Kala

• Kala is meant to be a simple and euphonic personal conlang.

• Many lexical entries are inspired/influenced/borrowed by/from any number of natlangs

Phonology

consonants

• Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.

• Plosives

p - [p~b] | t - [t~d] | k - [k~g] | ' - [?]

• Nasals

m - [m] | n - [n] | ny - [J]

• Fricatives

s - [s~S] | h - [h~h\]

• Africates

ts - [ts~tS] | tl - [tK]

• Approximants

u - [w] | l - [l] | y - [j]

clusters

• ky - [k_j]
• mp - [mp]
• mh - [m_h\]
• my - [m_j]
• nt - [nt]
• nk - [Nk]
• nh - [n_h\]
• lh - [l_h\]
• ly - [l_j]

vowels

• a - /a~a:/ | e - /e~e:/ | i - /i~i:/ | o - /o~o:/ | u - /u~u:/

diphthongs

• ua - /wa:/ | ue - /we:/

phonotactics

• Kala allows only a single consonant at the start or end of a syllable, and up to two consonants word medially across a syllable boundary.

l cannot appear as an onset.

syllable structure

• (C)V(k, l, m, n, t)

syllable stress

• Kala stress is penultimate; that is, the next-to-last syllable of the word is stressed.

Grammar

word order

• The usual, declarative formal word order is subject noun phrase - (object noun phrase) - verb phrase.

Example : He/She is preparing food.

ha ina yaso

3sg food/eat prepare/ready

• The "indirect object" exists only in the form of a prepositional phrase, and follows the object noun phrase.

Example : The woman gives the house to me.

naka ke tsaka ika na yeta

woman the/a house to/at 1sg give

• This construction changes when both the subject (agent) and (indirect)/object (patient) are personal pronouns. In this case, the preposition/al (phrase) is unnecessary.

Example : She gives the house to me.

ha'ena ke tsaka yeta

3sg-TR-part-1sg the/a house give

• A chart of the agent-patient transitivity constructions;

A-P construction

	1st sing	2nd sing	3rd sing	1st plu	2nd plu	3rd plu
1st sing	-	na'eta	na'eha	-	na'etam	na'ekam
2nd sing	ta'ena	-	ta'eha	ta'enam	-	ta'ekam
3rd sing	ha'ena	ha'eta	-	ha'enam	ha'etam	ha'ekam
1st plu	-	nameta	nameha	-	nametam	namekam
2nd plu	tamena	-	tameha	tamenam	-	tamekam
3rd plu	kamena	kameta	kameha	kamenam	kametam	-

verbs

tense

• The present tense is indicated by the basic form.

ha apua

3SG sing

He/She sings.

• The simple past tense is indicated by the suffix -ye.

ha apuaye

3SG sing-PAST

He/She sang.

• The simple future tense is indicated by the suffix -tli.

ha apuatli

3SG sing-FUT

He/She will sing.

• The tense may be left out if it is clearly indicated by another word in the same sentence, or when telling a story (the "historical" tense).

ha yomatli apua

3SG day-FUT sing

He/She will sing tomorrow.

ha semaye apua

3SG week-PAST sing

He/She sang last week.

mood

• The negative mood is indicated by the suffix -k, it is affixed in all tenses.

kam inak

3PL eat-NEG

They are not eating. / They do not eat.

kam inayek

3PL eat-PAST-NEG

They did not eat.

kam inatlik

3PL eat-FUT-NEG

They will not eat.

nouns

degree

• The diminutive is formed with -l, and the augmentative with -t.

Example : ina - food, meal | inal - snack, morsel | inat - feast, banquet

Example : tsaka - house, home, dwelling | tsakal - shack, hut, cabin | tsakat - palace, mansion

• These are also used to differentiate hue, or shade.

Example : yanal - light yellow, kuyat - dark green

plurals

• To make a noun plural, add -m to the end, or -im for words ending in a consonant.

Example : kono - stone | konom - stones

Example : sukal - piglet | sukalim - piglets

• Nouns need not be marked plural if a number is used to show quantity.

Example : sahi - color, sahim - colors, sahi ya'o - five color(s)

• Adjectives do not change when they are plural. However, when an adjective is used in place of a noun, it can be pluralized.

Example : nyeli - pink | nyelim - (the) pink (ones)

gender

• In general, nouns do not indicate their gender. To distinguish the sexes, one can use the adjectival endings -ta and -na.

Example : nikata "a male dog", nikana "a female dog".

articles

• There is only one article in Kala, ke. It is used primarily as a "noun marker".
• It is ambi-definite, meaning it can be either definite or indefinite. The distinction is made through context.

