4. Tense, Aspect, and Mood
Kokanu does not mark tense, aspect, or mood in its base word forms.
Instead, these distinctions are expressed with modifiers, which behave like ordinary words.
This makes Kokanu flexible, minimal, and context-driven.
4.1 Tense
In Kokanu, verbs themselves carry no tense.
By default, the time of an action is inferred from context, left irrelevant, or indicated in a pi-clause.
For explicit marking, Kokanu uses three tense modifiers:
| Modifier | Meaning |
|---|---|
| matin | past |
| kenca | present |
| melon | future |
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | English meaning |
|---|---|
| le kela kenca men mi | I play (now) |
| pulusi le jatan melon in niku | the dog will find the meat |
| tu le sema matin in mi | you heard me |
Instead of adding the time as a sort-of adverb, it works like this using a pi-clause:
- tu le teka in mi pi matin - you saw me / you see me in the past
New Words
- matin = past
- kenca = present
- melon = future
- jatan = to find
- niku = meat
- sema = to hear
- pulusi = reptile
Warning
All tense, aspect, and mood markers are ordinary modifiers in Kokanu.
They have a special function in grammar, but can also behave like other modifiers.
4.2 Aspect
Aspect modifiers describe how an event unfolds over time, independent of when it happens.
| Modifier | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tepu | starting / inceptive |
| konje | ending / terminative |
| conpu | repeating / frequentative |
| conca | ongoing / progressive |
| lito | unstarted / prospective |
| mulu | completed / perfect |
| luka | interrupted / pausative |
Examples:
| Kokanu phrase | English meaning |
|---|---|
| mi le antomi tepu | I start sleeping / I fall asleep |
| mi le antomi konje | I stop sleeping / I wake up |
| mi le antomi conpu | I sleep repeatedly / I often sleep |
| mi le antomi conca | I am sleeping (right now) |
| mi le antomi lito | I am about to sleep / I haven’t started sleeping |
| mi le antomi mulu | I am done sleeping |
| mi le antomi luka | I sleep interruptedly / I was sleeping but woke for a moment |
New Words
- antomi = asleep (modifier → verb: to sleep)
- tepu = starting
- konje = ending
- conpu = repeating
- conca = ongoing
- lito = unstarted, prospective
- mulu = complete, perfect
- luka = interrupted
Tense vs. Aspect
The difference between tense and aspect can feel unintuitive.
Compare the following:
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ja le pen lito matin | back then, they hadn’t started to understand |
| ja le pen mulu melon | someday, they will have understood |
Warning
Mixing tense and aspect shows they are not the same.
For example, ja le pen matin melon (“they understood in the future, in the past”) is paradoxical.
New Words
- pen = to understand
4.3 Mood
Kokanu expresses mood through special particles.
Unlike tense and aspect, mood is less about time and more about the speaker’s attitude toward the action.
The particle o
The particle o is very versatile:
- Imperative: commands (do X!)
- Suggestive: proposals (let’s do X)
- Optative: wishes (may X happen)
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| o sema ki mi | listen to me! (imperative) |
| mi o jatan in meja mi | lets find my cat/ we should find my cat (suggestive) |
| o tope pi melon | may you be fine in the future (optative) |
New Words
- tope = good
Other mood markers
- hon — context / if → used for conditionals (chapter 5.3)
- kate — hypothetical (“as if”, counterfactual)
- hakiki — authentic, realis (“indeed, actually”)
| Kokanu phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| hon konco, men mi le pasan | In the context of job/ Regarding my job, I am happy |
| hon pilu kate, men mi le pasan | In the theoretical context of victory, I'd be happy (hypothetical) |
| mi le pasan hakiki | I am really/actually happy (authentic) |
New Words
- o = imperative / suggestive / optative marker
- hon = context / if (conditional)
- kate = hypothetical (as if)
- hakiki = authentic / realis
- konco = job/profession
- kuwosi = fruit
- tope = good
Overview
| Category | How marked in Kokanu |
|---|---|
| Tense | via modifiers: matin (past), kenca (present), melon (future) |
| Aspect | via modifiers: tepu, konje, conpu, conca, lito, mulu, luka |
| Mood | via particles: o (imperative / suggestive / optative), hon (conditional), kate (hypothetical), hakiki (authentic) |