Kola: Difference between revisions

'''Kola''' (Native: ጅቆለ /d͡ʒɨkʼólə/, Ethiopianist Latin script: ''Jïqólä'', Bantuist Latin script: ''Jïkólä'') is a Bantu language spoken by the Kola people (ወቆለ ''wäqólä'')<!-- in Eritrea and the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.-->.

<!-- What sounds does your language use? -->

!IPA!!{{IPA|ə}}!!{{IPA|u}}!!{{IPA|i}}!!{{IPA|a}}!!{{IPA|e}}!!{{IPA|ɨ/-}}!!{{IPA|o}}!!{{IPA|ʷə}}!!{{IPA|ʷi}}!!{{IPA|ʷa}}!!{{IPA|ʷe}}!!{{IPA|ʷɨ}}

|አ (ኧ)||ኡ||ኢ||ኣ||ኤ||እ||ኦ||colspan="6" style="background:#cccccc"|&nbsp;

^{<small>1</small>} The base forms for non-labialized guttural (uvular, pharyngeal, and glottal) consonants are not normally used, since they do not occur with the vowel /ə/ except in ideophones and, in the case of uvulars, loanwords. When the base forms do appear for pharyngeals or glottals, they are pronounced with /a/. In ideophones, /(ʔ)ə/ is written as ኧ; the rest simply use their base forms (despite the ambiguity for /h/, /ħ/, and /ʕ/).

^{<small>2</small>} Gemination and tone are not normally indicated, and the vowel /ɨ/ is not distinguished from a null vowel. If absolutely necessary (e.g. in texts meant for learners/foreigners), gemination can be indicated with a dot (or two) above the letter, tone with grave/acute accents, and /ɨ/ with an underdot.

There are two Latin alphabets: a more common one based on the Semitic and Cushitic languages of Ethiopia ("Ethiopianist"), and a less common one based on other Bantu languages ("Bantuist"). The biggest difference is in the treatment of voiceless stops and affricates. In the Ethiopianist alphabet, the aspirated versions are treated as the unmarked forms and the ejective versions are treated as marked (as they are in Semitic and Cushitic languages). In the Bantuist alphabet, however, the ejectives are treated as unmarked and the aspirates as marked (as they are in Bantu languages). Since Kola is Bantu, the Bantuist alphabet more accurately represents the phonemes' status in the language; however, this article uses the more common Ethiopianist alphabet.

In both alphabets, clusters that can be confused with digraphs are separated with an apostrophe - e.g. ''s'h'' /sh/ vs ''sh'' /ʃ/. Accent is not normally indicated in writing, but this article uses an acute accent for high tone and a grave accent for low tone.

! Ethiopianist !! Bantuist

! Ethiopianist !! Bantuist

|Y y || Y y || y

! rowspan="2" | Pharyngeal

^{<small>2</small>} The central vowels /ɨ, ə, a/ are actually pronounced closer to [ɪ̈, ɜ ~ ɐ, ä] respectively. They have front allophones [ɪ, ɛ ~ æ, a] after palatal/postalveolar consonants and rounded allophones [ʊ̈, ɞ ~ ɞ̞, ɒ̈] after labialized consonants (including /w/). <!--The front and rounded allophones of the weak vowels are somewhat interchangeable with the corresponding front/rounded strong vowels; in this article, the underlying forms are used.-->

^{<small>3</small>} The mid vowels /e, o/ are generally pronounced [e̞, o̞]. They may be lowered to [ɛ, ɔ] when followed by geminate or clustered consonants and raised to [e, o] in open syllables.

^{<small>4</small>} The weak vowel /ə/ becomes /a/ after guttural consonants, and the two vowels alternate with each other when followed by a guttural consonant (especially if said guttural is followed by a central or null vowel).

Kola has a pitch accent system. A word can have one accented vowel (usually the ultimate or penultimate syllable). The accented vowel may have a high/rising tone or a low/falling tone. Accent and tone is not normally indicated in writing, but this article uses an acute accent for high/rising tone and a grave accent for low/falling tone. Some words may not have an accented vowel.

Any other word-final cluster is broken with /ɨ/. Alternatively, a word-final /i/ may be added, especially in loanwords - e.g. ዓቅሊ ''qhàqli'' /ʕakʼli/ "reason, common sense" (from Arabic عقل /ʕaql/). Many loanwords ending in two consonants add an ''-i'' even when not the cluster does not violate phonotactics - e.g. ከልቢ ''kä̀lbi'' (from Arabic كلب /kalb/).

