A Grammar of Kata

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Kata language (the 122nd one produced by the Language Creator), outlining its sound system, word formation and syntactic structure, with the aim of presenting a coherent account of the language as an integrated whole. Attention has been paid to both regular patterns and minor irregularities, as these together define the internal balance of the language.

The grammar is accompanied by a bilingual dictionary and a collection of illustrative texts, offering material for further study and comparison. The examples have been selected to demonstrate typical constructions and to give a sense of the language in extended use. The description is intended as a reference work for linguists and language enthusiasts alike, and as a foundation for any future research, teaching or creative adaptation of Kata.

Typological Profile

It has a maximally developed dental–alveolar opposition, a small but genuine set of click consonants and a relatively uncommon VOS word order.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Kata has a moderately large consonant inventory, with 28 phonemes.

It has a maximally developed dental–alveolar opposition, a strikingly small set of lateral and rhotic consonants, a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants, a small but genuine set of click consonants and a complete absence of laryngeal consonants.

The table below presents the full inventory of consonant phonemes in Kata. The chart lists all places and manners of articulation attested in the language.

labialdentalalveolarpostalveolarpalatalretroflexvelarlab. velar
stopb d t ɖ ʈ k ɡ kʷ ɡʷ
ejective stopkʷʼ
nasalm n ɲ ɳ ŋ ŋʷ
trill/tap/flapɽ
fricativef s ʃ ʂ
approximantʋ j
affricatet͡ʃ
clickᵏǀ
click, nasalᵑǀ

Vowels

Kata has 3 vowel qualities. This constitutes a relatively small inventory, with contrasts limited to the vowel categories displayed in the chart. The phonological system relies primarily on these few qualities to encode vocalic distinctions.

It has a vertical vowel system in which backness distinctions are largely absent and a maximally “square” vowel system balancing heights across backness.

The table below presents the full inventory of vowel phonemes in Kata. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

central
closeɨ
midə
opena

Stress and Tones

Kata has phonemic stress but no lexical tone. Stress consistently falls on the first vowel of the root, and no contrastive tonal distinctions are made.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Kata is normally written using the Cyrillic alphabet, a script with a long and varied history across Eastern Europe and northern Asia. In this grammar, phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are also used to give an unambiguous representation of sound.

The conventions adopted here follow standard Cyrillic practice for the language where that exists; where they do not, the IPA transcription should be taken as authoritative.

Orthography

Here are the various components of the orthography:

Simple letters

ə /ə/а /a/б /b/в /ʋ/
г /ɡ/д /d/д̇ /ɖ/к /k/
м /m/н /n/н̇ /ɳ/р̇ /ɽ/
с /s/с̇ /ʂ/т /t/т̇ /ʈ/
ф /f/ч /t͡ʃ/ш /ʃ/ы /ɨ/
ј /j/њ /ɲ/ӈ /ŋ/

Multi-letter combinations such as digraphs

гв /ɡʷ/кв /kʷ/къ /kʼ/
къв /kʼʷ/ҁн /ᵑǀ/ҁт /ᵏǀ/
ӈв /ŋʷ/

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Kata does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Kata has the following genders:

Gender fem – for instance: вафа ‘snake’, гəњы ‘breath’, гваӈа ‘daughter’, къаквы ‘binoculars’, къвəја ‘child’, къваӈва ‘sky’, сəна ‘inside’, сəфа ‘moon’, с̇əгвə ‘forest’, с̇аны ‘sound’, с̇ас̇а ‘animal’, сычə ‘speech’, т̇əша ‘idea’, тыка ‘louse’, фафə ‘mother’, шəвы ‘lake’, јынə ‘surface’, ҁтакə ‘rope’, ӈабə ‘urine’, ӈан̇ə ‘south’.

Gender masc – for instance: выӈа ‘snow’, гəдə ‘name’, гвады ‘boy’, дəња ‘husband’, дакъа ‘night’, квəква ‘time’, кваӈа ‘fruit’, нəња ‘son’, тəњы ‘human being’, т̇аја ‘dust’, тат̇ə ‘father’, фəты ‘neighbour’, чəн̇ə ‘wind’, чатə ‘apple’, чања ‘day’, шəњə ‘sand’, јəсə ‘cat’, њат̇ə ‘ice’, ҁнас̇а ‘ash’, ҁтакъа ‘sun’.

