Kola

Kola (Native: ጅቆለ /d͡ʒɨˈkʼolə/, Ethiopianist Latin script: Jïqolä, Bantuist Latin script: Jïkolä) is a Bantu language spoken by the Kola people (ወቆለ wäqolä).

Introduction

Kola is a Bantu language spoken in northwestern Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Phonology

Orthography

Ge'ez abugida

IPA	ə	u	i	a	e	ɨ/-	o	ʷə	ʷi	ʷa	ʷe	ʷɨ
h	ሀ	ሁ	ሂ	ሃ	ሄ	ህ	ሆ
l	ለ	ሉ	ሊ	ላ	ሌ	ል	ሎ			ሏ
ħ	ሐ	ሑ	ሒ	ሓ	ሔ	ሕ	ሖ			ሗ
m	መ	ሙ	ሚ	ማ	ሜ	ም	ሞ			ሟ
s	ሠ	ሡ	ሢ	ሣ	ሤ	ሥ	ሦ			ሧ
r	ረ	ሩ	ሪ	ራ	ሬ	ር	ሮ			ሯ
s	ሰ	ሱ	ሲ	ሳ	ሴ	ስ	ሶ			ሷ
ʃ	ሸ	ሹ	ሺ	ሻ	ሼ	ሽ	ሾ			ሿ
kʼ	ቀ	ቁ	ቂ	ቃ	ቄ	ቅ	ቆ	ቈ	ቊ	ቋ	ቌ	ቍ
ʁ	ቐ	ቑ	ቒ	ቓ	ቔ	ቕ	ቖ	ቘ	ቚ	ቛ	ቜ	ቝ
b	በ	ቡ	ቢ	ባ	ቤ	ብ	ቦ			ቧ
v	ቨ	ቩ	ቪ	ቫ	ቬ	ቭ	ቮ			ቯ
tʰ	ተ	ቱ	ቲ	ታ	ቴ	ት	ቶ			ቷ
t͡ʃʰ	ቸ	ቹ	ቺ	ቻ	ቼ	ች	ቾ			ቿ
ħ	ኀ	ኁ	ኂ	ኃ	ኄ	ኅ	ኆ	ኈ	ኊ	ኋ	ኌ	ኍ
n	ነ	ኑ	ኒ	ና	ኔ	ን	ኖ			ኗ
ɲ	ኘ	ኙ	ኚ	ኛ	ኜ	ኝ	ኞ			ኟ
ʔ	አ (ኧ)	ኡ	ኢ	ኣ	ኤ	እ	ኦ
kʰ	ከ	ኩ	ኪ	ካ	ኬ	ክ	ኮ	ኰ	ኲ	ኳ	ኴ	ኵ
χ	ኸ	ኹ	ኺ	ኻ	ኼ	ኽ	ኾ	ዀ	ዂ	ዃ	ዄ	ዅ
w	ወ	ዉ	ዊ	ዋ	ዌ	ው	ዎ
ʕ	ዐ	ዑ	ዒ	ዓ	ዔ	ዕ	ዖ
z	ዘ	ዙ	ዚ	ዛ	ዜ	ዝ	ዞ			ዟ
ʒ	ዠ	ዡ	ዢ	ዣ	ዤ	ዥ	ዦ			ዧ
j	የ	ዩ	ዪ	ያ	ዬ	ይ	ዮ
d	ደ	ዱ	ዲ	ዳ	ዴ	ድ	ዶ			ዷ
d͡ʒ	ጀ	ጁ	ጂ	ጃ	ጄ	ጅ	ጆ			ጇ
ɡ	ገ	ጉ	ጊ	ጋ	ጌ	ግ	ጎ	ጐ	ጒ	ጓ	ጔ	ጕ
ŋ	ጘ	ጙ	ጚ	ጛ	ጜ	ጝ	ጞ	ⶓ	ⶔ	ጟ	ⶕ	ⶖ
tʼ	ጠ	ጡ	ጢ	ጣ	ጤ	ጥ	ጦ			ጧ
t͡ʃʼ	ጨ	ጩ	ጪ	ጫ	ጬ	ጭ	ጮ			ጯ
pʼ	ጰ	ጱ	ጲ	ጳ	ጴ	ጵ	ጶ			ጷ
t͡sʼ	ጸ	ጹ	ጺ	ጻ	ጼ	ጽ	ጾ			ጿ
t͡sʼ	ፀ	ፁ	ፂ	ፃ	ፄ	ፅ	ፆ
f	ፈ	ፉ	ፊ	ፋ	ፌ	ፍ	ፎ			ፏ
pʰ	ፐ	ፑ	ፒ	ፓ	ፔ	ፕ	ፖ			ፗ
IPA	ə	u	i	a	e	ɨ/-	o	ʷə	ʷi	ʷa	ʷe	ʷɨ/-

Notes:

¹ 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 loanwords.

