why did you do that? Now you’ll drown, too.”
- seko kye na’i ke to nayo tlinapayek
- scorpion IND.SP 1SG.REFL TOP way 1SG.POSS stop-able-PST.NEG
- “I couldn’t help it,” said the scorpion. “It’s my nature.”
Lexicon
See also: Lexicon, Kala thematic lexicon, and Kala etymological lexicon.
A small sampling of Kala lexemes.
- pa - although; even though; even if
- pa'a - be well-ordered; regular; organized
- pina - be clever; intelligent; wise
- punka - fruit; fruit tree
- mpana - wide; broad; extensive; vast; width
- tanko - group; organization; team
- tepe - conceal; cover; shield; shelter
- tiku - extract; withdraw; pick-up
- tona - tuna
- ntela - interact; interplay; interrelated
- kanyo - question; ask; raise a question
- kemu - experience; undergo
- kinyo - intervene; get involved
- kona - dress; skirt
- kunye - moon; lunar; satellite
- kuya - green; foliage; verdant
- nkanu - short [in height and from end edge]
- makua - iron; press; smooth out
- menka - cotton
- mosukua - Moscow
- mutla - be absolute; unconditional
- napo - turnip
- ne - indirect object particle
- nota - lie; be in horizontal position; horizon
- nyalo - call; number; telephone
- sahe - across; opposite; other side
- sipanya - Spain
- sokyo - helium
- suama - sew; seam; mend; stitch
- hasu - conjecture; guess; supposition; assumption
- hilo - plaza; public square
- hueta - testicle
- tsame - accumulate; collect; gather; cluster
- tsemu - jam; marmalade
- tsitli - farm; ranch
- tsuto - be curly-haired
- tlato - recite rhythmically; chant; intone
- tlehe - esteemed; honest; candid; sincere
- tlokua - everybody; everyone
- ato - that way [over there]
- atsa - disc; rotate; wheel
- esue - fail; lose
- ila - sail; fly; navigate
- otso - wolf; lupine
- ulo - crop rotation
- uatli - inferior; of lower quality
- uetsi - dispirited downcast [idiom]; in low spirits
- yatso - ferment; brew; make honey; liquor
- yopi - mail; post [office]
