Kala Lessons

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masako
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Kala Lessons

Post by masako »

Lesson 1)

Phonology

vowels:
/a e i o u/ <a e i o u>

diphthongs

/aɪ/ - ai
/aʊ/ - ao

Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.

consonants:

Nasals: /m n ɲ/ <m n ny>
Plosives: /p~b t~d k~g ʔ/ <p t k '>
Affricates: /t͡s~t͡ʃ tɬ/ <ts tl>
Fricatives: /s~ʃ h~ɦ/ <s h>
Other: /l~r j w/ <l y 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.

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

(N)(C)V/D(F)

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

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.

Next lesson will be some basic syntax and vocabulary.
Last edited by masako on 26 Oct 2013 02:48, edited 1 time in total.
Ambrisio
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Re: kala lessons

Post by Ambrisio »

Great! A few comments:
1) You should make it clear (in the title) that it's a conlang.
2) Where are the exercises?
3) When are plosives voiced?

And what does "Kala" mean in your language? (It means 'fish' in Estonian (and Finnish and Livonian), 'well' in Greek, 'from' in Japanese (sort of), and 'time' in Sanskrit. And coincidentally, kalā is the feminine form of 'beautiful' in my conlang Kinuiltys -- the masculine form is kalan).
masako
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Re: kala lessons

Post by masako »

Ambrisio wrote:1) You should make it clear (in the title) that it's a conlang.
I'm not sure why...it's plain by the first post and there are a number of other conlang lessons that are not titled as such. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Ambrisio wrote:2) Where are the exercises?
Those are to come...I should first introduce a bit first, no?
masako
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Re: kala lessons

Post by masako »

Continued...got distracted by real life for a minute...
Ambrisio wrote:3) When are plosives voiced?
This is up there at the beginning of the phonology section.
masako wrote:Where ~ appears, it indicates free variation between phonemes.
Which basically means you can voice plosives all of the time, some of the time, or not at all and still be "correct".
Ambrisio wrote:And what does "Kala" mean in your language?
Kala means "language; talk; say; speak" from Arabic [ك ل م].
masako
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Re: kala lessons

Post by masako »

Lesson 2)

Sentence Structure

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 at least a verb preceded by an agent (optionally followed by modifying particles).

Kala phrase structure can be represented as follows:

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

…or, more simply SOV

ha kalak
3SG speak.NEG
He is not speaking.

tlok kalak
AG.NEG speak.NEG
No one is speaking.

ha’etla mataye ka
3SG-P.4SG kill-PST Q
Did he kill it?

(This sentence shows an example of the nkalo [pronouns] being linked when both agent and patient are pronouns.)

ote ha mataye ka
which 3SG kill-PST Q
Which did he kill?

A few words:

mita - dog
yatsi - bite; chew
tlaka - man; male
-ye - past tense [added to verb]
niua - yard; garden
malo - brown
-hue - locative marker
ma - and; also

Some exercises:

1) The dog is in the yard.

2) The man and the dog are in the yard.

3) The dog bit the man.

4) The dog is biting the man. / The dog bites the man.

5) The brown dog bit the man in the yard.

6) The man was in the yard.

I will post answers in a few days. Cheers!
Last edited by masako on 25 Oct 2013 03:57, edited 1 time in total.
masako
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Re: kala lessons

Post by masako »

Answers:
Spoiler:
1) The dog is in the yard.
mita niuahue
dog yard-LOC

2) The man and the dog are in the yard.
tlaka ma mita niuahue
man and dog yard-LOC

3) The dog bit the man.
mita tlaka yatsiye
dog man bite-PST

4) The dog is biting the man. / The dog bites the man.
mita tlaka yatsi

5) The brown dog bit the man in the yard.
mita malo niuahue tlaka yatsiye
dog brown yard-LOC man bite-PST

6) The man was in the yard.
tlaka niuahue aye
man yard-LOC COP.PST
Next lesson: pronouns
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Re: kala lessons

Post by Shemtov »

Ambrisio wrote:
And what does "Kala" mean in your language? (It means 'fish' in Estonian (and Finnish and Livonian), 'well' in Greek, 'from' in Japanese (sort of), and 'time' in Sanskrit. And coincidentally, kalā is the feminine form of 'beautiful' in my conlang Kinuiltys -- the masculine form is kalan).
And "Bride" in Hebrew.
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
masako
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Re: kala lessons

Post by masako »

Lesson 3)

Pronouns

na - 1SG
ta - 2SG
ha - 3SG
tla - 4SG [inanimate]

ha is genderless and therefore is used for both male and female.

