Kalo

Phonology

Consonants

	labial	dental	palatal	velar	glottal
stops		/t/ t		/k/ k - /kʷ/ kw
nasals	/m/ m	/n/ n	/ɲ/ ny
approximants	/w/ w		/j/ y		/h~ɦ/ h

Stops

The stops /t/ and /k/ can be aspirated and are written as doubled consonants to indicate aspiration. Aspiration is phonemic and distinctive.

• toma - /toma/ - "boil; cook; steam"
  • ttoma - /tʰoma/ - "be viscous; dense; thick"

• kaya - /kaja/ - "arrive; come [back]"
  • kkaya - /kʰaja/ - "wash up and dress; prepare for the day"

Nasals

Each nasal consonant has a geminate counterpart, and gemination is lexically contrastive.

• hanno - /ɦanːo/ - "opening; orifice; mouth"
  • hano /ɦano/ "cane; staff"

• nyoma - /ɲoma/ - "speak; talk; discuss"
  • nnyoma /ɲːoma/ "weave; knit"

• meka - /meka/ - "sleep; rest; relax"
  • mmeka - /mːeka/ - "perspire; sweat"

Approximants

• h - /ɦ/
• w - /w/
• y - /j/

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	e	o
Open	a

There are only three phonemic vowels: /a e o/. They can be long or short and be one of three tones. Length can be lexical, but tone is strictly phonemic.

• aàáeèéoòó

Tones

There are three phonemic tones, traditionally described as mid, high, and low; in transcription the mid tone is unmarked, and the high and low tones are indicated with acute and grave accents respectively.

	high	mid	low
front	é	e	è
central	á	a	à
back	ó	o	ò

Morphosyntax

anyomo is an agglutinative language, where words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.

Verbs

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

Pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1	o-	wà-
2	ko-	kwà-
3	∅	yà-

Aspect

imperfective

• -a

perfective

• -e

• yàkaye - 3pl-arrive-PFV - They have arrived.
• I've bought it.
• We all went.
• This morning I ate breakfast.

durative

• -á

• I'll read, and you listen.
• We will do it, and you all watch.
• Sit for a while. I'll be right back.
• She likes to eat standing up.
• Smiling, he said, "I'm sorry."

progressive

• -ó

• She is reading.
• Mom is making a phone call.
• Who is taking a shower in there?
• The cleaning lady is cleaning our room right now.
• Yesterday at 7pm, we were eating dinner.
• I am working now. It's not convenient for me to leave.

Lexicon

Stems

• ta - be; exist; live
• toma - boil; cook; steam
• ttoma - be viscous; dense; thick
• kaya - arrive; come [back]
• kkaya - wash up and dress; prepare for the day
• kona - work; labor; task
• kweha - wait; stop; (be) slow
• meka - sleep; rest; relax
• mmeka - perspire; sweat
• na - see; look; know (about)
• néya - be able; possible
• nyoma - speak; talk; converse; chat; discuss
• nnyoma - weave; knit
• ha - walk; go (away); run; move (of vehicle); visit; leave
• hana - be tubular; cylindrical
  • hano - cane; staff; cylinder; stick
• hanna - open; gape; spread; bloom
  • hanno - opening; orifice; mouth
• wàna - eat; drink; consume
• ya - have; hold; possess