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

pronouns

	subject	object
1sg	wa-	nwa-
2sg	ni-	nyi-
3sg	-	nku-
1pl	kwa-	pwa-
2pl	ki-	(m)pi-
3pl	ku	(m)pu-

• The reflexive is marked by -nyá-.

kunyákálá - ku-nyá-kál-á - 3PL-REFL-speak-NPST - They speak to each other.

nyánayankí - nyá-nay-ank-í - REFL-see-NEG-PST - She did not see herself.

verbs

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

tenses

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

• -á - non-past [NPST]

wayimá - wa-yim-á - 1S-eat-NPST - I eat.

• -í - past [PST]

niyimí - ni-yim-í - 2S-eat-PST - You ate.

• -íyí - distant past [DSPT]

kwayimíyí - kwa-yim-íyí - 1PL-eat-DPST - We ate long ago.

other modifiers

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

• -ak- - obligation [OBG]

wasapaká - wa-sap-ak-á - 1SG-go-OBG-NPST - I should go.

ninapakí - ni-nap-ak-í - 2SG-listen-OBG-PST - You should have listened.

• -ank- - negative [NEG]

pumatankí - pu-mat-ank-í - 3PL.OBJ-kill-NEG-PST - They were not killed.

nwanapanká - nwa-nap-ank-á - 1SG.OBJ-hear-NEG-NPST - I am not heard. | She/he doesn't hear/listen to me.

• -ás- - ability [ABIL]

yimásá - yim-ás-á - eat-ABIL-NPST - She/he is able to eat.

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 - wa-kál-á - 1SG-speak-NPST - I speak.

nikálí - ni-kál-í - 2SG-speak-PST - You spoke.

kunyákálá - ku-nyá-kál-á - 3PL-REFL-speak-NPST - They speak to each other.

break

• tak - break