Mahan ar hesias Kankonik?
Phonetics
Kankonian has 28 consonants: ph, m, p, b, f, v, th, n, t, d, s, z, r, l, sh, zh, y, ng, k, g, kh, gh, *, hh, h, hw, w and tz.
PH is pronounced as a raspberry sound, a voiceless linguolabial trill: phahus, haphlaph.
M is a voiced bilabial nasal as in "money", "human" and "atom" (/m/): mongi, helemas.
P, T and K, a voiceless bilabial plosive (/p/), voiceless alveolar plosive (/t/), and voiceless velar plosive (/k/), respectively, are aspirated like the consonants in "pill" ([ph]), "till" ([th]) and "kill" ([kh]) at the beginnings of syllables: poilang, trai, kashos. They are unaspirated like the consonants in "spill" ([p]), "still" ([t]) and "skill" ([k]) when they come after S, SH, F or TH: stalaz, shpel, fkufwi, thkriz; or when they come after the vowel of a syllable: upik, likt, bolop, ort, adat. When a syllable begins with pt-, the P is aspirated but the T is not ([pht]): pta*, ptiang. Speakers should avoid turning a syllable-final T into a glottal stop the way people often do in English. Also take care to avoid turning a T between two vowels into a voiced alveolar flap, the way American English speakers do with words like "better" and "bottle". T should not be turned into a voiceless postalveolar affricate (like the CH in "church") when it comes before R.
B is a voiced bilabial plosive (/b/) like the sound in "band", "ribbon" and "carob": bein, sharab.
F is like the sound in "finish", "sofa" and "giraffe", a voiceless labiodental fricative (/f/):
falaz, tzaf.
V sounds like the sound in "van", "never" and "Steve", a voiced labiodental fricative (/v/): vithev, verim.
TH is always the voiceless dental fricative (/θ/) in "think", "atheist" and "math": thesh, tethes.
N is pronounced as in "nice", "senate" and "complication" -- a voiced alveolar nasal (/n/) -- in most places: nenetz, an. However, when it comes after the vowel in a syllable ending with K or KH it is pronounced as in "sink" and "sing", a voiced velar nasal (/ŋ/): blank, hankh, klandanks.
D is a voiced alveolar plosive (/d/) , as in "die", "middle" and "hand": dom, god.
S is always soft as in "such", "Jason" and "bus", a voiceless alveolar sibilant (/s/): seldu, heles.
Z is like the pronunciation of the letter Z in "zoo", "sizzle" and "lobotomize", a voiced alveolar sibilant (/z/): zanzo, falaz.
R is a voiced dental trill (/r/), rolled as in Spanish "rico": rimi, ar.
L is always a voiced alveolar lateral as in "lake", "lose" and "talent" (/l/), never a voiced velarized alveolar lateral as in the British pronunciations of "pull", "seal" or "economical": luoi, khatal.
SH is the voiceless postalveolar sibilant (/ʃ/) in "she", "washer" and "Josh": shukh, homeish.
ZH is a combination that resembles the "s" in "vision", the "z" in "azure", the "ss" in "fission", the "ti" in "equation", the "g" in "genre", the "j" in "rajah", the "ci" in "coercion" and the "k" in "Peking", the voiced postalveolar sibilant (/ʒ/): tzazhur, zoizhatzu.
Y is a voiced palatal semivowel (/j/), with the sound range and capacity of the English words "yet", "backyard" and "ayatollah":
Yatzumi, inya, meya, shayam.
NG at the end of a word represents the letter for the sound in "sing", "doing" and "boomerang", a voiced velar nasal (/ŋ/): supung, poilang. In the middle of a root word, before a vowel, L, *, R or W, it is simply a transcription of the letter "n" followed by a hard "g" (noil and guda), like in "hungry": mongi, gingami, Inglish, dagangra. When a root has NG followed by another letter in the middle, or a root word that ends in NG is followed by a suffix, however, the NG is written with the agong in Kankonian script and pronounced as in "singer": hongku, syangtiy, tefing + -iz = tefingiz , izeng + -os = izengos. At the beginning of borrowed words, it sounds like the NG in "Nguyen": Ngabrik.
G is a voiced velar plosive (/g/), always hard like the "g" in "go", "agony" and "fatigue": gesh, mopiga.
KH is a voiceless velar fricative (/x/), pronounced like the "ch" in "Bach", "loch" and "Nachtmusik": khari, slakh.
GH is to G what KH is to K: a voiced velar fricative (/ɣ/), as in the native Arabic pronunciation of "ghoutra": ghiga, reghithio.
* is how this site codes the character for the sound known as the lagma (taken from lambda and agma). The letter is called "*eti" by the Kankonians. This is a voiced velar lateral (/ʟ/) as in Korean "dalguji": *ine, pa*aung.
HH (or two hus) represents a voiceless pharyngeal fricative (/ħ/), like the HH in Arabic "wahhid": hhit.
H is pronounced like the English "h" in "hat", "hospital" and "deadhead" at the
beginnings of syllables, a voiceless glottal fricative (/h/): heles, Hazumas.