Within a word, most two-consonant clusters are allowed (in theory). Some clusters do not occur due to coalescence (e.g. ''l'' + ''r'' → ''rr''; ''t'' + ''d'' → ''dd'') Guttural consonants do not normally cluster with each other, except in some loanwords (where they often fuse anyway) - e.g. ማዕሃድ ''màqh'had'' /màʕhad/ "institute" (also ማሓድ ''màhhad'' /màħad/).

*The first two can cluster in word-final position and the last two can cluster in word-initial position  - e.g. ጅንግሊዚ ''Jïn'glízi'' /d͡ʒɨŋɡlízi/ "English (language)"

*u > w / K_V (i.e. labializes gutturals)

*All consonants are labialized before the vowels ''o'' and ''u''. The distinction between plain and labial velars is lost in this circumstance.

*The vowels ''ä'' or ''ï'' can be replaced with ''e'' or ''i'' respectively after palatal consonants and vice versa.

*Word-initial vowels are preceded with a glottal stop.

d͡ʒ > ʒ

k’, kʰ, g > χ, ħ, ʕ

ŋ > ʁ

ʁ, ʕ > ʒ

ɟ > Ø / i_i, i_ɪ, ɪ_i, ɪ_ɪ - for class 5/6 nouns, the *ɟ is also dropped from the plural by analogy

[-voiced +prenasalized +stop/affricate ] > [-prenasalized +aspirated] (i.e. mp, nt, etc > pʰ, tʰ, etc for all voiceless stops and affricates)

[-voiced -aspirated +stop/affricate ] > [+voiced] / in grammatical morphemes

wɨ, jɨ > u, i / C_C

wə, jə > o, e / C_C

Tone is a little complicated, but generally:

*Distinction between /ʒ/ and /d͡ʒ/.

*Distinction between dental and alveolar stops, and between sibilant and non-sibilant alveolar fricatives. The alveolar stops/affricates (/t͇’ ~ t͡ɬ’, t͇ʰ ~ t͡ɬʰ, d͇ ~ d͡ɮ/) and non-sibilant alveolar fricatives (/θ͇ ~ ɬ, ð͇ ~ ɮ/) correspond to Proto-Bantu palatals before non-front vowels, which in the standard language merged with other palatals.

! rowspan="2" | Class !! rowspan="2" | Noun prefix !! colspan="5" | Concord prefixes<small>¹</small> || rowspan="2" | Typical meaning(s)<small>²</small>

! pronominal !! extended <br /> pronominal !! subject !! object !! adjective

| mï-; - || yï- || ye- || ya- || mï- || mï- || Humans*, kinship terms, personification*, animate*

| wä- || wä- || wo- || colspan="2" | wa- || wä- || Plural of class 1

| mï- || wï- || wo- || colspan="2" | wu- || mï- || Plants (and derivatives)*, natural phenomena, <!--elongated objects, active things, motion, -->non-paired body parts, various*

| mï- || jï- || jo- || colspan="2" | ji- || mï- || Plural of class 3

| zï-; - || lï- || lo- || colspan="2" | li- || zï- || Augmentatives*, amelioratives*, paired body parts, natural phenomena, expanses, individual things found in groups, various*

| mä- || yä- || yo- || colspan="2" | ya- || mä- || Plural of class 5, mass nouns, collectives, collective actions

| jï- || shï- || sho- || colspan="2" | shi- || jï- || Tools/artefacts, diminutives*, languages*, resemblance, amelioratives*, derogatives*, disabilities/diseases, various*

| vï- || vï- || vo- || colspan="2" | vi- || vï- || Plural of class 7

| ⁿ-; -<small>³</small> || yï- || yo- || colspan="2" | yi- || ⁿ- || Animals, inanimate, loanwords*, various*

| ⁿ-; - || ĵï- || ĵo- || colspan="2" | ĵi- || ⁿ- || Plural of classes 9 & 11

| lï- || lï- || lo- || colspan="2" | lu- || lï- || Abstract, manner/way/culture*, localized mass nouns, long or broad objects

| gä- || gä- || go- || colspan="2" | ga- || gä- || Diminutives*, derogatives*, amelioratives*

| dï- || dï- || do- || colspan="2" | du- || dï- || Plural of class 12

| wï- || wï- || wo- || colspan="2" | wu- || wï- || Abstract*, countries/lands*, location terms*

| g(w/ï)-<small>⁴</small> || g(w/ï)- || go- || colspan="2" | gu- || g(w/ï)- || Infinitives*

| bä- || bä- || bo- || colspan="2" | ba- || bä- || Specific/definite/internal location*, "at/on/in"*, "against"*, "to the detriment of"*

| g(w/ï)- || g(w/ï)- || go- || colspan="2" | gu- || g(w/ï)- || Nonspecific/approximate location*, direction*, "for/to"*, "to the benefit of"*

| mï- || mï- || mo- || colspan="2" | mu- || mï- || Internal location*, "in"*

<small>¹</small> Subject and object concords are used for the subject and object of a verb respectively, and adjective concords are used with adjectives. Most other words use pronominal concords. The extended pronominal concords are used to form pronouns (see [[Kola#Pronouns|pronouns]]) and with quantifiers - e.g. ዎቸ ''wocä'' "all (animate pl.)" (stem: ''-cä'').