Special pronouns:

kam - 3PL [also genderless]
na'am - 1PL.EXCL [exclusive, we but not you]

-m - plural
-nku - reciprocal
(-)e- - patient marker
-i - reflexive
-yo possessive

Putting these together, we get this sleek chart:
Image

A few examples:
kanku yatsiye
3PL-RECP bite-PST
They bit each other.

ta'enam yatsi
2SG-P.1PL bite
You are biting us!

Exercises:

1) He killed himself.

2) She bit it in the yard.

3) We [exclusive] bit ourselves and the brown dog in the yard.

4) They are killing the dog.

5) They killed it (the dog).
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threecat
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Re: kala lessons

Post by threecat »

Umm... not to be rude, but no one's doing your exercises.
masako
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Re: kala lessons

Post by masako »

threecat wrote:Umm... not to be rude, but no one's doing your exercises.
That's very kind of you to point out, thank you.
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Re: kala lessons

Post by Xing »

threecat wrote:Umm... not to be rude, but no one's doing your exercises.
No one has posted their answers so far, but that does not entail that no one is doing them.
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Click
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Re: kala lessons

Post by Click »

threecat wrote:Umm... not to be rude, but no one's doing your exercises.
Umm... not to be rude, but no one's doing your own exercises.
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Lambuzhao
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by Lambuzhao »

Lesson 2

1) He killed himself. ha'i mataye.

2) She bit it in the yard. ha'eha niuahue yatsiye.

3) We [exclusive] bit ourselves and the brown dog in the yard. na'am mita malo ma na'ami niuahue yatsiye.

4) They are killing the dog. kam mita mata.

5) They killed it (the dog). kam ha mitaye.

Extra Credit:

Tsankom mita niuahue mataye.
Kam ha tsakahahue inaye.
Kam tima te uesom hayo hapoye.
uama kanku tanaye ma yatsiye.

Tsankom pu'an puka!

*te from te hina
* uama portmanteau of hina/uana::itla/uatla distinction + ama
masako
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by masako »

Lambuzhao wrote:Extra Credit:

Tsankom mita niuahue mataye.
Kam ha tsakahahue inaye.
Kam tima te uesom hayo hapoye.
uama kanku tanaye ma yatsiye.

Tsankom pu'an puka!

*te from te hina
* uama portmanteau of hina/uana::itla/uatla distinction + ama
A couple of things:

1) No punctuation or capitalization is necessary when writing Kala.
2) You're not linking the agent-patient pronouns the way you should (kameha)
3) "hapo" does not appear in any lexicon that I have.
4) "pu'an" should be punan
5) uama was an excellent guess (that is the word used)...but it is not used as a conjunction, as you seem to be using it.

It's obvious that you have some good information, but some of the sources you are using are out-of-date. No worries, many of the rules and vocabulary you're trying to use will be covered here in future lessons. You did an awesome job!
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threecat
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by threecat »

Click wrote:
threecat wrote:Umm... not to be rude, but no one's doing your exercises.
Umm... not to be rude, but no one's doing your own exercises.
I didn't make exercises yet. Masako, I completed your exercises. Please complete some of mine.

Lesson 2 Answers
1) mata hai
2) ha'eha niuahue yatsiye
3)na'ami mita malo niuahue yatsi
4)kameha mita yatsi
5) kameha yatsiye
masako
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by masako »

threecat wrote:Please complete some of mine.
I don't see how I can because:
threecat wrote:I didn't make exercises yet.
threecat wrote:Lesson 2 Answers
1) mata hai
2) ha'eha niuahue yatsiye
3) na'ami mita malo niuahue yatsi
4) kameha mita yatsi
5) kameha yatsiye
Firstly, your answers are for Lesson 3. Secondly, they're all incorrect.