² 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, stress with an underline, and unstressed /ɨ/ with an underdot.

Latin alphabet

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 IPA A a A a a Ä ä Ä ä ə B b B b b C c Ch ch t͡ʃʰ Ch ch C c t͡ʃ’ D d D d d E e E e e F f F f f G g G g ɡ Gh gh Q q ʁ H h H h h Hh hh Xh xh ħ I i I i i Ï ï Ï ï ɨ J j J j d͡ʒ K k Kh kh kʰ Kh kh X x χ L l L l l M m M m m N n N n n

Ethiopianist Bantuist IPA Ny ny Ny ny ɲ Ng ng Ng ng ŋ O o O o o P p Ph ph pʰ Ph ph P p p’ Q q K k k’ Qh qh Qh qh ʕ R r R r r S s S s s Sh sh Sh sh ʃ T t Th th tʰ Th th T t t’ U u U u u V v V v v W w W w w X x Ts ts t͡s’ Y y Y y y Z z Z z z Zh zh Zh zh ʒ ’ ’ ʔ

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

		Labial	Coronal	Palatal/ Postalveolar	Velar/Uvular		Pharyngeal	Glottal
					plain	labialized
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ	ŋʷ
Stop	ejective	pʼ	tʼ		kʼ	kʷʼ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ	kʷʰ		ʔ
	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡʷ
Affricate	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡ʃʼ
	aspirated			t͡ʃʰ
	voiced			d͡ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ	χ	χʷ	ħ	h
	voiced	v	z	(ʒ)1	ʁ	ʁʷ	ʕ
Approximant			l	j		w
Tap/Trill			r

Notes:

¹ The distinction between /d͡ʒ/ and /ʒ/ has been lost in the standard language (except in a few loanwords), but is still present in some dialects.

² "Guttural" refers to everything post-velar - i.e. uvular, pharyngeal, and glottal.

³ All consonants have labialized allophones before the rounded vowels /o/ and /u/. The distinction between plain and labialized velars/gutturals is neutralized in this position.

Vowels

Vowel phonemes¹

	Front	Central2	Back
High	i	ɨ	u
Mid3	e	ə	o
Low		a

Notes:

¹ The vowels /ɨ, ə/ are considered "weak", and the rest are considered "strong". Strong vowels are slightly lengthened when accented in open syllables - e.g. ምጢ mïthí [mɪ̈tʼíˑ].

² 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 and adjacent to /w/.

³ 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.

⁴ 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).

Prosody

Stress

Kola has a stress accent system. A word normally has one accented vowel (usually in one of the last three syllables), though some words may be unaccented. The accented vowel is generally pronounced with a higher pitch. Stress is not normally indicated in writing, but this article uses an acute accent.

Phonotactics

The maximum allowed syllable structure is CRVC word-internally and CRVCC word-finally (C = consonant, R = glide/liquid, V = vowel). Labialized consonants cannot occur before. Consonant clusters with more than two consonants are broken up by inserting the epenthetic vowel /ɨ/. /ɨ/ is also added (in speech only) after a word-final consonant cluster when the following word begins in a vowel.

Not all clusters are allowed word-finally. The following are allowed:

• Any geminate consonant (except uvular, pharyngeal, and glottal consonants, which cannot geminate in any position)
• Sonorant + non-glottal obstruent - e.g. /nt, mpʼ, lf, rg/
• Velar/guttural or labial obstruent + coronal obstruent or /ʃ/ - e.g. /bd, kʼt, ħʃ, ʔs/ (some speakers may separate these with /ɨ/)
• Fricative + stop - e.g. /st, ftʼ, ʃkʼ/

Any other word-final cluster is broken with /ɨ/. Alternatively, a word-final /i/ may be added, especially in loanwords - e.g. ዓቅሊ qháqli /ˈʕakʼli/ "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 kä́lbi "dog" (from Arabic كلب /kalb/).

Word-initially, a non-glottal stop can cluster with r, a non-glottal and non-coronal stop can cluster with l, and a non-guttural obstruent or nasal can cluster with y or w. Still, these clusters may be separated with /ɨ/ in careful speech.

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 máqh'had /ˈmaʕhad/ "institute" (also ማሓድ máhhad /ˈmaħad/).

Three-consonant clusters are allowed word-medially if they fulfill one of the following conditions:

• The first two can cluster in word-final position and the last two can cluster in word-initial position - e.g. ጅንግሊዚ Jïn'glízi /d͡ʒɨŋˈɡlizi/ "English (language)".
• Cluster allowed in word-final position preceded or followed by a glide.
• Sonorant + homorganic obstruent + non-homorganic obstruent - e.g. /mpt, ŋks, nt͡ʃk/

All three-consonant clusters may be separated with /ɨ/ in careful speech.

