so

The grammar particle so means "than", "as", or "compared to".

Comparison

When used with mese and menu it creates comparatives. Comparatives are phrases like "bigger than", "less cold than", etc., stating relative comparisons between things.

pawo tu le cenpo mese so pawo mi. - "Your dog is bigger than my dog"

mi le ju mese te makan, so te antomi. - "I would rather eat than sleep", literally "I want more to eat than to sleep"

Equality/Similiarity

Another use of so is with saman “equal/same” and sone “different” to talk about similarity. This can be combined with cimi (specific) and ema (vague) to differentiate between things being exactly the same or just similar. Without them, the degree of similarity is implied through context, as is true of much of Kokanu.

na le saman so ne. - "That is the same as this"

na le sone lan so ne. - "That is very different than this"

na pawo le se teka wi saman cimi so pawo mi. - "That dog looks exactly like mine"

tu so ja le se teka wi saman ema la! - "You and him look kinda similar!"

Superlatives

Unlike comparatives, superlatives state absolute comparisons: "best", "most enjoyable", "fastest". For this, you can use the phrase mese so ani, meaning "more than all", or use ani as a modifier.

"I am the fastest person" can be translated either as:

mi le nin te wiki mese so ani. - "I am the fastest person", literally "I am the person that is faster than all"

or

mi le nin wi wiki ani. "I am the fastest person", literally "I am the utmost fast person"

"I ate the most" can be translated either as:

mi le makan matin mese so ani. - "I ate the most"

or

mi le makan matin je mita ani. - "I ate the most", literally "I ate of the utmost amount"

Using ani as a modifier is the more common translation, however both are correct.

This can also be extended to menu so ani, meaning "less than all", to communicate superlatives of inferiority.

Examples

mi le wisan mese so ani wala mi. - "I know more than my siblings"

ja le tope so na mu loso. - "It's better than that bad thing"

so hen nanku mani men hen san le no lan. - "Compared to ten thousand dollars, one thousand isn't a lot'"