Kala Grammar

pronunciation

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

vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i~i: (i)		u~u: (u)
Mid	e~e: (e)		o~o: (o)
Open		a~a: (a)

diphthongs

• Both of the falling diphthongs as well as uai and yao only occur word finally.

falling

• [aɪ~aɪ:] - ai
• [aʊ~aʊ:] - ao

rising

• [wa~wa:] - ua
• [waɪ~waɪ:] - uai
• [ja~ja:] - ya
• [jaʊ~jaʊ:] - yao
• [je~je:] - ye
• [jo~jo:] - yo

consonants

	Labial	Dental		Palatal	Velar		Glottal
		central	lateral		plain	labial
Nasal	m (m)	n (n)		ɲ (ny)
Plosive	p~b (p)	t~d (t)			k~g (k)		ʔ (')
Fricative		s (s)		ʃ (s)			h~ɦ (h)
Affricate		ts (ts)	tɬ (tl)	tʃ (ts)
Approximant			l~r (l)	j (y)		w (u)

allophony

• /h/ > /ɦ/ when preceded or followed by a front vowel.
• The glottal stop is not phonemic but is included in the chart above. It is pronounced between two vowels and/or diphthongs that are not connected.
• <s> & <ts> are /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ respectively, unless immediately preceded or followed by one another, then <s> is always /s/ and <ts> is always /tʃ/.
• However, one could pronounce them either way (e.g. always /s/ & /ts/) and still be understood.

• Example:

sitsa - /'si:.tʃa/ - warmth, heat / warm, hot / to heat up

tsasu - /'tʃa:.su/ - cursive writing; having successive letters joined together

phonotactics

• Kala phonotactics does not allow the onsets of adjacent syllables to be identical, nor both to be labialized or palatalized.
  • There are a few exceptions to this, such as tata for the informal/familiar form of father, etc.
• Syllables beginning with /l/ do not occur as the first syllable of a headword.

syllable structure

• See also: Syllables

• (N)(C)V/D(F)
  • N - nasal; prenasal; /n/ or /m/
  • C - consonant
  • V - vowel
  • D - diphthong
  • F - final; coda

• The three codas are /k/, /m/, and /n/; these only occur as a final codas to negate, pluralize or adverbialize verbs and nouns, respectively.

stress

• In Kala stress falls on the penultimate syllable with the exceptions of negatives and words that end with a syllable onset palatal approximant, in which case stress is ultimate.

prenasalized consonants

• In Kala, almost every consonant can be prenasalized, but primarily the plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/ can be analyzed as prenasalized,while most other instances could be easily analyzed as cases of syllabic /n/ or /m/.

• mp /ᵐp~ᵐb/

Example: mpaka /ˈᵐpa.ka/ - n - boundary / border / line

• nt /ⁿt~ⁿd/

Example: ntama /ˈⁿta.ma/ - n - calf (a young cow or bull)

• nk /ᵑk~ᵑ/

Example: nkapa /ˈᵑka.pa/ - n - alcohol / grog

sentence structure

See also: Kala Sentences

• Most sentences in Kala contain a verb phrase, typically denoting the occurrence of an action. A verb phrase consists of a verb plus any modifiers.

• Most sentences also contain at least one noun phrase, typically denoting a person or thing. A noun phrase consists of a noun plus any modifiers.

• The two most important noun phrases are the subject and the object. Their exact meaning depends on the choice of verb, but

loosely speaking, the subject is the person or thing that carries out the action, and the object is the person or thing that is directly affected by the action.

• Kala has an extremely regular grammar, with very few exceptions to its rules. Sentences are made up of one or more phrases. Each phrase consists of a subject (optionally followed by modifying particles) and a verb (optionally followed by modifying particles).

word order

• Kala phrase structure can be represented as follows:

(temporal adverb) subject-(modifier) (particle) ((object)-(modifier)) verb-(modifier) (particle)

or, more simply SOV

parts of speech

verbs

• A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action (run, stop), a relationship (have, lose), or a state (stand, melt). Most verbs can be reused without change as a noun.

tense

tense	suffix	gloss	example
remote past	-yeha	REM	nam inayeha We ate a long while ago.
recent past	-yehi	REC	nam inayehi We just ate.
past	-ye	PST	nam inaye We ate.
present	not marked		nam ina We eat. / We are eating. / We do eat.
future	-tli	FUT	nam inatli We will eat.
immediate future	-tlihi	IMM	nam inatlihi We will eat soon/now.
distant future	-tliha	DIS	nam inatliha We will eat a long while from now.