Gender neut – for instance: гваӈы ‘feather’, д̇ыда ‘ear’, дадə ‘foot’, кəты ‘wild boar’, кəја ‘liver’, квыд̇а ‘river’, квыӈа ‘wing’, къəба ‘city’, къвыња ‘tooth’, маты ‘mouth’, нəмə ‘money’, с̇ага ‘hand’, с̇акъə ‘bone’, сасы ‘fish’, сафы ‘bird’, чыша ‘tail’, ҁтəва ‘blood’, ҁтаса ‘rain’, ӈəкы ‘faeces’, ӈашə ‘breast’.

The Nominal Phrase

Nominal phrases in Kata can be exemplified by the following example:

Јы њысачы мы сə гада кватəфаба т̇а д̇əкъə ҁтајы фыкъə Јə гасə фыкъə.

[jɨ ˈɲɨsat͡ʃɨ mɨ sə ˈɡada ˈkʷatəfaba ˈʈa ˈɖəkʼə ˈᵏǀajɨ ˈfɨkʼə ˈjə ˈɡasə ˈfɨkʼə]


PAST
ˈɲɨsa
catch
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.fem.SUBJ

3.plur.fem.OBJ
ˈɡada
blind
ˈkʷatə
mouse
-fa
ACC
-ba
plur
ˈʈa
three
ˈɖə
yon
-kʼə
fem
ˈᵏǀajɨ
woman
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈjə
COMIT
ˈɡasə
knife
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem

“The woman with the knife caught those three blind mice.”

(1)

In the following, we shall look at the various components in more details.

There is one type of clitic in the nominal phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing possessor. a clitic expressing possessor, comprising къа /kʼa/ ‘1incl.sing’, ка /ka/ ‘1excl.sing’, јə /jə/ ‘2.sing’, квы /kʷɨ/ ‘3.sing.masc’, њə /ɲə/ ‘3.sing.fem’, та /ta/ ‘3.sing.neut’, къвə /kʼʷə/ ‘1incl.plur’, чы /t͡ʃɨ/ ‘1excl.plur’, ква /kʷa/ ‘2.plur’, да /da/ ‘3.plur.masc’, вы /ʋɨ/ ‘3.plur.fem’ and мə /mə/ ‘3.plur.neut’.

The morphology of the elements of the nominal phrase, i.e., nouns, adjectives, numerals and pronouns, is described below, as is the way that possession is expressed in Kata.

The Noun

The noun in Kata consists of first, the root; second, an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -гə /-ɡə/ ‘ERG’, -фа /-fa/ ‘ACC’, -јə /-jə/ ‘GEN’, -къы /-kʼɨ/ ‘DAT’, -њы /-ɲɨ/ ‘INS’, -мы /-mɨ/ ‘VOC’, -да /-da/ ‘ALL’, -нə /-nə/ ‘LOC’, -тə /-tə/ ‘ABL’ and -сы /-sɨ/ ‘PART’; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing number, comprising -ба /-ba/ ‘plur’.

The noun displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -къə /-kʼə/ ‘little’ and -бы /-bɨ/ ‘big’

The Adjective

The adjective in Kata stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Numerals

The numeral in Kata stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Determiners

In Kata, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing gender, comprising -да /-da/ ‘masc’ and -къə /-kʼə/ ‘fem’.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Kata stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Јы сагвачы бы ӈвə тыс̇афа фыкъə мə бəкъəчы къвывə чы.

[jɨ ˈsaɡʷat͡ʃɨ bɨ ŋʷə ˈtɨʂafa ˈfɨkʼə ˈmə ˈbəkʼət͡ʃɨ ˈkʼʷɨʋə t͡ʃɨ]


PAST
ˈsaɡʷa
kill
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

1excl.plur.SUBJ
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ
ˈtɨʂa
tiger
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈmə
because
ˈbəkʼə
be
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ˈkʼʷɨʋə
happy
t͡ʃɨ
1incl.plur.SUBJ

“Because the two of us [not including the listener] killed the tiger, we [including the listener] are all now happy.”

(2)

Here is an example where neither of the pronouns are stressed:

Дəначы ӈвə квы.

