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).

Stress

Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable, which means that stress is de facto initial in most lemma given that stems are most often (CVCV).

Word order

The basic structure of a Kala sentence is:

AGENT--PATIENT--VERB (or SOV)

The agent is the person or thing doing the action described by the verb; The patient is the recipient of that action. The importance of word order can be seen by comparing the following sentences:

mita tlaka anya

dog man see

The dog sees the man.

tlaka mita anya

man dog see

The man sees the dog.

In both sentences, the words are identical, the only way to know who is seeing whom is by the order of the words in the sentence.

Nouns

Nouns in Kala are inflected only for number. Other relevant distinctions are animacy and possession, but these are not marked on the noun itself. Animacy plays a role both for pronoun choice and for the validity of some syntactic constructions.

Number Marking

Most nouns in Kala distinguish singular and plural number. There are several different “regular” ways to form the plural, which are to a certain degree predictable from the phonological shape of the singular form. Nouns can be marked plural (PL) by -m (or -lo if the final syllable contains /m/ or /p/, or, if the word begins with a vowel).
- In general the plural suffix is not used when the plurality of the noun is clear from context. For example, while the English sentence "there are three dogs" would use the plural "dogs" instead of the singular "dog", the Kala sentence mita ha'o a "dog three exist" keeps the word mita "dog" in its unmarked form, as the numeral makes the plural marker redundant.
- The collective plural is marked by tli-, derived from tatli, meaning ‘group; collection; gathering’. It is mainly used to indicate collectives of animals, but can also indicate groups of flora, geographic features, and various other groupings. This is called the collective plural (COL).

아다 - ata - name > 아다로 - atalo - names
미다 - mita – dog > 미담 - mitam - dogs > 티미다 - tlimita – a pack of dogs
야마 - yama – mountain > 티야마로 - tliyamalo – mountain ranges
자가 - tsaka – house > 티자가 - tlitsaka – neighborhood
브그 - puku – clothing > 티브그 - tlipuku – wardrobe

Determiners

The demonstratives can be prefixed to any noun to show deixis. Kala makes a three-way distinction. Typically there is a distinction between proximal or first person (objects near to the speaker), medial or second person (objects near to the addressee), and distal or third person (objects far from both).

itla (i-) - this (near me)
uatla (ua-) - that (near you)
yetla (ye-) - that (over there)

Examples:

imitami - PROX-dog-few - A few of these dogs
yemitampa - DIST-dog-many - Many of those dogs (over there)
uamitali - MED-dog-each - Each of those dogs (near you)

Quantifiers follow the noun that modify.

kua (-kua) - all; every; whole
oli (-li) - each; every
ula (-la) - whatever; any; some
mi (-mi) - few; little
nke (-k) - none
mpa (-mpa) - many; much; a lot
maha - more; plus
ohi - less; fewer

correlative pronouns

uatse
	Proximal i-	Medial ua-	Distal ye-	Inclusive -kua	Negative -k	Indefinite -la
mo place	hina here	uana there	yemua over there	mokua everywhere	mok nowhere	mola somewhere; anywhere
ko person	iko this person	uako that person	yeko that person (over there)	tlokua everyone	tlok no one	kola someone; anyone
uku amount	iku this much	uaku that much	-	kua all; every	ok none	ula some; any
ama time	ima now, at present	uama then; at that time	-	kuama always	amak never	tlama sometime; anytime
so kind, type	iso this kind	so'o that kind	yeso that kind (over there)	sokua all kinds	sok no kind (at all)	sola some/any kind
no thing	itla this	uatla that	yetla that (over there)	nokua everything	nok nothing; none	nola something; anything
to manner, way	yoto thus; like this; this way	uato that way	ato that way (over there)	tokua every way	tok no way	tola somehow; anyway

Pronouns

Kala agent pronouns are often omitted when the person is obvious from context. There are four persons in Kala. The 4th being inanimate, or indefinite. There is a special pronoun na'am which is used as the 1st person plural exclusive, meaning "We, but not you." The 3rd person plural is irregular, all other pronoun decline regularly. Pronouns do not inflect for gender; if gender is significant, one can use words like naka, tlaka, nahi, tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc.