• 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").
• If a temporal adverb is used, the tense suffix may be omitted.

Example: We ate yesterday.

yomaye	nam	ina
day-pst	1pl	eat

modifiers

usage	suffix	from	example
ability, can	-pa	pala to be able, can	na yalapa I am able to go.
attempt, try	-pya	upya to attempt; to try	na yalapya I am trying to leave.
negation	-k	nke no, not; negative	na yalak I am not going.
beginning, initiate	-mu	mula start; begin	na yalamu I begin to go. / I'm starting to leave.
permission; allow	-myo	myonta to allow; permit	na yalamyo I am allowed to go.
should, ought to	-ne	neya should, to ought to	na yalane I should go.
need, necessity	-he	heya to need; require	na yalahe I need to go.
deintensify	-hi	ahi small; little	na inahi I am snacking.
appear, seem	-tse	tse'e to seem; appearance	ha yalatse He seems to be going.
want, desire	-ue	ueha to want; desire	na yalaue I want to go.
intention, volition	-ue	ueyo to intend to	na yalaue I intend to go.

nouns

• Nouns include pronouns, adjectives (nouns of quality), and determiners.

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 of /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

comparative / superlative

• In Kala the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective (verb) 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

house 3sg-poss obj 1sg-poss big-aug

His house is bigger than mine.

• Example

yanaha

more yellow/most yellow

ke mauam tayo yanaha

obj flower.pl 2sg-poss yellow-aug

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.

	Nominative	Accusative	Possessive	Reflexive	Reciprocal
1sg	na	ena	nayo	na'i
2sg	ta	eta	tayo	ta'i
3sg	ha	eha	hayo	ha'i
4sg	tla	etla	tlayo	tla'i
1pl	nam	enam	namyo	nami	nanku
1pl.excl	na'am	ena'am	na'amyo	na'ami	na'anku
2pl	tam	etam	tamyo	tami	tanku
3pl	kam	ekam	kamyo	kami	kanku
4pl	tlam	etlam	tlamyo	tlami	tlanku

• Example:

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

correlative pronouns

	query	proximal	medial	distal	indefinite	negative	ambiguous	universal	generalized
adjective	ote which	itla this	uatla that	yetla that (there)	iha some	-k none	ula any	kua every	ote whichever
person	ko who	iko this person	uako that person	yeko that person (there)	hyako someone	tlok no one	kola anyone	tlokua everyone	teko who(m)ever
thing	ke what	itla this	uatla that	yetla that (there)	hyano something	nok no thing	nola anything	nokua everything	ote whatever
time	ama when	ima now	uama then	yeme then (yon)	hyama sometime	amak never	tlama anytime	kuama always	tema whenever
place	mo where	hina here	uana there	yemo there (away)	hyamo somewhere	mok nowhere	mola anywhere	mokua everywhere	temo wherever
way	to how	yoto thus			hyato somehow	tok no way			heto however
amount	uku how many					ok none			teku however much/many
reason	nye why								tenye whyever

• To form a question, the queries are placed at the begining of a phrase and ka is placed at the end. Example:

• tam yala - 2pl go - You all are going.

ama tam yala ka - time 2pl go q - When are you all going?

compound sentences (subordinate clauses)

• While he was spearing mudbugs, he heard a dog singing.

• If you want good beer, you should make your own beer.

• While looking for tubers, I saw a nun in a clearing.

• If you ate the toad (which you might have), you might get sick.

• If you ate the toad (which you didn't), you would be dead.

adjectives

• Kala uses verbs instead of having proper adjectives. For example;

• na nyota

1sg thirst

I am thirsty.

• tla kiha

4sg be.tall

It is tall. (lit: it talls)

• nam ke punka ketla inaye

1pl obj fruit be.red eat-pst

We ate the red fruit.

adverbs

• An adverbial precedes the clause it modifies.

• I drank thirstily.

nyotan	na	inuye
thirst.adv	1sg	drink-pst

• She will sleep quietly.

kyo'an	ha	mokutli
quiet.adv	3sg	sleep-fut

prepositions & conjunctions

prepositions

• relational

1. taye - pertaining to; regarding; about; a matter of
2. te - of; from [gen]
3. mahe - approximately; around; close to
4. ma'a - with [accompanied by; furnished with]; together
5. ma'ak - without; with no ...
6. nya - for [benefit; purpose of], [ben]; by [actor; author]
7. atse - opposite; the other side

