User:Masako/nkala
This is kata, a simple language with vocabulary based on the most widely spoken languages and an easily understood, mostly analytic grammar.
phonology
kata has nine consonants (/p, t, k, s, m, n, l, j, w/) and five vowels (/a, e, i, o, u/). Stress is word final.
consonants
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |
| Plosive | p | t | k |
| Fricative | s | ||
| Approximant | w | l | j (y) |
vowels
| Vowels | Front | Back |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | a | |
diphthongs
There are two diphthongs [ai̯] ai, and [au̯] au. These are rare and typically only occur word-finally.
syllable structure
All syllables are of the form (C)V(N), that is, optional consonant + vowel + optional final nasal, or V, CV, VN, CVN.
phonotactics
A few syllables sequences are disallowed; /ji, wu, wo/. Also, a syllable-final nasal may not occur before /m/ or /n/ in the same root.
allophony
The nasal at the end of a syllable can be pronounced as any nasal stop, though it is normally assimilated to the following consonant. That is, it typically occurs as an [n] before /t/ or /s/, as an [m] before /p/, as an [ŋ] before /k/, and as an [ɲ] before /j/. Because of its small phoneme inventory, kata 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/ as [z] or [ʃ] as well as [s], /l/ as [ɾ] as well as [l], and vowels may be either long or short. Both its sound inventory and phonotactics (patterns of possible sound combinations) are found in the majority of human languages and are therefore readily accessible.
writing system
kata uses a modified form of Hangul.
consonants
- ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇ
- k n t l m p s a
- /k n t l m p s -/
vowels
- ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅘ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ
- a ya e ye o wa yo u we wi yu - i
- /a ja e je o wa jo u we wi ju - i/
chart
| a | e | i | o | u | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| k | 가 | 거 | 기 | 고 | 구 |
| l | 라 | 러 | 리 | 로 | 루 |
| m | 마 | 머 | 미 | 모 | 무 |
| n | 나 | 너 | 니 | 노 | 누 |
| p | 바 | 버 | 비 | 보 | 부 |
| s | 사 | 서 | 시 | 소 | 수 |
| t | 다 | 더 | 디 | 도 | 두 |
| w | 와 | 워 | 위 | - | - |
| y | 야 | 여 | - | 요 | 유 |
| - | 아 | 어 | 이 | 오 | 우 |
word order
kata has a strict word order. The basic word order is subject–verb–object.
- subject noun phrase — verb phrase (— object noun phrase)
- Yano peka - John run - John runs.
Noun phrase:
- (determiners —) noun (— quantifiers) (— adjectives)
- ... - ... - The three large men.
- ... - ... - The many small women.
- * 와 고모 반
- wa komo pan
- 1s eat bread - "I eat bread."
nouns
plurals
kata nouns and other parts of speech are not generally marked for number, meaning that plural forms are mostly the same as the singular. However, there is a plural marker -lo, which has limited usage. It is used with personal pronouns, as in walo, meaning "we" or "us" (from wa, "I, me"), and can be used with other nouns for clarity or specificity. Its use in such cases is optional. It is never used when the noun has indefinite reference, or when it is qualified by a numeral. The demonstrative pronouns pu ("this; these") and su ("that; theose") are never pluralized.
determiners
Determiners in kata precede the noun they modify.
- ayo - any; whatever; whichever; whatsoever
- koye - some; a few; a little
- kula - all; each; every
- pu - this; these
- su - that; those
pronouns
kata has three basic pronouns; wa (first person), ni (second person), and ko (third person). These words do not indicate number or gender, but may be modified to do so if necessary. -lo marks all nouns as plural, and the gender modifiers are -ku (masculine), and -ki (feminine). In cases of singular distinction of gender, koku ("he"), or koki ("she") can be reduced to simply ku and ki. There is also a possessive suffix -yo.
