0. Phonology and Spelling
Kokanu’s phonology is built for global accessibility while staying very minimal. It has 11 consonants and 5 vowels:
p, t, k, c, w, l, j, m, n, s, h
a, i, e, o, u
Every syllable is short and easy to pronounce for most people, no matter their native language.
If you want to jump straight into speaking, scroll down to Examples and give them a try!
Pronunciation
The consonants are pronounced like this:
- m — like in map
- n — like in nice
- p — like in pan
- t — like in town
- k — like in king
- s — like in sit
- c — like in chat
- h — like in happy
- l — like in left
- j — like in yes
- w — like in we
The Vowels are pronounced like this:
- i — like in see
- e — like in dress
- a — like in cat
- o — like in thought
- u — like in boot
For people familiar with it read up on the IPA symbols below.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
### International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)Each letter has a preferred IPA value, but variation is allowed to make Kokanu friendly to a wide range of native-language accents:
- ⟨m⟩ – /m/
- ⟨n⟩ – /n/
- ⟨p⟩ – /p/
- ⟨t⟩ – /t/ [tʰ] or [d] allowed
- ⟨k⟩ – /k/ [kʰ] or [g] allowed
- ⟨s⟩ – /s/ [ʃ], [z], [ʒ] allowed
- ⟨c⟩ – /t͡ʃ/, also [t͡s] or [d͡ʒ]
- ⟨h⟩ – /h/ [x] allowed
- ⟨l⟩ – /l/
- ⟨j⟩ – /j/
- ⟨w⟩ – /w/ [v], [β], or [ʋ] allowed
- ⟨i⟩ – /i/ [ɪ] allowed
- ⟨e⟩ – /e̞/ [e] or [ɛ] allowed
- ⟨a⟩ – /ä/ [a], [ɑ], [æ], [ɐ] allowed
- ⟨o⟩ – /o̞/ [o] or [ɔ] allowed
- ⟨u⟩ – /u/ [ʊ], [ɯ], or [ʉ] allowed
Some vowel or consonant pairs that sound very similar across languages are never used to distinguish words in the Kokanu dictionary.
Stress
Stress is always on the first syllable of a word.
peko — PEH-ko meaning hello/bye/please/thank you/sorry
mani — MAH-ni meaning money
Phonotactics
Valid syllables in Kokanu:
- (C)V (consonant optional)
- (C)VN (final n optional)
There are no consonant clusters and no final consonants other than n.
All possible syllables
| i | e | a | o | u | in | en | an | on | un | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (none) | i | e | a | o | u | in | en | an | on | un |
| m | mi | me | ma | mo | mu | min | men | man | mon | mun |
| n | ni | ne | na | no | nu | nin | nen | nan | non | nun |
| p | pi | pe | pa | po | pu | pin | pen | pan | pon | pun |
| t | ti | te | ta | to | tu | tin | ten | tan | ton | tun |
| k | ki | ke | ka | ko | ku | kin | ken | kan | kon | kun |
| s | si | se | sa | so | su | sin | sen | san | son | sun |
| c | ci | ce | ca | co | cu | cin | cen | can | con | cun |
| h | hi | he | ha | ho | hu | hin | hen | han | hon | hun |
| l | li | le | la | lo | lu | lin | len | lan | lon | lun |
| j | je | ja | jo | ju | jen | jan | jon | jun | ||
| w | wi | we | wa | wo | win | wen | wan | won |
Warning
ji, jin, wu, and wun are invalid syllables to avoid difficulties in pronounciation.
Examples
Here are some Kokanu words borrowed from English. They’re not identical to English pronunciation, but they keep it close enough to feel familiar:
| Kokanu | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| po | for | Sounds like POH /po/ — p instead of f, and no r |
| tati | tight | Like TAH-tee /ˈtɑ.ti/ — final i is pronounced separately |
| kemika | chemical | KEH-mee-kah /ˈke.mi.kɑː/ — no -l ending |
| wan | one | Same as English WAHN /wan/ |
| mani | money | Same as English MAH-nee /ˈma.ni/ |
| no | no | Like English NOH /no/ — short, single vowel, no diphthong |
| sin | thing | Like English SEEN /sin/ (not thing) |
| he | hey | HEH /he/ — plain vowel, no diphthong |
| oke | okay | OH-keh /o.ke/ — two clean syllables |
Warning
A words meaning in Kokanu might slightly differ from it's original meaning. oke for example in it's base form means "to accept" not "okay".