Example : kama "village", ke kama "the/a village", ke kamam "the villages"

Example : inal "snack", ke inal "the/a snack", ke inalim "the snacks"

questions

• When asking questions in Kala, the idea, or concept, is the subject, and the entire construction is followed by the interrogative particle ka.

• ama...ka - when, lit: time...INT

• ko...ka - who, lit: person [Agentive]...INT

• nye...ka - why, lit: reason...INT

• to...ka - what, lit: thing [Instrument]...INT

• koyo...ka - whose, lit: person-POSS...INT

• mo...ka - where, lit: place...INT

• no...ka - how, what manner, lit: manner/method...INT

• ko'o...ka - how much/many, lit: number/amount...INT

examples

• ama nam yalatli ka

time 1PL go-FUT INT

When will we go?

• ko ke tlaka ka

person the/that man INT

Who is that man?

• nye kam hina ka

reason 3PL here INT

Why are they here?

• to a ka

thing be INT

What is this?

• koyo kama ke yama hina ka

person-POSS village the mountain near INT

Whose village is near the mountain?

• mo nayo satila ka

place 1SG-POSS sandwich INT

Where is my sandwich?

• no nam yalatli ka

manner 1PL travel-FUT INT

How will we travel?

• ko'o ekam yetaye ka

number/amount TR-3PL give-PAST INT

How many were they given?

pronouns

	Nominative	Accusative	Possessive	Reflexive	Reciprocal
1st sing	na	ena	nayo	na'i
2nd sing	ta	eta	tayo	ta'i
3rd sing	ha	eha	hayo	ha'i
1st plu	nam	enam	namyo	nami	nanku
2nd plu	tam	etam	tamyo	tami	tanku
3rd plu	kam	ekam	kamyo	kami	kanku

examples

• namyo ina

1PL-POSS food

Our food.

• kami itsa

3PL-REFL love

They love themselves.

• tanku moto ka

2PL-RECP remember/familiar INT

Do you remember each other?

• eha unyatlik

ACC-3SG understand-FUT-NEG

He/She will not be understood.

Thematic Lexicon

numbers

• zero / nothing / 0 - e'o
• one / 1 - na'o
• two / 2 - ta'o
• three / 3 - ha'o
• four / 4 - ma'o
• five / 5 - ya'o
• six / 6 - tsa'o
• seven / 7 - ka'o
• eight / 8 - pa'o
• nine / 9 - sa'o
• ten / 10 - ue'o
• hundred / 100 - nye'o
• thousand / 1000 - tle'o

higher numbers

• eleven / 11 - uena'o

• twenty / 20 - taue'o

• one hundred one / 107 - nyeka'o

• three hundred twenty five / 326 - hanyetauetsa'o (long form) | hatatsa'o (short form)

• six thousand and twenty / 6020 - tsatletaue'o

ordinals, fractions etc.

• ki- - ordinal/multiple prefix

Example : kisa'o - ninth, or nine times

Example : kiyanyepa'o - 508^th, or 508 times

• i- - fractional prefix

Example : isa'o - a ninth

Example : iha'o pa'o - three eighths, ⅜

family

• family / kin - tlika
• parent - onata
• grandparent - onataha
• spouse - tlanata
• sibling - uanata
• child - inata
• father / uncle - ota
• mother / aunt - ona
• husband - tla'ota
• wife - tla'ona
• grandfather - otaha
• grandmother - onaha
• brother / cousin - otaua
• sister / cousin - onaua
• boy / son - ota'i
• girl / daughter - ona'i
• man / masculine / male - tlaka
• woman / feminine / female - naka

colors

• red - ketla
• orange - tliyo
• yellow - yana
• green - kuya
• blue - tsuku
• indigo, violet, purple - tlaku
• white, pale - nyahi
• black, dark - oya
• clear - yehi

time

• moment, instant - imal
• occasion | present, now (yet) - ima
• hour, period - imat
• day - yoma
• week (7 days) - sema
• month (~30 days) - huama
• season - amal
• time, year (~365 days) - ama
• era - amat
• past - amaye
• future - amatli
• always, forever - kuama
• never - amak

General Lexica

• The majority of lexical units in Kala can have multiple roles.
• Most have a primary role, such as verb, noun or adjective, but almost all can serve in at least two roles.
• Because of this, this list is sorted alphabetically and not by part of speech or category.

