Date: 06-10-12

KARENKO NA NOKE
NA KAH
Kah Ref er enc e
Gr ammar
I ndex
1) Phonology Page 1
1.1 Orthography Page 1
1.2 Consonants Page 1
1.3 Vowels Page 3
1.3.1 Vowel sequences Page 3
1.4 Phonotactics Page 4
1.5 Stress Page 5
2) Parts of speech Page 6
2.1 Verbs Page 6
2.1.1 Active verbs Page 6
2.1.2 Stative verbs Page 7
2.2 Nouns Page 9
2.3 Conjunctions Page 9
2.4 Interjections Page 10
2.5 Cross-class derivation Page 11
2.5.1 To verb Page 11
2.5.2 To noun Page 12
2.5.3 To conjunction Page 13
3) Compounds Page 14
3.1 Frequent roots Page 14
3.2 Logic Page 15
3.3 The suffix -ng Page 16
3.3 Phonotactics of compounding Page 16
3.4 Compound roots Page 18
4) Verb extensions Page 24
4.1 Phonotactic rules Page 24
4.2 Reversive Page 24
4.3 Permissive Page 25
4.4 Causative Page 25
4.5 Intensive Page 25
4.5.1 Verbs Page 26
4.5.1.1 Iterative Page 26
4.5.1.2 Habituative Page 26
4.5.1.3 Continuative Page 27
4.5.2 Nouns Page 27
4.5.2.1 Habituative Page 27
4.5.2.2 Inalienables Page 28
5) Word order Page 29
5.1 Verb phrases Page 29
5.2 Noun phrases Page 29
5.3 Oblique phrases Page 30
5.4 Topicalization Page 30
5.4.1 Noun phrases Page 32
6) Conjunction Page 33
6.1 Coordinating conjunction Page 33
6.2 Subordinating conjunction Page 33
6.3 Topicalization of complement phrases Page 34
7) Nouns Page 36
7.1 Case Page 36
7.2 Gender Page 37
7.3 Number Page 38
7.3.1 Collective Page 38
8) Pronouns Page 40
8.1 Personal pronouns Page 40
8.2 Indefinite pronoun Page 40
8.3 Reciprocal pronoun Page 41
8.4 Reflexive pronouns Page 41
8.4.1 Logophoricity Page 42
8.5 Deictic pronouns Page 42
8.6 Interrogatives Page 43
8.7 Pro-drop Page 45
8.8 Relative clauses Page 46
9) Possession Page 49
9.1 Other uses of na Page 49
9.2 Partitive Page 50
10) Verbs Page 52
10.1 Aspect Page 52
10.2 Mood Page 53
10.2.1 Imperative Page 54
10.2.2 Conjunctive Page 55
10.3 Locative verbs Page 56
10.4 Prepositional verbs Page 57
10.5 Serial verbs Page 58
10.5.1 Locative Page 58
10.5.2 Instrumental Page 59
10.5.3 Comparison Page 59
10.5.4 Finitive Page 59
10.5.5 Purpose Page 60
11) Quantifiers Page 61
11.1 Numerals Page 61
11.1.1 Tens Page 62
11.1.2 Hundred and up Page 62
11.1.3 Ordinal numbers Page 65
11.1.4 Unbound forms Page 65
11.1.5 Decimal fractions Page 66
11.1.6 Vulgar fractions Page 66
11.2 Quantifiers Page 67
12) Interjections Page 68
12.1 Lo Page 69
12.2 Question Page 70
12.3 Negation Page 70
12.4 List Page 71
13) Loanwords Page 72
13.1 True loanwords Page 72
13.2 Incorporated loanwords Page 73
13.2.1 States Page 74
1 - Phonol ogy
Kah phonology was designed with the primary objective to be familiar to native
speakers of most of the world's languages as it allows a large number of allophones.
This approach resulted in a phoneme inventory counting 22 consonants, 5 vowels
and a small number of possible combinations such as vowel sequences and a
limited number of possible syllable structures. One important sidenote was to end up
with something simplistic enough to allow speakers of most world languages to be
able to pronounce it, yet not too simplistic since this would affect the recognizability
of word roots.
1.1 Or t hogr aphy
The Kah orthography includes the following letters:
Upper case: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z
Lower case: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w y z
1.2 Consonant s
Kah has 22 consonants and four places of articulation as summarized in the table
below in romanized state:
labial alveolar palatal velar glottal
plosives
p
b
t
d

k
g
affricates
ch
j

fricatives
f
v
s
z
sh h
nasals m n ny ng
liquids w l y
rhotics r

1 Kah Reference Grammar
A guide to their pronunciation and possible allophones are listed in the table below:
Romanization Example IPA-val ue Allophones (IPA)
b
French "beau" b
b
h

ch Spanish "churro" t ts
d Spanish "dar" d
d
h

f French "faire"
f
h English "high" h x
g English "good" g
j English "joke"
d dz
k Spanish "como" k
k' k
h
l French "lire" l L
m Spanish "mal"
m
n Spanish "no" n
ny Spanish "seor"
ng English "bang"
p Spanish "por"
p
p
h
r Spanish "rey" r R G
s French "sel"
s
sh English "she"
t French "tu" t
t
h
t'
v English "veil"
v
w English "we" w
y Spanish "yo" j
z

French "zero"

z



Furthermore, Kah phonology allows four combinations of consonant +glide:
Romanization Example IPA-value
py
Korean "Pyongyang"
p
y

kw English "quarter" k
w
mw Swahili "mwalimu" m
w
sw Swahili "Swahili" s
w

Kah Reference Grammar 2
1.3 Vowel s
Kah uses the five most basic vowels:
Romanization Example IPA-value Allophones (IPA)
a

Spanish "mal" a


e Spanish "el"
e e
i
i Spanish "si" i y
o Spanish "no"
o
u
u

Spanish "su"

u



1.3.1 Vowel sequenc es
Kah has no true diphthongs. It does have a number of possible vowel combinations
in which each vowel is pronounced separately thus creating two syllables:
dia
bua
kai
[di.a]
[bu.a]
[ka.i]
All vowel combinations allowed in Kah are:
Romanization Example IPA-val ue Allophones (IPA)
ai
English "bye" a.i
a
i

au English "how" a.u
a
u
ao a
o

ea Swahili "endelea e.a
eo Swahili "kipepeo"
e.o
e
o
e
u
ia Spanish "dias" i.a
io Spanish "dio" i.o
oa Swahili "ndoa"
o.a

oi english "koi" o.i
o
i

ua Swahili "jua" u.a

3 Kah Reference Grammar
1.4 Phonot ac t i c s
Kah allows a limited yet diverse number of syllabic structures. The basic patterns
are: V, CV,CGV, VC, CVC, CGVC with a very limited number of consonants that can
occur in the coda (only nasals such as m, n, ng, l and s) and even fewer that can
occur as a glide after the initial consonant in the onset (only y or w). This can be
summarized as (C/CG)V(C). An extensive description of possible syllable structures
along with examples can be found in the following table:
Structure Description Example
V one vowel in rhyme e
VN " " " " plus nasal stop in coda en
VL " " " " plus l in coda al
VS " " " " plus s in coda is
CV consonant in onset, vowel in rhyme tu
CVN " " " " plus nasal stop in coda bon
CVL " " " " plus l in coda kal
CVS " " " " plus s in coda sus
CGV consonant plus glide in onset, vowel in coda pyo
CGVN " " " " plus nasal stop in coda kwan
CGVL " " " " plus l in coda mwel
CGVS " " " " plus s in coda pyus
Some more consonant clusters in word-medial position bring a great deal of audible
diversity to it:
mb nd nj ng mp nt nch nk nz ns nsh mw
lp lt lk
sp st sk
Note the occurrence of the cluster ng which represents a velar nasal [] when it
appears at the end of a word (song), but is expresses [
g
] in word-medial position
(tengi). This slight irregularity is permitted in order to sustain the legibility of the
romanization, since most readers are familiar with this phenomenon already through
the spelling of languages like English, Spanish and so on.
Kah Reference Grammar 4
1.5 St r ess
The stress always falls upon the penultimate syllable, unless the final syllable is
"heavy" because the rhyme is filled by a vowel sequence or ends with a consonant
in the coda. This is done to allow for some variation in the rythm and feel of the
language:
Word Pronunciation (IPA)
luba ['lu.ba]
aka ['a.ka]
dua ['du.a]
huan [hu'an]
papau [pa'pau]
weyun [we'yun]
okwan [o'kwan]
5 Kah Reference Grammar
2 Par t s of speec h
Kah has four parts of speech. There are two substantive forms and two smaller and
very limited closed classes:
Substantive: Other:
-verbs
-nouns
-conj unctions
-interjections
2.1 Ver bs
Verbs are the part of speech that can be modified by stative verbs in an adverbial
manner, aspect and mood markers and canalize the grammatical roles of their
arguments as the head of verbal clauses. There are two subclasses of verbs: active
and stative verbs. Both subclasses can either be intransitive or transitive, which
means they can either have one argument (a subject) or two or more (a subject and
one or more objects).
2.1.1 Ac t i ve ver bs
Active verbs solely denote actions and occurrences and never states in Kah.
Examples of active verbs and their use are:
tonen - to improve
soza - to drink
tu - to cut
pau - to give
titom tonen
WEATHER IMPROVE
the weather is improving
ubu soza binso
MAN DRINK BEER
the men drank beer
Merih tu seki
MARY CUT MEAT
Mary cut the meat
Kah Reference Grammar 6
Haik pau wa apa
HAYK GIVE I MONEY
Hayk gave me money
2.1.2 St at i ve ver bs
Stative verbs are the words that modify nouns in an attributive and often adjectival
way. They often express a state like a quality or result.
nia yam
CAR BE RED
red car
simwana nyeka
GIRL BE HAPPY
happy girl
Stative verbs function as fullblown verbs. This is even more visible when an
adjective is topicalized and put in front of a noun. In this construction the modifying
adjective is emphasized to a point it is better translated with a predicate
construction:
yam nia
BE RED CAR
the car is red
nyeka si mwana
BE HAPPY GIRL
the girl is happy
There is a large group of stative verbs denoting a resultative state:
unga okaiza
ANIMAL BE TRAPPED
trapped animal
apa omi nza
MONEY BE STOLEN
stolen money
Stative verbs rarely are accompanied by aspect markers:
7 Kah Reference Grammar
nia la yam
CAR BE AT BE RED
the car is being red
simwana denu nyeka
GIRL GO BE HAPPY
the girl will be happy
Also, Kah stative verbs with an adjectival meaning can modify verbs just as easily in
a manner that would require an adverb in English. Compare:
fanyo wezai
PARENT LOVING
loving parents
fanyo tizia wezai simbu
PARENTS RAISE LOVING BOY
the parents raised the boy lovingly
The following example shows how adjectival stative verbs can have objects:
fanyo wezai yu
PARENTS BE LOVING HIM
the parents are loving towards him

