Pkalho-Kolo 3

OK. I have created a new page because Pkalho-Kölo 1 was getting absurdly long. Hinotëma.

Here we go on with the grammar, and we are up to:

VII. Directional Prefixes A

Pkalho-Kölo has 25 suffixes and seven prefixes: these are the directional prefixes, which have an important role in every area of grammar. They express the direction of movement:

Towards: le- Away from: he-

Continued: nö- Reversed: cö-

Similar: va- Opposite: cwa-

Mutual: pkä-

A i. The first two are the most commonly used, indicating direction towards, or away from, the speaker or point of focus. The meaning is clear with words expressing movement:

lelantirë - climbed up (towards me) / helantirë - climbed up (away from me)

lenerirë    - dropped down (towards me) / henerirë - dropped down (away from me)

With words describing transactions, two different English words are often needed:

leproä - buy / heproä - sell : letou - bring / hetou - take : lekwea - get / hekwea - give : lehoä - borrow / hehoä - lend

Pkalho-Kölo is not based on subject-object relations and so the suffixes of subordinated words remain the same, regardless of direction. The word order may be changed, but needn’t be:

lehoärë cälpan lhuhi pali - I borrowed a book from him : hehoärë cälpan pal lhuhi - he lent me a book  (But the pronouns would be omitted in most contexts.)

The “direction” expressed can be quite abstract : lehurkworë - (someone) promised me / hehurkworë - I made a promise.

Or with a word like yoä, to be clear (yoäla - it is clear to me, I understand) : leyoärë - it was explained to me / heyoärë - I explained.

The demonstratives are frequently used with directional prefixes, usually translatable as go/come:

leperë - came (here) : heperë - went away : lelhorë - went there : helhorë - went/came from there : lecephi - I will come (to where you are) : heyorë - came from that other place

A ii. The next two, indicating a direction continued or reversed, are also clear with movement words:

larirë wiprä kweholi nölarirë - ran to the verge of the forest and then ran on / larirë wiprä kweholi cölarirë - ran to the verge of the forest and then ran back

leprëurëto nöpkärerë - pulled it towards (him/her) then pushed it onwards / tokarëto cöhëurë - picked it up then put it down again

The direction with these also may be more abstract:

letöwarë nömin nötöwarë pahi - the news was passed on to me and I in turn passed it on / lëmpa cwiurë pal cöcwiurë pahi - (he/she) asked me various questions, and I asked questions back

An idiom using these two prefixes: luncwa - tomorrow : nöluncwa - the day after tomorrow : mucwa - yesterday : cömucwa - the day before yesterday

A iii. The last three prefixes, va-, cwa-, pkä-, are obviously used most often when two individuals or distinct groups are being spoken of:

larirë lhun linwepkwe valarirë upen - he ran towards the river and his brother ran with him.

(Note: valarirë lhuwë - they ran with him : valarirë lhuli - they ran after him)

larirë lhun ifhëphoru tämopkwe cwalarirë cumon - he ran towards the burning house as a crowd of people ran away from it

With turki, meaning “fight (with weapons)” vaturkirë lhaun - they fought on the same side : cwaturkirë lhaun - they fought on opposite sides : pkäturkirë lhaun - they fought each other.

pkä- is used for all kinds of reciprocal event or relations: kwila - talk / pkäkwila - talk to each other, converse : mela - love / pkämela - love each other : mawe - near / pkämawe - near to each other : rloä - far / pkärloä - far apart from each other

Also to create general terms: leproä - buy / heproä - sell / pkäproä - buying and selling

VIII. Directional Prefixes B

One of the characteristics of Pkalho-Kölo is the use of affixes to modify the meaning of other affixes. This is nowhere truer than in the case of directional prefixes, which can be added, not only to word-stems, but also to suffixes.

B i. The first four directional prefixes, le-, he-, nö-, cö-, are added to the first three Order suffixes to describe a state or event that has: (1) begun but not been completed (2) been moved away from (3) is continuing (4) looking back into the past is seen to have begun.

So: möilela ninyön - the baby has fallen asleep / möihela ninyön - the baby was asleep / möinöla ninyön - the baby is still asleep / möicöla ninyön - the baby is already asleep

With the active: fharulerë lhaun - they are working / fharuherë lhaun - they were working / fharunörë lhaun - the are still working / fharucörë lhaun - they have already begun working.

And likewise with the habitual. Note that tense, like gender and number, is not a grammatical category in Pkalho-Kölo, so that forms with he- do not refer to the past, but to priority in time, regardless of whether in the past, present or future.

Directional prefixes are not added to the second group of Stative suffixes: these are added to one of the forms above: fharuwonörë - are they still working? / fharupwänörë - perhaps they are still working / fharukunörë - I’m surprised that they’re still working.

The order of suffixes changes if the Denominative -to is added to create a suspended clause: fharunörëkuto - although they’re still working...

The other three directional prefixes can also be added to these suffixes, but that can wait.