HW, written as hu wul in Kankonian letters, sounds like the "wh" in "where", "whine" and "why" when spoken by people for whom they are not homophonous with "wear", "wine" and "Y", a voiceless labiovelar semivowel (/ʍ/): hwel, uhwas.
W is a voiced labiovelar semivowel (/w/), as in "water", "away" and "Ishikawa": wana, bwolwo. After an A in the middle of a word it may sound like the vowel in "power" (/au/): wawa.
TZ is pronounced as in the words "tsintaosaur", "schnitzel" and "klutz", a voiceless alveolar affricate (/ts/): tzopu, ransatz.
TSH, DZH and DZ sometimes appear; these are pronounced as affricates like TZ, but unlike TZ they do not get their own letters in the native Kankonian script, and are written as testa shekh, dand zhedi, and dand zeki respectively. TSH is a voiceless postalveolar affricate (/tʃ/) as in "change" and "bench", DZH a voiced postalveolar affricate (/dʒ/) as in "junk" and "edge", and DZ a voiced alveolar affricate (/dz/) as in "adze" and "kids": tshiu, kratsh, dzhiu, adkaidzh, dzipu, khemedz.
A less common affricate is PF. PF is sometimes pronounced /pf/, but is usually a voiceless bilabial affricate as in German "Pfund" (/pɸ/): pfofo, mapf.
A marginal consonant is the glottal stop (/ʔ/), represented in the Romanization of Kankonian by an apostrophe. This is the sound between the A and I in "subpoenaing": etanta'isatfed, ho'i. Compare "vai" [vai] (vaic) with "va'i" [ˈvaʔi] (fei).
VTH is used to transliterate the voiced dental fricative (/ð/) found in Pithasayi words, and appears in some words originating in the fictional universe of The World Aside: ipishavth, amopovthi. It is written vethen thigum in the Kankonian script.
Of the vowels:
Kankonian has 7 vowels: i, e, oer, a, ou, u and o, plus 5 diphthongs: ai, au, ei, eu and oi.
A is like the "a" in the Spanish pronunciation of "taco", "casa" and "chica", an open front unrounded vowel (/a/). This is halfway between the A in "cat" and the A in "water"; think of the A in the French song "Alouette" if you cannot get the hang of it. It also resembles the A in the Philadelphian pronunciation of such words as "path" and "glass": daspam, Kankonia.
E is like that in "end", "yes" and "ebony", an open-mid front unrounded vowel (/ɛ/): Durben, esin; but is a close-mid front unrounded vowel ([e]) like in the Spanish pronunciation of "compadre" at the end of words, before "a" or "o", or before "r": , pure, hashea, tzefratzeo, fanfer.
I is like the vowel in "eat", "feed" and "machine", a close front unrounded vowel (/i/): prin, wiri; but before NG or NK it is a near-close near-front unrounded vowel ([ɪ]) like the vowel in "sit", "risk" and "myth": woving, linkish.
O is pronounced like the long "o" in "over", "no" and "photo" (the diphthong /ou/): ob, phodos. Before "r" it is pronounced like the "o" in "port", "former" and "Gorgon" (an open-mid back rounded vowel, [ɔ]) when -or is at the end of a word or there is a consonant after the "r", or when it appears in an accented syllable before a vowel: storman, sator, manoros. It is pronounced as the long "o" in "over" before "r" and a vowel when it appears in an unaccented syllable: phoroish.
U is like the "u" in "rude", "lubricate" and "prosciutto", a close back rounded vowel (/u/): pumus, Kupulshas.
OU represents a sound formed at the back of the mouth like the dotless i in Turkish "altı", a close back unrounded vowel (/ɯ/). In some parts of Southern Hegheos, however, it is still pronounced like a U with the tongue root retracted: hous, wouw.
OER is like the "eu" in French "beurre", an open-mid front rounded vowel (/œ/), plus an R (/r/): stoern. It should be noted that the R here is a voiced dental trill, the Kankonian R, not a voiced uvular fricative like in French or German.
AI sounds like the vowel in "high", "type" and "mai-tai", the diphthong /ai/: duwain, daitrok.
AU is like the vowels in "out", "now" and "sauerkraut", the diphthong /au/: autran, haues.
EI is like the vowel in "play", "cake" and "weigh", the diphthong /ei/: sheiz, gweimo. Before "r", however, the E and I are pronounced as two different syllables: deir.
EU is a sound that appeared after the importation of new words from languages like Povoian. It sounds like the Eŭ in Esperanto "neŭtrala", the diphthong /eu/: shwebreut, euprari.
OI is like the diphthongs in "oil", "boy" and "La Jolla", the diphthong /ɔi/: tzoi, hoimas.
Vowel length is not phonemic in Kankonian.
In the combination AH at the end of a word or before a consonant, the H is silent (although at the end of a word, the last syllable will take the accent): aikhah, bahp.
When I is followed by Y, the accent is on the last syllable: gediy (ge-DIY).