Kah Reference Grammar 8
2.2 Nouns
Nouns in Kah are a lexical category made up by words that can be modified by
stative verbs, the possessive marker or deictic pronouns in an attributive manner
and can serve as an argument to verbs. In semantic aspect this means nouns
express items, persons, places, events, actions and such:
kaiko - book
ubu - man
ala - place
In Kah oblique phrases describing things like location, time and such circumstances
are made up of nouns also:
ni nye ben denu kwando
YESTERDAY CHILD GO SCHOOL
the children went to school yesterday
meo nyau tila ape ye
CAT BE STUCK BE ON TOP TREE THAT
the cat is stuck in top of that tree
2.3 Conj unc t i ons
Conjunctors connect clauses and phrases and describe the nature of this
relationship:
ai - and
eom - or
en - that
eno - in order that
esto - but
eta - when
In many instances these conjunctions are coordinating:
Dik ai Jen
DICK AND J ANE
Dick and Jane
9 Kah Reference Grammar
zano eom yino
RIGHT OR LEFT
right or left
keju de esto nong tengi
WANT COME BUT NOT CAN
I wanted to come but I wasn't able to
Then there are subordinating ones:
ka wa tonto de
SAY ME IF COME
Tell me if he comes
papau yu eno pau
PAY HE THAT GIVE
pay him so he gives it
2.4 I nt er j ec t i ons
Interjections are words that can show up anywhere and often coincide with
emotions:
eo - yes, indeed
nong - no, not
wu - how very, what
nye - yay!
ha - question particle
Examples of their use are:
bukim eo de
KING YES COME
the king has arrived indeed
eo za!
YES TAKE!
gotcha!
Kah Reference Grammar 10
aki shu ha?
FOOD BE SWEET Q.
is the food nice?
nong keju
NOT WANT
I don't want it
wu nenyun kuku
HOW VERY BE PRETTY FACE
what a pretty face!
2.5 Cr oss-cl ass der i vat i on
Cross-class derivation is a very active process in Kah in order to form new words.
Most word roots in Kah occur in multiple word classes. I divided the types of
derivation by their target:
2.5.1 To ver b
The bulk of cross-class derivation results in a verb. Most of those derivations
constitute of a derivation from a verb to a verb even. The following verbs act like
prefixes to derive verbs:
jam - to do, derives a basic transitive verb
tom - to become, derives an intransitive active verb
we - to be stative, in a state, derives an transitive stative verb
mun - to cause, derives a causative transitive verb
Source Verb
bo - to be inside
biso - urine
si n - to be small
api - fire
yun - to look
chu - to leave
de - to come
jebo - to understand
jambo to insert
jambiso - to urinate
tonsin - to shrink, get small
tompi - to combust, ignite
weyun - to see
wechu - to originate
munde - to summon
munjebo - to explain

11 Kah Reference Grammar
Then there is a prefix o- which derives a stative verb, usually involving a resultative
aspect:
Source Stati ve verbs
minza - to steal
momi - to cure
kai - to close
ominza - (to be) stolen
omomi - (to be) cured
okai - (to be) closed

2.5.2 To noun
When a noun is created from another word, one of the the following prefixes is used:
u- noun expressing an animate object
a- noun expressing an inanimate object
i- noun expressing a state
Source Noun
shika - to instruct
Bangal - Bengali
fiti - to win
toka - to tell
ye - that, those
vuka - to insult
namil - free
l ura - oyal
ushika - instructor
Ubangal - Bengali person
ufiti - winner
atoka - story
aye - that thing, those things
avuka - insult
inamil - freedom
ilura - loyalty

