Kala Verbs

Verbs

tense / aspect

The future tense is marked with the suffix -tli. Past tenses, including perfect and pluperfect, are marked with the suffix -ye. The present tense is unmarked:

• na ina - 1.S eat - I eat / I am eating.
• na inatli - 1.S eat.FUT - I will eat / I am about to eat.
• na inaye - 1.S eat.PAST - I eat / I was eating / I have eaten / I had eaten.

Kala does not distinguish perfect and imperfect aspects of the verb (e.g. ‘I ate’, ‘I used to eat’, ‘I have eaten’, ‘I had eaten’). However, one can easily clarify the temporal sequence of two actions by marking the earlier one with the adverbial tsa (‘already’).

mood

• The conditional mood is formed with the particle iya.

• iya na ina - COND 1.S eat - I might be eating.

• The imperative mood is formed with the particle kya.

• kya ina - IMP eat - Eat!

• The negative mood is formed with the suffix -k.

• na inak - 1.S eat.NEG - I do not eat / I am not eating.

• The volitive mood is formed with the suffix -ue (from ueha - to want, desire).

• na inaue - 1.S eat.VOL - I want to eat.

• The necessitative mood is formed with the suffix -he (from heya - to need, require).

• na inahe - 1.S eat.NEC - I need to eat.

• The abilitative mood is formed with the suffix -pa (from pala - to be able).

• na inapa - 1.S eat.ABIL - I am able to eat./ I can eat.

voice

• The passive voice is formed by attaching the accusative prefix e- to the pronoun.

• ena ina - ACC.1.S eat - I am eaten. / I am being eaten.

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