Personal pronouns:

na - 1st person
ta - 2nd person
ha - 3rd person
tla - 4th person ("it", "one") (used for inanimate nouns)

Modifiers:

-m - plural
-nku - reciprocal (only attaches to plural pronouns)
e- - patient
-i - reflexive
-yo - possessive

Other pronouns include:

tlokua - everyone, everybody
kola - someone, somebody; whomever, anyone, anybody
tlok - no one, nobody
nokua - everything
nola - something; whatever, anything
nok - nothing

nkalo
	Agent	Patient	Reflexive	Possessive	Reciprocal
1sg	na	ena	na'i	nayo	-
2sg	ta	eta	ta'i	tayo	-
3sg	ha	eha	ha'i	hayo	-
4sg	tla	etla	tla'i	tlayo	-
1pl 1pl exclusive	nam na'am	enam ena'am	nami na'ami	namyo na'amyo	nanku na'anku
2pl	tam	etam	tami	tamyo	tanku
3pl	kam	ekam	kami	kamyo	kanku
4pl	tlam	etlam	tlami	tlamyo	tlanku

Verbs

Verbs in Kala are either active or or stative. Active verbs solely denote actions and occurrences and never states in Kala. Stative verbs are the words that modify nouns in an attributive and often adjectival way. They often express a state like a quality or result.

tense

Kala has three simple tenses; past, present, and future. Present tense is unmarked. However, past (-ye) and future (-tli) tenses can be modified to include immediate future ("is about to..."), distant future ("will...in a long while"), recent past ("just ..."), and remote past ("...a long while ago"). These distinctions are made with the augmentative and diminutive endings -ha and -hi.

The present tense can show immediacy by using the adverb ima, "now; at this time":

ima mita ina - now dog eat - The dog is eating right now.

If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted.

Example: yomaye nam ina - yesterday 1pl eat - We ate yesterday.

eme
	Kala	gloss	English
Present	mita ina	dog eat	The dog eats.
Past	mita inaye	dog eat-PST	The dog ate.
Recent Past	mita inayehi or -hye	dog eat-REC	The dog just ate. (action just finished)
Remote Past	mita inayeha	dog eat-REM	The dog ate long ago. (before the lifetime of the speaker)
Future	mita inatli	dog eat-FUT	The dog will eat.
Immediate Future	mita inatlihi or -tlai	dog eat-IMM	The dog will eat soon. (within the day)
Distant Future	mita inatliha	dog eat-DIS	The dog will eat a long while from now. (months from now)

aspect

There are four aspects in Kala. The progressive, also called the continuous [CONT], this is used to express an incomplete action or state in progress at a specific time. It is marked with -nko, from nkoso - "to continue; proceed; progress". The perfective aspect indicates that an action is completed [PFV]. It is often translated by the English present perfect (have done some-thing). It is marked with -pua, from opua - "to end; finish; complete". The inchoative aspect refers to the beginning of a state [INCH]. It is marked with -mu, from mula - "to begin; start; initiate". The frequentative aspect refers to a repeated action [FREQ]. It is marked with -nua, from nua - "frequent; often; regular".

ti'a
	Kala	gloss	English
Progressive	mita inanko	dog eat-CONT	The dog is eating.
Perfective	mita inapua	dog eat-PFV	The dog has eaten.
Inchoative	mita inamu	dog eat-INCH	The dog begins to eat.
Frequentative	mita inanua	dog eat-FREQ	The dog eats often.

mood

The negative mood (always marked finally) is indicated by the suffix –k or –nke (when the last syllable contains /k/).

mita inayek - dog eat-PST-NEG - The dog did not eat.
mita mokunke - dog sleep-NEG - The dog does not sleep.

affix ordering

Verbs can be marked with several suffixes to add or change meaning. The modals and tense affixes can be added in different order to a verb to create a new meaning…their placement is not always fixed. The negative, adjectival, and plural ending are always final, while other affixes can be varied, but in general they should be ordered:

STEM-(SIZE/IMPORTANCE)-(MOOD)-(ASPECT)-(TENSE)-(NEGATIVE)

Example:


Verb Stem	Size/Importance	Mood	Aspect	Tense	Negative
empa	-hi	-pa	-nko	-ye	-k
run	DIM	ABIL	PROG	PST	NEG

na empahipankoyek

1SG run-DIM-able-PROG-PST-NEG

I was not able to keep jogging.

adjectives

Kala does not have adjectives as a distinct part of speech. Instead, many intransitive verbs can be used as adjectives. This leaves open to interpretation many phrases.

mita inya - dog be.hungry
- The dog hungers.
- The dog is hungry.
- The hungry dog.
- A hungry dog.

tsaka ketlahi - house be.red-DIM
- The house is a little red.
- The light-red house.
- A pale red house.