Then there are nouns which are derived by adding an prefix u- or a- to a
resultative verb starting with o-, producing (u- +o-) wo- and (a- +o-) au-.
wo- noun expressing an animate object being the result from an action
au- noun expressing an inanimate object being a result from an action
Source Noun
ofono - accused
okwara - assembled
oko - written
okwara - assembled
wofono - the accused
wokwara - assembly
auko - text
aukwara - collection
Kah Reference Grammar 12
2.5.3 To c onj unc t i on
There is a very limited set of conjuntions in Kah. Some of these are derived from
other roots by means of the prefix e- :
Source Conjunction
no - direction
chu - to leave, from
ta - time
we - state, condition
eno - in order that
echu - so
eta - when
ewe - still, even then
13 Kah Reference Grammar
3 Compounds
The bulk of Kah lexicon consists of compound words, made up from two of more
roots. This means it is a vital process to understand truly how the language works.
Compounding basically means that two or more words are combined in order to
create a new lexeme with a new, unique meaning.
The advantage of this technique of word formation is, that the meaning of the new
word can be derived from the individual elements it consists of. For example the
English word bedroommeans "a room containing a bed". This kind of logic can also
be used on a much more basic level: the Kah word for "argue" is ruka which
consists of a combination of the roots ru "conflict" and ka "speak".
Kah was designed an oligosynthetic language, meaning a language with a very
limited number of roots, which put together form the lexicon from wich statements
are made. Kah has a couple of hundred basic roots from which all of the lexicon was
derived.
3.1 Fr equent r oot s
Some roots turn up quite frequently, like do for "house" or "building":
yudo - house
talado - factory
angado - stable
fondo - prison
kwando - school
The following roots occur in compounds frequently:
do - house, building
ta - time
pa - money
pu - moral
ka - say, word
bu - man
wana - woman
sa - shape
shi - manner, way, like
so - water, fluid, secretion
shum - powder, grains
ki - food
Kah Reference Grammar 14
za - take
ze - back, behind
ku - front, before
no - direction
nu - go
ro - round, cycle, ball
ru - conflict
yo - all
wi - many, much
ni - motorized vehicle
kwa - one
3.2 Logi c
Not all compounds are entirely logical but merely a collection of basic ideas
describing something:
zedodi - snail
ze + do + di
back +house +bug
raju - to be patient
ra + ju
sit +feel
sempe - bone
sen + pe
body +stick
This means every word is a unit on its own and its meaning is not always
obvious. This is a system which also exists in Chinese compounds like dong-
zuo activity literally meaning "move-make" or bixng "hundred surname" for
common people.
The oligosynthetic character therefore merely is a method enabling the
language to produce new words from within the language without having to
resort to incorporating loanwords. It is not a magical feature causing instant
understanding of every word.
15 Kah Reference Grammar
3.3 The suf f i x - ng
The suffix -ng is used to change the meaning of a word to something opposite:
Word Translation Reversive Translation
lule partial, subjective luleng impartial, objective
yosa enough yosang insufficient
daito regular daitong irregular
When it is suffixed to a word ending in a consonant, the preceding vowel is inserted
before it:
Word Translation Reversive Translation
koten literate koteneng illiterate
tehim audible tehimi ng inaudible
tus permitted tusung forbidden
When it's added to a monosyllabic root, this root is reduplicated:
Word Translation Reversive Translation
ta time tatang never
yu person yuyung nobody
je think jejeng stupid
Only a very small number of roots inherently end in -ng, such as:
meng none, zero
nong not, no
mong to reverse, undo
3.4 Phonot ac t i c s of c ompoundi ng
Situations may occur that contradict the phonotactical rules of Kah as explained in
the chapter on phonology. In these situations the following adjustments are made
for the words to fit Kah phonology:
When a root ending in a nasal stop (either -m, -n or -ng) is put in front of another
root, the nasal stop is made homorganic with the initial consonant of the root
following it:
Kah Reference Grammar 16
chen + pe = chempe
kom + ka = konka
rum + so = runso
When a root ending in a nasal stop (either -m, -n , -s, -l or -ng) is put in front
of f, v,h, l, r or another nasal, the final vowel of this root is reduplicated:
lam + vun = lamavun
When a root ending with -s is put in front of another root starting with anything
other than p, t, k, w or y, the -s is followed by a reduplication of the vowel
preceding it:
bas + no = basano
yus + do = yusudo
When a root ending with -s is put in front of a root starting with y, the
combination ofs and y results in sh:
mas + yun = mashun
papas + yun = papashun
bos + ya = bosha
When a root ending with -s is put in front of a root starting with p, t or k, the -
s is left untouched and directly precedes the second root:
tus + ka = tuska
bas + tan = bastan
tus + pu = tuspu
When a root ending with -l is put in front of a root starting with anything other
than p, tor k, the -l is followed by a reduplication of the vowel preceding it:
mel + mbe = melembe
When a root ending with -l is put in front of a root starting with p, t, or k, the -
l is left untouched and directly precedes the second root:
mul + ka = mulka
bal + ka = balka
17 Kah Reference Grammar
When a root ending in a -i is put in front of a root starting with a y the i is
absorbed into the y:
wai + yun = wayun
nai + ya = naya
But when the result is a combination iya or iyo this is denoted as ia and io
respectively:
fi + ya = fia
ti + yo = tio
When a root ending in a -i is put in front of a root starting with a i the two merge
into a y:
nai + io = nayo
When a root ending in a -i is put in front of a root starting with a vowel, the final i
changes into a y:
vai + an = vayan
poi + an = poyan
When a root ending in a -u is put in front of a root starting with a w the u is
absorbed into the w:
sau + wal = sawal
gau + win = gawi n
3.5 Compound r oot s
Most of the compound roots do not occur on their own but need an affix in order to
become a word. This is done in order to be able to distinguish between words and
roots. For instance the root nu "go" does not mean anything on it's own. It needs to
be combined with the root de"come" in order to produce an actual verb meaning "to
go": denu. Likewise the word for water is aso, which consists of the basic
root so "water, fluid" plus the inanimate nominal prefix a-.
All of the current compound roots in use can be found below:
a er, ehh, indecision
aha - A
an - country, land
ba - father
bai - (to be) broken
bal - nonsense
ban - center, core
bas - stop, end
bau - dog
be - topic marker
bea - room
beli - fennel
ben - child
bena - million
Kah Reference Grammar 18
beo - box, container
bes - gray
bi - organ
bia - to beep
bin - grain, cereal
bo - in, inside
boi - dirt
bol - apple
bon - fall
bos - bag
bu - man, male
bua - brother
bul - B
bum - explode
buna - maize
bus - mash, squash
cha - hole
chai - tea
chal - scoop
cham - carbon
chau - exact, precise
che - hit, touch
chen - shoot
chi - out, outside
chil - thin, chip
chi n - chirp
chis - C
cho - broadcast, let out
choi - sour
chom - tomato
chos - brassica, sinapis, mustard
chu - leave, from
chul - mite
chum - suck
da - wheel, turn
dai - rhythm, thump
dal - computer, digital device
dan -program, application
dau - number, count
de - come
den - quake, shake, rock
deo - pot, crock
di - insect
dia - eight
dil - jingle
din - light
do - house, build
doa - D
doi - problem, issue
don - force, power, strong
du - stone
dua - 10,.000
dun - tooth
ea - interest
ebe - E
en - that, whether
fa - parent
fai - ghost, spirit
fan - iron
fau - short
fe opposite
fen - pepper
feo - F
fi - play
fim - salty
fo - flower
foi - pejorative, no good
fon - punish
fu - smell
fua - garlic
fum - blow
ga - G
gai - thick
gan - fish
gau - donkey, ass
ge - fast, quick
gem - chickpea
gin - mountain
goi - frog
gon - wave
gos - hundred million
gua - gulp
gun - fruit
ha - question
hai - live
ham - rough, coarse
hana - which, which one
hau - laugh
he - disgust
hea - hey
hen - new
hi - tense, tight
him - hear, ear
ho - true
hoi - surprise
hos - H
19 Kah Reference Grammar
hu - low, flat
hua - cough
hum - breath, air
ia - element
ini I, i
io - unit, measurement
ja - do, make
jai - sex
jam - do, make
jau - carry, load
je - think, mind, brain
jem - smoke
ji - music
jin - yellow
jo - know
joi - cool, great
jom - five
ju - feel
jum - heavy
jus - J
ka - speak, say
kai - close, shut
kal - crow
kan - work
kas - billion
kau - coffee
ke - intend, would, want
ken - neck
kes - X
ki food, mouth
kil - gnaw
kim - royal
ko - write
koi - control, power
kom - fake, false
kona - K
kos - lump, knot
ku - front, before
kum - pull
kus - citrus
kwa - one
kwai - click
kwan - study, learn
kwau - duck
kwe - net, web
kwen - Q
kwi - already
kwil - thistle
kwin - crunch
kwis - twitter, tweet
kwo - chicken
kwoi - juniper
la - at
lai - there
lal - L
lam - white
lau - here
le - have
leng - without
leo - help
li - you
lia - worm
lim - light, not heavy
lio - liter
lo - focus
loi - taste, tongue
lon - dense, rich, intense
l u - with, at
l ua - tail
l um - edge, tip, verge
ma - mother
mai - hi, greet
mam - moon
mas - balance
mau - add, also
mbe - part
me - sheep
mea - sister
mel - hundred
mem - M
meng - nothing
meo - cat
mi - ill, sick
mia - dead
mil - open
ming - bad
mo - undo, reverse
moa - bear
moi - tilted
mong - undo, reverse
mos - secretion
mu - cause
mul - cow
mun - cause
mus - gas
mwa - rot
Kah Reference Grammar 20
mwe - soft, gentle
mweng - mean, cruel
mwi - squeak
na - of
nai - long
nai n - N
nam - god
nana - line, stripe
nas - cosmetic product
nau - this way, direction
ne - bird, fly
nen - good
ni - vehicle
nia - car
ni n - sun
ni ni - ten
nis - fortune, chance
no - direction
noi - that way
nong - not, no
nos - pipe, duct
nu - go
num - wall, board, screen
nungu - 10 million
nga - animal
ngi - level
ngo - cloth
ngu - precious, gem, glitter
nya - exponent
nyai - monkey
nyam - act, pretend
nyau - blocked, stuck
nye - happy
nyem - silver
nyo - collective, group
nyom - rub
nyu - orange
nyum - flop, floppy
oho - O
pa - money, worth
pai - grateful, thank
pan - four
pas - magic
pau - give
pe - stick, tree
pea - plant
pel - oak
pem - potato
pena - chestnut
peo - nut
pi - fire, electricity
pil - angle
pili - banana
pim - hang
pina - P
pis - alcohol
po - trade, sell
poi - grass
pol - thousand
pon - push
pos - cucurbita
pu - moral
pun - govern
pya - jump, hop
pyai - deer
pye - shiver
pyen - honk
pyo - dot
pyoi - stain
pyu - needle
ra - sit
rai - brown
ram - pinch, clip
ras - R, rho
rau - scratch, nail
re - solid
ren - order, system
reo - egg
ri - on, active
ria - switch
rim - ripe, fullgrown
rio - hour
ris - rattle
ro - circle
roa - growl
roi - weasle
ron - combine
ru - conflict
rum - boil
sa - shape
sai - cultivate, grow
san - color
sana - paste
sau - fat, grease
se - meat
sen - limb
21 Kah Reference Grammar
seo - cup
ses - S
si - few. little
sin - little, small
sina - light, subtle
sis - hide, secret
so - water, fluid
soi - please, request
sol - black
su - grape
sun - two
sus - quiet
sha - card
shai - like that
sham - warm
shau - like this
she - glass
shem - fold
shi - like, as
shi m clean
shi na - cloud
shis - hiss
sho - sheet, paper
shoi - slide, slip
shon - shower
shu - sweet
shum - sand
ska - blue
ski - frame
sko - mix
sku - knot
sta - nine
sto - but, however
stu - friend
swi - shrill
ta - time
tai - then
tais - T
tal - machine, device
tan - picture
tau - now
te - able, can
ten - able, can
teo - seven
ti - above, up
tia - cap, lid
til - small portable device
tim - must
tio - best, worst, most
to - happen, time
toi - stick, sticky
tol - swathe
tom - to become
tos - about
tu - cut
tua - crackle
tum - through, beyond
tus - permit
usu - U
va - link, related
vai - six
van - shield, protect
vau - elastic
ve - peace, calm
ven - cold
vi - too
vo - substance
voi V
von - bitter
vos - legume
vu - down, under
vun - gold
wa - I, me
wai - again
wal - synthetic material
wali - camelid
wan - big
wana - woman
was - pear
wau - this
we - state
wen - high, tall
wi - much, many
wil - pig
win - horse
wisti - 100,000
wiwa - W
woi - mistake
wong - anger
wu - how very
wua - howl
ya - it, thing
yai - pain
yam - red
yau - excuse
ye - that
Kah Reference Grammar 22
yem - three
yi - fear
yi l- Y
yi n - other
yo - all, every
yoi woe
yol - finger
yom - swap, exchange
yu - he, she, it, person
yun - see, eye
yus - art
za - take, use
zai - dear
zam - magnet
zau - itch, irritate
zawa - Z
ze - back
zen- danger
zeo - hump, swelling
zi - hair
zia - care
zi m - buzz
zo - fly, bug
zoi - grain
zon - sleep
zu - cook
zua - serve
zun - honey
23 Kah Reference Grammar
4 - Ver b ex t ensi ons
Verb extensions in Kah consist of prefixed verbs altering the meaning of the verb
they are attached to. This means that a single verb stem can be used to built new
verbs from in a standardized manner. This method has proved to be a rich source of
verbal derivation in many natural and constructed languages. For constructed
languages the main benefit lies in the instant recognizability and logic it adds to the
lexicon as well as the fact it keeps the minimum number of roots needed for a
mature lexicon beneath acceptable perimeters.
4.1 Phonot ac t i c r ul es
The phonotactic rules of verb extensions differ slightly from those of normal
compounds. When a common verbal derivational prefix ending in a nasal stop
(either -m, -n or -ng) is put in front of f,v, h, l, r, a consonant combination (kw, sw
and py) or another nasal stop, the final nasal is dropped:
jam + le = jale (and not: *jamal e)
mun + ren = muren (and not: *munuren)
tom + reven = toreven (and not: *tomoreven)
4.2 Rever si ve
The reversive extensions expressed the undoing of an action and is formed by
prefixing the verb mong "to undo" to the original verb. Compare:
Verb Translation Reversi ve Translation
jo to know monjo to forget
mas to be stable momas to destabilize
zon to sleep monzon to wake up
nenu to fly monenu to land

