User:Masako/nkala

sounds

consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p	t		k	(ʔ)
Affricate		ts~tʃ
Fricative		s~ʃ
Nasal	m	n
Approximant		l (t͡ɬ)	j	w

vowels

	Short		Long
	Front	Back	Front	Back
Close	i	u	iː	uː
Open	ɑ ~ ə		aː

nouns

Nouns can be marked for gender, number, size, and in several other ways.

• ka- - plural; several [PL]

kayul - ka-yul - PL-dog - dogs

• kwi- - good; pleasant; "regular"

• mí- - female; feminine [FEM]

• nyi- - same; reflexive [REFL]

• pa- - pair of; both

• pya- - group; collection; mass of [COL]

• tlá- - male; masculine [MASC]

• twa- - other; different

• wi- - abstract

• ya- - that [over there] [DIST]

• yi- - this [by me] [PROX]

• yu- - that [by you] [MED]

pronouns

	subject	object
1sg	wa-	nwa-
2sg	ni-	nyi-
3sg	-	nku-
1pl	kwa-	pwa-
2pl	nki-	mpi-
3pl	ku	mpu-

verbs

• Pronominal prefix - VERB STEM - tense/aspect-modal

tenses

There are three tenses...nonpast, past, and distant past.

• -á - non-past [NPST]

wanuyá - wa-nuy-á - 1S-eat-NPST - I eat.

• -í - past [PST]

ninuyí - ni-nuy-í - 2S-eat-PST - You ate.

• -íyí - distant past [DSPT]

pwánuyíyí - pwá-nuy-íyí - 1DU-eat-DPST - We (two) ate long ago.

other modifiers

Various moods (or modals), aspects, and syntactic markers are used to add nuance and subtlety.

• -ank- - negative [NEG]

skumatankí - sku-mat-ank-í - 3PL-kill-NEG-PST - They were not killed.

mwanapanká - mwa-nap-ank-á - 1SG.OBJ-hear-NEG-NPST - I am not heard. | She/he doesn't hear me.

• -iy- - obligation [OBG]

walakiyá - wa-lak-iy-á - 1SG-go-OBG-NPST - I should go.

ninapiyí - ni-nap-iy-í - 2SG-listen-OBG-PST - You should have listened.

• -úy- - ability [ABIL]

tumúyá - tum-úy-á - attend-ABIL-NPST - She/he is able to attend.

lexicon

These are listed by stem, and do not distinguish nominal and verbal meanings or usages.

• kál - say; tongue; voice; language; talk
• mat - cut; kill; knife
• yim - eat; nourish; bread

examples

speak

• kál - speak
• wakálá - I speak   
• nikálí - you spoke

break

• tak - break