Vowels cannot occur in hiatus. When this would happen, they are separated with epenthetic consonants such as /j/, /w/, or /ʔ/.

Morphophonology

Sandhi

The following changes occur at morpheme boundaries:

• ï + w, y > u, i / _C / w or y is geminated
• ä + w, y > o, e / _C / w or y is geminated (this rule is optional)
• ï > Ø / C_C whenever possible
• ï > Ø / _V, V_
• u > w / K_V (i.e. labializes gutturals)
• u > Ø / C_V (otherwise)
• i > Ø / C_V
• ä/a + a, e, i, o, u > a, e, e, o, o
• front/central vowel > Ø / e_
• back/central vowel > Ø / o_
• When a stressed vowel is lost due to sandhi, the absorbing/displacing vowel takes the stress.

Allophony and variation

• When the vowel "ä" occurs after non-labialized guttural (uvular, pharyngeal, or glottal) consonants, it becomes "a". This can also occur optionally before gutturals, especially if the guttural is followed by a central or null vowel.
• All consonants are labialized before the vowels o and u. The distinction between plain and labial velars/gutturals is lost in this circumstance.
• Labiovelar consonants followed by ä or ï can be written and pronounced as their non-labialized counterparts followed by o or u respectively. The inverse is also true. Note that w has no non-labialized counterpart and therefore remains w regardless (but the vowel alternations still apply).
• The vowels ä or ï can be replaced with e or i respectively after palatal consonants and vice versa.
• Velars and gutturals are often palatalized before front vowels, but this is not always true even in native words.
• Word-initial vowels are preceded with a glottal stop.

Consonant mutations

Spirantization

p’, pʰ > f

b, w > v

t’, tʰ, t͡s’ > s

d, l, r > z

t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ > ʃ

(dialectal: d͡ʒ > ʒ)

k’, kʰ, g > χ, ħ, ʕ

ŋ > ʁ

Fortition

p’, t’, t͡s’, t͡ʃ’, k(ʷ)’ > pʰ, tʰ, s, t͡ʃʰ, k(ʷ)ʰ

w, l, r, j, ŋ(ʷ) > b, d, d, d͡ʒ, g(ʷ)

χ(ʷ), ʁ, ʁʷ > ħ(ʷ), ʕ, w

Ø > ɲ / _V

Palatalization

ŋ, ʔ > j

k’, kʰ > t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ

χ, ħ, h > ʃ

g > d͡ʒ

ʁ, ʕ > d͡ʒ (dialectal: ʒ)

Labialization

ŋ, k’, kʰ, g, χ, ħ, ʁ > ŋʷ, kʷ’, kʷʰ, gʷ, χʷ, ħʷ, ʁʷ

ʔ, ʕ > w

Historical phonology

Grand master plan

(Proto-Bantu reconstruction taken from Wikipedia.^[1] To avoid confusion, Proto-Bantu *j is written ɟ)

ɟ > Ø / V_a, ɲ_a

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

b, d, ɟ, g > _ / sporadic (mostly in common words)

p, b > p͡f, b͡v / _i, _u

t, d > t͡s, d͡z / _i, _u

velar > palatal / before front vowel

c, ɟ > c͡ç, ɟ͡ʝ / _i, _u

k, g > k͡x, g͡ɣ / _u

{in some dialects: k͡x, g͡ɣ > k͡f, g͡v}

ɪ, ʊ > i, u

i, e, u, o > j, j, w, w (transfers high tone to following vowel) / _V

V́, VV > V: (VV = doubled vowel)

ie, ei > e:

uo, ou > o:

ai, ae, au, ao > e:, e:, o:, o:

b, d, ɟ, g > β̞, l, j, ɰ / not preceded by nasal

p͡f, b͡v > f, v / not preceded by nasal

t͡s, d͡z > s, z / not preceded by nasal

c͡ç, ɟ͡ʝ > ç, ʝ / not preceded by nasal

k͡x, g͡ɣ > x, ɣ / not preceded by nasal

{k͡f, g͡v > f, v / not preceded by nasal}

[-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

[-voiced -aspirated +stop/affricate] > [+ejective] / otherwise

[+voiced +prenasalized +stop/affricate] > [-prenasalized] / #_, V:_ (i.e. mb, nd, etc > b, d, etc)