The letter sequence AHA is usually pronounced like A in modern speech: wahaz, mahan, blahatz. The U in "fuir" is usually pronounced like a W (as if it were "fwir"). Similarly, "euer" is pronounced as two syllables today, with the U sounding like a W.
A hyphen is used to indicate that two letters are to be pronounced separately: blat-hel is pronounced (blat-HEL) with the TH as in "pothead" and not (bla-THEL) with the TH as in "think", while khas-hak is pronounced (khas-HAK) with the SH as in "grasshopper" and not (kha-SHAK) with the SH as in "short".
Words are accented on the penultimate syllable if they end in -a, -e, -i, -o, -u, -ou, a single vowel plus -s, or -ar (except kamar), as well as for two-syllable words that end in -tz: bwolwo (BWOL-wo), begini (be-GI-ni), hilis (HI-lis), yayar (YAY-ar), ransatz (RAN-satz). Kyu (five) is accented as the second part of a larger number: dernkyu (dern-KYU). Words are also accented on the penultimate syllable if they end in the past tense suffix -en, the stagnative suffix -ek, the imperative suffix -et or the ordinal number suffix -am: akranet (a-KRAN-et), oyezen (o-YEZ-en). Words are accented on the final syllable if they end in -ai, -au, -ei, -oi, a consonant + s, a vowel diphthong + s, -ss, or any other consonant, as well as -tz in words of three or more syllables: khanau (kha-NAU), phophors (pho-PHORS), oinois (oi-NOIS), pariss (pa-RISS), khatal (kha-TAL), tzareimin (tza-rei-MIN), egeletz (eg-e-LETZ). An exception is words ending in the diphthongs -ai, -au, -ei or -oi that use the same diphthong in the last two syllables, in which case the accent is on the penultimate syllable: kedoidoi (ke-DOI-doi), zevoerhaiyai (ze-voer-HAI-yai). Words ending in -ia or -io take the accent on the syllable before the -ia or -io: valia (VAL-i-a), mesathio (me-SA-thi-o). Three-syllable words that end in -os are also accented on the third syllable from the last if they are not words with -os as a suffix for an abstract noun or future tense: solumos (SO-lu-mos). (Check the dictionary; if no form of the word without its -os ending exists, the word will be accented on the third-to-last syllable.) An exception is words like "shilkolos". "Shilkolos" is a verb meaning "to embody", made up of the prefix shil- (as) and the root word "kolos" (embodiment). Since the accent is on the KO syllable in "kolos", "kolos" keeps its accent when it adds a prefix and becomes "shilkolos" (shil-KO-los). Excerptals are accented on the same syllable as their corresponding plurals: shakti (SHAK-ti), shaktas (SHAK-tas), shaktat (SHAK-tat). Words with the prefix zhi- always take the accent on the root word: zhiis (zhi-IS).
Sandhi appears with the nasals, M, N and NG. before B, P or PH, N and NG sound like /m/. So "bein" in "Bein baitziten fega" (The boy climbed the tree) would be pronounced /beim/.
The Kankonian alphabet has 33 letters: kinek, atak, mopha, shekh, it, testa, dand, nid, rether, ol, ehis, pop, yeta, zhedi, sima, zeki, hu, guda, udu, bisp, khezke, phiket, foyem, vethen, wul, tzapak, loil, *eti, thigum, agong, ghehib, oubo and sukinap. It has traditionally been written vertically (top-to-bottom), but today it can be written horizontally (left-to-right) as well. See this page for the letters. The hyphen character, or bulek, is used for compound words and writing out large numbers, but not for words like "khas-hak".
Sentence Types
Kankonian sentences fall into five types:
1. The declarative: Rami was cycling down to the alimentary center.
2. The interrogative: What was Auresia doing in the garden?
3. The imperative: Wuiwui, get me my tape dispenser.
4. The infecitive, in which a question is answered without repeating the verb: (Where's Kholana?) In the bathroom.
5. The sentencial, which consists of a single word (a sentencial, or interjection, conveying an entire sentence' worth of thought): Booo!
The declarative has a typical verb; the interrogative adds "mahan" at the beginning where English speakers would use a helping verb and in cases of WH-questions uses an interrogative word, while keeping the verb in its regular place, with "hing" (considered a WH-in-situ word) for alternative questions; the imperative uses the ending -et at the end of the verb and has no subject (except in hortatory or "May . . ." constructions); the infecitive and sentencial lack a verb altogether.
"Mahan" is somewhat equivalent to "do", but can come before any yes/no question.
Mahan wan arksasos phodos?
Q 3s reach-FUT moon
Will he reach the moon?
Questions always maintain the same subject-verb-object order as declarative sentences.
Yes/no questions can be responded to by "so" or "thi". "So" is the equivalent of saying "correct", while "thi" states that what was asked in the question is not correct.
Mahan ar heyess tzeimoa? So.
Do you like coffee? Yes. (Means the person does like coffee.)
Mahan ar heyess tzeimoa? Thi.
