Using the Parts of Speech

We've learned how to derive words in the different parts of speech, but we haven't learned how to recognize words in different parts of speech. What makes makan sometimes mean "to eat", sometimes mean "food" and sometimes mean "edible"? It all has to do with the position of the word in the sentence and what particles, prepositions or preceding content words are present.

Using Verbs

The most basic particle le marks the verb of a sentence, this can also be known as the "action" of the sentence. Without it, you could only describe things as they are without any change, movement, or activity.

• mi le makan - "I eat "
• tu le nin - "You are a person" (verb: to be a person)
• ja le canu - "They are cold" (verb: to be cold)

This can be a bit confusing due to how English uses a helper verb (to be), but it's very important not to get confused thinking le means "to be".  It only serves to mark the content word following it as being in the verb form. That being said, when nouns and modifiers are used in their verb form, they do include "to be" (called the copula) in their definition.

Another thing to note about the above translations, the le particle alone does not say anything about the tense, such as past ("I was eating"), present ("I am eating"), or future tense ("I will be eating"); or about the aspect, meaning perfective (completed action, "I ate"), continuous (ongoing action, "I am eating"), or repeated (habitual action, "I eat"). These are all valid translations of the sentence mi le makan. Which one is meant must be inferred through context.

If tense and aspect are not clear from the context, there are ways to specify tense and aspect to remove this ambiguity (through verb modifiers).

Subject-less sentences

When using le without a subject, the sentence can be inferred to be a statement simply stating that an action is performed.

• le makan in kuwosi - "Fruit is eaten"
• le antomi - "Sleep is had", "Being asleep is done", "(it) is asleep"

In English this sounds a bit awkward, but it is a clearly communicated concept and is completely acceptable in Kokanu. How often you might say such a thing is a different question.

Additionally, some uses of subject-less sentences are just continuations of an existing implicit subject.Through context, you can determine which style of sentence is in use.

Suggested action

The particle o works the same way as le, marking the verb, except that it turns the statement into a recommendation, suggestion, or what the speaker believes should happen.

• ja o makan in kuwosi - "They should eat fruit"
• nin o tene in kuwosi ki ja - "Someone should give them fruit"
• mi o makan in ukama... - "I should eat a vegetable..."

Subject-less suggestions

Just as with the le particle, you can omit the subject. Although, with o, a subject-less sentence becomes a directive or command.

• o makan in kuwosi -  "Eat fruit!"
• o pasan - "Be happy!" a very common phrase used to mean "Welcome!"

Using Nouns

Typically, a standalone content word functions as a noun, such as when it's placed at the start of a sentence (as the subject) or when it follows a thematic relation marker (as an object). Additionally, some verbs take what's called a direct object (these are called transitive verbs) and you specify the direct object using the preposition in.

• mi le makan in kuwosi - "I am eating fruit"
• tu le jatan in kiju - "You found a ball"

Passive Voice

There is a subject marking particle men which is only needed if you place the subject in a non-leading position in the sentence. When the subject is the first word, you can omit this particle. Using this sentence form has the effect of emphasizing the action on the direct object and de-empasizing the subject, which effectively provides a form of passive voicing.

• in kuwosi le makan  - "the fruit is/was eaten"
• in kuwosi le makan men pawo - "the fruit is/was eaten by the dog"
• in kiju le jatan - "the ball is/was found"
• in kiju le jatan men mi - "the ball is/was found by me"

Using Modifiers

Modifiers are called an "adjective" when they are used to describe a noun, and they are called an "adverb" when they are used to describe a verb. Unlike in English, the modifiers go after the word they are modifying.

• pawo mi le tope "My dog is good"
• mi le makan in kuwosi mi "I am eating my fruit"
• meja ne le cina "This cat is small"
• meja mi le makan lan "My cat eats a lot"

Genitive Particles

There are two particles that are used specifically for managing a chain of modifiers. They both allow you to group modifiers and they both cause the successive modifier immediately after the particle to be used in noun form. However, je only connects to the nearest noun (if that noun has a modifier chain in between, that's quite alright). Whereas, wo relates the connected noun phrase to the greatest open clause that it exists within.

N M M M M

"huwa inpali hunsi joli cina" _"_little beneficial red flower seed"

• "huwa inpali" flower seed
• "huwa hunsi" red seed
• "huwa joli" beneficial seed
• "huwa cina" small seed

Using je

Noun_

huwa je inpali hunsi je joli cina "seed of the little-benefit red flower"
a je is isolating to just the most recent noun in the chain

• "huwa (inpali hunsi)" red-flower seed
• "inpali hunsi (joli cina)" little-benefit red flower

Using wa

Noun\ Modifier\ je** inpali hunsi wa joli cina "seed of red flower of little benefit"
a wa is encompassing across the entire chain

• "huwa (inpali hunsi)" red-flower seed
• "huwa (joli cina)" little-benefit seed

Unlike the je particle, this one causes the collapse of any amount of open je phrases up to just returning to the root scope to describe the head noun again. Check out more info about this and other genitive relationships here: Clarifying Descriptions.

Force Modifier Derivation

You can force the modifier derivation of verbs and nouns by using the verb derivation of the base modifier se. Click on the word to learn more.

Changing State

We have the power to describe current state using se, to describe a changing state, you can use the verb pijen. Click on the word to learn more.

Using Thematic Relations

!$

Thematic Relation Markers are words that allow you to connect a noun phrase to the verb or "action" of the sentence by means of a (thematic) relationship. Each relationship is unique, thematic, and describes what, why, when, where or how the noun phrase is interpreted inside of the sentence (in relation to the verb). See the diagram for the thematic relation that each marker provides.

These words do not act like content words and (they cannot be derived into noun, verb, modifier forms) and content words can never work like thematic relation markers. You can place a thematic relation clause in any position in the sentence, although some thematic relations are more clear either prefixing or postfixing the main clause.

Using Particles

The glue holding sentences together are the grammatical particles. Particles are words that don't have meaning on their own, but are used to affect other parts of the sentence. For example, le is a particle because it doesn't mean anything on its own, but it affects the next word. Kokanu uses particles like le and ta to modify the structure of sentences in various ways.

Click on each particle to go to an in-depth description of how to use it.

Using Connectors

Lastly, there are the connectors. Connectors are words that organize multiple sentences, clauses or individual words together into a compound form with different connective meanings depending on which connector was used. For example, un is a connector expressing that the multiple elements provided should be taken together or in addition to each other.

Click on each connector to go to an in-depth description of how it can be used.