User:Masako/pataka
Morphology
Verbs
Nouns
Case
Case is marked with suffixes. The regular forms of the case markers are given in the list below. Case is marked on noun phrases using null marking for agents, and -n for patients. The clitic -n can appear on multiple noun phrases in a single sentence at once, such as the direct object, indirect object, and adverbial nouns.
| Case | Suffix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative [NOM] |
-Ø | yona (the/a) book |
| Accusative [ACC] |
-n | yonan (the/a) book [dir. object/patient] |
| Genitive [GEN] |
-yo | yonayo of, belonging to (the/a) book |
| Dative [DAT] |
-la | yonala for, to, at (the/a) book [indir. object/patient] |
| Locative [LOC] |
-hue | yonahue in, on, at (the/a) book |
| Ablative [ABL] |
-nte / -uai | yonante from, of (the/a) book |
| Comitative [COM] |
-mua | yonamua with, by, via, using (the/a) book |
| Abessive [ABE] |
-mue | yonamue without (the/a) book |
| Terminative [TERM] |
-mpe | yonampe up to, just, only (the/a) book |
The nominative [NOM] is not marked [-Ø] and is in the absolutive form. It indicates a syntactic core participant of the action, agent, force, or experiencer. The accusative is marked with the clitic -n (from no - thing; object) and indicates a patient, theme or goal (used as Oblique [OBL] occasionally), instrument, or experiencer. The genitive -yo (from yoha - have; possess) indicates inalienable association or possession, whereas the particle te (of; from)indicates alienable association or possession and is roughly equivalent to the ablative case. The dative/(al)lative -la (from yala - go; walk) indicates the recipient/beneficiary of an action, or movement towards object. The locative -hue indicates location or circumstance, and can be used to indicate the durative for stative verb constructions. The ablative -nte (from te - of; from) / -uai (from uaye - from out of/away) indicates origin, source, or movement away from a location. The comitative/instrumental/inclusive/coordinative -mua (from mua - with; (be) together) indicates instrument, or in company of something. The abessive -mue indicates the lack or absence of something, it is roughly analogous to the English suffix -less. The terminative/limitative -mpe (from amye - be alone; final) indicates the extent, finality, or limit of a thing.
Postpositional Verbs
In addition to the case system, there are several pospositional stative verbs. These are used interchangeably as pospositions and/or serial verbs.
Locational
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Relational
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Temporal
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- mita ina naye uakatsu te keya ue'o yahe hayo yempa taheye
- dog eat while bovine.flesh of gram ten amount.of 3sg.GEN table be.under-PST
- The dog was under the table while eating his 10 grams of beef.
Gender
Gender is not normally marked but can be with the endings -na and -ta to mark the feminine and masculine, respectively or nouns such as naka, tlaka, nahi, or tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc. A gender neutral suffix, -nta may be used when the gender is unknown or ambiguous.
- kuma - bear - a bear → kumana - bear-FEM - sow → kumata - bear-MASC - boar
- masa - deer - a deer → masana - deer-FEM - doe → masata - deer-MASC - stag
- uma - horse - a horse → umana - horse-FEM - mare → umata - horse-MASC - stallion
Pronouns and Determiners
Kala agent pronouns are often omitted when the person is obvious from context. There are four persons in Kala. The 4th being inanimate, or indefinite. The pronoun na'am is used as the 1st person plural exclusive, meaning "We, but not you." The 3rd person plural is irregular, all other pronoun decline regularly. Pronouns do not inflect for gender; if gender is significant, one can use words like naka, tlaka, nahi, tahi (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc.
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Personal pronouns:
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Modifiers:
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Other pronouns include:
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| Agent | Patient | Reflexive | Possessive | Reciprocal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | na | ena | na'i | nayo | - |
| 2sg | ta | eta | ta'i | tayo | - |
| 3sg | ha | eha | ha'i | hayo | - |
| 4sg | tla | etla | tla'i | tlayo | - |
| 1pl 1pl exclusive |
nam na'am |
enam ena'am |
nami na'ami |
namyo na'amyo |
nanku na'anku |
| 2pl | tam | etam | tami | tamyo | tanku |
| 3pl | kam | ekam | kami | kamyo | kanku |
| 4pl | tlam | etlam | tlami | tlamyo | tlanku |
Pronominal constructions
The agent and patient pronouns are linked in most constructions. That means that the agent and the patient form one word. This is done with the pronominal patient marking affix -e-.
