Kala Nouns

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Nouns

plurality

  • A countable noun (or "count noun") can be modified by a number, and can accept the plural. Typical countable nouns represent objects that are clearly individual entities, such as houses, cats, and thoughts. For example:
root usage example
-m ma general plural tsakam
houses
-mha ma + -ha indefinite abundance tsakamha
many/a lot houses
-mi ma + -hi indefinite insufficiency tsakami
few houses
tli- tatli collective plural tlikuma
sleuth of bears
-lo ma alternative to -m yamalo
mountains
  • When modified by a number, general plurals need not be marked. Example:
tsaka ta'o - Two houses.

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 onset is /h/.

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 mauam tayo yanaha - Your flowers are the most yellow.

gender

  • Nouns do not normally indicate their gender. To distinguish the sexes, the suffixes -ta and -na are used:
  • uma - horse
umata - a male horse, a stallion
umana - a female horse, a mare

Pronouns

  • Kala generally distinguishes four persons, the fourth person indicating abstract and inanimate nouns – both in the singular and plural numbers.

There is also a distinction between inclusive (I/we and you) and exclusive (we but not you) forms of the first person plural.

  • na - 1sg
  • ta - 2sg
  • ha - 3sg
  • tla - 4sg

-

  • The two irregular pronouns:
    • na'am - 1pl exclusive
    • kam - 3pl

inflectional affixes

  • -m - plural
  • -nku - reciprocal
  • e- - accusative
  • -i - reflexive
  • -yo - possessive

-

  • Example:
eta nahe tsaka hayo a
acc-2sg inside house 3sg-poss be

Correlative Pronouns

query this
proximal
that
medial
that (over there)
distal
some none any every whichever
adjective ke...ka
which
itla
this
uatla
that
yetla
that (over there)
iha
some
ok
none
ula
any
kua
every, all
ote
whichever
person ko...ka
who
iko
this person
uako
that person
yeko
that person (over there)
hyako
someone
tlok
no one
kola
anyone
tlokua
everyone
teko
whoever
thing which this
proximal
that
medial
that (over there)
distal
some none any every whichever
time which this
proximal
that
medial
that (over there)
distal
some none any every whichever
place which this
proximal
that
medial
that (over there)
distal
some none any every whichever
way which this
proximal
that
medial
that (over there)
distal
some none any every whichever
amount which this
proximal
that
medial
that (over there)
distal
some none any every whichever
reason which this
proximal
that
medial
that (over there)
distal
some none any every whichever

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