Verbal Paradigm
|
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 |
-
|
Phonology
consonants
- p - [p~b] | t - [t~d] | k - [k~g] | ' - [?]
- m - [m] | n - [n] | ny - [J]
- s - [s~S] | h - [h~h\]
- ts - [ts~tS] | tl - [tK]
- u - [w] | l - [l] | y - [j]
vowels
- a - /a~a:/ | e - /e~e:/ | i - /i~i:/ | o - /o~o:/ | u - /u~u:/
diphthongs
- ya - /ja:/ | ye - /je:/ | yo - /jo:/ | ua - /wa:/ | ue - /we:/
- ai - /aI:/ | ao - /aU:/ | uai - /waI:/ | yao - /jaU:/
phonotactics
- Kala allows only a single consonant at the start or end of a syllable (the exception being prenasalization), and up to two consonants word medially across a syllable boundary.
- l cannot appear as an onset, the glottal stop, ' , only appears between vowels.
syllable structure
- Prenasalization primarily occurs with k, t and p. (See also: Moya)
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 prepare
- 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 ka'e na ke tsaka yeta
- woman to 1S the house 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 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
- Moods are indicated by affixes appended to verbs in all tenses.
- The negative mood is indicated by the suffix -k.
- kam inak
- 3PL eat-NEG
- They are not eating. / They do not eat.
- The volitive mood is indicated by the suffix -ue (from ueha - to want, desire).
- nam tsomaueye
- 1PL smoke-VOL-PAST
- We wanted to smoke.
- The necessitative mood is indicated by the suffix -he (from heta - to need, require).
- ta simahetlik
- 2S sit-NEC-FUT-NEG
- You will not need to sit.
- The abilitative mood is indicated by the suffix -pa (from pala - to be able).
- na mokupa
- 1S sleep-ABIL
- I can sleep. / I am able to sleep.
nouns
affect/degree
- The diminutive is formed with -hi, and the augmentative with -ha. These are respectively realized as -ki and -ka when attached to a word that has a final syllable containing h or y.
- Example : ina - food, meal | inahi - snack, morsel | inaha - feast, banquet
- Example : tsaka - house, home, dwelling | tsakahi - shack, hut, cabin | tsakaha - palace, mansion
- These are also used to differentiate hue, or shade.
- Example : yanahi - light yellow, kuyaha - dark green
- In Kala the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective are merged into a single form, the elative. How this form is understood or translated depends upon context and definiteness. In the absence of comparison, the elative conveys the notion of “greatest”, “supreme.”
- Example : tahaka - bigger/biggest | tsaka hayo ke nayo tahaka - His house is bigger than mine.
- Example : yanaha - more yellow/most yellow | ke huam tayo yanaha - Your flowers are the most yellow.
plurals
- Concrete nouns are pluralized by suffixing -m.
- Examples : kono - stone > konom - stones | naka - woman > nakam - women
- When the last syllable of a word contains an m, the plural is marked by reduplicating the final vowel.
- Examples : kama - village > kama'a - villages | yama - mountain > yama'a - mountains
- Collective (plural) nouns are marked by prefixing tli-.
- Examples : tsaka - house > tlitsaka - neighborhood | yama - mountain > tliyama - mountain range
- 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 show plural agreement. However, when an adjective is used nominally, 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 kama'a "the villages"
- Example : inahi "snack", ke inahi "the/a snack", ke inahim "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
- koyo...ka - whose, lit: person-POSS...INT
- nye...ka - why, lit: reason...INT
- no...ka - what, lit: thing [Instrument]...INT
- mo...ka - where, lit: place...INT
- to...ka - how, what manner, lit: manner/method...INT
- ku / o...ka - how much/many, lit: number/amount...INT
examples
- time 1PL go-FUT INT
- When will we go?
- person that man INT
- Who is that man?
- reason 3PL here INT
- Why are they here?
- thing be INT / this INT
- What is this?
- koyo kama ke yama hina ka
- person-POSS village the mountain near INT
- Whose village is near the mountain?
- place sandwich 1SG-POSS INT
- Where is my sandwich?
- manner 1PL travel-FUT INT
- How will we travel?
- 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
|
1st plu (EXCL)
|
na'am |
ena'am |
na'amyo |
na'ami |
na'anku
|
2nd plu
|
tam |
etam |
tamyo |
tami |
tanku
|
3rd plu
|
kam |
ekam |
kamyo |
kami |
kanku
|
examples
- food 1PL-POSS
- Our food.
- 3PL-REFL love
- They love themselves.
- 2PL-RECP remember INT
- Do you remember each other?
- ACC-3SG understand-FUT-NEG
- He/She will not be understood.
Article 1, UDHR
Spelling and pronunciation
Sentences
Nouns
Plural
Countable and uncountable nouns
Gender
Noun phrases
Apposition
Determiners
Predeterminers
Articles
Demonstratives
Interrogatives
Selection determiners
Possessives
Quantifiers
Similarity determiners
Order of determiners
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Determiner pronouns
Interrogative and relative pronouns
Other pronouns
Pronoun phrases
Adjectives
Adverbs
Position
Comparison
Primary adverbs
Quantifier adverbs
Interrogative and relative adverbs
Verbs
Tense
Imperative
Negation
Participles
Transitivity
Verbs without subjects
Verb chains
Verbs as nouns
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Questions
Clauses
Relative clauses
Adverbial clauses
Noun clauses
Coordinated clauses
Numbers
Cardinal numbers
Thousands of millions
Ordinal numbers
Fractions
Multiples
Arithmetic
Measurements
Word formation
Prefixes
Suffixes
Suffix forming verbs
Suffixes forming adjectives
Suffixes forming nouns
Less productive suffixes
Technical affixes
Compound nouns
Abbreviations
Punctuation