User:Masako/nkala

Word Order

kalama has a strict word order. The general word order is:

subject noun phrase — verb phrase (— object noun phrase)

yano payo - "John runs"

mailya sami yano - "Maria hears John"

A noun phrase has this order:

(determiners —) noun (- quantifiers) (— adjectives)

otoko san ta - "The three large men"

ona aku malu - "The many small women"

A verb phrase has this order:

(leading verb —) verb (— tense/mood) (— adverb)

A prepositional phrase generally follows what it modifies, and has this order:

preposition — noun phrase

Nouns

Nouns only decline for number and possession. They are altered with -lo to show plurality, and possessiveness with -yo.

Pronouns

kalama has three basic pronouns; wa [1sg], ni [2sg], and ko [3sg]. These do not indicate gender.

Verbs

Verbs do not change and are only ever modified by particles.

Tense

Past tense is indicated by the particle le following the verb. Future tense is indicated by the particle sa.

• ko ne kome le

3sg NEG eat PST

He didn't eat.

• walo wite sa ko

1pl see FUT 3sg

We will see her.

Number

• sunya - zero; nothing
• iwa - one; single; alone
• ili - two; double; duo
• isan - three; triple
• isi - four
• ipen - five
• iwe - six
• ina - seven
• ipa - eight
• inun - nine
• iye - ten
• aku / ku - hundred
• mila - thousand

palalo

a

• ama - but; yet; however
• awa - or; either
• ayo - any; whatever; whichever; whatsoever

e

• enpo - be away from; move away

i

• ila - be near; move toward; in direction of

k

• kasa - house; building; apartment; room; residence
• kata - speak; talk; language
• kome - eat; consume
• koye - some; a few; a little
• kula - all; whole; entire; every; complete

l

• loka - place; location; spot; point
• loma - bump, nose, hill, mountain, button

m

• ma - interrogative particle
• malu - be small; little; tiny
• muki - ocean; sea; bay

n

• nama - sleep; rest; relax
• ne - no; not; negative
• note - night; darkness

o

• o - direct object particle
• oma - female parent
• ona - woman; female
• opa - male parent
• otoko - man; male

p

• pala - word; morpheme; unit of language
• pan - food; bread
• paya - white; whiteness
• payo - run; move quickly
• peka - run; flee; move quickly
• pu - this; these

s

• sami - hear; listen
• simu - letter (of the alphabet)
• su - that; those

t

• ta - be large; big; grand
• tani - be aware of; know; understand

u

• u - and; also; too; as well

w

• wite - see; look; watch; observe

y

• ya - vocative / imperative particle
• yati - hand; arm
• yo / -yo - have; hold; contain
• yu - be in; at; on
• yuma - day; daylight
• yunta - gather; collect; amass

phrases

• wa tani ko

1sg know 3sg

I know her.

• ma loka kasa niyo

Q place house 2sg.GEN

Where is your house?