5. Clauses and Questions
Kokanu provides two main tools for building questions and complex sentences: demonstratives (including ci as a question marker), the yes/no particle ka, and the clause markers ta and te. Together they allow both precise questioning and flexible sentence nesting.
5.1 Demonstratives
Kokanu has three demonstratives: ne, na, and ci.
- ne → “this”
- na → “that”
- ci → interrogative determiner (“which / what / where / why”)
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ne le loso | this is bad |
| mi le suki in na pawo | I like that dog |
Unlike modifiers, demonstratives go before the nouns that they modify.
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| na nin | that person |
| ne meja | this cat |
| ci kuwosi | what fruit |
When demonstratives go after the nouns that they modify, they have a different meaning. This meaning can be roughly translated as "[demonstrative] kind of".
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| nin na | that kind of person |
| meja ne | this kind of cat |
| kuwosi ci | what kind of fruit |
ci as a Question Word
By replacing the item of inquiry with ci, any interrogative can be formed.
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tu le makan in ci? | What do you eat? |
| ja le makan konje nenka ci? | Why do they stop eating? |
| pawo le antomi pi ci? | Where/When does the dog sleep? |
As mentioned before, when ci is modifying a content word, the placement of ci can affect the meaning.
When ci is placed before, it's asking for the object, when it's placed after, it's asking for the modifier.
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pawo le antomi pi jan ci? | The dog is asleep at a what place? |
| pawo le antomi pi ci jan? | Where is the dog asleep? |
| pawo le antomi pi ten ci? | The dog is asleep at a what time? |
| pawo le antomi pi ci ten? | When is the dog asleep? |
| canwa ci le makan in makan mi? | A what animal ate my food? |
| ci canwa le makan in makan mi? | What animal ate my food? |
A possible answer to "pawo le antomi pi ci jan" would be "pi insu" (at a building).
Whereas a possible answer to "pawo le antomi pi jan ci" would be "pi jan tope" (in a good place).
New Words
- nenka = because (causative preposition)
- loso = bad
- jan = place
- ten = time
- canwa = animal
5.2 The Particle ka
Yes–no questions are formed with ka. It can appear at the start, end, or both.
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ka ne makan le tope? | Is this food good? |
| tu le antomi ka? | Do you sleep? |
| ka pata le okutu ka? | Is the book hidden? |
Remember that pata can both be used as a verb meaning "to read" and a noun meaning "document/thing you read".
New Words
- okutu = hidden, covered
5.3 The Clause Marker ta
ta introduces subordinate clauses. Kokanu has two types, similar to English:
- Adverbial clauses (because, when, if…)
- Relative clauses (that, which…)
Adverbial Clauses
Placed after a preposition, a ta-clause behaves like a main clause.
When a ta-clause directly follows the verb of the sentence as the direct object, you may drop in.
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| mi le suki in na makan nenka ta sapole ja le tope | I like that food because its flavor is good |
| mi le wisan (in) ta tu le makan in makan mi | I know that you ate my food |
The in is only optional if the order is verb, then object. Something like:
- mi ta tu le makan in makan mi le wisan (order: object, then verb) would mean something entirely different.
New Words
- sapole = to taste (a flavor)
Closing Clauses
Every subclause must be closed (unless final in the sentence).
Closers are: comma (,) or hu.
hu is essentially just a spoken comma. You can use a comma, hu, or both, it doesn't really matter.
| Kokanu phrase (variants) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| po ta tu le sema in kota mi, men mi le kota len | so that you can hear what I say, I speak loud |
| po ta tu le sema in kota mi hu men mi le kota len | [exact same meaning as above] |
When pronouncing a sentence out loud, a comma marks a pause.
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ta nin le teka in kuku, le tope | the fact that people see birds is good |
| mi le kanisa ta na le tope kate | I think that that would be good |
| ka in ta nin le teka in ja, men ja le wisan? | do they know that someone sees them? |
| ukiki in ta kuwosi le se, le suki | monkeys like the fact that fruit exists |
New Words
- len = strong
- kuku = bird
- kanisa = to think (a thought)
Relative Clauses
A ta-clause follows the word it describes. Inside, ja refers back to that word. If the clause ends with a sole ja in a preposition, that ja can be dropped.
A relative clause must describe the relation between the clause and the word that it describes. "nin ta mi le suki" is incomplete, because it doesn't explain how "mi le suki" and "nin" are related to each other. The correct way would be "nin ta mi le suki in (ja)".
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| nin ta in ja men mi le suki | a person that I like |
| nin ta mi le suki in | a person that I like (exact same meaning) |
| pawo ta mi le makan in makan ja | a dog, whose food I ate |
| jan ta mi le pasan pi ja | a place at which I’m happy |
| jan ta mi le pasan pi | a place I’m happy at |
New Words
- pasan = happy
Nested Clauses
ta-clauses can be nested, collapsing inside → out.
Example:
- mi le kujo nenka ta pi ta mi le koman, men tu le cuma
→ “I am sad because you leave when I come.”
| Kokanu phrase (variants) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| nenka ta tu le cuma hon ta mi le koman,, men mi le kujo | I am sad because you leave when I come |
| nenka ta tu le cuma hon ta mi le koman hu men mi le kujo | (same, but hu used) |
| nenka ta tu le cuma hon ta mi le koman hu, men mi le kujo | (same, but hu and comma used) |
| nenka ta tu le cuma hon ta mi le koman hu hu men mi le kujo | (same, but multiple hu used) |
Note that hu is often considered to close an unspecified number of clauses. The number of clauses that it closes is dependent on context for many speakers.
New Words
- kujo = sad
- koman = arriving
- cuma = leaving
Indirect Questions
Indirect questions are formed by adding ka into a ta-clause. Just like with regular questions, it can go at the beginning and at the end of the clause.
Warning
If your sentence ends with ka at the end of a ta-clause, some ambiguity can arise. Make sure to close the ta-clause in order to ask a regular question, or put ka at the start of the sentence or clause instead to avoid this.
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tu le solu ta ka mi le makan | You ask whether I eat. |
| mi le no wisan ta ka mi le suki in na nin | I don't know whether I like that person |
| mi le no wisan ta mi le suki in na nin ka | I don't know whether I like that person |
| mi le no wisan ta mi le suki in na nin hu, ka | Do I not know that I like that person? |
5.4 The Clause Marker te
te is similar to ta, but with key differences:
- A te-clause cannot have a subject.
- It implies le.
Relative Clauses
te is equivalent to ta ja le in this case.
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| nin ta ja le suki in mi | a person who likes me |
| nin te suki in mi | same meaning |
Adverbial Clauses
When used on its own, the best word-for-word translation for te is "to". As in, "te makan" would mean "to eat".
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| mi le ju (in) te makan | I want to eat |
| te pata, le tope | To read is good / Reading is good |
| te makan in kuwosi, le tope | To eat fruit is good / Eating fruits is good |
Like with ta, when a te-clause directly follows the verb of the sentence as the direct object, you may drop in.