King san

Compound nouns

Here are some nouns that are commonly used in compounding:

• in — person

• ki — tool, device

• ka — place

• ko — thing

• sem — group, assembly

• xi — matter, affair, event

• mui — substance, stuff, material

• bi — organism

• di — land; country

• bu — fruit

• bol — flower

• tik — tree

• dain — festival, celebration, holiday

Stative verbs with i

The preposition i may turn any noun into a stative verb meaning "of …" or "pertaining to …".
This takes the place of English suffixes such as -y, -ish, -ic, -al, or -ine.

For example:

• i kin
  [of] [dog]
  "canine"

• i bung ul
  [of] [bottom] [water]
  "benthic"

• i cong xim
  [of] [internal organ] [heart/center]
  "cardiac"

• i wot
  [of] [war]
  "martial"

• i ban ki
  [of] [motion] [tool]
  "mechanical"

It is also used to form adjectives from placenames, corresponding to the English suffixes -ish, -an, -ese, -ine, or -i:

• i di kónggo
  [of] [country] [Kongo]
  "Congolese"

• i di bulíwa
  [of] [country] [Bolivia]
  "Bolivian"

• i di kut
  [of] [country] [Kurd]
  "Kurdish"

• i di fahan
  [of] [country] [France]
  "French"

• i hang támil
  [of] [state] [Tamil]
  "Tamil" (relating to Tamil Nadu)

• i hang gujalat
  [of] [state] [Gujarat]
  "Gujarati" (relating to Gujarat)

• i dom filen
  [of] [city] [Florence]
  "Florentine"

• i dom sanghe
  [of] [city] [Shanghai]
  "Shanghainese"

The i may be dropped in compound nouns.

• men ki ban ki
  [art] [device] [movement] [device]
  "mechanical engineering"

• jum cong xim
  [stop] [organ] [heart]
  "cardiac arrest"

Verb-object compounds

Verb-object compounds are a very common type of word formation. They are formed with a transitive verb and a noun.
They can usually be used as transitive verbs, with an implied but omited i "of" between the V-O compounds and the object.

Some examples include:

• kan xol
  [look at] [writing]
  "read"

• cak pal
  [cook] [bread/dough/flour]
  "bake"

• hem wat
  [scatter] [seed]
  "sow"

• kul bol
  [open] [flower]
  "bloom"

• nung he
  [mess up] [face]
  "disgrace oneself"

• suk nang
  [get angry about] [misdeed]
  "feel indignant"

• cung han
  [throw away] [work]
  "be counterproductive"

• bon yut
  [be kin with] [wild]
  "practice reciprocity with nature"

Compounds with ye and ne

Ye and ne can be combined with a noun to form adjectives.

Ye means "have, -ful, -ed".

• ye cal
  [have] [marking]
  "spotted, striped, dappled, mottled"

• ye pai
  [have] [wealth]
  "rich"

• ye we
  [have] [taste]
  "flavorful"

• ye bo kui
  [have] [blessing] [instruction]
  "gifted, talented"

Ye can also be combined with a stative verb. In this case, it means "to feel a certain way about, to experience a certain quality of".

• ye seng
  [have] [cold]
  "to feel cold"

• ye kal
  [have] [precious]
  "to value, to hold dear"

• ye mam
  [have] [happy]
  "to be glad about"

Ne means "be without, lack, -less".

• ne bin
  [lack] [son/daughter]
  "childless"

• ne mau
  [lack] [fear]
  "fearless"

• ne bu
  [lack] [fruit]
  "fruitless"

Compounds with lu

The verb lu "to become" is used to form intransitive verbs from nouns and stative verbs.

• lu nin
  [become] [small]
  "shrink, dwindle"

• lu keng
  [become] [bad]
  "worsen"

• lu aim
  [become] [be old]
  "grow old"

• lu fu
  [become] [vapor]
  "evaporate"

• lu lak
  [become] [crazy]
  "go crazy"

• lu yok
  [become] [polymer]
  "polymerize"

Compounds with so

The verb so can be combined with any noun to form a verb whose meaning comes from that noun.

So can be placed before the word for a tool to create a transitive verb meaning "use … on" or "do (something) with …".

• so col
  [do] [oven]
  "to bake/roast"

• so xot
  [do] [brush/broom]
  "to brush/sweep"

• so put
  [do] [pen/pencil]
  "to pen"

• so sot
  [do] [pair of scissors]
  "to shear"

Stative verb + Transitive verb compounds

When a stative verb is followed by a deverbal noun, this forms a compound that has a passive meaning, even though pa is not present.
It also carries a potential meaning, so it is like saying po pa [verb] [adverb].

This is the construction:

[subject] — [stative verb] — [deverbal noun]
=
[subject] — po pa — [active verb] — [adverb]

Here are some examples:

• kang pom
  [easy] [bend]
  "bendy."

• kang pik
  [easy] [break]
  "fragile."