Kah Reference Grammar 24
4.3 Per mi ssi ve
Permissive verbs are formed with the root ten- expressing "to be able" and express
something rather hard to describe. It denotes that an action or quality is possible,
advisory or morally right:
Verb Translation Permissive Translation
yun to look tenyun to be visible
jo to know tenjo to be famous
kuka to predict tenkuka to be predictable
bum to explode tembum to be explosive
4.4 Causat i ve
A causative verbs express an action is caused to happen. The verb mun "to cause"
is prefixed to the basic verb stem:
Verb Translation Causati ve Translation
kwan to learn mukwan to teach
bas to stop mumbas to halt, make stop
him to hear muhim to play a song
yai to hurt munyai to inflict pain, hurt
4.5 I nt ensi ve
Besides derivation by means of combining roots or attaching affixes, there is a more
internal way of extending the meaning of words. This method involves a partial
reduplication of the initial syllable of a word. This partial reduplication involves the
initial consonant, stripped of an eventual glide following it, and only the initial vowel:
Word Intensive form

ka kaka
denu dedenu
chempe chechempe
Words with the syllabic structure CVN instead of prefixing this reduplication to the
word root, add the reduplication to the end of the word:
25 Kah Reference Grammar
Word Intensive form

dun dundu
ban bamba
jam janja
Words with the syllabic structure CVV add the reduplication to the end as well:
Word Intensive form

jai jajai
toi totoi
koi kokoi
4.5.1 Ver bs
Intensive verb forms express a certain kind of intensity in an action:
Word Translation Intensive form Translation

nu to go, motion nunu to move
si little, few sisi only, just
pim to hang pimpi to dangle
Other intensive verbs have a more repetitive, habitual or continuative nature,
meaning something is happening over and over again:
4.5.1.1 I t er at i ve
Iterative verbs express the repetition of an action:
Verb Translation Intensive form Translation

pya to jump papya to hop
che to hit cheche to beat (up)
pim to hang pimpi to dangle
Kah Reference Grammar 26
4.5.1.2 Habi t uat i ve
Habituative verbs denote actions that are carried out regularly or habitually.
Compare:
Verb Translation Intensive form Translation

denu to go dedenu to attend, go to
ka to say kaka to call
jam to do janja to have the custom of
4.5.1.3 Cont i nuat i ve
Continuative verbs express an action is of a perpetual nature:
Word Translation Intensive form Translation

nuda to spin nunuda to rotate
din light dindi to shine
fi to play fifi to be playful
4.5.2 Nouns
Some intensive forms are nouns. These nouns express habituative or inalienable
ideas.
4.5.2.1 Habi t uat i ve
Many of those express a habutiative idea us as an occupation ("someone habitually
carrying out an action"):
Verb Translation Intensive noun Translation

muno to drive mumuno driver
zu to cook zuzu cook
ko writing koko writer
Note this practice is not compulsory. Many professions are expressed by words that
are no intensive forms:
27 Kah Reference Grammar
umukwan - teacher
udaiche - percussionist
urenka - judge
4.5.2.2 I nal i enabl es
Another class of nouns describing inalienable things like family members and body
parts too is characterized by reduplication:
mama - mommy
baba - daddy
memea - sister
bamba - heart
sese - muscle
titi - head
Root Translation Intensive noun Translation

ma mother mama mommy
ban central, core bamba heart
ti up, above titi head
Kinship terms expressed by a reduplication are informal terms expressing a
personal relationship caracterized by endearment. Compare:
Noun Translation Inalienable Translation

uma mother mama mommy
uba father baba daddy
mea sister memea sis
bua brother bubua bro
The basic roots used in the words above also occur in formal speech as honorifics:
ba - mister
ma - miss, mrs.,ms.
bua - young man, used for male children
mea - young woman, used for female children
Kah Reference Grammar 28
5 Wor d or der
Kah is a very flexible language when it comes to word order. Word order can be
adapted according to personal intuition without losing it's power of expression.
Rather, the way things are dislocated really says a lot about the nuances the
speaker intends. This translates to a basic very simple word order that is very
sensitive for topicalization, where dislocation of words means they get extra weight
within the sentence.
5.1 Ver b phr ases
Verbs are surrounded by their arguments in Kah. It is an SVO-language, meaning
that the subject precedes the verb and its object(s) follows it:
Malikah koyun kaiko
MALIKA READ BOOK
Malika read the book
Ester nenju shuki
ESTHER LIKE CANDY
Esther likes candy
Kari m pau mea apa
KARIM GIVE SISTER MONEY
Karim gave his sister the money
5.2 Noun phr ases
In unmarked word order, the head of a noun phrase precedes all of its modifiers:
sunda saska
BIKE BLUE
blue bike
lanki wau
RICE THIS
this rice
29 Kah Reference Grammar
ado wan jom ye
HOUSE BIG FIVE THAT
those five big houses
5.3 Obl i que phr ases
Oblique phrases (mostly expressing time and location) may both precede or follow
the verb phrase:
Pitah jam zemanta
PETER DO TOMORROW
Peter will do it tomorrow
zemanta Pitah jam
TOMORROW PETER DO
tomorrow Peter will do it
om jara lau
OPT PUT HERE
let's put it over here
ze fito denu soza binso
AFTER GAME GO DRINK BEER
after the game we'll drink beer
5.4 Topi c al i zat i on
Now, things get interesting when a speaker for some reason does not use the
standard word order. While doing this, he'll assign some kind of hierarchy to certain
constituents within the sentence. This is called topicalization, which basically is
nothing more than placing the things you want to say most in front of the sentence.
Compare:
Jan nenju Merih
J OHN LOVE MARY
John loves Mary
Merih Jan nenju
MARY J OHN LOVE
it is Mary that John loves
Kah Reference Grammar 30
When grammatical roles might get unclear from the shift in word order, the topic
marker be is placed directly behind the dislocated element in the sentence:
Merih be Jan nenj u
MARY TOP J OHN LOVE
it is Mary that John loves
binki be paza wana
BREAD TOP BUY WOMAN
it is bread that the woman bought
Finally, there is a focus marker lo in order to highlight words when they occur in
normal, unmarked word order:
Jan lo nenj u Meri h
J OHN FOC LOVE MARY
it is John who loves Mary
wana paza binki lo
WOMAN BUY BREAD FOC
it is bread the woman bought
In order to understand the difference between topic and focus, please note the
subtle difference in meaning in the following sentences:
-TOPIC -FOCUS
wana paza binki
WOMAN BUY BREAD
the woman bought bread

-TOPIC +FOCUS
wana lo paza binki
WOMAN FOC BUY BREAD
it is the woman who bought bread

-TOPIC +FOCUS
wana paza binki lo
WOMAN BUY BREAD FOC
it is bread the woman bought

+TOPIC -FOCUS
binki be wana paza
BREAD TOP WOMAN BUY
it is bread the women bought

31 Kah Reference Grammar
5.4.1 Noun phr ases
When modifiers are topicalized, their relationship with the head noun changes as
well in terms of meaning. When a stative verb precedes a noun, the attributive
nature of this verb shift towards a more predicative meaning:
titi ngo yam
CHADOR BE RED
red chador
nia gele
CAR FAST
fast car
yam titingo
BE RED CHADOR
the chador is red
gele nia
FAST CAR
the car is fast
Kah Reference Grammar 32
6 Conj unc t i on
When linking phrases, Kah makes a distiction between coordinating and
subordinating conjunction.
6.1 Coor di nat i ng c onj unc t i on
Coordinating conjunctors link two complete independent sentences while expressing
the relationship to one another. The entire list of coordinating conjunctors in Kah
reads:
ai - and
esto - but, however, and not
eom - or
echu - so, therefore
Examples of the use of coordinating conjunctors are:
Wa kiza ai yu zon
I EAT AND HE SLEEP
I ate and he slept
Wa kiza esto yu zon
I EAT BUT HE SLEEP
I ate but he slept
Keju kiza eom zon?
WANT EAT OR SLEEP?
Do you want to eat or sleep?
Kike echu kiza
BE HUNGRY SO EAT
I was hungry so I ate
6.2 Subor di nat i ng c onj unc t i on
Subordinating conjunctors introduce a complement phrase in which the verb is a
conjunctive form. Kah has the following subordinating conjunctors:
33 Kah Reference Grammar
en - that, whether
eta - when (temporal)
tabo - while, during, as
tonto - if (conditional)
chumun - because, since
eno - in order that (purpose)
ewe - even when, even if, albeit, still
eye - anyway, although, on the other hand
Examples of the use of subordinating conjunctors are:
Yu ka en semi
HE SAY THAT BE SICK
He said he was sick
Bas yonka eta nubo
STOP CONVERSE WHEN ENTER
They stopped talking when he entered
Kava yu tabo la kiza
CALL HIM WHILE BE AT EAT
I called him while he was eating
Denu pau tonto li papau
GO GIVE IF YOU PAY
I'll give it if you pay
Yu jam chumun wa haka
HE DO BECAUSE I ASK
He did it because I asked him
Pau apa eno tengi paza
GIVE MONEY SO CAN BUY
Give me money so I can buy it
Ke jam ewe li tusunka
INTEND DO EVEN WHEN YOU FORBID
He would do it even if you told him off
Denu jam eye nong keju
GO DO ALTHOUGH NOT WANT
I'll do it although I don't want to
Kah Reference Grammar 34
6.3 Topi c al i zat i on of c ompl ement phr ases
When a subordinate clause is moved to the front of the sentence and therefore
topicalized, this topicalization can be made visible by adding the focus marker lo.
This is optional, however. Compare:
En semi lo, yu ka
THAT BE SICK FOC HE SAY
He was sick, he said
Eta la kiza lo, kava yu
WHEN BE AT EAT FOC CALL HIM
While he was eating, I called him
Tonto li papau lo, denu pau
IF YOU PAY FOC I PAY
If you pay, I will give it to you
Chumun wa haka lo, yu jam
BECAUSE I ASK FOC HE DO
Because I asked him, he did it
Eno tengi paza lo, pau apa
SO CAN BUY FOC, GIVE MONEY
In order to buy it, give me money.
Ewe li tusunka lo, ke jam
EVEN WHEN YOU FORBID FOC, HE DO
Even if you told him off, he would
do it
Eye nong keju lo, denu jam
ALTHOUGH NOT WANT FOC, GO DO
Although I don't want to, I'll do it
Yu ka en semi
HE SAY THAT BE SICK
He said he was sick
Kava yu eta la kiza
CALL HIM WHILE BE AT EAT
I called him while he was eating
Denu pau tonto li papau
GO GIVE IF YOU PAY
I'll give it if you pay
Yu jam chumun wa haka
HE DO BECAUSE I ASK
He did it because I asked him
Pau apa eno tengi paza
GIVE MONEY SO CAN BUY
Give me money so I can buy it
Ke jam ewe li tusunka
INTEND DO EVEN WHEN YOU FORBID
He would do it even if you told him off
Denu jam eye nong keju
GO DO ALTHOUGH NOT WANT
I'll do it although I don't want to

