User:Masako/nkala

sounds

consonants

Consonants	Labial	Coronal	Dorsal
Nasal	m	n
Plosive	p	t	k
Fricative		s
Approximant	w	l	j (y)

vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Open		a

nouns

pronouns

	singular	plural
1	wa-	kwa-
2	ni-	pi- (-mpi-)
3	-	ku-

locative prefixes

• na- - in; at; on
• ti- - behind; after

verbs

Verbs are the workhorses of Malu. They can mark for both agent and patient as well as tense. Many simple sentences are composed of only a verb.

tense

Tense is also distinguished, but only in the indicative. There are two tenses:

• present, which is also used for future events (nonpast tense).

• past

lexicon

ka

• ka- - plural
• ki- - someone; something
• ku- - they; them [3pl]
• kwa- - we; us [1pl]

la

• lum - sleep; rest; relax

examples

• wanimaluki

wa-ni-mal-uk-i

1sg-2sg-speak-NEG-PST

I did not speak to you

• wa-t-a 1sg-be-NSPT I am
• ku-wa-n-i 3pl-1sg-see-PST They saw me (I was seen)
• ku-t-uk-i 3pl-be-NEG-PST they were not
• ta-tim-u animal-bleed-NOM animal blood
• yim-uk-a eat-NEG-NPST he/she/it eats not
• ki-mpi-mal-atl-i SB-2pl-speak-maybe-PST someone may have spoken to you
• ki-lum-a SB-sleep-NPST someone is sleeping