These concord prefixes are considered formal and old-fashioned, and are normally replaced with animacy-based concords. Words agreeing with animate nouns use classes 1/2, while those agreeing with inanimate nouns use classes 5/6, 9/10 (used by this article), or some combination (e.g. 9/6). When a modifier is used with a noun, the concord prefix can optionally be omitted. With verbs, class 16 and 17 prefixes are used even in informal language; others are replaced with animacy concords.

The locative classes (classes 16 and 17) most often behave as prepositions. Their concord prefixes are used with verbs; otherwise, the prefix appears at the beginning of the noun phrase. However, there are some nouns inherently in these classes; these behave as nouns in any other class - e.g. በት ''bä̀tt'' "place", ግት ''gï̀tt'' "area".

<small>³</small> ⁿ- = initial fortition

<small>⁴</small> (w/ï) = -w- added before vowels

<small>⁵</small> Inanimate nouns (especially those whose plural form is identical to their singular) can form an alternative plural by adding the class 6 prefix ''mä-'' to either their singular or plural. Similarly, animate nouns (especially those not already in class 1) can add the class 2 prefix ''wä-''.

::class 5 ዝት ''zï̀tt'' "giant; great person" (stem: ''-̀tt'') → class 6 መት ''mä̀tt'' or class 2 ወመት ''mä̀tt'' / ወዝት ''wäzï̀tt'' "giants; great people"

<small>⁶</small> Diminutive and augmentative prefixes may be added before the prefix of the base noun or directly to the stem. Locative prefixes are always added to the beginning of the noun phrase before any other prefixes and/or modifiers.

::''bä-'' + ''lä-'' "the" + inanimate concord + ''-ngòlä'' "red" + ''zíchä'' → በለጎለ ዚጨ ''bälägòlä zíchä'' "in the red eye"

The definite article is ለ ''lä'' (invariant), which attaches to the beginning of the noun phrase, immediately after any locative prefixes or other prepositions - e.g. ለዚጨ ''läzíchä'' "the eye"; በለዚጨ ''bäläzíchä'' "in the eye".

Kola does not have an indefinite article.

When taking a prefix or suffix, the clitic pronoun forms are used. For example, possessive pronouns/adjectives are formed by prefixing the relativizing particle to the clitic pronouns. The absolute pronouns can be used more or less interchangeable with the corresponding referential demonstratives (formed by reduplicating the clitic pronouns; see [[Kola#Demonstratives|demonstratives]]).  

! rowspan="2" | Person !! colspan="2"|  Independent !! colspan="4"| Concord prefixes

! absolute !! clitic !! extended <br /> pronominal !! pronominal !! subject !! object  

| እሚ ïmì || ሚ mì || ኜ- nye- || colspan="3" | ኝ- nyï-  

| እዌ ïwè || ዌ wè || ዌ- we- || colspan="2" | ው- wï- || ግ/ጕ- g(ï/w)-  

| እዬ ïyè || ዬ yè || ዬ- ye- || ይ- yï- || ያ- ya- || ም- mï-  

| እዮ ïyò || ዮ yò || ዮ- yo- || ይ- yï- || colspan="2" | ዪ- yi-  

| እሲ ïsì || ሲ sì || ዶ- do- || colspan="3" | ዲ- di-

| እኒ ïnì || ኒ nì || ኖ- no- || colspan="3" | ኒ- ni-

| እዎ ïwò || ዎ wò || ዎ- wo- || ወ- wä- || colspan="2" | ዋ- wa-  

| እጆ ïĵò || ጆ ĵò || ጆ- ĵo- || ጅ- ĵï- || colspan="2" | ጂ- ĵi-  

#'''Proximal:''' -ኖ ''-̀no'' (pronominal concord)

#'''Referential:''' formed by reduplicating clitic pronoun (with the accent on first iteration)

#'''Distal:''' -ላ ''-̀la'' (pronominal concord)

Adjectives agree with the noun they modify, taking the appropriate adjective concord prefixes (see [[Kola#Noun_classes|noun classes]]). However, except in very formal language, the full set of prefixes is not used and is replaced with animacy concords. Adjectives modifying animate nouns use class 1/2 prefixes (for the singular/plural repectively), and those modifying inanimate nouns use class 9/10 or 5/6 or 9/6 prefixes. In very informal language, the concord prefixes can be dropped entirely.