B ii. The first two directional prefixes are frequently added to the locative Subordination suffixes to describe movement to or away from a location :

hwaprärë ninyön anälewë - the baby crawled to where his mother was / larirë tämoli linwe veltahewë - (he/she) ran to the house from the riverbank

hëurë cäitan vöntalethu - placed the ruler down along the ledge / cënerë thärpun thorlluhethu - picked up the spade from out of the ditch

neltërë kilwen tällilekö - put the key down on the table / mankerë mecën phalmehekö - collected the pieces up from off the floor

näpherë maprön cäkilemä - put the greenfinch into the cage / lucerë pkanyö cumpën piuvehemä - took a candied plum out of the jar

Many other combinations of prefix and locative suffix are possible. Some examples:

marpwola torö lentanöwë - there was a puddle before the front steps / pumhwela fhohwen pahäcöwë - dead leaves were heaped up behind the wall

tëprarë camphön phalme hekuvathu - spread plaster across the crack in the floor / nitärë kepwän pahäcwakö - set up the ladder against the wall

tullela cëvi leapkäwë - (his/her) uncle stood between the trees / yakelerë unon leapkämä - children were playing among the trees / hëurë phoän cälpa phicapkäkö - placed the flower between the pages of the book.

IX. Directional Prefixes C

The directional prefixes are also added to indefinite words, as follows, using mäi, someone:

lemäi - a certain person; at least one person

hemäi - no-one

nömäi - everyone

cömäi - anyone

vamäi - the same person

cwamäi - someone else

pkämäi - whoever

The same pattern applies to all the others: lekui - at a certain time; hepea - nowhere; nörlui - all kinds of; cövoä - any amount of; vahwea - in the same way; cwaphiu - for a different reason; pkäpwea - by whatever means.

Forms such as cömäi, anyone, are used mostly in questions and with the negative: këuworëto cömäili, prure ceikë - if anyone has found it, please tell me. Haula cömäin - there was no-one there.

The directional prefixes can also be added to the Denominative -to to express inclusion, exclusion, extent, and so on. Some examples:

löikuhela tulmelheala cal leto - I thought I could trust you, at least

tauthoru rlacwerë heto - you should be grateful rather than complaining

kurwerë nömäin lhu pkanin nöto - everyone came, even her parents

mimärë proha mäi lënton cöto - only about twenty people came with us

wëlphemu linwethu ilho nörluin kwimu vato - in the river are all kinds of fish, including salmon

cëuneala tolkun pkäto - you could use a spoon for example

They can be added to the stem of a word, or after another suffix; it’s difficult to say if they are suffixes, clitics or even separate words. The original script doesn’t help, because it is written without breaks between words, but I generally write them separately.

(More about this soon)

X. Inversions

Inversion is a particular feature of Pkalho-Kölo grammar. The principle is that any relationship between a word with an Order suffix and a Subordinated word can be reversed. This is done by taking the Subordination suffix, adding the Order suffix, and prefixing the result to the stem of the Subordinated word. When this is done the Stative suffix -la is reduced to -l and the Habitual suffix -mu is reduced to -m. Examples are probably easier to understand than explanations:

möila tancukö - (she) was sleeping on the sofa : köl-möi tancu - the sofa (she) was sleeping on.

kelphumu linwemä - I swim in the river : mäm-kelphu linwe - the river I swim in

kamkurë cwëllekö rlupehi - a dog bit the little girl : körë-kamku cwëlle - the little girl who was bitten : hirë-kamku rlupe - the dog that bit her

Inverted phrases can then be included in sentences :

hëurë kilwen thencu cantomä - he put the key in a sandalwood box : märë-hëu canto - the box he put it in : yallurë märë-hëu canton - he lost the box he put it in

A word can be added to such inverted phrases, provided that its Subordination is the Relative:

hoämu cälpan cäilohi - a friend of mine lends me books : cälpa him-hoä cäilo - the friend who lends me books : kwearë kwölmi phuvon cälpa him-hoä cäiloli - I gave a bunch of carnations to the friend who lends me books

Modifiers can also be added to this word:

hoämu ummë muilho cälpan cäilohi - a friend lends me thick, difficult books : ummë muilho cälpa him-hoä cäilo - the friend who lends me thick, difficult books

XI. More About the Conjunctive

As mentioned before, the conjunctive suffix -yi can often be translated “and.” More precisely, it reprises the meaning of whichever Order suffix it refers back to:

nökui hwöila nelkoyi lhun - he/she was always cheerful and courteous

cännulerë phërëpweyi cöin - the birds were singing and fluttering about

pkulmaphi talmeteiyi cal pahi - I will watch over you and keep you safe

If the Relative suffix in its reduced form -n is added to the conjunctive, it refers back to the nearest word with any suffix:

pöllumu leamä kielahi miuvayin - blackbirds and thrushes would sing in the trees

kwomala körömpin cimhövo fhaproyin - the princess was dressed in silk and brocade

In either case, the Conjunctive can be combined with the second three Statives, the Interrogative, Conjectural and Concessive:

tälnapriula petän yempapriuwoyi pan - either the task is too difficult or I am too stupid

vipwäla lhun yopelerëpwäyi - he’s drunk or perhaps he’s pretending to be

wölphala cwallon kehwokuyi lhaun - the journey was daunting but they were confident

Although Interrogative and Conjectural can both be translated “or” there is a difference. Interrogative is used for yes/no oppositions, Conjectural for more open-ended choices:

phöiwo phikwan taväwoyin - would you like tea or coffee? (Those are your choices.)

phöiwo phikwan taväpwäyin - would you like tea or coffee (or something else, or perhaps you don’t want anything to drink.)

The translation is not inevitably “and”:

lelhorë yelkwali lhuni upeyin - he went to the festival with his younger brother

Coming soon: More about the Neutral Demonstratives