Do you like coffee? No. (Means the person does not like coffee.)
Mahan ar os heyess tzeimoa? So.
Do you not like coffee? Correct. (Means the person does not like coffee.)
Mahan ar os heyess tzeimoa? Thi.
Do you not like coffee? That's not correct. (Means the person does like coffee.)
In informal questions, "mahan" may be dropped and just a sentence with interrogative intonation used: "Ar os heyess tzeimoa?" for "You don't like coffee?" The word "mei" (so) is sometimes placed at the beginning:
Mei ar anas anayal strivi*?
so 2s have-PRS date tonight
So you have a date tonight?
Aside from the subject-verb-object structure, verb-modifying adverbs and prepositional phrases
can be placed anywhere in the sentence you want (except that a prepositional phrase may not be placed directly after "az"). However, connectives used as prepositions must always precede their objects. The following, therefore, are all correct:
Ad is wan ayinen behal.
to 1s 3s give-PST magazine
Wan ad is ayinen behal.
3s to 1s give-PST magazine
Wan ayinen ad is behal.
3s give-PST to 1s magazine
or
Wan ayinen behal ad is.
3s give-PST magazine to 1s
"She gave me the magazine."
Subjects come before verbs and direct objects after them in Kankonian's SVO structure. Kankonian is a nominative-accusative language. This means that in a sentence with active voice, the entity doing the verb will be the subject (or nominative), and the entity to which the verb is done will be the direct object (or accusative):
Emihelemas betzithas efesh.
grandmother love-PSV-PRS baby
The grandmother loves the baby.
When a verb takes only one argument (such as "Don sleeps" or "Sandy died"), that nominal will be the subject of the verb, and come before it ("Don phizuras" or "Sandy enkuten"). With sentences in the passive voice, the entity to which the verb is done will be the subject and come before the verb, while the entity doing the verb, if mentioned in the sentence at all, will be the object of the preposition dyu (by) and come after "dyu":
Efesh betzithizas dyu emihelemas.
baby love-PSV-PRS by grandmother
The baby is loved by the grandmother.
Phrases go place-manner-time:
Emisha duwainen Tom er mektzar hom hudupon she 12.
Emisha meet-PST Tom at bistro via skateboard at 12
Emisha met Tom at the bistro by skateboard at 12.
Parts of Speech
Kankonian has six parts of speech: (1) Nominals -- nouns and pronouns; (2) Verbs; (3) Adjectives; (4) Adverbs; (5) Connectives -- conjunctions and prepositions; (6) Sentencials -- interjections or any other single word that expresses a complete thought. In addition, atekes-smeiwa ("gland particles") are sometimes considered a seventh part of speech. Gland particles are words like "we" (adjective -> adverb) and "ye" (connective -> adverb) that change another word's part of speech.
Nominals
Nominals have three numeri in Kankonian: singulars (vumor, tank); plurals (vumores, tanks); and excerptals (vumoret, one of the tanks).
For nouns of only one syllable or nouns that have the last syllable accented, as well as all regular nouns ending in -tz, the plural is formed by adding -es: ptort -> ptortes, arkhak -> arkhakes, bakhatz -> bakhatzes. Plurals of nouns accented on the penultimate syllable (except those ending in -tz) are formed by removing the last syllable down to its first vowel and adding -as: daka -> dakas, heles -> helas, wiri -> wiras. Nouns with the accent on the third-to-last syllable also change their last syllable to -as: mazario -> mazarias. Nouns ending in -ai, -ei or -oi change the I to Y before adding -es: sawai -> sawayes, thoi -> thoyes. When the singular ends in -ss, one S is dropped in forming the plural: dass -> dases. In compound words with hyphens, the first part of the word takes the plural ending: shaikul-arig -> shaikules-arig. Compound nouns without hyphens put the plural marker at the end: yaramoshi -> yaramoshas, dabnadenkhikol -> dabnadenkhikoles. Initialisms pluralize on only the last letter name: atak ehis -> atak ehas. This applies even if the head word (the word that is pluralized) is the first word in the full form: yehade na anarekset -> yehadas na anarekset but yeta atak -> yeta atakes.
Nouns ending in -eu were traditionally pluralized as -eas: pleu -> pleas, neu -> neas. These days, however, with the -eu becoming diphthongized, -eues is more common: pleu -> pleues, neu -> neues.
Irregulars include:
anthoi -> anthoi
arigski -> arigskies
babi -> babitos
babu -> babuss
bad-pai-ye -> bad-pai-yeas
blahatz -> blatzas
bwolwo -> bwolwu
garakhe -> garakhien
gopas -> gopes
hilismerye -> hilismeryes
kektas -> kektes
klaps -> klapto
koyesseye -> koyesseyes
lishpusmyu -> lishpusmyus
meya -> meyez
pakhim -> pakhum
paraiko -> paraikos
surten -> surtei
taigrisupi -> taigrisupitis
tapi -> tapitis
tlaro -> tlari
tshiko -> tshikos
vare -> varis
yea -> oyeas
zan -> zanis
zhered -> zherdu
zwaniz -> zwanzu
It should be noted that the plural of "kererkos" (ringtone) is "kererkoses", not "kererkas". Even though "kererkas" would be the plural following the normal rules of Kankonian accent and suffixes, "kererkos" is derived from the words "kereres" (to ring) and "kos" (clip, soundbite, snippet), therefore the -os at the end is part of the root of one of its constituent morphemes and not a mutable word ending.
