Kala Verbs

• A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action (run, stop), a relationship (have, lose), or a state (stand, melt). Most verbs can be reused without change as a noun.

tense

tense	suffix	gloss	example
remote past	-yai	REM	nam inayai We ate a long while ago.
recent past	-yao	REC	nam inayao We just ate.
past	-ye	PST	nam inaye We ate.
present	not marked		nam ina We eat. / We are eating. / We do eat.
future	-tli	FUT	nam inatli We will eat.
immediate future	-tlao	IMM	nam inatlao We will eat soon/now.
distant future	-tlai	DIS	nam inatlai We will eat a long while from now.

• The remote and recent pasts, as well as the immediate and distant futures are negated by the preceding negative nke rather than the negative suffix -k.
• 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").
• If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted.

Example: We ate yesterday.

yomaye	nam	ina
day-pst	1pl	eat

modifiers

ability

• -pa from pala is used to signify ability or possibility. This does not indicate the permissive.

-

• na yalapa

1sg go-able

I am able to go. / I can go.

attempt

• -pya from upya is used to signify an attempt.

-

• na inapya

1sg eat-attempt

I am trying to eat.

negation

• -k from nke is used to signify negation.

-

• na yalak

1sg go.neg

I am not going. / I do not go.

initiate

• -mu from mula is used to signify beginning an action.

-

• na yalamu

1sg go-begin

I begin to go.

permissive

• -myo from myonta is used to signify permission or allowance.

-

• na yalamyo

1sg go-perm

I am allowed to go.

suggestive

• -ne from neya is used to signify something that should or ought to be done.

-

• ta yalamyo

2sg go-sug

You should go.

usage	suffix	from	example
need, necessity	-he	heya to need; require	na yalahe I need to go.
deintensify	-hi	ahi small; little	na inahi I am snacking.
appear, seem	-tse	tse'e to seem; appearance	ha yalatse He seems to be going.
want, desire	-ue	ueha to want; desire	na yalaue I want to go.
intention, volition	-ue	ueyo to intend to	na yalaue I intend to go.

conditional

• They would be happy if the sun were shining.

sama	a	yatli	kam	noya
sun	be	if-X-then-Y	3pl	happy

• We doubted he would go.

na'am	iya	ha	yala	ketsaye
1pl.excl	cond	3sg	go	doubt-pst

• she would have been a good musician

Index

grammar outline | sentences | questions | lexicon | thematic lexicon | writing