35 Kah Reference Grammar
7 Nouns
There is no inflectional morphology involved with nouns anywhere. Nouns have one
form only and don't inflect for case, gender or number. There are no definite or
indefinite articles.
7.1 Case
Grammatical case is expressed by word order, logic and a topic marker when
necessary. In unmarked word order, the subject precedes the verb:
uma janzu
MOTHER COOK
mother is cooking
Direct objects follow the verb:
uma janzu lanki
MOTHER COOK RICE
mother is cooking rice
Indirect objects can either follow or precede the direct object:
uma janzu lanki wa
MOTHER COOK RICE I
mother is cooking rice for me
uma janzu wa lanki
MOTHER COOK I RICE
mother is cooking rice for me
There is no separate marking for indirect objects. The difference between direct and
indirect objects is left to logic and context:
yu pau wa apa
HE GIVE I MONEY
he gave me money
*he gave me to the money
Kah Reference Grammar 36
When one of the constituents is topicalized and moved to the front of the sentence
thus breaking the basic unmarked SVO-order, there is the option to mark this
constituent with the marker bewhich is placed directly after it:
lanki be uma janzu
RICE TOP MOTHER COOK
it is rice mother cooked
*the rice cooked mother
apa be yu pau wa
MONEY TOP HE GIVE I
it was money he gave to me
*the money gave him to me
7.2 Gender
There is no overt distinction between nouns with an intrinsic masculine or feminine
load:
uba - father
uma - mother
wana - woman
bua - brother
The roots bu for "man" and wana for "woman" are used to make new words with
this load in order to indicate the sex of a being when necessary:
ume - sheep
bume - ram
waname - ewe
These roots usually are prefixed, but sometimes they occur at the end of words too:
uva - spouse
vabu - husband
vawana - wife
37 Kah Reference Grammar
7.3 Number
Number and definiteness is derived from the context or expressed with quantifiers or
deictic markers:
nia
CAR
the/a car/cars
nia wi
CAR MANY
many cars
nia sun
CAR TWO
two cars
nia yo
CAR ALL
all cars/every car
7.3.1 Col l ec t i ve
Collective nouns are characterized by the ending in the root nyo meaning
"collection, many of". Please keep in mind this is a closed class and not a suffix
which can actively be applied to nouns in order to pluralize them. Examples of words
containing this root are:
unyo - people, ethnic grouping
Majaranyo - the Hungarian people
penyo - forest
jinyo - band
Some words without this root nyo have an intrinsic collective meaning and are a
mass noun on their own:
aso - water
shum - grains
apa - money
Kah Reference Grammar 38
Also note substances like elements in general have no separate collective form
altough in many instances they do express mass nouns:
vungu - gold
ni nia - helium
kwengu - silk
fangu - iron
Mass nouns too can be modified by quantifiers or other nouns in order to denote a
more specific amount:
binso yem - three (glasses of) beer
seo na aso - a cup of water
simbe chu vungu - a piece of gold
39 Kah Reference Grammar
8 Pr onouns
Kah has several sets of pronouns that can function as an subject or object of
oblique utterance in a nominal way. Besides the set of personal pronouns, there is
an impersonal pronoun, reciprocity is expressed by a pronoun, there is a set of
reflexive pronouns, as well as deictic and interrogative pronouns:
8.1 Per sonal pr onouns
There are eight personal pronouns in Kah. As you can see, the plural forms are
simply a combination of the singular forms with the collective marker -nyo:
SINGULAR PLURAL
wa I wanyo we
li you linyo you
yu he/she yunyo they
ya it yanyo they
The difference between yu and ya is a matter of animacy. Animate objects are
referred to withyu and inanimate objects with ya. Living beings such as human
beings and animals are referred to with yu, and anything else with ya.
There is no gender marking in pronouns. Yu can either mean "he" or "she". When it
is absolutely necessary to express gender, the pronoun must be swapped for a
common noun or noun phrase such as ubu the man or wana the woman.
8.2 I ndef i ni t e pr onoun
The pronoun al expresses indefinite subject in impersonal utterances like:
al minza sunda
IMP STEAL BIKE
They stole my bike
al nong tengi yun kochi jesa kaiko
IMP NOT CAN LOOK COVER J UDGE BOOK
You can't judge a book by it's cover
Kah Reference Grammar 40
To understand the difference between an personal "they" and an impersonal one,
compare:
yunyo ka en rupunto la bandola
THEY SAY THAT RIOT BE AT TOWN
They (i.e. a specified group of people) say there are riots in the center
al ka en rupunto la bandola
IMP SAY THAT RIOT BE AT TOWN
They (i.e. rumours) say there are riots in the center
8.3 Rec i pr oc al pr onoun
Reciprocal pronouns express a relation between the complements of a verbal
clause which is expressed by means of the word "each other" in English. In Kah, this
relation is expressed by the pronoun noyom:
meo ai bau janja nong nenju noyom
CAT AND DOG USUALLY NOT LIKE RECIP
Cats and dogs don't like each other
uyu maika noyom
PERSON GREET RECIP
The people greeted one another
8.4 Ref l ex i ve pr onouns
In order to form reflexive pronouns, the focus marker lo is added to the basic
personal pronouns:
SINGULAR PLURAL
walo myself walonyo ourselves
lilo yourself lilonyo yourselves
yulo him/herself yulonyo themselves
yalo itself yalonyo themselves
Examples of the use of these pronouns show the function closely resembles
ordinary reflexive pronouns in English or Chinese:
41 Kah Reference Grammar
shi m walonyo
WASH SELF:1PL
we washed ourselves
yun yulo la shefan
LOOK SELF:3SG LOC MIRROR
she looked at herself in the mirror
yun lilo!
LOOK SELF:2SG
look at yourself!
8.4.1 Logophor i c i t y
Reflexive pronouns also function as logophoric pronouns which mark the subject of
a dependent clause as identical to the subject of the main clause. Please note the
difference between:
Susan je yu jam
SUSAN THINK SHE DO
Susan thinks she'll do it
("she" referring to someone else)
uba zenka yu fon wa
FATHER WARN HE PUNISH ME
father warned me he'll punish me
("he" referring to someone else)
Susan je yulo jam
SUSAN THINK HERSELF DO
Susan thinks she'll do it
("she" referring to Susan herself)
uba zenka yulo fon wa
FATHER WARN HIMSELF PUNISH ME
father warned me he'll punish me
("he" referring to father himself)
8.5 Dei c t i c pr onouns
Deictic marking in Kah has two gradations, one expressing objects close to the
speaker, and one for objects further away:
wau - this, these
ye - that, those
These words are put after the nouns they modify:
nia wau - this car
yudo ye - that house
Kah Reference Grammar 42
There is no marking of number when referring to plural objects:
nia jom wau - these five cars
wonyo wau - this group
ukwan ye - those students / that student
Their unbound nominal forms are:
awau - this (inanimate) awau kope - this is a pen
uwau - this (animate) uwau uma - this is my mother
aye - that (inanimate) aye nia - that is a car
uye - that (animate) uye bau - that is a dog
8.6 I nt er r ogat i ves
Interrogatives have in common they all start with ha-. The complete list of
interrogatives is:
haya - what?
hayu - who?
hala - where?
hana - which?
hashi - how?
hasa - what kind of?
hata - when?
hamun - why?
hano - where to?
hachu - where from?
hawi - how much/many?
Examples of the use of each of these are:
haya jam?
WHAT DO
What did you do?
hayu weyun?
WHO SEE
Whom did you see?
43 Kah Reference Grammar
hala ya?
WHERE IT?
Where is it?
hana san nenj u?
WHICH COLOR LIKE
Which color do you like?
hashi jo?
HOW KNOW
How did you know that?
hasa nia aye?
WHAT KIND CAR THAT?
What kind of car is that?
hata de?
WHEN COME
When will they come?
hamun nong haka?
WHY NOT ASK?
Why didn't you ask?
hano denu?
WHERE GO?
Where are you going?
hachu umukwan?
WHERE FROM TEACHER
Where does the teacher come from?
hawi tengi kiza?
HOW MUCH CAN EAT
how much can you eat?
Note how the adjectival forms hana and hasa tend to precede the noun they modify
rather than to occur in the position following their head like modifiers usually do. This
is due to topicalization again. This is very common for all question words. These
rarely are marked by the topic marker be. Again, context is everything:
Kah Reference Grammar 44
Hayu be weyun?
WHO TOP SEE?
Whom did you see?