Traditional/primitive tribes that do not have nations are usually the same in the singular and plural. For instance, the Basopo, a people who used to live on the continent of Povoi, are referred to as "Basopo", not "Basopas", in the plural, and an individual member of the tribe is also called a "Basopo".
Diskwe -> Diskwe (Disque)
Gekhieng -> Gekhieng (Ge-xieng)
Natshu -> Natshu (Nachu)
Nyang -> Nyang (Nyang)
Pulan -> Pulan (Pulan)
Tetiyen -> Tetiyen (Tetien)
Tribe names that have acquired the suffix -ik in Kankonian, however, have a distinct singular and plural form:
Iorekik -> Iorekikes (Ioreki)
Kupultik -> Kupultikes (Kupulti)
Tenik -> Tenikes (Tenni)
The names of the plant and animal species in the movie The World Aside are borrowed from the conlang Pithasayi. As a result, their plurals follow the pluralization rules of Pithasayi rather than those of Kankonian:
amopovth -> amopovthi
bevuv -> bebuvi
biyapapa -> biyapape
bobevth -> bobevthi
boyapo -> boyapi
bubuth -> bubuthi
hwifuf -> hwifufi
ipishavth -> ipishavthi
khlan -> khlani
khomamo -> khomami
khrensel -> khrenseli
kizakaz -> kizakazi
lapafa -> lapafe
lupupup -> lupupupi
momobo -> momobi
nazif -> nazifi
paputa -> papute
ramumf -> ramumfi
shisoto -> shisoti
sifusha -> sifushe
takhisa -> takhise
thofen -> thofeni
vevinth -> vevinthi
wiwihwo -> wiwihwoni
yepeyuvth -> yepeyuvthi
zhetath -> zhetathi
The excerptal form of a noun expresses "one of". For instance, "hayazet" means "one of the stars". To form the excerptal, cut off everything (if anything) after the terminal vowel of the plural form and add "t":
sharas (daughters) -> shara + t = sharat (one of the daughters)
likakes (necks) -> likake + t = likaket (one of the necks)
varis (plants) -> vari + t = varit (one of the plants)
garakhien (garakhien) -> garakhie + t = garakhiet (one of the garakhien)
zherdu (brothers) -> zherdu + t = zherdut (one of the brothers)
The excerptal is used for body parts a person has more than one of when they appear with a possessive:
Fas aas e bwolwut na is.
something COP-PRS in eye-EXCPT of 3s
There is something in my eye.
Amerina khafarkhen dumat na wan.
Amerina scratch-PST thumb-EXCPT of 3s
Amerina scratched her thumb.
This also applies to clothes of which more than one is usually worn:
Agrat na Keisha shehe*en ukh ye.
sock-EXCPT of Keisha fall-PST off PREP-ADV
Keisha's sock fell off.
Av Kankonikes emen in tzataki bikuren ash fega, mem ubasen os az famoi dehoyenen tzatakat na wan am az buhangem en er kalis.
when Kankonian-PL see-PST one shoe hang-PST on tree 3p believe-PST NEG that someone lose-PST-PST shoe-EXCPT of 3s but that buhangem PST LOC process
When Kankonians saw one shoe hanging in a tree, they believed not that someone had lost his or her shoe, but that the buhangem was at work.
The singular rather than the excerptal is used when which one of your eyes, legs, feet, etc. you are talking about is specified:
Is apsithien pumus utshi na is.
1s raise-PST hand left of 1s
I raised my left hand.
Nor is the excerptal used when there is no possessive:
Ar wahazas umbe ufoyan zeksisites oba eueras hekhio!
2s be_able_to-PRS now change channel-PL without move-PRS finger
Now you can change channels without moving a finger!
When an adjective describes both/all of the nouns referred to by an excerptal, the adjective comes after the excerptal noun. When the adjective describes only the one of the nouns referred to by the excerptal, it comes before the noun. So, "one of my blue eyes" would be "oimonet wowum" (both of the speaker's eyes being blue), but if the speaker had heterochromia iridum and wanted to say "the blue one of my eyes", he would say "wowum oimonet".
Excerptals (usually "met") also translate the pronoun "one" in sentences like "I want the red one":
Is fuiras gudum met.
3s want-PRS red 3e
I want the red one.
Ar as almonas deyit mui wan as wanzasha deyit.
2s PRS smart 2e and 3s PRS sweet 2e
You're the smart one and she's the sweet one.
Is as almonas wit mui wan as wanzasha wit.
1s PRS smart 1e and 3s PRS sweet 1e
I'm the smart one and she's the sweet one.
