User:Masako/pataka
Content words
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.
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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.”
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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
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This nominalizes the verb in some cases, and makes it possible for it to be either the subject or the object.
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The relative suffix is most often in the final position. In some cases, it may be followed by the negative -k.
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adpositionals
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:
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Function words
Function words serve only grammatical functions. They have no meaning by themselves. Function words have to be used together with Content Words to form a meaningful sentence or phrase. Function words are a much smaller category in number but more frequently used. Kala function words are divided into a few subcategories; particles, conjunctions, and interjections.
Particles
ke
- The direct object particle. It can often be omitted, especially in simple phrases, when the object is understood.
- na mita anya
- 1sg dog see
- I see the dog.
- na tahe yempa ke mita anyaye
- 1sg be.under table O dog see-PST
- I saw the dog under the table.
Conjunctions
There are three coordinating conjunctions in Kala and three correlative conjunctions:
coordinating
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correlative
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interjections
The most common interjections in Kala are as follows;
- kya - imperative particle
- kyo - imperative particle
- kyo'a - imperative particle
- nka - emphatic negative
- ya - vocative particle
- a - affirmative
- aya - expresses strong emotions such as surprise ('ah', 'argh') and pain ('ow')
Interjections
Word formation
Compounding
Derivation
Verbalization
Nominalization
Basic syntax
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.
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.
Instrumental
Comitative
Locative
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.
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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?
The other type contains a question word and is followed by ka:
| Kala | gloss | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| object | ke mita ina ka | O dog eat Q | What does the dog eat? |
| person | ko ina ka | person eat Q | Who eats? |
| possession | koyo mita ina ka | person-POSS dog eat Q | Whose dog eats? |
| manner | to mita ina ka | manner dog eat Q | How does the dog eat? |
| place | mo mita ina ka | place dog eat Q | Where does the dog eat? |
| reason | nye mita ina ka | reason dog eat Q | Why does the dog eat? |
| time | ama mita ina ka | time dog eat Q | When does the dog eat? |
| amount | uku mita ina ka | amount dog eat Q | How much/many does the dog eat? |
| which | ula mita ina ka | any dog eat Q | Which dog eats? |
