Num ba

Tem jing | Overview

Ba Kom is analytical and isolating, head-initial, and SVO (subject-verb-object). Word order is very strict.

Ba Kom uses helping words (like prepositions and preverbs) and word-order to convey relationships between words, rather than changing the form of a word.
Ba Kom has only a few affixes, and most words have only one morpheme. Most new words are formed by compounding existing words.

Descriptive phrases (such as adverbs, adjectives, and determiners) come after the words that they describe, never before.

Ba Kom parts of speech are: nouns and pronouns; active verbs and preverbs; stative verbs and adverbs; prepositions; and clause-initial particles (including conjunctions).

Nouns have no case, number, or articles.
Pronouns have no subject, object, or possessive forms.
Ba Kom has an animacy distinction between animate and inanimate nouns, which determines what pronouns can be used. Animacy is predictable based on the meaning of a word.

Verbs have no obligatory marking. Aspect can be marked with preverbs, and time can be marked with adverbs.

To derive new vocabulary, Ba Kom makes extensive use of compound nouns, serial verbs, and verb-object compounds.