taki saua - coat be.wet
- The coat is wet.
- The wet coat.
- A wet coat.

umalo tahaku - horse-PL be.big-extreme
- The horses are extremely large.
- The very big horses.

comparison

In Kala the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective (verb) are merged into a single form, the elative. How this form is understood or translated depends upon context and definiteness. In the absence of comparison, the elative conveys the notion of “greatest”, “supreme.”

tsaka hayo ke nayo tahaka

house 3sg.POSS O 1sg.POSS big-AUG

His house is bigger than mine.

ke mauam tayo yanaha

O flower.PL 2sg.POSS yellow-AUG

Your flowers are the most yellow.

iyapo ke tsaka tayo pakoha

PROX-building O home 2sg new-AUG

This building is newer than your home.

relative

In a relative clause, the verb has the suffix -tle (or -le if the final syllable contains /tl/) added to it. The order of the words in relative clauses remains the same as in regular clauses. The use of participles in Kala is rather different than in English and at first sight is difficult to understand. This is mainly due to the fact that the relative pronouns who, what, which, where are not used in Kala as in English.

yalapa - to be able to walk produces: yalapatle - who/which/that can walk
yalapak - to not be able to walk produces: yalapanketle - who/which/that can't walk

This nominalizes the verb in some cases, and makes it possible for it to be either the subject or the object.

na ke tlaka nya inama talatle unya

1sg O man for eat-time come-REL know

I know the man who is coming to lunch.

ke naka patlole pako

O woman sweep-REL young

The woman who is sweeping is young.

The relative suffix is most often in the final position. In some cases, it may be followed by the negative -k.

itsaka na sutahuetle

PROX-house 1sg reside-LOC-REL

This is the house in which I live.

itsaka na sutahueyetlek

PROX-house 1sg reside-LOC-PST-REL-NEG

This is the house in which I did not live.

Adverbs

Prepositions

Kala does not have prepositions (or postpositions) as a distinct part of speech. Instead, many locative verbs can be used as adpositionals, in which case they precede the noun they modify. There is one general locative (-hue) which is affixed to nouns (and occasionally verbs) to indicate the sense of “at; in; on”. Here are some common verbs used as adpositions:

pahe - against; touching
pa'e - apart from; other than; except for
paye - beyond; exceeding; farther than
pue - after; back; behind; rear
tahe - below; beneath; under
ka'e - to; towards; at [moving toward]
kaye - around; encircling; surrounding
mahe - around; approximate; close to
ma'a - with [accompanied by / furnished with]
ma'e - before; in front
maye - between; among

nahe - in [located inside of]; internal
nyaue - outside of; exterior to
sahe - across; opposite; other side
saye - along; following [a line]
hue / -hue - at [in the same location as] [LOC]
tsa'e - across; through
ua'e - above; over / on
uaye - from [moving out of or away from]
ya'e - near; close to
yomo - to the right of
yoso - to the left of

Coordinating conjunctions

Questions

Clauses

Numbers


Kala	number	English	Kala	number	English	Kala	number	English
ye'o	0	zero	tsa'o	6	six	nya'o	500	five hundred
na'o	1	one	ka'o	7	seven	tle'o	10³	(one) thousand
ta'o	2	two	pa'o	8	eight	mue'o	10⁴	ten thousand
ha'o	3	three	sa'o	9	nine	kye'o	10⁵	(one) hundred thousand
ma'o	4	four	ue'o	10	ten	nte'o	10⁶	(one) million
ya'o	5	five	nye'o	100	(one) hundred	hue'o	10⁹	(one) billion

Forming Larger Numbers

uena'o - eleven / 11
taue'o - twenty / 20
nyeka'o - one hundred seven / 107
hanyetauetsa'o (long form) / hatatsa'o (short form) - three hundred twenty six / 326
tsatletauema'o - six thousand and twenty four / 6024

Other Number Forms


Kala	number	English	ordinal	multiple	fractional
na'o	1	one	kina'o first	tina'o once	-
ueta'o	12	twelve	kiueta'o twelfth	tiueta'o twelve times	iueta'o a twelfth
yauema'o (yama'o)	54	fifty four	kiyama'o fifty fourth	tiyama'o 54 times	iyama'o a fifty fourth
nyetsa'o	106	one hundred (and) six	kinyetsa'o 106^th	tinyetsa'o 106 times	inyetsa'o a 106^th
katle'o	7000	seven thousand	kikatle'o seven thousandth	tikatle'o 7000 times	ikatle'o 1/7000

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