Hayu weyun?
WHO SEE?
Whom did you see?
(Or: "Who saw it?")
8.7 Pr o-dr op
A pro-drop language basically means that pronouns such as the subject and/or
object of a verb can be omitted ("dropped") when it is obvious from the context who
the agents are in a sentence. In Kah, this context-dependance is embraced:
ya wepi
IT BURN
it is burning
yunyo kwan Nihonka
THEY LEARN J APANESE
they are studying Japanese
wa nong jo ya
I NOT KNOW IT
I don't know
wepi
BURN
it is burning
kwan Nihonka
LEARN J APANESE
they are studying Japanese
nong jo
NOT KNOW
I don't know
Pronouns involved in possessive constructions as possessor are dropped easily
also, along with the possessive marker na:
titi na wa yai
HEAD OF I HURT
my head aches
uma na wa denu chipola
MOTHER OF I GO MARKET
my mother went to the market
titi yai
HEAD HURT
my head aches
uma denu chipola
MOTHER GO MARKET
my mother went to the market
In this manner, depending on the conversation preceding a simple phrase, it gets to
mean different things. Take for instance the following phrase:
weyun tanu
SEE MOVIE
45 Kah Reference Grammar
When accompanied by the following preceding questions, it gets to mean:
"Have you seen this movie?"
-Weyun tanu.
I saw the movie
"Has he read the book?"
-Weyun tanu.
He saw the movie
"What have they been doing?"
-Weyun tanu.
Watching a movie
This principle of terseness also extends to things like plurality or aspect:
paza binki
BUY BREAD
"Have you bought anything?"
- Paza binki.
I bought a bread
"Did you bring the five loafs I asked for?"
- Paza binki.
I bought the bread
"Have you bought enough bread for the entire orphanage?"
- Paza binki.
I bought the bread
Also, note how none of the verbs below are marked for aspect, yet how this is
obvious from the temporal expressions already:
ni nye kwan
YESTERDAY STUDY
Yesterday I studied
zemanta kwan
TOMORROW STUDY
Tomorrow I will study
Kah Reference Grammar 46
tau kwan
NOW STUDY
Now I'm studying
8.8 Rel at i ve cl auses
There is no separate relative marker in Kah. Relative clauses are characterized by
the double expression of the constituent that is relativized. Usually, this is done with
simple pronouns. The noun that is relativized is followed directly by a pronoun:
simbu yu fiti
BOY HE WIN
the boy that wins
literally: "the boy he wins"
fanaiku sin ya tengi
LOCOMOTIVE LITTLE IT CAN
the little engine that could
literally: "the little engine it could"
nia ya bai
CAR IT BROKEN
the car that is broken
literally: "the car it is broken"
Also, the relative constituent tends to be topicalized and to be moved to the front of
the sentence, thus triggering topicalization marked by be:
nia be wa paza ya
CAR TOP I BUY IT
the car I bought
literally: "the car I bought it"
yudo be wa denu lai
HOUSE TOP I GO THERE
the house where I went to
literally: "the house I went to there"
Although the relative phrase tends to be move to the front of the sentence due
topicalization, it also can occur in different positions. Compare:
47 Kah Reference Grammar
nia be yu paza ya wa weyun
CAR TOP HE BUY IT I SEE
I saw the car that he bought
literally: "the car he buy it I see"
wa weyun nia be yu paza ya
I SEE CAR TOP HE BUY IT
I saw the car that he bought
literally: "I see the car he bought it"
nia be yu paza ya bai
CAR TOP HE BUY IT BROKEN
the car he bought is broken
literally: "the car he bought it is broken"
Relative phrases are often used in the way participles are in English:
wehim une yu la jika
HEAR BIRD IT BE AT SING
I heard the singing bird
literally: "I heard the bird it is singing"
wamai kenyo yunyo la fiti
CHEER FOR TEAM THEY BE AT WIN
They cheered for the winning team
literally: "They cheered for the team they are winning"
Kah Reference Grammar 48
9 Possessi on
Kah has a possessive marker closely resembling the English word of for simple
possessive constructions. In such constructions the possessed object is put in front
of the possessor and they are linked by the marker na:
nia na wa
CAR OF ME
my car
podo na Mohamed
SHOP OF MOHAMMED
Mohammed's shop
When the possessed object and the possessor are modified by numerals, adjectives
and such, the marker is placed in between both nominal phrases:
nia wan pesan jom na Yoni h
CAR BIG GREEN FIVE OF J ONI
Joni's five big green cars
ben yem na wana pesa ye
CHILD THREE OF MOTHER SKINNY THAT
The three children of that skinny woman over there
9.1 Ot her uses of na
Pseudo-possessive relations in English can be expressed with na as well:
yudo na fai pol
HOUSE OF SPIRIT THOUSAND
the house of a thousand spirits
An other example of a pseudo-possessive relation are constructions involving an
adjectival use of na:
ukoiru na sunupuno
REBEL OF SEPARATISM
a separatist rebel
49 Kah Reference Grammar
amunjoju na haijono
EXPLANATION OF BIOLOGY
the biological explanation
vonu na musko
CURRENT OF ATMOSPHERE
an atmospheric current
As well as ordinal numerals:
kwanya na kwa
LESSON OF ONE
the first lesson
yudo na yem la yino
HOUSE OF THREE BE AT LEFT
the third house on the left side
9.2 Par t i t i ve
Sometimes it might be helpful to specify the nature of the possession. For example,
the possessive link of an author to his book is of a different nature than the one of a
person buying that very same book in a store. This is called a partitive. Compare the
difference between:
kaiko chu koko
BOOK FROM AUTHOR
the author's book
kaiko na poza
BOOK OF CUSTOMER
the customer's book
Also, when a material from which something is made is involved, the possessive link
is expressed with chu:
dun chu vungu
TOOTH FROM GOLD
an golden tooth
Kah Reference Grammar 50
sengo chu kwengu
ROBE OF SILK
a silk robe
seo chu shedu
CUP FROM CHINA
a china cup
Mind the difference between the relations expressed below:
huda na pevo
CART OF WOOD
a cart of wood (i.e.: a cart loaded with wood)
huda chu pevo
CART FROM WOOD
a wooden cart (a cart made out of wood)
The same word chu is used in constructions like:
ni ni chu wanyo
TEN OF WE
ten of us
sumbe chu menyo
HALF OF HERD
half the herd
51 Kah Reference Grammar
10 Ver bs
Verbs in Kah do not inflect for tense, gender, number. This means they have one
basic form that is modified by individual constituents surrounding it.
10.1 Aspec t
Kah has no tenses like in English. Only three aspects are marked: perfect, imperfect
and future aspect, and those are indicated only when they can not be derived from
the context and it is necessary to express them in order to be able to understand a
sentence. The aspect markers and their independent meanings are:
kwi - already, indicates the action has already taken place
la - to be at, indicates the action is still taking place
denu - to go, indicates an action will take place in the future
kwiku - before, ever, indicates an action has ever taken place
lum - about to, on the brink of, indicates an action is about to take place
janja - usually, have the habit of, indicates an action usually takes place
Examples of the use of these markers are:
Jan kwi kwanza
J OHN ALREADY DO HOMEWORK
John did his homework
Jan la kwanza
J OHN BE AT DO HOMEWORK
John is doing his homework
Jan denu kwanza
J OHN GO DO HOMEWORK
John will do his homework
Jan kwiku kwanza ha?
J OHN EVER DO HOMEWORK Q.
Has John ever done his homework?
Jan lum kwanza
J OHN ABOUT DO HOMEWORK Q.
John was just about to do his homework
Kah Reference Grammar 52
Jan janja kwanza la zekita
J OHN USUALLY DO HOMEWORK Q.
John usually does his homework in the evening
The fact tense is not expressed means there is no one-on-one translation possible
in many cases. A sentence like uma la kiza can have various meanings in the
English counterpart translation:
uma la kiza
MOTHER BE AT EAT
mother is eating
mother was eating
mother will be eating
When a sentence needs to be more specific, these markers can be combined, but
this is rarely necessary:
uma denu la kiza
MOTHER GO BE AT EAT
mother will be eating
10.2 Mood
Besides the aspect markers, there are some markers expressing a number of
moods:
ke - intend, indicates the action could take place, "would", "how I wish"
om - "let's!" "may you" indicates the wish that the action takes place
tinti - should, ought to, indicates the action should be taking place, "should"
ke kiza!
INTEND EAT
how I would like to eat that!
om denu!
OPT GO
let's go!