If you need to make the singular of a plural noun that doesn't have a singular, turn it into an excerptal: homoses (parents) -> homoset (parent).
Mass nouns are treated as singular in Kankonian:
Is betzithas suzu. Wan as titel.
3s love-PRS wool. 3s PRS warm
I love wool. It is warm.
In English, mass nouns for foods and drinks stay singular even if there are a number of bottles, bowls, cups, etc. of them, but pluralize when "multiple varieties of" is meant ("This store sells exotic meats"). In Kankonian, the reverse is true. Plural nouns can frequently be found if there are multiple, physically separated concentrations of a food or drink, so three bottles of apple juice are often referred to as "weltes" (juices) or plates of salad as "wekores" (salads). "Em weltes na bepis" can even be used to mean "three bottles/cups of apple juice". However, pluralization is not used to refer to types:
Er ham khab vithev pasuez tzemauizas.
at this store meat exotic sell-PSV-PRS
This store sells exotic meats.
unless a number word or word like "argas" (many) appears in the sentence to force the food/beverage word to become plural:
Seshit sestrip zash Kole Sezalis Lana hauess houmans o tepisas 240 man wekores.
chef world-renowned APPOS Kole Palladium Lana know-PRS EQC-how one make-PRS 240 different salad-PL
World-renowned chef Kole Palladium Lana knows how to make 240 different salads.
Ham pundush benzinas opores mui klanatzades mui ezoyes zash em man shukhes!
this smoothie include-PRS strawberry-PL and banana-PL and orange-PL APPOS three different fruit-PL
Strawberries, bananas, and oranges are in this smoothie -- three different fruits!
As in many languages, many food words such as "haihas" (cake), "shufski" (pie) or "bemarkez" (candy) can be used as both count nouns and mass nouns in Kankonian. These take the plural forms as plural count nouns (and also the excerptal forms as excerptal count nouns):
Er thebevatia blat shufskas tzemauizen leken.
at bakery twenty pie-PL sell-PSV-PST yesterday
The bakery sold twenty pies yesterday.
The singular rather than the plural is normally used for describing meat: thakali* (lamb), uphath (chicken), gonizha (squid/calamari), kudan (salmon), puripo (shrimp). Unlike English, the singular is used with bivalves: eksakraka (oyster), zemir (mussel), bolme (clam), khirbas (scallop). One would say, "Is shelimen eksakraka" for "I ordered oysters", not "Is shelimen eksakrakas".
Numbers between 1 and -1 inclusive (including 0) take the singular form. Numbers greater than 1 or less than -1 use the plural form.
Teret hugem er ham huzhus benzinas noto 0.5.
family average LOC that planet include-PRS child 0.5
The average family on that planet has 0.5 kids.
"In o re argas" (one or more) or other constructions with "or" that include the number one are singular:
An id au in o bam baizh wahazas hazi ad sharabporiri famoi er els.
have done_to even one or two arrest be_able_to-PRS make to unemployable someone LOC there
Even having one or two arrests can make someone unemployable there.
To indicate that a nominal can refer to either something singular or something plural, place o es (or -s) after the singular form. "O es" is used regardless of the way the singular pluralizes -- no matter if it takes an -es plural, an -as plural, or an irregular plural:
Ar he az as hoimas, shemebet spyu ar mui yed o es ad ar as salishas.
2s as that PRS father relationship between 2s and son or PL to 2s PRS important
As a father, the relationship between you and your son(s) is important.
Doef Pi*oso Zhanel arditzen kahupha hasp hous houmans o kheskas shara o es ad ar.
Doef Sodium Zhanel write-PST book famous about EQC-how one raise-PRS daughter or PL of 2s
Doef Sodium Zhanel wrote a famous book on how to raise your daughter(s).
Et goyart ad zhered o es mui zwaniz o es ad ar.
IMPRTV kind to brother or PL and sister or PL to 2s
Be kind to your brother(s) and sister(s).
If the noun has no singular, use the plural form and follow it with o et (-et being an excerptal suffix):
Yakh o be*esen er els, yau o regudeos anas udravishes ka*azos amasi ab homoses o et ad o.
if one grow_up-PST LOC there then one probably have-PRS view-PL political different from parents or EXCPT to one
If you grew up there, you probably have different political views from your parent(s).
If the singular in English would be expressed by an excerptal in Kankonian, use the excerptal followed by "o es":
En arat bwolwut o es na ar as istenda zadar.
PST lose eye-EXCPT or PL of 2s PRS experience traumatic
To have lost your eye(s) is a traumatic experience.
Note that the following adjective comes after the "o es" or "o et" and not immediately after the base nominal:
Wrong: Tzehimez sherm o es os ad hesi tri khetz ad o pure.
language native or PL FUT for speak SUP easy for one always
Right: Tzehimez o es sherm os ad hesi tri khetz ad o pure.
language or PL native FUT for speak SUP easy for one always
Your native language(s) will always be the easiest for you to speak.