p t k m n s h l a

p

• pameya - okra, ladies' fingers
• pana - (to) rain | perspire, moisten | dew
• petsa - mild, soft
• pila - to saw, rip, crush
• puna - dirt, soil | sand

t

• -ta - suffix indicating masculine gender
• taka - honor, respect, esteem
• takolo - peach (tree or fruit)
• tama - good / well / favorable / effective
• tasa - hunt, track | scout / seek
• taha - big, grand, large
• tala - come (back) | return
• tali - metal
• teyo - die | death | (be) dead
• tima - blood | bleed
• tiya - bread (flat round bread made out of cornmeal or flour)
• to - thing | instrument | object
• topa - bed, mattress | any piece of furniture to sleep on
• tohi - especially cabbage, but including cauliflower and other varieties of Brassica oleracea

k

• ka - interrogative particle
• kata - nature, universe | essence
• kama - village, town, city
• kana - to lead, command | chief, leader
• kasuma - onion
• kaua - coffee
• kala - to speak, talk, say | language, dialect
• kalo - be difficult | burden | cumbersome
• ketla - red | blood | to bleed
• kipa - tooth | to bite, chew
• kita - to greet, welcome | hello, hi
• kito - symbol | mark | glyph
• ko - person | agentive
• kopa - mushroom | fungi
• koni - skunk
• kono - gray | stone, rock
• ko'o - number, amount, quantity | to count
• kue'a - deer, cervine
• kuna - to expel | to excrete, shit, defecate
• kulu - all, every, each
• kuya - green | grass, foliage

m

• ma - and, also, as well | plus | more
• mata - to kill, murder
• mala - bad, unfavorable, negative
• matla - stew, casserole, goulash
• maya - water, fluid | wet
• metla - to whistle | sound of wind | flute
• mitla - arrow, dart
• mo - to locate, place | locative | location [where]
• muluku - arrowhead / pointed part of an arrow

n

• naso - wolf, lupine
• naha - river, stream | lake, pond
• naho - to regulate | rule | grammar
• nika - dog, canine
• no - method, manner | way

ny

• nyahi - white | snow | to snow
• nye - reason, cause | because
• nyeli - pink

s

• satani - tick / arthropod
• saka - fish, any cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water
• sama - sun / solar / star
• sahi - color
• sala - room / chamber / section
• seta - smooth / silk / flat
• seka - dry / sharp / strict
• seya - seal / stamp
• sima - sit / recline / relax
• sinta - snake
• sinu - sand / beach / finely ground rock
• suka - pig / hog / swine
• suha - tongue / mouth / taste

h

• hani - land | a country or region
• hika - to stop, halt | wait
• hina - near, close, here

ts

• tsaka - home / house / building
• tsa'i - tea
• tsala - paste / sauce
• tsili - attempt / try
• tsiya - freedom / liberty
• tsoma - tobacco
• tsola - fox / Vulpine
• tsuala - tree
• tsuku - blue / sky
• tsukuala - lizard
• tsumpa - buy / purchase

tl

• tlatsa - fire / burn / hot
• tlayo - to wed, marry | marriage, matrimony
• tlela - to wash, bathe | clean, pure
• -tli - future tense affix
• tlito - bread, baked with sauce and other assorted toppings

ua

• ua - flower
• uana - there / far / distant

y

• yato - finger | hand
• yaka - arm, leg | appendage
• yama - mountain, hill | pile, mound
• ya'asa - wind, breeze | air
• yala - go, move | travel
• yesa - be quiet, tranquil | peaceful
• -yo - possessive, genitive suffix

a

• a - to be, exist | yes
• aposi - outhouse, toilette
• apo - genitalia
• apota - penis
• apona - vagina
• apua - sing / music / song
• ato - body, anatomy | corpse
• ato'a - torso | chest, belly
• ama - time, year, season
• ani - wish, hope | to aspire
• ahi - potato
• ala - to be born | to birth
• aya - beauty | to be beautiful

e

• -'e- - used to link agent and patient
• e- - prefix that marks accusative form of personal pronouns

i

• ito - wood
• itola - to fall, drop, plummet
• ikana - friend, ally
• impa - table | desk | flat work surface
• ina - food, sustenance | to eat, consume
• iso - to hit, strike | slap
• itsa - love, affection | to love, care for
• ila - bird, avian | to fly, glide

o

• oka - bake / cook
• oku - owl
• omo - to exchange, trade | commerce, business
• olika - small fish
• oya - black / night

u

• unya - know / understand / knowledge
• uya - cut / slice

Examples

• mo ta yala ka

place/locale 2sg go/walk/travel INT-part

Where are you going?

• nam tsala inaye

1pl sauce/paste eat-PAST

We ate the sauce.

• ko tayo onatam ka

person 2sg-POSS parent-PL INT-part

Who are your parents?

• na yalaye nye ta talaye

1SG go-PAST because 2SG return-PAST

I left because you returned.