Tense, Aspect and Mood
Sentences in Kokanu in the basic form with just a subject and action can occur at any time (tense), can be completed or incomplete (aspect), and can be real or wished/requested (mood). Within the surrounding context of a sentence, these details are often understood implicitly. If the situation requires you to specify, you can use some clarifying words to reach different types of tense, aspect and mood. This article will dive into all three to give you the tools to express many of the different types in Kokanu.
Tense
A verb's tense tells you the position in time that the action occurred from the perspective of the speaker/writer. The main tenses are considered to be past, present and future. Some languages group present with either past or future. Kokanu sentences are considered tenseless and often times you can determine the tense through context, but you can clarify by using these modifiers in the verb clause.
Past
Use the word matin in a verb clause to indicate that the action occurred "previously":
kuku le kosan matin in niwa namu. “The bird built a nest.”
mi le tun matin. "I did (it)." (lit. I do previously)
Present
Use the word kenca in a verb clause to indicate that the action occurred "currently":
kuku le kosan kenca in niwa namu. “The bird is building a nest.”
mi le tun kenca "I do (it)." (lit. I do currently)
Future
Use the word melon in a verb clause to indicate that the action occurs "next":
kuku le kosan melon in niwa namu. “The bird is going to build a nest.”
mi le tun melon "I will do (it)." (lit. I do next(ly))
Aspect
WIP: we need to add in mulu and luka, and i think we should also remove the perfective/imperfective stuff (throughout this section)
A verb's aspect tells you the flow of time during which the action occurred from the perspective of the speaker/writer. The main categories of aspect are perfective and imperfective.
- A perfective aspect looks at an action or state as being completed or whole (without detail of the internal flow of the event).
- An imperfective aspect looks at an action or state as being in an unfinished or partial state (focusing on internal detail of the flow of the event instead of the event as a whole).
This may seem confusing and in fact some languages group aspect and tense together. Kokanu sentences are fundamentally aspectless which means there is no special changes that you make to a verb to indicate the aspect. Instead, Kokanu encourages you to try to rely on context, often times it is all that is needed for your readers/listeners to understand your intended aspect. If that's not enough, Kokanu does offer some clarifying words that can be used adverbially in a way that informs the aspect of the sentence.
Prospective
The prospective aspect (also known as antiperfect) expresses actions that have not yet begun but are expected to occur soon. It contrasts with the perfect aspect, which describes actions that have already been completed. In Kokanu, this aspect is marked by the modifier lito.
kuku le kosan lito in niwa namu. “The bird has yet to build a nest.”
mi le kota lito "I haven't started speaking / I'm about to start speaking"
Starting (Inceptive/Ingressive)
This imperfective aspect expresses actions that are incomplete and just beginning. Use the word tepu in a verb clause to indicate that the action is "starting":
mi le lo wiki tepu "I started to run"
In Progress (Continuous)
This imperfective aspect expresses actions or states that are incomplete and still in progress. Use the word conca in a verb clause to indicate that an action or state is "ongoing":
mi le makan conca. "I am eating."
ja le lo wiki conca matin. "They were running fast."
Stopping (Cessative)
This imperfective aspect refers to the end of an action or a state. Use the modifier konje to indicate that the state or action is "stopping" or "finishing".
pawo le kota konje in sema "The dog stopped barking"
Frequentative
This frequentative is used to indicate repeated, habitual, or iterative actions. Use the modifier cunpu to indicate that the action occurs in a recurring manner.