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 neje | many horses |
| ani suwina | all pigs |
| momu le lan makan | the cow eats a lot / the cow eats often |
When used after a word, these words turn into modifiers describing the intensity of the modified word.
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| meja jati | somewhat cat-like |
| wiki lan | very fast |
| tope ani | best |
| ani nin o pasan lan | all people should be very happy |
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 | six times ten; 60 |
| ha sijen | two times hundred; 200 |
| etu con | eight times thousand; 8,000 |
The number after it is just added.
| Kokanu | English |
|---|---|
| loku tiju san | sixty plus three; 63 |
| 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 twenty-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 + 601; 2,601 |
| 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 |
Warning
wan is optional before larger numbers like tiju, sijen, and con.
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 san | 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 |