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| A/P | 1sg | 2sg | 3sg | 4sg | 1pl | 1pl.EXCL | 2pl | 3pl | 4pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | - | neta | neha | netla | - | - | netam | nekam | netlam |
| 2sg | tena | - | teha | tetla | tenam | tena'am | - | tekam | tetlam |
| 3sg | hena | heta | - | hetla | henam | hena'am | hetam | - | hetlam |
| 4sg | tlena | tleta | tleha | - | tlenam | tlena'am | tletam | tlekam | - |
| 1pl | - | nameta | nameha | nametla | - | - | nametam | namekam | nametlam |
| 1pl.EXCL | - | na'ameta | na'ameha | na'ametla | - | - | na'ametam | na'amekam | na'ametlam |
| 2pl | tamena | - | tameha | tametla | tamenam | tamena'am | - | tamekam | tametlam |
| 3pl | kamena | kameta | - | kametla | kamenam | kamena'am | kametam | - | kametlam |
| 4pl | tlamena | tlameta | tlameha | - | tlamenam | tlamena'am | tlametam | tlamekam | - |
Reflexives and Reciprocals
Kala handles reflexives and reciprocals using suffixes that can be added to either the pronoun or the verb. The reflexive suffix added to pronouns is –i, when added to verbs it is –ki, from ki meaning “self; essence”. The reciprocal suffix added to pronouns and verbs is –nku, , from anku meaning “reciprocate; [in] return”.
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In order to differentiate non-singular reflexives from reciprocals, -li (“each; every”) can be added – to the subject for reflexives, and to the object for reciprocals. Note however that this construction usually implies that all members of the subject group were actually affected by the action.
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Determiners & Demostratives
The demonstratives can be prefixed to any noun to show deixis. Kala makes a three-way distinction. Typically there is a distinction between proximal or first person (objects near to the speaker), medial or second person (objects near to the addressee), and distal or third person (objects far from both).
Examples:
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Quantifiers follow the noun that modify.
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Correlatives
| Proximal i- |
Medial ua- |
Distal ye- |
Inclusive -kua |
Negative -k |
Indefinite -la | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mo (place) |
hina here |
uana there |
yemua over there |
mokua everywhere |
mok nowhere |
mola somewhere; anywhere |
| ko (person) |
iko this person |
uako that person |
yeko that person (over there) |
tlokua everyone |
tlok no one |
kola someone; anyone |
| uku (amount) |
iku this much |
uaku that much |
- | kua all; every |
ok none |
ula some; any |
| ama (time) |
ima now, at present |
uama then; at that time |
- | kuama always |
amak never |
tlama sometime; anytime |
| so (kind, type) |
iso this kind |
so'o that kind |
yeso that kind (over there) |
sokua all kinds |
sok no kind (at all) |
sola some/any kind |
| no (thing) |
itla this |
uatla that |
yetla that (over there) |
nokua everything |
nok nothing; none |
nola something; anything |
| to (manner, way) |
yoto thus; like this; this way |
uato that way |
ato that way (over there) |
tokua every way |
tok no way |
tola somehow; anyway |
Syntax
- akana.conlang.org/wiki/Delta_Naidda
Basic Word Order
The default word order in Kala is SOV, although case marking allows some flexibility.
- mita tlakan yatsiye
- dog man-ACC bite-PST
- The dog bit the man.
Derivation
Gemination
Gemination is only found as a product of word compounding and not as a phonological process, however it affects the pronunciation as the phonemic variation is lost and all geminated consonants are voiceless. naka (woman) can be /ˈnaːka/ or /ˈnaːga/, whereas nakkan (chieftess) can only be /ˈnaːkkan/. All consonants except for semivowels can undergo gemination.