| singular | possessive | |
|---|---|---|
| 1s | wa I; me |
wayo my; mine |
| 2s | ni you |
niyo your |
| 3s | ko it / he; him / she; her |
koyo its / his / her |
| 1pl | walo us; we |
waloyo our |
| 2pl | nilo you (all) |
niloyo your |
| 3pl | kolo they; them / (MASC) / (FEM) |
koloyo their |
verbs
A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action ("run, stop"), a relationship ("have, lose"), or a state ("stand, melt"). In kata, verbs do not change to indicate such things as tense or mood. Instead, particles are used specifically, le (completed action), and sa (indicating an as yet undertaken action). Any verb can be reused without change as a noun.
tense
The indicative, progressive, and present are all encompassed in the basic verb form. The past tense, perfect, and perfective is indicated by the particle le. The future, potential, and propositive are indicated by the particle sa.
| example | gloss | English |
|---|---|---|
| wa komo | 1s eat | I eat. / I am eating. |
| wa komo le | 1s eat PST | I ate. / I did eat. / I have eaten. |
| wa komo sa | 1s eat FUT | I will eat. / I may eat. |
adjectives
adverbs
prepositions
- yu - in; at; on; by
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Updated_jan_Pije's_lessons
conjunctions
There are three coordinating conjunctions in kata and three correlative conjunctions:
|
|
questions
clauses
numbers
- sunya - zero; nothing; 0
- un - one; single; alone; 1
- tu - two; 2
- san - three; 3
- si - four; 4
- pen - five; 5
- we - six; 6
- na - seven; 7
- pa - eight; 8
- nun - nine; 9
- ye - ten; 10
- (a)ku - hundred; 100
- mila - thousand; 1000
larger numbers
- ye-tu - twelve; 12
- ye-pa - twelve; 18
- tu-ye u si - twenty-four; 24 (short form tu-si)
- we-ye u san - forty-three; 43 (short form si-san)
- aku pa-ye u un - one hundred eighty-one; 181 (short form un-pa-un)
- namila we-ku san-ye u nun - seven thousand six hundred thirty-nine; 7639 (short form na-we-san-nun)
lexicon
| kata word | class | meaning | etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a)ku | num | hundred | 百 |
| ama | part | but; yet; however | أما |
| awa | part | or; either | أو |
| ayo | det | any; whatever; whichever; whatsoever | أي |
| enpo | v | be away from; move away | 遠方 |
| ila | v | be near; move toward; in direction of | إلى |
| kasa | n | house; building; apartment; room; residence | casa |
| ki | pro | she; her | هي |
| ko | pro | it | هُوَ |
| komo | v | eat; consume | comer |
| koye | det | some; a few; a little | кое- |
| ku | pro | he; him | هُوَ |
| kula | det | all; whole; entire; every; complete | كل |
| le | part | completed action marker | 了 |
| loka | n | place; location; spot; point | local |
| ma | part | interrogative particle | 嗎 |
| mama | n | mother | mama |
| mila | num | thousand | mil |
| muki | n | ocean; sea; bay | محيط |
| na | num | seven | 七 |
| ni | pro | you | 你 |
| o | part | direct object particle | を |
| oma | n | grandmother | oma |
| opa | n | grandfather | opa |
| pa | num | nine | 八 |
| pan(a) | n | food; bread | pan |
| papa | n | father | papa |
| peka | v | run; flee; move quickly | бегать |
| pen | num | five | pénkʷe |
| pu | det | this; these | bu |
| sa | part | indicating the future tense | سَـ |
| san | num | three; triple | 三 |
| simu | n | letter (of the alphabet) | 字母 |
| si | num | four | 四 |
| su | det | that; those | şu |
| sunya | num | zero; nothing | शून्य |
| tanko | n | word; morpheme | 単語 |
| tu | num | two; double; duo | two |
| u | part | and; also; too; as well | و |
| un | num | one; single; alone | un |
| wa | pro | I; me | 我 |
| we | num | six | swéḱs |
| wita | v | see; look; watch; observe | видеть |
| yati | n; v | hand; five; hold | يد |
| ye | num | ten | 열 |
| yu | v | be in; at; on | 於 |