tinti ka si tunti !
SHOULD SPEAK FEW SURPASS
you should talk less!
53 Kah Reference Grammar
10.2.1 I mper at i ve
The imperative mood in Kah usually is unmarked. In written form it often is
characterized by the use of an exclamation mark:
wehim wa!
LISTEN ME
listen to me!
de!
COME
come here!
In spoken language, the stress which is associated with an imperative clause tends
to cause the stressed vowel to be elongated:
de!
denu!
wehim!
[de:]
[de:nu]
[wehi:m]
Sometimes the imperative verb is accompanied by the focus marker lo to enhance
the stress:
lo wehi m wa!
FOC LISTEN ME
now, listen to me!
de lo!
COME FOC
come here, now!
A polite request is introduced by the verb soi which translates as please in most
settings.
soi wehim wa
PLEASE LISTEN ME
please listen to me
soi nubo
PLEASE ENTER
do come in
Kah Reference Grammar 54
An adhortative is accompanied by the interjection oi:
oi jam!
ADHORT DO
well come on!
oi pon dodil !
ADHORT PUSH DOORBELL
ring the bell already!
10.2.2 Conj unc t i ve
The conjunctive mood usually is introduced by the conjunctive clause marker en
which is followed directly by a verbal clause:
keju en wehi m wa
WANT THAT LISTEN ME
I want you to listen to me
uba kai en nong tus
FATHER SAY THAT NOT BE PERMITTED
Father said that it was not allowed
nong jo en de
NOT KNOW THAT COME
I don't know whether he comes
Of course, when necessary, personal pronouns can be included in conjunctive
phrases:
nong jo en yu de
NOT KNOW THAT HE COME
I don't know whether he comes
keju en li wehim wa
WANT THAT YOU LISTEN ME
I want you to listen to me
Also, the marker en may be omitted when the relation between the various clauses
and their constituents is obvious:
55 Kah Reference Grammar
nong jo yu de
NOT KNOW HE COME
I don't know whether he comes
keju li wehim wa
WANT YOU LISTEN ME
I want you to listen to me
10.3 Loc at i ve ver bs
Kah has no class of prepositions. The functions that are expressed by prepositions
in other languages such as English are expressed by locative verbs in Kah. Please
compare the following equivalents in Kah and English:
seki bo vembeo
MEAT BE INSIDE FRIDGE
the meat is inside the fridge
simwana ganu denu ustu
GIRL SWIM GO FRIEND
the girl swam towards her friend
Each of these locative verbs can occur as an independent verb:
meo hura bo soni
CAT LIE BE INSIDE BOAT
the cat is lying inside the boat
meo bo soni
CAT BE INSIDE BOAT
the cat is inside the boat
meo pya denu fia
CAT J UMP GO TOY
the cat jumped to the toy
meo denu fia
CAT GO TOY
the cat went to the toy
The verbal character of the words is evident from the fact they can be preceded by
ordinary aspect markers:
Kah Reference Grammar 56
Kofi h la denu kwando
KOFI BE AT GOING TO SCHOOL
Kofi is going to school
om denu bandola!
LET'S GO TOWN
let's go to town!
Akuh kwi bo kwando
AKU ALREADY BE IN SCHOOL
Aku is already in the school
tinti bo
SHOULD BE INSIDE
it's supposed to be inside
10.4 Pr eposi t i onal ver bs
Besides the locative, there are many prepositional functions expressed by verbs:
auko wau tos haijono
TEXT THIS BE ABOUT BIOLOGY
this text is about biology
yu de leleng aya
HE COME BE WITHOUT THING
he came empty-handed
bau leleng dun
DOG WITHOUT TEETH
a dog without teeth
shuki wau tos bemben
CANDY THIS BE FOR GRANDCHILD
this candy is for my grandchild
Anup jam chau shi uba
ANUP DO BE EXACT BE LIKE FATHER
Anup did it exactly like his father
57 Kah Reference Grammar
10.5 Ser i al ver bs
Serial verb constructions basically are a string of verbs having the same subject. In
Kah, verbs can be juxtaposed in order to build an expression. In the following
sentences there is more than one main verb:
Yunyo de weyun wa
THEY COME SEE ME
They came to see me
Literally: "They come see me"
Nubo naini denu bandola
ENTER BUS GO TOWN
They took the bus to town
Literally: "(They) entered the bus go town"
Simbu za champe janko senka
BOY TAKE PENCIL WRITE NAME
The boy wrote his name with a pencil
Literally: "The boy took pencil wrote name"
Serial verb constructions express many things covered by prepositions in languages
like English, like:
- location
- instrumental
- comparative
- finitive
- purpose
10.5.1 Loc at i ve
Locative serial verb constructions have a function that corresponds with that of
prepositions in other languages. Compare the following Kah sentence and its
English counterpart:
Ya nai nu wi chu lau denu Pil imas
IT BE FAR VERY LEAVE HERE GO PLYMOUTH
It is very far from here to Plymouth
Bau gevu de wa
DOG RUN COME ME
The dog ran towards me
Kah Reference Grammar 58
10.5.2 I nst r ument al
Instrumental serial verb constructions indicate by or with which an action is
accomplished. In short, it tells with what something is done:
Yu za tuya tu seki
SHE TOOK KNIFE CUT MEAT
She cut the meat with a knife
Yu le si mpe pomporo moso
SHE HOLD STICK STIR MILK
She stirred the milk with a stick
10.5.3 Compar i son
Kah has no separate comparative or superlative form for qualifiers such as
adjectives. Instead, a serial verb construction containing a qualifying verb is
combined with the verb tunti "to surpass, be better than" is used:
Maik nenje tunti li
MIKE BE SMART SURPASS YOU
Mike is smarter than you
Mul wan tunti me
COW BE BIG SURPASS SHEEP
Cows are bigger than sheep
When a superlative meaning is expressed, the verb tio expresses the notion of
"surpassing all".
Jan Si n wen tio
J OHN LITTLE BE TALL SURPASS ALL
Little John is the tallest.
10.5.4 Fi ni t i ve
Finitive serial verb constructions express the action is carried out to the end. This
usually is done by incorporating the verb bas to end, finish, but verbs like mimia to
kill and kai to closealso occur in this respect.
Bau kiza seki bas
DOG EAT MEAT FINISH
The dog ate up the meat
59 Kah Reference Grammar
Winyo cheche yu mimia
CROWD BEAT HIM KILL
The crowd beat him to death
Yu bunche doki kai
HE SLAM DOOR CLOSE
He slammed the door shut
10.5.5 Pur pose
In many instances when two verbs are juxtaposed, this expresses purpose:
Yunyo de weyun wa
THEY COME SEE ME
They came to see me
Denu ka yu!
GO TELL HIM!
Go and tell him!
The very same idea could be expressed with the conjunctor eno in order to without
making any difference:
Yunyo de eno weyun wa
THEY COME TO SEE ME
They came to see me
Denu eno ka yu!
GO TO TELL HIM!
Go and tell him!
Kah Reference Grammar 60
11 Quant i f i er s
Quantifiers are determiners indicating quantity such as three, all and many.
11.1 Numer al s
As in many languages, numerals are caught between classes. In their most common
attributive form they resemble common adjectives and therefore follow the nouns
they modify:
nia vai
CAR SIX
six cars
bukim yem
KING THREE
three kings
Kah numerals were designed to be easily distinguishable from one another:
Kah Translation
meng nil, zero
kwa one
sun two
yem three
pan four
jom five
vai six
teo seven
dia eight
sasta nine
ni ni ten
61 Kah Reference Grammar
11.1.1 Tens
Tens are created by simply combining the words for a numeral with the word nini for
"ten"':
sun + nini sunini twenty
yem + nini yenini thirty
pan + nini panini forty
jom + nini jonini fifty
vai + ni ni vai nini sixty
teo + nini teoni ni seventy
dia + nini diani ni eighty
sasta + nini sastanini ninety
When tens and basic numbers are combined, they are simply placed after one
another:
nini pan fourteen
sunini teo twenty seven
sastanini yem ninety three
It is allowed to add the word ai "and" in between as well:
nini ai pan fourteen
sunini ai teo twenty seven
sastanini ai yem ninety three
11.1.2 Hundr ed and up
The powers of ten up til one billion are listed below:
Kah Translation
mel hundred
pol thousand
dua ten thousand
wisti hundred thousand
bena million
nungu ten million
gos hundred million
kas billion
Kah Reference Grammar 62
Please note that this approach is different from the classic English decimal system,
as it is dealing with powers of thousand instead!
Powers of ten are treated the same way as ten and form compounds with basic
numerals. Compare:
suni ni - twenty
yenini - thirty
pani ni - fourty
joni ni - fifty
vaini ni - sixty
teonini - seventy
diani ni - eighty
sastanini - ninety
sumel - two hundred
yemel - three hundred
pamel - four hundred
jomel - five hundred
vaimel - six hundred
teomel - seven hundred
diamel - eight hundred
sastamel - nine hundred