[ˈdənat͡ʃɨ ŋʷə ˈkʷɨ]

ˈdəna
love
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ
ˈkʷɨ
3.sing.fem

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

(3)

But here, the word corresponding to he is stressed:

Дəначы ӈвə квы јə.

[ˈdənat͡ʃɨ ŋʷə ˈkʷɨ ˈjə]

ˈdəna
love
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ
ˈkʷɨ
3.sing.fem
ˈjə
3.sing.masc

He loves her.”

(4)

And here, it is the one translated as her that is stressed:

Дəначы ӈвə квы.

[ˈdənat͡ʃɨ ŋʷə ˈkʷɨ]

ˈdəna
love
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ
ˈkʷɨ
3.sing.fem

“He loves her.”

(5)

Proper Nouns

Сабачы ӈвə Т̇əт̇ыфа фыкъə Сыс̇ə фыда.

[ˈsabat͡ʃɨ ŋʷə ˈʈəʈɨfa ˈfɨkʼə ˈsɨʂə ˈfɨda]

ˈsaba
hate
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ
ˈʈəʈɨ
Tati
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈsɨʂə
Sisha
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“Sisha hates Tati.”

(6)

Possession

гвадыјə фыда чатə фыда квы

[ˈɡʷadɨjə ˈfɨda ˈt͡ʃatə ˈfɨda kʷɨ]

ˈɡʷadɨ
boy
-jə
GEN
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈt͡ʃatə
apple
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
kʷɨ
3.sing.masc.POSS

“the boy’s apple”

(7)
јə чатə фыда квы

[ˈjə ˈt͡ʃatə ˈfɨda kʷɨ]

ˈjə
3.sing.masc
ˈt͡ʃatə
apple
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
kʷɨ
3.sing.masc.POSS

“his (the boy’s) apple”

(8)
чатə фыда ка

[ˈt͡ʃatə ˈfɨda ka]

ˈt͡ʃatə
apple
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ka
1excl.sing.POSS

“my apple”

(9)
Јы сывачы мы мə фəтыјə фыда јə нəњафа фыда квы кваныјə фыда гваӈа фыкъə квы.

[jɨ ˈsɨʋat͡ʃɨ mɨ mə ˈfətɨjə ˈfɨda jə ˈnəɲafa ˈfɨda kʷɨ ˈkʷanɨjə ˈfɨda ˈɡʷaŋa ˈfɨkʼə kʷɨ]


PAST
ˈsɨʋa
kiss
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.fem.SUBJ

3.sing.masc.OBJ
ˈfətɨ
neighbour
-jə
GEN
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

2.sing.POSS
ˈnəɲa
son
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
kʷɨ
3.sing.masc.POSS
ˈkʷanɨ
hunter
-jə
GEN
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈɡʷaŋa
daughter
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
kʷɨ
3.sing.masc.POSS

“The hunter’s daughter kissed your neighbour’s son.”

(10)

Derivation

Kata has a few derivational processes. To illustrate this, let us start with a simple noun phrase:

кəны

[ˈkənɨ]

ˈkənɨ
lamb

“a lamb”

(11)

In the following, the word for little becomes an affix attached to lamb:

кəныкъə

[ˈkənɨkʼə]

ˈkənɨ
lamb
-kʼə
little

“a little lamb”