[+voiced +prenasalized +stop/affricate] > [-prenasalized +geminate] / V_

NN > N / #_, V:_

c͡ç’, c͡çʰ, ɟ͡ʝ > t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ

c’, cʰ, ɟ > t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ

ç, ʝ > ʃ, ʒ

k͡xʰ, g͡ɣ > qʰ, ɢ

p͡fʰ, b͡v > f, v

{k͡fʰ, g͡v > f, v}

ɰ > ŋ / all environments / in grammatical prefixes and some roots

qʰ, ɢ > χ, ʁ

Kw > Kʷ (where K = kʼ, kʰ, ɡ, ŋ, χ, ʁ, x, ɣ)

Kʷ > K / _VKʷ, _VP (where P = labial consonant)

χ(ʷ), ʁ > ħ(ʷ), ʕ (not in all dialects)

ʁʷ > w (not in all dialects)

x(ʷ), ɣ(ʷ) > χ(ʷ), ʁ(ʷ)

{ʒ > d͡ʒ}

β̞ > w

ɰ > w / before rounded vowel

ɰ > j / otherwise

a > ə

e, o > ə / _

a:, e:, o: > a, e, o

i, u > ɨ (u sometimes labializes velar consonants, especially in grammatical prefixes)

i:, u: > i, u

wɨ, jɨ > u, i / C_C

wə, jə > o, e / C_C

ɨ > Ø / _#, VC_C (starting from beginning of word) / disallowed by phonotactics

j > Ø / C_V (not always)

w > Ø / C_V (not always)

(due to the above two changes, many stems beginning in semivowels drop them and become vowel-initial)

l > r / sporadic

χ, ħ > h / sporadic

ə > a / after non-labialized guttural consonant

Dialectal features

Some dialectal features not present in the standard language:

• 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.
• Labialized/palatalized consonants where the standard has plain consonants.
• Devoicing of voiced fricatives.
• Reduction of guttural consonants in various ways. Some examples:
  • /ħ/ > /χ/ (actually a merger of earlier /χ/ & /x/)
  • /ħ/, /χ/ > /h/
  • /ħ/, /χ/ > /f/ (due to alternative pathway of spirantization)
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > Ø
  • /ʕ/ > /ʁ/ (actually a merger of earlier /ɣ/ & /ʁ/)
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /ɰ/
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /ʔ/
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /ɦ/
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /v/ (due to alternative pathway of spirantization)
  • /ħ/, /χ/, /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > Ø

Morphology

Nouns

Noun classes

Kola preserves many of the Proto-Bantu noun classes.

Noun classes

Class	Noun prefix	Concord prefixes1					Typical meaning(s)2
		pronominal	extended pronominal	subject	object	adjective
1	mï-; -	yï-	ye-	ya-	mï-	mï-	Humans*, kinship terms, personification*, animate*
2	wä-	wä-	wo-	wa-		wä-	Plural of class 1
3	mï-	wï-	wo-	wu-		mï-	Plants (and derivatives)*, natural phenomena, non-paired body parts, various*
4	mï-	jï-	jo-	ji-		mï-	Plural of class 3
5	zï-; -	lï-	lo-	li-		zï-	Augmentatives*, amelioratives*, paired body parts, natural phenomena, expanses, individual things found in groups, various*
6	mä-	yä-	yo-	ya-		mä-	Plural of class 5, mass nouns, collectives, collective actions
7	jï-	shï-	sho-	shi-		jï-	Tools/artefacts, diminutives*, languages*, resemblance, amelioratives*, derogatives*, disabilities/diseases, various*
8	vï-	vï-	vo-	vi-		vï-	Plural of class 7
9	ⁿ-; -3	yï-	yo-	yi-		ⁿ-	Animals, inanimate, loanwords*, various*
10	ⁿ-; -	ĵï-	ĵo-	ĵi-		ⁿ-	Plural of classes 9 & 11
11	lï-	lï-	lo-	lu-		lï-	Abstract, manner/way/culture*, localized mass nouns, long or broad objects
12	gä-	gä-	go-	ga-		gä-	Diminutives*, derogatives*, amelioratives*
13	dï-	dï-	do-	du-		dï-	Plural of class 12
14	wï-	wï-	wo-	wu-		wï-	Abstract*, countries/lands*, location terms*
15	g(w/ï)-4	g(w/ï)-	go-	gu-		g(w/ï)-	Infinitives*
16	bä-	bä-	bo-	ba-		bä-	Specific/definite location*, "at/on/by"*, "from"*, "against"*, "to the detriment of"*, ablative*, instrumental*
17	g(w/ï)-	g(w/ï)-	go-	gu-		g(w/ï)-	Nonspecific/approximate location*, direction/destination*, recepient*, "for/to"*, "to the benefit of"*
18	mu-	mu-	mo-	mu-		mu-	Internal location*, "in"*

Notes:

¹ 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 pronouns) and with quantifiers - e.g. ዎቸ wócä "all (animate pl.)" (stem: -cä) .

