User:Masako/pataka

akana.conlang.org/wiki/Ronc_Tyu

Phonology

Consonants

• Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m (m)	n (n)		ɲ (ny)
Plosive	p~b (p)	t~d (t)			k~g (g)	ʔ ( ' )
Affricate		ts~t͡ʃ (ts)	t͡ɬ~tl (tl)
Continuant		s~ʃ (s)	l~ɾ (l)			h~ɦ (h)
Semivowel				j (y)	w (u)

• Prenasalized: /ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk/
• Labialized:/pʷ kʷ mʷ nʷ ʃʷ hʷ t͡ʃʷ/
• Palatalized: /pʲ kʲ mʲ hʲ/

Note: Because of its small phoneme inventory, 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], /s l h/ as [ʃ ɾ ɦ], and /t͡s t͡ɬ/ as [t͡ʃ t͡l]; also, vowels may be either long or short.

Vowels

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i~ɪ (i)	u~u: (u)
Mid	e~ɛ (e)	o~o: (o)
Open	a~a: (a)

Kala has five vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/ and /u/. Each occurs in both stressed and unstressed syllables. Phonetic nasalization occurs for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal, e.g. tsunka [ˈt͡ʃũᵑka] ('bug').

Diphthongs

Phonetically, Kala has only two diphthongs, both falling; [aɪ̯] and [aʊ̯], but there are five syllables that can be analyzed as rising diphthongs; [wa], [we], [ja], [je], and [jo]. The two triphthongs [waɪ̯] and [jaʊ̯] are very rare but should be noted as possible.

Phonotactics

Kala words are typically made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most words having syllables exclusively of this type. There is a limited set of syllables allowed by Kala phonotactics, similar to Japanese or Chinese.

• /l/ cannot occur word initially (except in loan words and toponyms).

Syllables

the 136 basic Kala syllables

	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo	ai	ao	uai	yao
p	(m)pa	(m)pe	(m)pi	(m)po	(m)pu	pua	pue	pya	pye	pyo	pai	pao	puai	pyao
t	(n)ta	(n)te	(n)ti	(n)to							tai	tao
k	(n)ka	(n)ke	(n)ki	(n)ko	(n)ku	kua	kue	kya	kye	kyo	kai	kao	kuai	kyao
m	ma	me	mi	mo	mu	mua	mue	mya	mye	myo	mai	mao	muai	myao
n	na	ne	ni	no	nu	nua	nue	nya	nye	nyo	nai	nao	nuai	nyao
s	sa	se	si	so	su	sua	sue				sai	sao	suai
h	ha	he	hi	ho	hu	hua	hue	hya	hye	hyo	hai	hao	huai	hyao
ts	tsa	tse	tsi	tso	tsu	tsua	tsue				tsai	tsao	tsuai
tl	tla	tle	tli	tlo							tlai	tlao
l	la	le	li	lo							lai	lao
-	a	e	i	o	u	ua	ue	ya	ye	yo	ai	ao	uai	yao

Syllables such as nsa, ntla, or ntsa can occur but usually only in place names or loanwords. The red syllables above occur infrequently and most often as the final syllable of a word.

Basic syntax

Simple sentences

Intransitive clauses

Intransitive clauses in Kala minimally consist of a subject followed by an intransitive verb, giving SV word order.

• nta'i moku

baby sleep

The baby sleeps.

• mita ina

dog eat

The dog eats.

• sama nala

sun shine

The sun shines.

• kamahi ke naha ya'e

town-DIM O river be.near

There is a village near the river.

• ke apua muyapua

O song do-PFV

The song has been sung.

Transitive clauses

Clauses with transitive verbs follow a SOV pattern.

• ona ke matla kuha

mother O stew cook

The mother is cooking stew.

• tasako ke masala yake

hunt-AG O deer-INDEF chase

The hunters are chasing some deer.

• kyali ke itohuatla peha

spear O tree-oak pierce

The spear pierces the oak tree.