(12)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

The verbal phrase clitics in Kata fall into two categories, proclitics and enclitics: first, a clitic expressing negation, comprising та /ta/ ‘NEG’; second, a clitic expressing ta, comprising јы /jɨ/ ‘PAST’; third, a clitic expressing subj, comprising јы /jɨ/ ‘1incl.sing’, фы /fɨ/ ‘1excl.sing’, къвə /kʼʷə/ ‘2.sing’, мы /mɨ/ ‘3.sing.fem’, ја /ja/ ‘3.sing.neut’, чы /t͡ʃɨ/ ‘1incl.plur’, бы /bɨ/ ‘1excl.plur’, сə /sə/ ‘2.plur’, д̇а /ɖa/ ‘3.plur.masc’, са /sa/ ‘3.plur.fem’ and ча /t͡ʃa/ ‘3.plur.neut’; fourth, a clitic expressing obj, comprising ӈы /ŋɨ/ ‘1incl.sing’, та /ta/ ‘1excl.sing’, мы /mɨ/ ‘2.sing’, мə /mə/ ‘3.sing.masc’, ӈвə /ŋʷə/ ‘3.sing.fem’, бы /bɨ/ ‘3.sing.neut’, фа /fa/ ‘1incl.plur’, ны /nɨ/ ‘1excl.plur’, на /na/ ‘2.plur’, квы /kʷɨ/ ‘3.plur.masc’, сə /sə/ ‘3.plur.fem’ and чы /t͡ʃɨ/ ‘3.plur.neut’; fifth, a clitic expressing indobj, comprising квə /kʷə/ ‘1incl.sing’, вы /ʋɨ/ ‘1excl.sing’, къа /kʼa/ ‘2.sing’, ма /ma/ ‘3.sing.masc’, с̇ы /ʂɨ/ ‘3.sing.fem’, ӈы /ŋɨ/ ‘3.sing.neut’, р̇ы /ɽɨ/ ‘1incl.plur’, чə /t͡ʃə/ ‘1excl.plur’, ӈа /ŋa/ ‘2.plur’, къы /kʼɨ/ ‘3.plur.masc’, кы /kɨ/ ‘3.plur.fem’ and ны /nɨ/ ‘3.plur.neut’; and finally, sixth, a clitic expressing question, comprising ӈə /ŋə/ ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: first, the root; second, an optional suffix expressing mode, comprising -чы /-t͡ʃɨ/ ‘indicative’, -јы /-jɨ/ ‘conditional’ and -квə /-kʷə/ ‘optative’; and finally, third, an optional suffix expressing voice, comprising -квы /-kʷɨ/ ‘passive’.

The verb displays the following derivational morphology: two suffixes, namely -квə /-kʷə/ ‘begin’ and -бə /-bə/ ‘stop’

Дəначы фы мы шы.

[ˈdənat͡ʃɨ fɨ mɨ ˈʃɨ]

ˈdəna
love
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

1excl.sing.SUBJ

2.sing.OBJ
ˈʃɨ
2.sing

“I love you.”

(13)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

There is one type of clitic in the adpositional phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing root.

гвы бəша фыда јынə

[ˈɡʷɨ ˈbəʃa ˈfɨda ˈjɨnə]

ˈɡʷɨ
in
ˈbəʃa
table
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈjɨnə
surface

“on the table”

(14)
вə быкъвə фыкъə сəна

[ˈʋə ˈbɨkʼʷə ˈfɨkʼə ˈsəna]

ˈʋə
to
ˈbɨkʼʷə
box
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈsəna
inside

“into the box”

(15)
Јə фа

[ˈjə ˈfa]

ˈjə
COMIT
ˈfa
1excl.sing

“with me”

(16)

Syntax

Basic Clause Structure

Constituent Order

Constituent order describes the typical arrangement of the subject (S), verb (V) and object (O) in simple declarative clauses. It is a fundamental parameter in grammatical description and forms one of the clearest ways of characterising the overall structure of a language’s clause system.

Kata displays Verb–Object–Subject (VOS) as its primary word order. The verb is followed by the object, with the subject appearing clause-finally. Although relatively uncommon, VOS is well documented cross-linguistically.

The following examples illustrate the basic, unmarked, constituent order in Kata.

Јы сагвачы мə кваныфа фыда ӈвајы фыда.

[jɨ ˈsaɡʷat͡ʃɨ mə ˈkʷanɨfa ˈfɨda ˈŋʷajɨ ˈfɨda]


PAST
ˈsaɡʷa
kill
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.masc.OBJ
ˈkʷanɨ
hunter
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈŋʷajɨ
jaguar
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

(17)
Јы јасəчы мы ӈвə кваныјə фыда гваӈајə фыкъə квы д̇акафа фыда њə вын̇ə фыкъə.

[jɨ ˈjasət͡ʃɨ mɨ ŋʷə ˈkʷanɨjə ˈfɨda ˈɡʷaŋajə ˈfɨkʼə kʷɨ ˈɖakafa ˈfɨda ɲə ˈʋɨɳə ˈfɨkʼə]


PAST
ˈjasə
eat
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.fem.SUBJ
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ
ˈkʷanɨ
hunter
-jə
GEN
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈɡʷaŋa
daughter
-jə
GEN
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
kʷɨ
3.sing.masc.POSS
ˈɖaka
dog
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ɲə
3.sing.fem.POSS
ˈʋɨɳə
lion
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem

“The lion ate the hunter’s daughter’s dog.”