Using the full set of concord prefixes is considered formal and old-fashioned, and they are normally replaced with animacy-based concords. Words agreeing with animate nouns use classes 1/2, while those agreeing with inanimate nouns use classes 9/10 (most common), 5/6, or some combination (e.g. 9/6). When a modifier is used with a noun, the concord prefix may be omitted in colloquial contexts.

The locative classes (classes 16-18) most often behave as prepositions, with the prefix appearing 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 bä́tt "place", ግት gḯtt "direction", ሙት mútt "interior".

² Productive meanings are marked with an asterisk.

³ ⁿ- = initial fortition

⁴ (w/ï) = -w- added before vowels

⁵ 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-.

e.g. class 3 ምጢ mïthí "tree" (stem: -thí) → class 4 ምጢ mïthí or class 6 መምጢ mämthí "trees"

class 5 ዚጨ zíchä "eye" (stem: -íchä) → class 6 ሜጨ méchä or መሜጨ mäméchä / መዚጨ mäzíchä "eyes"

class 5 ዝት zḯtt "giant; great person" (stem: -́tt) → class 6 መት mä́tt or class 2 ወመት mä́tt / ወዝት wäzḯtt "giants; great people"

Younger speakers tend to add the prefixes to the noun's singular form, while older speakers add them to the plural forms or don't add them at all. In this article, the traditional plurals are used.

⁶ 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.

e.g. gä- + zíchä → ጌጨ géchä or ገዚጨ gäzíchä "little eye"

bä- + zíchä → በዚጨ bäzíchä (NOT *ቤጨ béchä) "in (an) eye"

bä- + lä- "the" + inanimate concord + -ngólä "red" + zíchä → በለጎለ ዚጨ bälägólä zíchä "in the red eye"

Case marking

Kola has a marked nominative. Case is marked on the full nominal phrase. Prefixes occur at the beginning of the phrase and suffixes occur at the end.

• Absolutive: Unmarked. Used as the citation form, for nominal complements, for objects of adpositions, for the direct object of verbs, and for focused nominals.
• Nominative: Marked with -ni. Used for the subject of verbs and the copula (even when dropped) except when focused.
• Genitive: Formed with the possessive prefix a- / -ä- (with the appropriate concord prefix).
• Dative: Class 17 prefix (g(w/ï)-). Used for indirect object, destination, "to/for", "to the benefit of".
• Ablative: Class 16 prefix (bä-). Used for source, "against", "to the detriment of".
• Instrumental: Class 16 prefix (bä-). Used for instrument, means.
• Locative: Class 16/17/18 prefix (bä-/g(w/ï)-/mu-). Used for location.
• Comitative: Marked with nä-. Means "with".

Articles

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.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

In this table, only animate (class 1/2) and inanimate (class 9/10) third person pronouns are shown. Other classes form pronouns analogically from their respective extended pronominal prefixes (see noun classes).

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 demonstratives).

The impersonal can be used to form passives and pseudopassives - e.g. ቴደ téddä "one walks"; ቱልዪዙጘ tulyizúngä "one is cooking it; it is being cooked" (the latter meaning can also be expressed with the passive extension: ዪልዙጟ yilzúngwa "it is being cooked").

Kola personal pronouns

Person	Independent		Concord prefixes
	absolute	clitic	extended pronominal	pronominal	subject	object
1S	እሚ ïmí	ሚ mí	ኜ- nye-	ኝ- nyï-
2S	እዌ ïwé	ዌ wé	ዌ- we-	ው- wï-		ግ/ጕ- g(ï/w)-
3SA	እዬ ïyé	ዬ yé	ዬ- ye-	ይ- yï-	ያ- ya-	ም- mï-
3SI	እዮ ïyó	ዮ yó	ዮ- yo-	ይ- yï-	ዪ- yi-
1P	እሲ ïsí	ሲ sí	ዶ- do-	ዲ- di-
2P	እኒ ïní	ኒ ní	ኖ- no-	ኒ- ni-
3PA	እዎ ïwó	ዎ wó	ዎ- wo-	ወ- wä-	ዋ- wa-
3PI	እጆ ïĵó	ጆ ĵó	ጆ- ĵo-	ጅ- ĵï-	ጂ- ĵi-
IMP	እቶ ïtó	ቶ tó	ቶ- to-	ት- tï-	ቱ- tu-

Demonstratives

There are three demonstratives in Kola: proximal, referential, and distal. Demonstratives can function as pronouns or adjectives.