The pronominal equivalent of a "[singular] o es" construction is "wan o mem" (s/he/it or they):
Rehinet aswid o es mui kailoret wan o mem.
find-IMPRTV error or PL and correct-IMPRTV 3s or 3p
Find the error(s) and fix it/them.
The pronominal equivalent of a "[plural] o et" construction is "mem o met" (they or one of them):
*agitet emihomoses o et shfehil ad ar mui azirethet mem o met.
contact-IMPRTV grandparents or EXCPT surviving to 2s and teach-IMPRTV 3p or 3e
Contact your surviving grandparent(s) and teach her/him/them.
And the pronominal equivalent of an "[excerptal] o es" construction is "met o mem" (one of them or they):
Yakh ar araten angat o es na ar, borunez ad yaviril id met o mem umbe aas.
if 2s lose-PST leg-EXCPT or PL of 2s technology for regenerate done_to 3e or 2p now exist-PRS
If you have lost your leg(s), there now exists the technology to regenerate it/them.
"Zhit" (a connective meaning "for") normally takes a singular nominal as its object:
Hames oeas on en sharab zhit wakhavan.
that-PL trick-PL NEG PST bad for parakeet
Those tricks were not bad for parakeets.
The word "halite" (everyone, everybody) is plural in Kankonian and should take a plural pronoun (mem, not wan):
Halite lesas skayu markam na mem.
everybody should-PRS pick_up jacket of 3p
Everybody should pick up their jackets.
The following nominals are also plural: halis (everything), star (the rest), eis (any), eidu (anyone), eilag (anything), khile (both, each), fa (some), myu (a few), layas (several), hales (all).
The following nominals are singular: hiel (what), famoi (someone), fas (something), ou (nobody), akh (nothing), mayat (another), khehek (another), pleinte (either), pleos (neither), nos (none).
"Il" (who) can be singular or plural depending on the individual circumstances.
"Argas" is plural when it means many and singular when it means much. "Tu" is plural when it means few and singular when it means little/not much. "Reanti" is plural when it means how many more and singular when it means how much more. "retotu" is plural when it means how many fewer and singular when it means how much less. "Baphash" (enough) is plural with a count noun and singular with a mass noun.
When "halis" (everything), "star" (the rest), "eis" (any) or any other "any" word, "khile" (each -- but not in the sense of both), "tu" (few), "pleinte" (either) or "pleos" (neither) is the pronoun in a question, its antecedent in the answer will not be "wan" (it) nor "mem" (they), but a repeated "eis", "halis", etc.:
Mahan pleinte welantz iskutekhos?
-So, pleinte hoos.
Will either design work?
-Yes, it will.
Mahan pleinte welantz iskutekhos?
-Thi, pleos hoos.
Will either design work?
-No, neither will.
Sometimes an "any" word will take a "some" word as a response:
Mahan eilag meshudzas ar?
-So, fas hoas.
Is anything bothering you?
-Yes, something is.
"One in" in a statistic is considered plural:
1 zapan 4 welas er Dzhunsu anas zhudalamelka az muyestailarizen dyu homoses ad mem.
1 out_of 4 child-PL LOC Junsu have-PRS credit_card REL cosign-PSV-PST by parents to 3p
1 in 4 children on Junsu has a credit card cosigned by his or her parents.
A band or a corporation is referred to as "they", not "it":
Blintzshai*ap pagodomen pad zanam dyu mem.
Blintzshai*ap release-PST album ten-ORD by 3p
Blintzshai*ap have released their tenth album.
Sentu gai*eten zankyu deviska shinas ab tzemau na mem id zazhidas kam meitel oiri.
Sentu earn-PST ten-five quadrillion sina-PL from sale of 3p done_to cellphone-PL on last year
Sentu made fifteen quadrillion sinas from its sales of cellphones last year.
A noun one of which belongs to each of many is kept in the singular if each has only one of them. For instance, you would say:
Geteres Dantonik alushen hothos na mem hair heshra.
soldier-PL Danton-ian sacrifice-PST life of 3p for heshra
The Dantonese soldiers gave their life for the heshra.
Instead of:
Geteres Dantonik alushen hothas na mem hair heshra.
soldier-PL Danton-ian sacrifice-PST life-PL of 3p for heshra
The Dantonese soldiers gave their lives for the heshra.
The exception is with a noun like "shakti" (house) for which more than one possessor could be ambiguous. In such cases, the singular is used if the multiple possessors share a single unit, and the plural used if the multiple possessors each have their own unit:
Is shahemden shakti na Zhoya mui Vrandi.
1s go_down_to-PST house of Zhoya and Vrandi
I went down to Zhoya and Vrandi's house.
Kam sayup spas is adiros shaktas na Mark mui Asha.
on next week 1s visit-FUT house-PL of Mark and Asha
Next week, I will visit Mark's and Asha's houses.
Wiri mui mopiga retelen shakti na mem.
man and woman paint-PST house of 3p
The man and woman painted their house. [They live in the same house.]
