7. Advanced Constructions
7.1 Conditionals
Conditionals are formed by hon statements, where the verb is modified by kate meaning "hypothetical".
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| hon ta mi le nan kate te makan, men mi le pasan la! | If I could eat, I would be happy |
New Words
- nan = to be able (an ability)
The kate is not necessary, it just indicates that something is hypothetical. If in a certain situation it feels more natural without kate, that is fine too.
7.2 Abstract Amounts
Kokanu has three words to describe abstract amounts:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| jati | some |
| lan | many |
| ani | all |
To describe a multitude of things, they go before the word they describe.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| jati meja | some cats |
| lan heje | many horses |
| ani suwina | all pigs |
| momu le lan makan | the cow eats a lot / the cow eats often |
ToDo: after the word
7.3 Forming Numbers
Numbers up to 10,000
Kokanu has twelve basic words for numbers:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| nula | zero |
| wan | one |
| ha | two |
| san | three |
| nanku | four |
| lima | five |
| loku | six |
| setan | seven |
| etu | eight |
| saka | nine |
| tiju | ten |
| sijen | hundred |
| con | thousand |
The number before tiju, sijen or con multiplies it.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| loku tiju | five times ten / fifty; 50 |
| ha sijen | two hundred; 200 |
| etu con | eight thousand; 8,000 |
The number after it is just added.
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| loku tiju san | fifty plus three / fifty-three; 53 |
| ha sijen saka | two hundred plus nine; 209 |
| etu con setan | eight thousand plus seven; 8,007 |
The number sijen and con can also be compound numbers.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| setan sijen ha tiju nanku | seven hundred and two times ten and four; 724 |
| lima con loku sijen san tiju loku | five thousand and six hundred and thirty-six; 5,636 |
The number before tiju, sijen and con can not be compound numbers and must be a digit. Unlike in english, a number like "twenty thousand" with the intuitive translation ha tiju con is not possible. :::
Large Numbers
For this purpose the word hen is used. It means "10 to the", so it basically represents powers of 10.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| hen san | 10^3; 1,000 |
| hen nanku | 10^4; 10,000 |
| hen loku | 10^6; 1,000,000 |
This can again be multiplied by a number placed before hen.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| ha hen san | 2*10^3; 2,000 |
| etu hen nanku | 8*10^4; 80,000 |
| lima hen loku | 5*10^6; 5,000,000 |
After the hen-expression we can also add something. For this purpose a hu or comma comes after the exponent of hen.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| ha hen san hu loku sijen wan | 2*10^3 + 301; 2,301 |
| etu hen nanku, wan tiju setan | 8*10^4 + 17; 80,017 |
| lima hen loku, ha sijen lima tiju san | 5*10^6 + 253; 5,000,253 |
The standard way to form numbers, oriented by the Western system, is to make groups of three digits and multiply them by a power of ten.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| ha sijen san tiju wan | 231 |
| lima sijen loku tiju nanku hen san hu ha sijen san tiju wan | 564,231 |
| etu sijen saka tiju setan hen loku hu lima sijen loku tiju nanku hen san hu ha sijen san tiju wan | 897,564,231 |
Warning
Although this way of grouping digits is the most common one, Kokanu allows for a variety of different systems. For more information check out Numbers and Mathematics.
Decimals
Decimals are formed by separating the whole number from the decimal part with hu pintu.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| san hu pintu wan nanku wan lima saka | 3.14159 |
Non-integer numbers can also be written as fractions or using hen with a negative exponent.
Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers
A cardinal number is achieved by placing a number before the word. A cardinal number describes an amount.
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| san pawo | three dogs |
| lima sijen nin | five hundred people |
An ordinal number assigns a position. It comes after the word:
Examples:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| pawo san | the third dog |
| nin lima sijen | the five hundredth person |
7.4 Arithmetic
There are no defined words for arithmetic operations, but there are some expressions you can expect people to understand.
Addition
There are three common expressions for addition:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| te tene in san ki ha | to give 3 to 2; 2+3 |
| te pon ta ha le unitu kan san | combining 2 and 3; 2+3 |
| ha un san | 2 and 3; 2+3 |
Subtraction
There are two common expressions for subtraction:
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| te lun lipan in ha sun san | make 2 be absent from 3; 3-2 |
| te alu in ha sun san | take 2 from 3; 3-2 |
Multiplication
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| te tun in ha non je san | make 2 groups of 3; 2*3 |
| te lun lan in ha wija lima | to make-many 2 with 3; 2*3 |
| te tun in pansin wija ha kan san | to make a rectangle with a 2 and a 3; 2*3 |
Division
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| te lun panli in ha wija san | to cut 2 using 3; 2/3 |
| san panli je ha | 3 divisions of 2; 2/3 |
| san osa je ha | 3 parts of 2; 2/3 |
Exponentiation
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| te lun lan in ha wija sa pi san ten | to make-many 2 using itself 3 times; 2^3=8 |
| san mita saman je ha | 3 identical bunches of 2; 2^3=8 |