1. Proximal: -ኖ -́no (pronominal concord)
   • Used for things near the speaker ("this/these").
   • Can be used in contrast with the referential for something that were mentioned earlier ("the former").
2. Referential: formed by reduplicating clitic pronoun (with stress on the first)
   • Used for things far from the speaker but near the listener ("that").
   • Also used for something that was mentioned earlier without reference to its distance.
   • Can be used in place of personal pronouns.
   • Used in contrast with the proximal for something that was mentioned later ("the latter").
3. Distal: -ላ -́la (pronominal concord)
   • Used for things that are far from both the speaker and listener ("that over there").

Notes:

• The proximal and distal demonstratives can either take regular or extended pronominal concord prefixes. The extended prefixes provide extra emphasis.
• The referential pronoun generally uses the non-reduplicated form (identical to the clitic pronoun) in the presence of a prefix.

Adjectives

Adjectives agree with the noun they modify, taking the appropriate adjective concord prefixes (see 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.

Adjectives precede the noun they modify. They can be used independently without a noun, in which case the concord prefix is obligatory and cannot be dropped.

Numbers

In the below table, like the rest of this article, animacy concord is used (with 9/10 for inanimate). Class 7/8 forms are also given in order to demonstrate the effects of sandhi, particularly in the forms for "two". Note that 10 and higher numbers do not take concord prefixes.

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

Kola numbers

	Cardinal					Ordinal
	Counting	Adjective				no prefix	singular	plural animate
		stem	animate (1/2)	inanimate (9/10)	7/8
1	መሲ mä́si	ሙ mú	ምሙ mïmú	ሙ mú	ሽሙ shïmú	አሙ amú	የሙ yämú	ዋሙ wamú
2	ውሊ wḯli	ውሊ wḯli	ዎሊ/ወውሊ wóli/wä́wli	ብሊ bḯli	ቩሊ vúli	አውሊ áwli	ዮሊ/የውሊ yóli/yä́wli	ዋውሊ wáwli
3	ጣጥ tháth	ጣጥ tháth	ወጣጥ wätháth	ታጥ táth	ቭጣጥ vïtháth	አጣጥ atháth	የጣጥ yätháth	ዋጣጥ watháth
4	ኔ né	ኔ né	ወኔ wäné	ኔ né	ቭኔ vïné	አኔ ané	የኔ yäné	ዋኔ wané
5	ጫን chán	ጫን chán	ወጫን wächán	ቻን cán	ቭጫን vïchán	አጫን achán	የጫን yächán	ዋጫን wachán
6	ቃጘ qángä	ቃጘ qángä	ወቃጘ wäqángä	ካጘ kángä	ቭቃጘ vïqángä	አቃጘ aqángä	የቃጘ yäqángä	ዋቃጘ waqángä
7	ጦሎ thólo	ጦሎ thólo	ወጦሎ wäthólo	ቶሎ tólo	ቭጦሎ vïthólo	አጦሎ athólo	የጦሎ yäthólo	ዋጦሎ wathólo
8	ናኔ náne	ናኔ náne	ወናኔ wänáne	ናኔ náne	ቭናኔ vïnáne	አናኔ anáne	የናኔ yänáne	ዋናኔ wanáne
9	ሰጛን sängán	ሰጛን sängán	ወሰጛን wäsängán	ሰጛን sängán	ቭሰጛን vïsängán	አሰጛን asängán	የሰጛን yäsängán	ዋሰጛን wasängán
10	ቁም qúm	ቁም qúm				አቁም aqúm	የቁም yäqúm	ዋቁም waqúm
11	ቁምነ መሲ qúmnä mä́si	ቁምነ ሙ qúmnä mú	ቁምነ ምሙ qúmnä mïmú	ቁምነ ሙ qúmnä mú	ቁምነ ሽሙ qúmnä shïmú	አቁምነ ሙ aqúmnä mú	የቁምነ ሙ yäqúmnä mú	ዋቁምነ ሙ waqúmnä mú

Verbs

Structure: Pre-SM + SM + NEG₂ + TA + OM + root + extension + FV + Post-FV

• Pre-SM (pre-subject marker): see prefixes below.
• SM (subject marker): subject concord prefixes - dropped in the imperative, obligatory otherwise.
• NEG₂ (secondary negation prefix): si-, used for infinitives and other derived nouns.
• TA (tense/aspect marker): see prefixes below.
• OM (object marker): object concord prefixes.
• root: base form of verb.
• extension: see verb extensions below.
• FV (final vowel): indicates tense/aspect and mood. The default FV is unaccented -ä/a (see suffixes).
• Post-FV (post-final vowel): includes negative suffix -m.

Native verbs normally end in unaccented -ä/a, which is dropped upon the addition of suffixes. 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.

Non-finite forms

Nominalization prefixes occur at the beginning of the verb unit (in the pre-SM position).

