Kala Verbs
Verbs
tense / aspect
The present tense is unmarked:
- na ina
- 1.S eat
- I eat / I am eating.
The future tense is marked with the suffix -tli.
- na inatli
- 1.S eat.FUT
- I will eat / I am about to eat.
Past tenses, including perfect and pluperfect, are marked with the suffix -ye.
- na inaye
- 1.S eat.PAST
- I eat / I was eating / I have eaten / I had eaten.
Kala does not distinguish perfect and imperfect aspects of the verb (e.g. ‘I ate’, ‘I used to eat’, ‘I have eaten’, ‘I had eaten’). However, one can easily clarify the temporal sequence of two actions by marking the earlier one with the adverbial tsa (‘already’).
mood
modal particles
The conditional mood is formed with the particle iya.
- iya na ina
- COND 1.S eat
- I might be eating.
The imperative mood is formed with the particle kya.
- kya ina
- IMP eat
- Eat!
modal affixes
The negative mood is formed with the suffix -k.
- na inak
- 1.S eat.NEG
- I do not eat / I am not eating.
The volitive mood is formed with the suffix -ue (from ueha - to want, desire).
- na inaue
- 1.S eat.VOL
- I want to eat.
The necessitative mood is formed with the suffix -he (from heya - to need, require).
- na inahe
- 1.S eat.NEC
- I need to eat.
The abilitative mood is formed with the suffix -pa (from pala - to be able).
- na inapa
- 1.S eat.ABIL
- I am able to eat./ I can eat.
The attemptative mood is formed with the suffix -pya (from upya - to attempt, try).
- na inapya
- 1.S eat.ATT
- I am trying to eat./ I attempt to eat.
The permissive mood is formed with the suffix -myo (from myonta - to allow, permit).
- ha inamyo
- 3.S eat.PERM
- She is allowed to eat. / She may eat.
voice
The passive voice is formed by attaching the accusative prefix e- to the pronoun or by placing the topic marker ke immediately before the patient of the verb.
- ena ina
- ACC.1.S eat
- I am eaten. / I am being eaten.
- eha anyaye
- ACC.3.S see.PAST
- She was seen. / He was being watched.
- ke mihu itsa
- TOP cat love
- The cat is loved. / The cat is being loved.
