User:Masako/pataka
Phonology
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasals | m (m) | n (n) | ɲ (ny) | ||
Plosives | p~b (p) | t~d (t) | k~g (k) | ʔ (') | |
Affricates | t͡ɬ~tl (tl) / t͡ʃ~ts (ts) | ||||
Continuants | l~r (l) / s~ʃ (s) | h~ɦ (h) | |||
Semivowels | j (y) | w (u) |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i (i) | u (u) | |
Mid | e (e) | o (o) | |
Open | a (a) |
phonotactics
Kala phonotactics does not allow the onsets of adjacent syllables to be identical, nor both to be labialized or palatalized. (There are a few exceptions to this, such as tata for the informal/familiar form of father, etc.) Syllables beginning with /l/ do not occur as the first syllable of a headword.
Much like Japanese and Chinese, Kala has a limited number of syllables.
a | e | i | o | u | ai | ao | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
p | pa | pe | pi | po | pu | pai | pao |
t | ta | te | ti | to | tai | tao | |
k | ka | ke | ki | ko | ku | kai | kao |
m | ma | me | mi | mo | mu | mai | mao |
n | na | ne | ni | no | nu | nai | nao |
s | sa | se | si | so | su | sai | sao |
h | ha | he | hi | ho | hu | hai | hao |
ts | tsa | tse | tsi | tso | tsu | tsai | tsao |
tl | tla | tle | tli | tlo | tlai | tlao | |
l | la | le | li | lo | lai | lao | |
a | a | e | i | o | u | ai | ao |
mp | mpa | mpe | mpi | mpo | mpu | ||
nt | nta | nte | nti | nto | |||
nk | nka | nke | nki | nko | nku | ||
pu | pua | pue | puai | ||||
ku | kua | kue | kuai | ||||
mu | mua | mue | muai | ||||
nu | nua | nue | nuai | ||||
su | sua | sue | suai | ||||
hu | hua | hue | huai | ||||
tsu | tsua | tsue | tsuai | ||||
u | ua | ue | uai | ||||
py | pya | pye | pyo | pyao | |||
ky | kya | kye | kyo | kyao | |||
my | mya | mye | myo | myao | |||
ny | nya | nye | nyo | nyao | |||
hy | hya | hye | hyo | hyao | |||
y | ya | ye | yo | yao |
allophony
The nasal at the end of a syllable can be pronounced as any nasal stop, though it is normally assimilated to the following consonant. That is, it typically occurs as an [n] before /t/ or /s/, as an [m] before /p/, as an [ŋ] before /k/, and as an [ɲ] before /j/. 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], /ts/ as [dz] or [tʃ] as well as [ts], /s/ as [z] or [ʃ] as well as [s], /l/ as [ɾ] as well as [l], and vowels may be either long or short.
stress
In Kala stress is penultimate with the exceptions of negatives and words that end with a syllable onset palatal approximant, in which case stress is ultimate.
syllable structure
All syllables are of the form (N)(C)V(n, m, k), that is, optional prenasal + optional consonant + vowel + optional final, or V, NCV, CV, VF, CVF, NCVF. CV is the most common syllable type. Most content words are disyllabic; while function words are monosyllables and inflected words are trisyllables.
Pronouns
Agent | Patient | Possessive | Reflexive | Reciprocal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1sg | na | ena | nayo | na'i | |
2sg | ta | eta | tayo | ta'i | |
3sg | ha | eha | hayo | ha'i | |
4sg | tla | etla | tlayo | tla'i | |
1pl | nam | enam | namyo | nami | nanku |
1pl.excl | na'am | ena'am | na'amyo | na'ami | na'anku |
2pl | tam | etam | tamyo | tami | tanku |
3pl | kam | ekam | kamyo | kami | kanku |
4pl | tlam | etlam | tlamyo | tlami | tlanku |