Infinitive is a class 15 noun. It is formed by adding the class 15 prefix to the verb stem - e.g. ጔደ gwéddä "to walk" (root: -édd-), ግዙጘ gïzúngä "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 mézz "walker; companion" (pl: ዌዝ wézz).

Negative and interrogative

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

e.g. ኜደ nyéddä "I walk" → ከኜደም känyéddäm "I do not walk"

ከዌዴ käweddé "do not walk", የከዬዴ yäkäyeddé "that does not walk"

ግሴደ gïséddä "to not walk", ምሴዝ mïsézz "one who does not walk"

TAM

Prefixes

Pre-SM prefixes occur at the beginning of the verb before the subject prefixes. They include:

• nominalization prefixes (see non-finite forms above)
• -ä-: relativizer
• ni- (with subjunctive): "that" - e.g. ኒኜዴ ninyeddé "that I walk"
  • Can be used for necessative (must, should), often in combination with the applicative - e.g. ኒኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) ninyeddé (yinywálä) "I must walk" (literally: "(there is on me) that I walk")
• ni- (with indicative): places focus on verb - e.g. ኒኜዴ ninyedde "I did walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I walked")
• si-: negative counterpart of ni- - e.g. ሲኜዴ sinyeddé "that I not walk", ሲኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) sinyeddé (yinywálä) "I must not walk", ሲኜዴ sinyedde "I did not walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I did not walk")
• kä-: primary negation prefix
• bä-: "when, if; because"
• g(w)ï-: "so that, in order that"
• mu-: "while" (functions as participle)

Tense/aspect prefixes occur between the subject and object concords (after the non-finite negation morpheme si-). They include:

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

Suffixes

Perfect is formed with the ending -e {-re}. Suffix-derived verbs may form it irregularly (see verb extensions).

e.g. ጔዴ gwédde "to have walked", ግዙጜ gïzúnge "to have cooked"

Subjunctive is formed with the ending -é {-́}. There is no perfect subjunctive.

e.g. የዬዴ yäyeddé "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 eddá "walk", ዪድሌ yeddïlé "walk to it", ኤድኒ eddïní "walk (pl.)", ዬድልኒ yeddïlní "walk (pl.) to it"

ከዌዴ käweddé "do not walk", ከውዬድሌ käwyeddïlé "do not walk to it", ከኔዴ käneddé "do not walk (pl.)", ከኒዬድሌ käniyeddïlé "do not 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.

Verb extensions

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

e.g. ጔድሏ gweddḯlwa "to be walked to", ጔድልዌ gweddḯlwe "to have been walked to".

ግዙጟ gïzúngwa "to be cooked", ግዙⶕ gïzúngwe "to have been cooked".

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.

e.g. ጔዚሸ gwezzíshä "to cause to walk", ጔዚዜ gwezzíze "to have caused to walk".

ግዙጂሸ gïzujíshä "to make (someone) cook", ግዙጂዜ gïzujíze "to have made (someone) to cook".

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 gwéddïlä "to walk to", ጔዲሌ gwéddïle "to have walked to".

ግዙይለ gïzúylä "to cook for", ግዙይሌ gïzúyle "to have cooked for".

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

e.g. ጔድለነ gwéddïlänä "to walk to each other", ጔድለኔ gwéddïläne "to have walked to each other".

ግዙጘነ gïzúngänä "to cook each other", ግዙጘኔ gïzúngäne "to have cooked each other".

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

e.g. ጔደጘ gwéddängä "to walk a lot", ጔደጜ gwéddänge "to have walked a lot".

ግዙጘጘ gïzúngängä "to cook a large amount", ግዙጘጜ gïzúngänge "to have cooked a large amount".

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 gwedéddä "to walk all over the place", ጔደዴ gwedédde "to have walked all over the place".

ግዙጙጘ gïzungúngä "to cook intensively/repeatedly", ግዙጙⶕ gïzungúnge "to have cooked intensively/repeatedly".

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 gïzúnggä "to cook (intr.)", ግዙጝጌ gïzúngge "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.

e.g. ጔዴዚሽለነጟ gwedezzishlänä́ngwa "to extensively be made to walk repeatedly to each other".

Some important verbs

Copulae

• -́l (highly defective verb): used only in affirmative present indicative, no final vowel, can be dropped when clear from context.
• -wá (defective verb): "to exist, be present, to be (locative, temporary), etc" - not used in perfect, used suppletively in negative and subjunctive for -́l.
• -qá (normal verb): "to stay, to be (locative, permanent), to live (at), etc" - occurs in all tenses and moods, perfect is used suppletively for -l and -wá.