Ordinal numbers are formed with the relativizing particle ''a-'' and therefore are actually possessives. For example, ''amù'' "first" literally means "of one".

| መሲ mä̀si || ሙ mù || ምሙ mïmù || ሙ mù || ሽሙ shïmù || አሙ amù || የሙ yämù || ዋሙ wamù

| ውሊ wï̀li || ውሊ wï̀li || ዎሊ/ወውሊ wòli/wä̀wli || ብሊ bï̀li || ቩሊ vùli || አውሊ àwli || ዮሊ/የውሊ yòli/yä̀wli || ዋውሊ wàwli

| ጣጥ tháth || ጣጥ tháth || ወጣጥ wätháth || ታጥ táth || ቭጣጥ vïtháth || አጣጥ atháth || የጣጥ yätháth || ዋጣጥ watháth

| ኔ nè || ኔ nè || ወኔ wänè || ኔ nè || ቭኔ vïnè || አኔ anè || የኔ yänè || ዋኔ wanè

| ጫን chàn || ጫን chàn || ወጫን wächàn || ቻን càn || ቭጫን vïchàn || አጫን achàn || የጫን yächàn || ዋጫን wachàn

| ቃጘ qángä || ቃጘ qángä || ወቃጘ wäqángä || ካጘ kángä || ቭቃጘ vïqángä || አቃጘ aqángä || የቃጘ yäqángä || ዋቃጘ waqángä

| ጦሎ thólo || ጦሎ thólo || ወጦሎ wäthólo || ቶሎ tólo || ቭጦሎ vïthólo || አጦሎ athólo || የጦሎ yäthólo || ዋጦሎ wathólo

| ናኔ náne || ናኔ náne || ወናኔ wänáne || ናኔ náne || ቭናኔ vïnáne || አናኔ anáne || የናኔ yänáne || ዋናኔ wanáne

| ሰጛን sängàn || ሰጛን sängàn || ወሰጛን wäsängàn || ሰጛን sängàn || ቭሰጛን vïsängàn || አሰጛን asängàn || የሰጛን yäsängàn || ዋሰጛን wasängàn

| ቁም qúm || colspan="4" | ቁም qúm || አቁም aqúm || የቁም yäqúm || ቁም waqúm

*'''NEG₂ (secondary negation prefix)''': ''sï-'', used for infinitives and other derived nouns.

Native verbs normally end in unaccented ''-ä/a'', which is dropped upon the addition of suffixes. <!--Suffixes ending in ''-ä'' similarly drop it when another suffix is added. -->Verbs ending in other vowels add suffixes after the final vowel of the stem. The suffixes used for irregular verbs are shown in curly brackets where they differ from regular verbs. Accented suffixes override the verb's native accent.

'''Infinitive''' is a class 15 noun. It is formed by adding the class 15 prefix to the verb stem - e.g. ጔደ ''<b>gw</b>èddä'' "to walk" (root: ''-èdd-''), ግዙጘ ''<b>gï</b>zúngä'' "to cook (trs.)" (root: ''-zúng-'').

'''Agent''' nouns are class 1/2. They are formed by adding the class 1/2 prefix to the nominalized verb stem. In regular verbs, the nominalized stem is formed by removing the final vowel and spirantizing the final consonant if applicable. Verbs ending in other vowels simply use the verbal stem.

:e.g. ሜዝ ''<b>m</b>èzz'' "person who walks; companion" (pl: ዌዝ ''<b>w</b>èzz'').

'''Negation''' is accomplished with the circumfix ከ-ም ''kä-m'' in main clauses, the (post-subject) prefix ከ- ''kä-'' for subordinate/subjunctive verbs. Infinitives and other derived nouns use the prefix ሲ- ''si-''.