(18)

The language has a fixed constituent order, and major phrases normally appear in a predictable position in the clause. Movement for discourse reasons is highly restricted: topics and foci are expressed not by rearranging elements, but through dedicated constructions such as clefts, focus clauses or topic–comment frames. Constituents remain continuous, and both the relative order of phrases and the internal structure of each phrase are stable. As a result, significant deviations from the basic word order are ungrammatical, and discourse structure is managed through these specialised constructions rather than through word-order variation.

Noun Phrases

Structure and Order

The internal structure of noun phrases in Kata reveals typologically significant preferences in the ordering of nominal constituents. This includes the position of adjectives, numerals, and possessors relative to the noun, each of which can offer clues to the overall headedness of the language.

Possessive constructions are head-final: the possessor precedes the possessed noun. For example, Kata expresses “the child’s toy” with the equivalent of “child toy”. This ordering is found in many SOV and postpositional languages and aligns with a broader tendency towards modifier-first structures.

нəњајə фыда јə шасəјə фы квы н̇əчы фыкъə та

[ˈnəɲajə ˈfɨda jə ˈʃasəjə ˈfɨ kʷɨ ˈɳət͡ʃɨ ˈfɨkʼə ta]

ˈnəɲa
son
-jə
GEN
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

2.sing.POSS
ˈʃasə
friend
-jə
GEN
ˈfɨ
the
kʷɨ
3.sing.masc.POSS
ˈɳət͡ʃɨ
book
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ta
3.sing.neut.POSS

“your son’s friend’s book”

(19)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

Јы сагвачы сə ӈвајыфаба фыда бы тыс̇афаба фыкъə бы вын̇əфаба фыкъə кваны фыда.

[jɨ ˈsaɡʷat͡ʃɨ sə ˈŋʷajɨfaba ˈfɨda ˈbɨ ˈtɨʂafaba ˈfɨkʼə ˈbɨ ˈʋɨɳəfaba ˈfɨkʼə ˈkʷanɨ ˈfɨda]


PAST
ˈsaɡʷa
kill
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.plur.fem.OBJ
ˈŋʷajɨ
jaguar
-fa
ACC
-ba
plur
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈbɨ
and
ˈtɨʂa
tiger
-fa
ACC
-ba
plur
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈbɨ
and
ˈʋɨɳə
lion
-fa
ACC
-ba
plur
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈkʷanɨ
hunter
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“The hunter killed the jaguars, the tigers and the lions.”

(20)

Modifiers and Determiners

The ordering of demonstratives, articles (if present), and other modifiers in Kata provides further insight into the structure of the noun phrase. These elements frequently exhibit fixed positions and may reveal whether the language favours head-initial or head-final patterns.

Complex Sentences

Relative Clauses

Kata forms relative clauses by using a head-internal strategy. The head noun appears inside the clause itself, occupying its regular syntactic position. The entire clause functions as a modifier, and its external syntactic behaviour is identical to that of a noun-modifying phrase.

To illustrate how relative clauses work, let us begin with a simple sentence:

Јы шəфачы фы мə јəсəфа фыда.

[jɨ ˈʃəfat͡ʃɨ fɨ mə ˈjəsəfa ˈfɨda]


PAST
ˈʃəfa
pat
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

1excl.sing.SUBJ

3.sing.masc.OBJ
ˈjəsə
cat
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“I patted the cat.”

(21)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

Јы шəфачы фы ӈвə јы њысачы ӈвə кватəфа фыкъə јəсə фыда.

[jɨ ˈʃəfat͡ʃɨ fɨ ŋʷə jɨ ˈɲɨsat͡ʃɨ ŋʷə ˈkʷatəfa ˈfɨkʼə ˈjəsə ˈfɨda]


PAST
ˈʃəfa
pat
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

1excl.sing.SUBJ
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ

PAST
ˈɲɨsa
catch
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ
ˈkʷatə
mouse
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈjəsə
cat
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

(22)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

Јы шəфачы фы ӈвə јы њысачы ӈвə јы јасəчы мы мə квəчафа фыда кватə фыкъə јəсə фыда.