"To have"

• -ná (normal verb): "to have, to be with"

Particles

Focus particles

• ni- :
  • (with nominals): places focus on the nominal - e.g. ኒሚ አኜዴ nimí anyédde. "It is I who walked." (compare: ሚኒ ኜዴ míni nyédde. "I walked.")
  • (with verbs in the indicative): places focus on the verb - e.g. ኒኜዴ ninyedde "I did walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I walked")
  • (with verbs in the subjunctive): "that" - e.g. ኒኜዴ ninyeddé "that I walk". Can be used for necessative (must, should), often in combination with the applicative - e.g. ኒኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) ninyeddé (yinywálä) "I must walk" (literally: "(there is on me) that I walk")
• si- : negative counterpart of ni
  • (with nominals): negates and places focus on the nominal - e.g. ሲሚ አኜዴ simí anyédde. "It is not I who walked." (compare: ኒሚ አከኜዴ nimí akänyédde. "It is I who did not walk."; ሚኒ ከኜዴም míni känyéddem. "I did not walk."
  • (with verbs in the indicative): negates and places focus on the verb - e.g. ሲኜዴ sinyedde "I did not walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I did not walk")
  • (with verbs in the subjunctive): "that not" - e.g. ሲኜዴ sinyeddé "that I not walk". Can be used for negative necessative (must not, should not), often in combination with the applicative - e.g. ሲኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) sinyeddé (yinywálä) "I must not walk" (literally: "(there is on me) that I do not walk")

Conjunctions

• -nä: "and" - joins components in a clause
• na: "and" - joins clauses

Syntax

Constituent order

SOV

Noun phrase

Modifiers precede noun

Verb phrase

Verb-final

Adpositional phrase

Prepositions, postpositions, circumpositions.

Dependent clauses

Follow the same word order as main clauses (SOV, etc). Subordinating particles directly precede the verb, unless they are used for other functions (such as possession).

Relative clauses

Relativizing particle: a- (attaches to verb)

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 the possessive, in which case it attaches to the possessor.

Like most modifiers, relative clauses and possessors precede the noun they modify.

Example texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

Ge'ez script: ወት ዎቸኒ በዋቫሏ ወናጻ ዋል ና በክብሪነ በሓቂ ዋልገነ። ዓቅሊነ ኮለ በዋሜጂጳሏ፣ ባውልጙ መንፈስ ኒዋጅለኔ ዪዋዋለ።

Phonetic Ge'ez script: ወት፞ ዎቸኒ በዋቫሏ ወናጻ ዋል ና በክብሪነ በሓቂ ዋልገነ። ዓቅሊነ ኮለ በዋሜጂጳሏ፣ ባውልጙ መንፈስ ኒዋጅ̣ለ፞ኔ ዪዋዋለ።

Ethiopianist script: Wätt wocäni bäwavalwa wänaxa wal na bäkïbrinä bähhaqqi walgänä. Qhaqlinä kolä bäwamejiphalwa, bawlïngu mänfäs niwajïlläne yiwawalä.

Bantuist script: Wätth wochäni bäwavalwa wänatsa wal na bäkhïbrinä bäxhakki walgänä. Qhaklinä kholä bäwamejipalwa, bawlïngu mänfäs niwajïlläne yiwawalä.

This article's script: Wä́tt wócäni bäwaválwa wänáxa wál na bäkḯbrinä bähháqqi wálgänä. Qháqlina kólä bäwameĵiphálwa, bawlḯngu mänfä́s niwaĵïlläné yiwawálä.

IPA: [ˈwɞ̞tʰː ˈwoˑt͡ʃʰæni bɞ̞wɒ̈ˈväˑlʷɒ̈ wɞ̞ˈnät͡sʼä ˈwɒ̈l nä bɐˈkɪ̈brinɐ bɐˈħäkʼːi wɒ̈ˈlɪ̈gɐnɐ ˈʕäkʼlinɐ ˈkʷʰoˑlɐ bɞ̞wɒ̈ˌme̞d͡ʒiˈpʼäˑlʷɒ̈ bɒ̈wˈlɪ̈ŋʷu mɐɱˈfɐs niwɒ̈ˌd͡ʒɪlːɐˈneˑ jiwɒ̈ˈwɒ̈ˑlɐ]

Gloss: C2.people AGR₂-all-NOM when-SM₂-give_birth-PASS-PRES AGR₂-free SM₂-be-PRES and C16-C9.dignity and C16-C10.rights SM₂-be_equal-PRES. C9.reason and C9.conscience because-SM₂-ANT-OM₁₀-give-APP-PASS-PRES, with-POSS-C14.brotherhood C3.spirit that-SM₂-OM₁₀-act-APP-REC-SUBJ SM₉-OM₂-be-APP.PRES.

Literal translation: All people, when they are born, are free and are equal in dignity and rights. They have been given reason and conscience, and there is on them that they act to each other in a spirit of brotherhood.