Lesson 3 answers:

1) He killed himself.
ha’i mataye
3SG.REFL kill-PST

2) She bit it in the yard.
ha’etla niuahue yatsiye
3SG-P.4SG yard-LOC bite-PST

3) We [exclusive] bit ourselves and the brown dog in the yard.
na’ami ma mita malo niuahue yatsiye
1PL.EXCL.REFL and dog brown yard-LOC bite-PST

4) They are killing the dog.
kam mita mata
3PL dog kill

5) They killed it (the dog).
kameha mataye
3PL-P.3SG kill-PST
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threecat
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by threecat »

masako wrote:
threecat wrote:Please complete some of mine.
I don't see how I can because:
threecat wrote:I didn't make exercises yet.
threecat wrote:Lesson 2 Answers
1) mata hai
2) ha'eha niuahue yatsiye
3) na'ami mita malo niuahue yatsi
4) kameha mita yatsi
5) kameha yatsiye
Firstly, your answers are for Lesson 3. Secondly, they're all incorrect.

Lesson 3 answers:

1) He killed himself.
ha’i mataye
3SG.REFL kill-PST

2) She bit it in the yard.
ha’etla niuahue yatsiye
3SG-P.4SG yard-LOC bite-PST

3) We [exclusive] bit ourselves and the brown dog in the yard.
na’ami ma mita malo niuahue yatsiye
1PL.EXCL.REFL and dog brown yard-LOC bite-PST

4) They are killing the dog.
kam mita mata
3PL dog kill

5) They killed it (the dog).
kameha mataye
3PL-P.3SG kill-PST
Understood. I'll do more translation exercises
Lesson 2 Exercises
1) mita niuahue
2)tlaka ma mita niuahue
3)mita tlaka yatsiye
4)mita tlaka yatsi
5)mita malo niuahue tlaka yatsiye
6)tlaka niuahue aye
Lesson 3 Exercises
1)ha'i mataye
2) ha'etla niuahue yatsiye
3) na'ami'etla ma mita niuahue yatsiye
6) kamtla yatsiye
masako
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by masako »

Lesson 4)

Plurals

-m is the general plural, but Kala uses multiple plurals to add nuance and meaning.
NOTE: -lo is used for words that's last syllable contains /m/
tli- [from tatli (group, collection)] collective plural; COL
-mha [from ma + taha (and large)] many, much, abundance
-mi [from ma + ahi (and small)] few, not many
-li [from oli (each, every)] each of X
-kua [from kua (all)] all of X, inclusive

Other Pronouns & Questions

kua – all
yema – both
itla – this [near me] (proximal)
uatla – that [near you] (medial)
yetla – that [away from both] (distal)
oli – each, every
ote – whichever, any
iha – some, a few, a little, any
nke – no
eye – only
kue – same
ua – other
inta – such

Questions

ta ke amenyatla ka
2SG TOP Germany-language Q
Do you speak German?

a
COP
Yes.

ak
COP.NEG
No.

mo ta yala ka
place 2SG go Q
Where are you going?

to itla muya ka
way this make Q
How is this made?

ko taku tayo ka
person brother 2SG.POSS Q
Who is your brother?

nye ha hina ka
reason 3SG here Q
Why is she here?

ama nanku tana ka
time 1PL.RECP fight Q
When do we fight?

ke tam ina ka
TOP 2PL eat Q
What are ya’ll eating?

ote kam ueha ka
which 3PL want Q
Which do they want?

Exercises:

1) Where are they fighting?
2) What do you want?
3) Which is his brother?
4) When is she going?
5) Why are you eating?
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threecat
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by threecat »

Lesson 4
1. me kam tana ka
2. ke ta ueha ka
3.ote hayo taku ka
4. ama ha yala ka
5. nye ta ina ka
masako
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Re: Kala Lessons

Post by masako »

Image

I should have posted this earlier in the pronouns sections, but I overlooked it. This chart shows the proper linkage between agent and patient when both are pronouns.
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