[jɨ ˈʃəfat͡ʃɨ fɨ ŋʷə jɨ ˈɲɨsat͡ʃɨ ŋʷə jɨ ˈjasət͡ʃɨ mɨ mə ˈkʷət͡ʃafa ˈfɨda ˈkʷatə ˈfɨkʼə ˈjəsə ˈfɨda]


PAST
ˈʃəfa
pat
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

1excl.sing.SUBJ
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ

PAST
ˈɲɨsa
catch
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ

PAST
ˈjasə
eat
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.fem.SUBJ

3.sing.masc.OBJ
ˈkʷət͡ʃa
cheese
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈkʷatə
mouse
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈjəsə
cat
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese.”

(23)

Finally, here is an example containing several layers of embedding:

Јы шəфачы фы ӈвə јы њысачы ӈвə јы јасəчы мы ӈвə јы къвыр̇əчы фы мə квəчафа фыда фа кватə фыкъə јəсə фыда.

[jɨ ˈʃəfat͡ʃɨ fɨ ŋʷə jɨ ˈɲɨsat͡ʃɨ ŋʷə jɨ ˈjasət͡ʃɨ mɨ ŋʷə jɨ ˈkʼʷɨɽət͡ʃɨ fɨ mə ˈkʷət͡ʃafa ˈfɨda ˈfa ˈkʷatə ˈfɨkʼə ˈjəsə ˈfɨda]


PAST
ˈʃəfa
pat
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

1excl.sing.SUBJ
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ

PAST
ˈɲɨsa
catch
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ

PAST
ˈjasə
eat
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.fem.SUBJ
ŋʷə
3.sing.fem.OBJ

PAST
ˈkʼʷɨɽə
buy
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

1excl.sing.SUBJ

3.sing.masc.OBJ
ˈkʷət͡ʃa
cheese
-fa
ACC
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc
ˈfa
1excl.sing
ˈkʷatə
mouse
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈjəsə
cat
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese that I bought.”

(24)

Complementation Strategies

Kata marks complement clauses with subordinating verbal morphology. The embedded verb is fully finite and carries a subordinating suffix that identifies the clause as a complement. No structural changes occur within the clause apart from this verbal marking.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

Јы квəбачы мы ӈы ӈвагвəкъы фы јы къышычы мə с̇ы чатəфа јəшыкъы фыкъə гвады фыда.

[jɨ ˈkʷəbat͡ʃɨ mɨ ŋɨ ˈŋʷaɡʷəkʼɨ ˈfɨ jɨ ˈkʼɨʃɨt͡ʃɨ mə ʂɨ ˈt͡ʃatəfa ˈjəʃɨkʼɨ ˈfɨkʼə ˈɡʷadɨ ˈfɨda]


PAST
ˈkʷəba
surprise
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.fem.SUBJ
ŋɨ
3.sing.neut.INDOBJ
ˈŋʷaɡʷə
teacher
-kʼɨ
DAT
ˈfɨ
the

PAST
ˈkʼɨʃɨ
give
-t͡ʃɨ
indicative

3.sing.masc.OBJ
ʂɨ
3.sing.fem.INDOBJ
ˈt͡ʃatə
apple
-fa
ACC
ˈjəʃɨ
girl
-kʼɨ
DAT
ˈfɨ
the
-kʼə
fem
ˈɡʷadɨ
boy
ˈfɨ
the
-da
masc

“It surprised the teacher that the boy had given the girl an apple.”

(25)

Quotes

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

Miscellaneous

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Kata / Kata–English) accompany this grammar. The complete work – comprising the grammar, dictionary and texts – may also be downloaded in ODT or DOCX format.

Readers are encouraged to share observations or corrections via the feedback form. The present page may be accessed directly at:

https://languagecreator.org/grammar/36MNZ

Behind the scenes, the Language Creator stores the generated language in a JSON-based format known as ELD. The corresponding ELD file may be downloaded, edited as required, and reuploaded in order to regenerate the grammar, dictionary and texts.

How to cite this grammar:

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Kata. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 10 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/36MNZ

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-36MNZ,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Kata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/36MNZ}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.90, on 10 May 2026}
}

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