:e.g. ኜደ ''nyèddä'' "I walk" → ከኜደም ''<b>kä</b>nyèddä<b>m</b>'' "I do not walk"

::ከዌዴ ''<b>kä</b>weddé'' "do not walk", የ<b>ከ</b>ዬዴ ''yä<b>kä</b>yeddé'' "that does not walk"

::ግሴደ ''gï<b>s</b>èddä'' "to not walk", ምሴዝ ''mï<b>s</b>èzz'' "one who does not walk"  

*''-ä-'': relativizer

*''nï-'': focus particle (exact function TBD)

*''kä-'': primary negation prefix

*''bä-'': "when, if; because"

*''g(w)ï-'': "so that, in order that"

*''-gä-'': itive - motion away from speaker/frame of reference, "go and -, go to -"

*''-ĵï-'': venitive - motion towards speaker/frame of reference, "come and -, come to -"

*''-jï-'': persistive - "still, continue to -"

*''-wa-'': inchoative - "start to -"

*''-me-'': anterior - event that occurred before the frame of reference and has present relevance, "have -ed"

*''-lï-'': progressive - "be -ing"

*''-vu-'': habitual - event that occurs/occurred regularly

*''-nä-'': conditional - "would -"

*''-la-'': future - event that will occur after frame of reference, "will, going to -"

*''-dä-'': event that is expected or hoped to occur in the future, "hopefully -, will probably"

*''-le-'' (with perfect): event that almost occurred, "almost -ed"

<!--*''-zï-'': "must, should"-->

'''Perfect''' is formed with the ending ''-e'' {''-re''}. Suffix-derived verbs may form it irregularly (see [[Kola#Verb_extensions|verb extensions]]).

:e.g. ጔዴ ''gwèdd<b>e</b>'' "to have walked", ግዙጜ ''gïzúng<b>e</b>'' "to have cooked"

:e.g. የዬዴ ''yäyedd<b>é</b>'' "who walks"

The '''singular imperative''' is formed with the ending ''-á'' {''-́''} in the absence of prefixes, and identically to the subjunctive in the presence of object prefixes. The '''plural imperative''' is formed with the ending ''-(ä)ní''. Both singular and plural imperatives are replaced with the corresponding subjunctives when negated.  

:e.g. ኤዳ ''edd<b>á</b>'' "walk", ዪድሌ ''yeddïl<b>é</b>'' "walk to it", ኤድኒ ''eddï<b>ní</b>'' "walk (pl.)", ዬድልኒ ''yeddïl<b>ní</b>'' "walk (pl.) to it"

Special imperative forms only exist in the second person; other persons use the subjunctive. In the second person affirmative, the subjunctive can be used to make a command softer.

'''Passive''' is formed with the ending ''-́wa'' in the present and ''-́we'' in the perfect.

'''Causative''' is formed with the suffix ''-ísh-'' {''-́sh-''}, which becomes ''-íz-'' {''-́z-''} before the perfect ending. This suffix spirantizes and palatalizes preceding consonants wherever applicable; however, loanwords may not be affected.

'''Applicative''' is formed with the suffix ''-(ï)l-''. This suffix causes velar/guttural consonants to be palatalized; again, loanwords may not be affected.

:e.g. ጔድለ ''gwèdd<b>ïl</b>ä'' "to walk to", ጔዲሌ ''gwèdd<b>ïl</b>e'' "to have walked to".

'''Reciprocal''' is formed with the suffix ''-än-'' {''-n-''}.

:e.g. ጔድለነ ''gweddïl<b>än</b>ä'' "to walk to each other", ጔድለኔ ''gweddïl<b>än</b>e'' "to have walked to each other".

'''Extensive''' is formed with the suffix ''-äng-'' {''-ng-''}. It indicates a large quantity.

:e.g. ጔደጘ ''gwèdd<b>äng</b>ä'' "to walk a lot", ጔደጜ ''gwèdd<b>äng</b>e'' "to have walked a lot".

'''Intensive''' is formed by reduplicating the final syllable of the root (minus the onset) and shifting the accent one syllable forward. If the root ends in a geminate consonant, it loses its gemination in the base root. The intensive indicates that an action is performed repeatedly and.or intensively. The intensive and extensive are very similar in meaning and are often more or less interchangeable.

:e.g. ጔደደ ''gwed<b>èdd</b>ä'' "to walk all over the place", ጔደዴ ''gwed<b>èdd</b>e'' "to have walked all over the place".

'''Neuter''' (not very productive) is formed with the suffix ''-(ï)g-''. It is used for the middle voice and can have unpredictable meaning.

:e.g. ግዙጝገ ''gïzúng<b>g</b>ä'' "to cook (intr.)", ግዙጝጌ ''gïzúng<b>g</b>e'' "to have cooked (intr.)".

Suffixes can be stacked. The general order is intensive-causative-applicative-reciprocal-extensive-passive, but this may change depending on meaning.

====Relative clauses====

The relativizing particle may take pronominal concord prefixes to agree with noun being modified, but this is optional. It combines as ''-ä-''.

The relativizing particle is also used with nouns/pronouns for possession, in which case it attaches to the possessor.