• tasako ke mitla hita ma ne masa mata

hunt-AG O arrow cast and DO deer kill

The hunter shoots an arrow and kills the deer.

Predication

Nominal predicates are formed with the copula a, using SOV word order. However, more common is the idiomatic omission of the copula and object marker.

• tsola ke haya a

fox O animal COP

The fox is an animal. (grammatical)

• tsola haya

fox animal

The fox is an animal. (idiomatic)

• itlaka ke taya nayo a

PROX-man O husband 1sg.POSS COP

This man is my husband. (grammatical)

• itlaka ke taya nayo

PROX-man O husband 1sg.POSS

This man is my husband. (idiomatic)

Oblique participants

Kala verb phrases have only a single object slot. As a result, the patient of a ditransitive clause needs to be introduced with the help of a preposition.

Dative and benefactive

Dative participants are marked with the preposition nya ‘for, by, via’.

• ntahi ke nyotlomi nya kinti yeta

child O nut-PAUC BEN squirrel give

The child gives a few nuts to the squirrel.

• ikema nya na tlahi

PROX-task BEN 1sg be.easy

This task is easy for me.

Benefactive participants are also marked with the preposition nya ‘for, by, via’.

• mekatlo nya ntakum ke tsani yomu

holy-AG BEN sibling-PL O story recite

The shaman recites a story for the siblings.

Antibenefactive participants are marked like ordinary datives using nya:

• tekim nya kamahi namyo tanyaye

enemy-PL BEN town-DIM 1pl.POSS destroy-PST

The enemies destroyed our village.

Negation

Negation, both of noun phrases and of clauses, is made with the negating suffix -k (or -nke), which affixes to the negated element. Kala utilizes multiple negation, like tlok ak (AG-NEG COP-NEG) - (there isn't anyone / there is no-one).

• intahi ke nok onyotlik

PROX-child O thing-NEG learn-FUT-NEG

This child will learn nothing.

• mita inyak

dog hunger-NEG

The dog is not hungry.

The suffix -nke also marks the abessive, meaning without, or lacking.

• ha ke’e hatsanke nya potsi hayo kayoye

3SG so luck-ABE for wallet 3SG.POSS lose-PST

He was unlucky enough to lose his wallet.

Interrogatives

There are two types of questions: Polar, those which may be answered "yes" or "no," and those which require explanations as answers.

Polar questions

Any statement can become a polar question by adding the interrogative particle ka at the end of the sentence.

• mita ina

dog eat

The dog eats.

• nta'i moku

baby sleep

The baby is sleeping. / The baby sleeps.

• ta ke tlo'o anyaye

2SG O elephant see-PST

You saw the elephant.

• tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye

heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST

The doctor gave you the medicine.

• mita ina ka

dog eat Q

Does the dog eat?

• nta'i moku ka

baby sleep Q

Is the baby sleeping?

• ta ke tlo'o anyaye ka

2SG O elephant see-PST Q

Did you see the elephant?

• tekatlo eta ke ya'a yetaye ka

heal-AG P.2SG O medicine give-PST Q

Did the doctor give you the medicine?

Content questions

Questions that give a list of possible answers are formed like polar questions, with the conjunction ue ‘or’ introducing each alternative (which must appear in the form of a noun phrase).

• ta ke nkapa ue maya inuue ka

2SG O beer or.EXCL water drink-VOL Q

Do you want to drink beer or water?

• uala ta ke sinka mataye ue empa ma koma ka

truly 2sg O lion kill-PST or.EXCL flee CONJ hide Q

Did you really kill the lion, or did you run away and hide?

Open content questions are most easily formed with the correlatives, such as ko ‘person’, mo ‘place’, to ‘manner’, etc. These correlatives always appear clause-initially:

• ko ta ka

person 2sg Q

Who are you?

• itla ka

this Q

What is this?

• to kihu ka

manner weather Q

What's the weather like?