• pun pum
  [secure] [rely on]
  "reliable, dependable"

• bo ha
  [good] [eat]
  "tasty"

• lim mak
  [pleasant] [look at]
  "beautiful, handsome, good-looking"

Prefixes

Ba kom has 6 prefixes.

When a prefix is placed on a compound noun or compound verb, the individual words should be connected with a hyphen or apostrophe.
This is so that the same prefix does not have to be placed on each of the two verbs.

• lut yung "to superintend" → yalut'yung "superintendent" (not *yalut yayung)

• map sak "pay a tax" → mamap'sak "to levee a tax" (not *mamap masak)

• cem bo "improve, become better" → macem'bo "improve, make better"

ni-

This prefix derives a verb of opposite meaning.

du "long" → nidu "short"

cai "strong" → nicai "weak"

cen "straight" → nicen "crooked"

kaim "clean" → nikaim "dirty"

kal "precious" → nikal "worthless"

ba "speak" → niba "be silent"

so "do" → niso "refrain from"

don "suffice" → nidon "insufficient"

dong "emulate" → nidong "deviate from"

When applied to transitive verbs, it can indicate that the action is reversed.

kul "open" → nikul "close"

ton "fasten" → niton "unfasten"

xin "remember" → nixin "forget"

king "build" → niking "dismantle"

ma-

This prefix makes a verb causative.
The subject of the old verb becomes the object of the new verb with ma-.

• bo "good" → mabo "improve"

• mam "happy" → mamam "gladden"

• nin "small" → manin "decrease"

• til "rise" → matil "raise"

• nun "enter" → manun "put in"

• dong "learn" → madong "teach (a student)"

• yam "appear" → mayam "show"

• mat "die" → mamat "kill"

• wong "swell" → mawong "inflate"

• feng "busy" → maxi "occupy, keep busy"

ya-

This prefix forms active participles from active verbs. These participles can be used as nouns or as stative verbs.

• cau "dance" → yacau "dancer"

• dong "learn" → yadong "student"

• dan "walk" → yadan "pedestrian"

• ful "hate" → yaful "enemy"

• dem "pay a visit to" → yadem "guest"

• ca "know" → yaca "wise person; to be wise"

• dun "allow" → yadun "to be lenient"

pa-

This prefix forms passive participles from transitive verbs. These participles can be used as nouns or as stative verbs. When used as nouns, they mean "that which is [verb]ed".

Here are some examples:

• lum "worship" → palum "holy"

• bain "love" → pabain "beloved"

• ba "say" → paba "what was said"

• nem "call" → panem "the so-called"

• cul "store" → pacul "stock"

• dai "carry" → padai "load, burden"

• hak "own" → pahak "property, possession"

ti-

This prefix indicates the result of an action.

• mang "produce" → timang "product"

• xol "write" → tixol "document"

• wil "weave" → tiwil "textile"

• yul "give birth to" → tiyul "offspring"

• nat "send out" → tinat "emission, issue"

• dan "step" → tidan "footprint"

• sat "sew" → tisat "stitch; seam"

• teng "twist" → titeng "wreath"

It also indicates a physical object or substance that has a certain quality, or an object made of a substance.

• mul "get wet" → timul "moisture"

• tang "metal" → titang "thing made of metal"

• nimik "hard" → tinimik "solid"

a-

This prefix is used to form nicknames or affectionate terms of address.

• nin "little" → anin "little one, little guy"

• yui "fat" → ayui "fatty"

It is also found nonproductively in kinship terms.

• ama "mom", apa "dad"

• amu "grandma", apu "grandpa"

• ati "younger brother/cousin", ani "younger sister/cousin"

• atu "uncle", anu "aunt"

Reduplication

Nouns

See Nouns.

Verbs

When an active verb is reduplicated, this can mean "do for a little while".

• dan'dan
  [walk]-[walk]
  "have a little walk", "walk for a little"

• kan'kan
  [look]-[look]
  "to have a little look"

It can also indicate a repeated action.

• bak'bak
  [strike]-[strike]
  "to beat, to strike repeatedly"

• yun'yun
  [circle]-[circle]
  "go around and around"

When a stative verb is reduplicated, this intensifies the meaning.

• bo'bo
  [good]-[good]
  "excellent, fantastic, wonderful"

• je'je
  [bad]-[bad]
  "awful, terrible, horrible"

• pun'pun
  [certain]-[certain]
  "beyond the shadow of a doubt"

• yal'yal
  [deep]-[deep]
  "fathomless, abyssal"

• cou'cou
  [slow]-[slow]
  "very slowly"

• lak'lak
  [absurd]-[absurd]
  "absolutely ridiculous"

Guidelines for New Coinings

New words should be coined with existing Ba kom words and prefixes. Creating new roots is discouraged, unless the concept is extremely basic or culturally significant.
Ideally, the definition of an existing word would simply be expanded to include a related concept.

Brevity, elegance, and flexibility are very important, but one must strike a balance between these and clarity. Metaphor is encouraged, but not if it relies on culturally specific ideas.

New words for plant and animal species should be derived from an indigenous language that is spoken in that species's native range.