sumpol - two thousand
yempol - three thousand
pampol - four thousand
jompol - five thousand
vaipol - six thousand
teopol - seven thousand
diapol - eight thousand
sastapol - nine thousand
sundua - twenty thousand
yendua - thirty thousand
pandua - forty thousand
jondua - fifty thousand
vaidua - sixty thousand
teodua - seventy thousand
diadua - eighty thousand
sastadua - ninety thousand
In a way, the division of powers of ten is a decimal system just like the basic
numbers:
10
1
(ten) - nini
10
2
(hundred) - mel
10
3
(thousand) - pol
10
4
(ten thousand) - dua
10
5
(hundred thousand) - wisti
10
6
(million) - bena
10
7
(ten million) - nungu
10
8
(hundred million) - gos
10
9
(billion) - kas
10
10
( ten billion) - ninya
10
11
( hundred billion) - nikwanya
10
12
( trillion) - nisunya
10
13
( ten trillion) - niyenya
10
14
( hundred trillion) - nipanya
10
15
( quadrillion) - nijonya
10
16
( ten quadrillion) - nivainya
63 Kah Reference Grammar
10
17
( hundred quadrillion) - niteonya
10
18
( quintillion) - nidianya
10
19
( ten quintillion) - nisastanya
10
20
( hundred quintillion) - suninya
10
21
( sextillion) - sunikwanya
10
22
( ten sextillion) - sunisunya
10
23
( hundred sextillion) - suni yenya
10
24
( septillion) - sunipanya
10
25
( ten septillion) - sunijonya
10
100
- melenya
These numbers combined look like the following:
11 - nini kwa
12 - nini sun
13 - nini yem
14 - nini pan
15 - nini jom
16 - nini vai
17 - nini teo
18 - nini dia
19 - nini sasta
20 - sunini
21 - sunini kwa
22 - sunini sun
23 - sunini yem
28 - sunini dia
36 - yenini vai
89 - dianini sasta
147 - mel panini teo
565 - jomel vainini jom
705 - teomel jom
5,824 - jompol diamel sunini pan
2,500,444 - sumbena jomwisti pamel panini pan
Kah Reference Grammar 64
11.1.3 Or di nal number s
Ordinal numbers are expressed by adding the possessive marker na before the
number in question:
nia na vai
CAR OF SIX
the sixth car
bukim na yem
KING NA THREE
the third king
kwanya na teo
LESSON OF SEVEN
the seventh lesson, lesson seven
11.1.4 Unbound for ms
Numerals can be marked with the nominal prefixes u- and a- in order to derive
unbound forms of numerals:
uyu sun
PERSON TWO
the two persons
aya sun
THING TWO
the two things
uyu vai tengi kaichu
PERSON SIX CAN ESCAPE
Six people managed to escape
usun
TWO:ANIMATE
the two persons
asun
TWO:INANIMATE
the two things, the pair
uvai tengi kaichu
SIX:ANIMATE CAN ESCAPE
Six (people) managed to escape
65 Kah Reference Grammar
11.1.5 Dec i mal f r ac t i ons
Decimal fractions are characterized by a bastan "comma" like in most non-
anglophone languages:
0.25 - 0,25 (meng bastan sunini jom)
0.347 - 0,347 (meng bastan yemel panini teo)
3.14 - 3,14 (yem bastan nini pan)
When the numbers get to complicated, they can be simply put after one another as
well in speech instead of breaking them down in hundreds, tenths and such:
3.14159 - yem bastan kwa pan kwa jom sasta
11.1.6 Vul gar f r ac t i ons
Vulgar fractions are built by adding the root -mbe "part, share" to a numeral:
sun + mbe sumbe one half
yem + mbe yembe one third
pan + mbe pambe one quarter, fourth
jom + mbe jombe one fifth
vai + mbe vaimbe one sixth
teo + mbe teombe one seventh
dia + mbe diambe one eighth
sasta + mbe sastambe one ninth
nini + mbe ninimbe one tenth
mel + mbe melembe one hundred, percent
pol + mbe polombe one thousand, promille
These fractions can be modified by cardinal numerals in order to express more
complicated quantities:
yembe sun two thirds
pambe yeme three quarters
sunini-sastambe teo 7/29
Kah Reference Grammar 66
11.2 Quant i f i er s
Quantifiers in Kah behave like numerals in respect to their place in noun phrases:
uyu wi
PERSON MUCH
many people
moso wi
MILK MUCH
much milk
wana yo
WOMAN ALL
all women, every woman
wana sun yo
WOMAN TWO ALL
both women
A list of common quantifiers in Kah is:
wi much, many
wi tunti more, more than
wi tio most, most of all
si little, few
si tunti less, less than
si tio least, least of all
yo all, every
meng none, no
siwi some, several
yi n other
kakwa any
yosa enough
wishi various
sun yo both, each
kwambe whole
fafau almost
67 Kah Reference Grammar
12 I nt er j ec t i ons
Kah has a set of interjections expressing a wide variety of moods and other
additional information. Words like "yes" and "also, too" are part of this set, but also
an exclamation with a vocative aspect. These interjections may occur anywhere in
the sentence, but a common position would be directly preceding the main verb like
in the following examples:
yu ho jam
HE TRULY DO
he truly did it!
oi jam
ADHORT DO
do it, then!
But when things get emotional they -naturally- end up in front of the utterance,
topicalized:
yi ii ! kwenga!
EEK SPIDER
eek, a spider!
yai ! yai !
HURT HURT
ouch! that hurts!
hee, haya awau?
UGH, WHAT THIS?
ugh, what is this?
nong wa jam
NOT I DO
no I did not
Along with the intensity of the expressed emotion, these markers are stretched:
Kah Reference Grammar 68
yooi minis
OH BE UNFORTUNATE
how unfortunate!
heea ba! mole pabos!
HEY MISTER LOSE WALLET
hey mister! you've lost your wallet!
12.1 Lo
A very prominent interjection mainly denoting focus is lo. It can be used as a means
of placing some very simple emphasis at the end of utterances like:
wa denu, lo
I GO, THEN
I'm going then
hea lo!
PAY ATTENTION FOC
watch it, you!
Also, it can be used as a little step to further conversation:
lo, haya jam?
FOC WHAT DO
well, what shall we do?
lo...
FOC
so...
It can express contrast to an earlier statement as well:
eo lo!
YES THEN
am to!
nong lo!
NO THEN
are not!
69 Kah Reference Grammar
12.2 Quest i on
A very important interjection is ha, which is the basic question particle. It tends to
show up at the end of a sentence, as it is not usually the topic of a question.
weyun ha?
SEE Q.
dit you see it?
Emil l u ha?
EMILE BE AT Q.
Is Emile in?
When ha is topicalized, the translation would be something like:
ha moso le?
Q. MILK HAVE
say, do you have milk?
ha weyun Lih?
Q. SEE LEE
hey, did you see Lee?
12.3 Negat i on
Negation too is expressed with an interjection usually occurring in front of the main
verb:
nong keju
NOT WANT
I don't want to
Moirah nong tengi muno
MOIRA NOT CAN DRIVE
Moira can't drive
nong, ya nong ten
NOT, IT NOT BE POSSIBLE
no, that won't be possible
Kah Reference Grammar 70
Interjections in general and the ones for negation and question in particular can be
combined:
nong lu ha?
NOT BE AT Q.
is he not in?
nong jo ha?
NOT KNOW Q.
didn't you know?
ha nong jo?
Q. NOT KNOW
didn't you know then?
12.4 Li st
The entire list of interjections reads:
ha - question marker
nong - no, not
eo - yes, indeed
hau - ha! amusement
he - ugh, disgust
hea - hey! you there! watch out! used to draw attention
om - let us, expresses a wish, optative
lo - focus, "doch" "am to!" emphasizes the previous word
soi - please, polite request
mai - hi, hello, introduces many greetings
ho - really, truly
ea - hey, "let me", interest
wu - wow, whoah, awe, how very, what
hoi - huh? surprise
yai - pain
oi - come on! adhortative
nye - yay! amusement, happiness
yoi - oh dear, oh my, sympathy, grief, woe
sus - shh! be quiet!
woi - oops
wong - aargh, why I... anger
woa - aah! disappointment
a - er, indecision
s - psst, used to draw attention in a crowded, noisy place
71 Kah Reference Grammar
13 Loanwor ds
The main problem with loanwords in every language is the tension between the
original phonology, and translating this to the sound inventory of the receiving
language without violating the phonotactic rules of the latter and this all while
retaining the recognizability of the word from the source language.
This is impossible. Somewhere along the line, something has got to give. In the
case of loanwords in Kah, this means the phonology of Kah comes first mostly. The
only adaptation Kah allows is in line of phonotactics as it allows a final consonant
other than -m n ng l or s.
13.1 Tr ue l oanwor ds
True loanwords are an open class in Kah which includes all proper names,
brandnames and culturally specific items such as dishes and religious terminology.
This class of loanwords is characterized by the fact all words in it end in a
consonant. This automatically means the stress in loanwords is always located on
the last syllable. When the word in the source language ends in a vowel, the
consonant -h is added in order to force the stress to the final syllable. This -h was
chosen since it is barely audible or not audible at all in spoken language. Note
loanwords expresssing proper names and brandnames begin with a capital letter.
Examples of loanwords and their source are:
Jan
Malikah
Muhamad
Kofih Anan
Edimbarah
Koka-Kolah
Shel
Peshoh
aspagetih
kibuch
John
Malika
Muhammad
Kofi Annan
Edinburgh
Coca Cola
Shell
Peugeot
spaghetti
kibbutz
Speakers are free to add a vowel in the middle or to the end of a word in spoken
language when they are incapable of pronouncing a final consonant or consonant
cluster. The stress of the word however is to remain on the final syllable in written
state:
Jan Lak
Breshenyev
Atatirik
[dan 'laka] "John Locke"
[bereshe'neve] "Brezhnev"
[atati'riki] "Atatrk"
Kah Reference Grammar 72
Note that there is no standard form for different versions of the same name.
Compare the French and English version of the name Robert:
Rober
Rabat
French
English
Besides this method, there also is the option of retaining the original native spelling.
In this case, the use of italic script is strongly encouraged:
Yu muno Peugeot - He drove a Peugeot
Kanka la Shell - He works at Shell
Edinburgh dola nenyun - Edinburgh is a beautiful city
13.2 I nc or por at ed l oanwor ds
The most important group of loanwords are words designating nationality and
ethnicity. All of these have been incorporated into the Kah phonology to an extent
they can not be regarded true loanwords anymore but rather as Kah words with
external inspiration, since they were derived from the native term people use in
order to designate themselves.
The following pattern is used in order to derive the basic Kah form from which all
words in this class are derived:
First of all, the native root is stripped from all affixes such as the ones denoting
plurality or the idea of "people" (unless the word used literally means people).
Then, this root is adapted to Kah phonology in order to form the basic stative
adjectival form:
Original
Zulu "-zulu"
Albanian "Shqip-"
French "Fran-"
Vietnamese "Viet"
English "Engl-"
Kah
Zulu
Shi chipi
Faransa
Vi yete
Ingil
Translation
Zulu
Albanian
French
Vietnamese
English
From these forms the word denoting a person of the ethnicity described is derived
by adding the animate nominal prefix u-:
Kah
Uviyete
Ushichipi
Ufaransa
Translation
Vietnamese person
Albanian person
French person
When the original word begins with a vowel, then the u- is changed to w-:
73 Kah Reference Grammar
Stative verb
Araba
Ingil
Ozobeke
Azeri
Noun
Waraba
Wingil
Wozobeke
Wazeri
Translation
Arab
Englishman
Uzbeki
Azerbaijani
The mass noun expressing the complete ethnic grouping is formed by adding the
collective root nyo as a suffix to the root form:
Stative verb
Araba
Hausa
Majara
Kamai
Mass noun
Arabanyo
Hausanyo
Majaranyo
Kamainyo
Translation
the Arabs
the Hausa
the Hungarians
the Khmer
When adding the root ka for "speech", the noun denoting a language is formed:
Stative verb
Araba
Han
Pol
Tai
Language
Arabaka
Hanka
Polka
Taika
Translation
Arabic
Mandarin Chinese
Polish
Thai
13.2.1 St at es
The names of states and regions are constructed from the basic local form minus
locative suffixes such as "-ia" or "-stan". Then the Kah root an "land" is suffixed to
this root.
Source
Thai
Urdun
Bharat
Masr
Noun
Tayan
Urudunan
Baratan
Masaran
Translation
Thailand
Jordan
India
Egypt
The names of many states are derived from the name of the local dominant ethnic
grouping. In this case, the basic form from which the state name is derived is the
Kah root minus the final vowel if present and with the -an suffix added:
Kah Reference Grammar 74
Kah root
Viyete
Bangal
Chuana
Ozobeke
Noun
Vi yetan
Bangalan
Chuanan
Ozobekan
Translation
Vietnam
Bangladesh
Botswana
Uzbekistan
Kah makes an active distinction between people of a certain ethnicity and citizens of
a state happening to bear a name derived from an ethnicity:
Source
Tirikan
Tiriki
Chuanan
Chuana
Noun
Uti rikan
Uti riki
Uchuanan
Uchuana
Translation
Citizen of Turkey
Turkish person
Citizen of Botswana
Tswana person
This distinction is made to be able to express the abundance of ethnicities in the
world without having to link them to a specific region.
75 Kah Reference Grammar