Kalo
Introduction
Kalo is intended to be a minimalist artlang, not an auxlang. It draws on vocabulary from the five most spoken languages in the world; Mandarin, Spanish, English, and Arabic (Hindi is used sparingly although it is spoken by more speakers than Arabic). The grammar is mostly isolating with very few elements of inflection, mostly to show plurality or possession.
Phonology
kalo 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.
syllables
| a | ka | sa | ta | na | pa | ma | ya | la | wa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | ki | si | ti | ni | pi | mi | li | wi | |
| u | ku | su | tu | nu | pu | mu | yu | lu | |
| e | ke | se | te | ne | pe | me | ye | le | we |
| o | ko | so | to | no | po | mo | yo | lo |
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, kalo 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.
Syntax
Kalo is an SVO (subject-verb-object) language. Modifiers generally follow what they modify, as do prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses.
- wa kome - 1S eat - I eat. (SV)
- wa amo ko - 1S love 3S - I love her. (SVO)
- o ona amo - DO woman love - The woman is loved. (OV)
questions
The interrogative particle ma (taken from Chinese (嗎) is used in conjunction with various nouns, adverbs, and adjectives to form specific questions.
non-polar questions
|
|
polar questions
Any statement can become a polar question by adding the interrogative particle ma at the end of the sentence.
|
|
phrases
- ola - Used for "hello; goodbye; farewell; welcome"
- ola yuma - Used for "Good morning, Good afternoon"
- ola note - Used for "Good evening, Good night"
- moto niyo ma - manner 2s.POSS Q - How are you?
- tenpo ta ne wite - time big no see - Long time no see
Nouns
Nouns only decline for number and possession. They are altered with -lo to show plurality, and possessiveness with -yo.
pronouns
kalo has three basic pronouns; wa [1sg], ni [2sg], and ko [3sg]. These do not indicate gender. These can be made plural using the suffix "-lo", and possessive with "-yo".
| singular | plural | possessive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | wa I; me |
walo we; us |
wayo my; mine; our(s) |
| 2nd person | ni you |
nilo you (all) |
niyo your(s) |
| 3rd person | ko he; she; him; her; it |
kolo they; them; those |
koyo their(s) |
- walo wite ni - 1pl see 2s - We see you.
- kolo ne sapa wa - 3pl NEG know 1s - They don't know me.
Verbs
Verbs do not change and are only ever modified by particles.
tense, aspect, and mood
Past tense is indicated by the particle le (了) following the verb. Future tense is indicated by the particle sa (سَـ).
| tense/mood | particle | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | - | wa ila | I go |
| past | le | wa ila le | I went |
| future | sa | wa ila sa | I will go |
| conditional | kisa | wa ila kisa | I would go |
- ko ne kome le - 3sg NEG eat PST - He didn't eat.
- walo wite sa ko - 1pl see FUT 3sg - We will see her.
Particles
determiners
Determiners in kalo precede the noun they modify.
deixis
- pu - this; these
- su - that; those
amount
- aku - many; much (one hundred)
- kula - all; every; each
- ne - no; none; zero
- saki - some; several; a few
- kali - less; fewer / few; a little
- lo - more
other-ness
- asi - such
- ayo - whichever; whatever
- oto - other
- tonye - same
Number
| Kalo | number | English | Kalo | number | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sunya | 0 | zero | na | 7 | seven |
| wa | 1 | one | pa | 8 | eight |
| li | 2 | two | nun | 9 | nine |
| san | 3 | three | ye | 10 | ten |
| si | 4 | four | aku / -ku | 100 | (one) hundred |
| pen | 5 | five | mila | 1000 | (one) thousand |
| we | 6 | six |
When numbers one through ten occur independently, the indicator "ke" precedes the number.
- ko yo le o kasa ke li
- 3s have PST O house NUM two
- She had two houses.
- wa wite o nano ke si
- 1s see O man NUM four
- I see four men.
Higher Numbers
- yewa - 11; eleven
- yeli - 12; twelve
- liye - 20; twenty
- liyesi - 24; twenty-four
- kuyeli - 112; one-hundred-twelve
- sankuweyepen - 365; three-hundred-sixty-five
Lexicon
| word | POS | meaning | source | language | category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| aki | n | brother; male cousin | أخ | Arabic | kinship |
| aku (-ku) | num | (one) hundred | ひゃく | Japanese | number |
| amo | v | like; enjoy; love | amo | Spanish | verb |
| ko | n pro |
person; individual he; she [3sg] |
個 | Mandarin | pronoun |
| kome | v | eat; consume | comer | Spanish | verb |
| li | num | two; double; duo | 两 | Mandarin | number |
| maka | v | do; make; cause | make | English | verb |
| mila | num | (one) thousand | mil | Spanish | number |
| na | num | seven | なな | Japanese | number |
| ne | part | no; not; none | nay | English | particle |
| ni | pro | you [2sg] | 你 | Mandarin | pronoun |
| note | n | night; darkness | noche | Spanish | time |
| nun | num | nine | h₁néwn̥ | PIE | number |
| ola | part | hello; goodbye | hola | Spanish | civility |
| pa | num | eight | 八 | Mandarin | number |
| pala | n | word; morpheme | palabra | Spanish | language |
| pen | num | five | πέντε | Greek | number |
| san | num | three; triple | 三 | Mandarin | number |
| sana | n | year; 365 days | سنة | Arabic | time |
| si | num | four | 四 | Mandarin | number |
| sunya | num | zero; empty; nothing | शून्य | Hindi | number |
| tenpo | n | time; period; age | tiempo | Spanish | time |
| wa | pro num |
I; me one; single |
我 واحد |
Mandarin Arabic |
pronoun number |
| we | num | six | swéḱs | PIE | number |
| ye | num | ten | 열 | Korean | number |
| yo | v | have; possess | 有 | Mandarin | verb |
| yuma | n | day; 24 hours | يوم | Arabic | time |