• spatial

1. pue - back; behind; rear
2. tahe - below; under; beneath; underneath
3. kaye - around; encircling; surrounding
4. ka'e - to; towards; at [moving toward]
5. maye - between; among
6. ma'e - before; ahead of; in front of
7. nahe - into; within; in [located inside of]
8. saye - along; following [a line]
9. hue - at [in the same location as]
10. tsa'e - across ; through; beyond; past
11. atse - across; opposite; the other side
12. enye - outside of; exterior to
13. uaye - from [moving out of or away from]
14. ua'e - above; over [space]
15. yane - beside; by; next to; near; close to

• temporal

1. pue - afterwards; after; later
2. ma'e - before; earlier
3. naye - during; hence
4. tsaye - since; until

conjunctions

• ma - and; also; too; as well
• me - but, however, and not
• ua - or
• - so, therefore
• ke - that, whether
• ama - when (temporal)
• naye - while, during, as
• iya - if (conditional)
• nye - because, since
• - in order that (purpose)
• - even when, even if, albeit, still
• - anyway, although, on the other hand

relative clauses

• He broke the bone which I gave him.

ha ke ueso na'eha yetaye tanyaye

3sg p bone 1sg-a.p-3sg give-pst break-pst

• I saw the car that he bought.

na ke nkale ha tsumpaye anyaye

1sg p car 3sg buy-pst see-pst

interjections

• a - yes
• ak - no
  • nka - no! emp.neg
• yata - hello / goodbye
  • hala - hey, hi (on the phone)
• tsepa - please
• nyasa - thank you
• hako - you're welcome
• niha - fine, OK, great

cursing

1. katse - epithet; similar to "bastard", "bitch" or "asshole."
2. kuna - shit (lit: to defecate)
3. kyosa - fornicate; have sex
4. nanka - general invective; "Damn it!"
5. tsaya (-tsa) - general invective; "Fuck!" or "Shit!"

• eta kuna

p.2sg shit

You are shat. / You are shit.

• kya ta'i kyosa

imp 2sg.refl fornicate

Fuck yourself!

• onatsa tayo

mother.damned 2sg.poss

mother fucker / your damned mother

numbers

cardinal numbers

• e'o - zero; null
• na'o - one
• ta'o - two
• ha'o - three
• ma'o - four
• ya'o - five
• tsa'o - six
• ka'o - seven
• pa'o - eight
• sa'o - nine
• ue'o - ten

-

• nye'o - (one) hundred; 10²
• nya'o - five hundred
• tle'o - (one) thousand; 10³
• mue'o - ten thousand; 10⁴
• kye'o - (one) hundred thousand; 10⁵
• nte'o - (one) million; 10⁶
• hue'o - (one) billion; 10⁹

higher numbers

• uena'o - eleven / 11
• taue'o - twenty / 20
• nyeka'o - one hundred seven / 107
• hanyetauetsa'o (long form) | hatatsa'o (short form) - three hundred twenty six / 326
• tsatletauema'o - six thousand and twenty four / 6024

expressions of time

• Tense markers are often replaced by time expressions. Here are a few of the more common ones:

• iyoma - today
• iyohua - tonight
• yomaye - yesterday
• yomatli - tomorrow
• yomua - morning
• puama - evening
• yomuatli - tomorrow morning
• yohuaye - last night
• sayo - month
• anyo - year
• anyotlipua - end of next year
• anyoye ue'o - ten years ago
• sayotli ta'o - in two months

ordering of phrases

• I will eat pig.
• It is pig that I will eat.
• He broke the bone.
• The bone broke/was broken.
• I was bitten.
• He wants to be beaten.
• The broken bone.
• I gave the fruit to the child.
• I gave (it) to the child.
• I gave the fruit.
• The fruit was given to the child.
• Give (me) the big bone now.

causative constructions

• Constructions with -mya (from muya), to do, make:

• I am making the beer.
• I am keeping him from eating.
• I will kill him.
• What did you kill?

• Note: In English, verbs can be transitive or intransitive, as in "The house burned" or "I burned the house". In Kala, a causative construction is used:

• The house is burning.
• I am burning the house.

compounding

• Kala compounding is right-branching. Kala also reduces redundant syllables.

• nyepana - raincloud

1. nyepa - cloud
2. pana - rain

• ilamo - airport

1. ila - fly; hover
2. mo - place; locale

creating nouns from verbs

• A noun can be created from a verb root, as with ina, to eat:

• inako - eater
• inano - food, thing eaten
• inama - eating-time
• inamo - eating-place
• inamya - act of eating
• inanyoo - eating instrument
• inape - portion of food, meal
• inato - manner of eating

Index

grammar outline | sentences | questions | lexicon | thematic lexicon | writing