Wiri mui mopiga retelen shaktas na mem.
man and woman paint-PST house-PL of 3p
The man and woman painted their houses. [They live in different houses.]
Nouns referring to sets of things with -es or -as at the end and no singular form are plural. To refer to one pair/set, one must use the word "bapad" (pair) or "pad" (set).
in bapad na horoboses: one pair of pants
in bapad na winas: one pair of panties
in pad na vwanzanes: one suit
bam bapades na horoboses: two pairs of pants
bapadet na winas: one of the pairs of panties
Nouns that are plural in English but do not have a plural ending are singular in Kankonian, and refer to one pair/set of something:
in izhudia: one pair of headphones
in zhulad: one pair of sunglasses
in medozhod: one set of braces
bam izhudias: two pairs of headphones
zhuladet: one of the pairs of sunglasses
It should be noted that the word "pitzis" (guts, innards) is plural, even though it does not end in -as nor -es, and has no singular:
Chaka katen pitzis hes tairak, mui mem ushen le*sh we.
Chaka cut-PST guts out_of fish and 3p come_out-PST free ADV
Chaka cut the guts out of the fish, and they came right out.
Proper names, such as Gadami, Gemahas, Ching, Connie, Dan and Zafiya, are pronounced and spelt in Roman characters as in their native languages. There are no words for Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. in Kankonian. To refer to Kankonians by surname, simply use their last name; when speaking of or to other nationalities, address them by the title in their native language.
The words "Zherdu" (Brothers) or "Zwanzu" (Sisters) come before a family name:
Zherdu Isme as pahatra ad pomoshsheizipi tri hasp na Kankonia.
brother-PL Isme PRS troupe to air-racing SUPL famous of Kankonia
The Brothers Isme are Kankonia's most famous air-racing troupe.
When you are speaking to someone, put "zha" before his or her name:
Zha Phoriphio, nasuet ad lei!
VOC Phoriphio come-IMPRTV to here
Phoriphio, come over here!
Zha famoi, iskalar kuniet is!
VOC somebody please help-IMPRTV 3s
Somebody please help me!
Possession, or the concept of "of" or "'s", is formed by putting the connective "na" before the possessor: na mopiga (the woman's), bludzhinz na mopiga (the woman's blue jeans), na tzenoreth (of the palm tree), grurgh na tzenoreth (the root of the palm tree), na Tara (Tara's), pumus na Tara (Tara's hand), dephudanas (the anarchists'), shakti na dephudanas (the anarchists' house).
"Na", "ad", "hous", "non", "id" and "dyu" are used to connect to nouns where we would put the head noun after the other noun in English (e.g. sports section). With connectives like these, the head noun comes first.
"Na" is a general indicator that something is of something else:
voshayid na rina: lung cancer
kren na luzkat: lunch bag
zoden na pezikas leopard shark (lit. shark of wrinkles)
Blahatz na Yoilanes: Lily Day
Specifically, "na" can indicate location or citizenship in a place:
bauwor na *uthis: town drunk
lausent na hagash: village mayor
zantas na Spanitz: flag of Spanitz
Also use "na" to indicate that something is made of or from something:
shufski na kopbuzes: blueberry pie
homut na somupis: ears, tails and snout of the tapir
zuad na tamatzir: rattan arrow
Or is a part of someone or something's body:
khod na harg: goat ear
*ine na Shaleyik: Shaleyan hair
Use "ad" when the head noun is intended for the purpose of the other noun:
fakram ad etemas: primary (lit. election for nominees)
oyezyes ad maikros: screenplay (lit. play for movie)
koshetz ad sheizipi: racing organization
kargash ad donames: summit meeting (lit. meeting for presidents)
Or for the use of the other noun:
iksakalos ad kala: overhead projector (lit. camera for plastic)
Use "hous" to indicate that the head noun is about the non-head noun:
ili hous yetzuwa: nature show
atzwan hous geletes: leash law
lahaim hous podekes yigo: nuclear weapons report
reking hous agrandes: sports section
Use "non" to indicate the charge for something:
baizh non adekluoi: arson arrest
Use "id" to indicate that something is done to the non-head noun:
tzemau id phoshupes: tire sale
inzitzi id hokules: raspberry picking
dzhiu id hupam: back rub
abamfash id feshmetes: sandwich eater
tzemaufash id falish: marijuana seller
pipetz id pleues: gay-bashing
uigard id aidispos: math teacher
Use "dyu" to indicate that an action is done by an agent:
khafarkh dyu ze*ya: nail scratch
skili dyu peksis: insect bite
Use "dyu" to denote authorship:
kahupha dyu Paez Vakhamban Asal: Paez Meitnerium Asal book
asoka dyu Blintzshai*ap: Blintzshai*ap CD
The connective "rod" is used after an element name and before a number to indicate isotope:
eskhel rod 40: calcium-40, 40Ca
Note that the prepositional object in such noun "compounds" is often singular even where one would expect a plural. For instance, "lung cancer" is called voshayid na rina, not voshayid na rinas, even when both lungs are afflicted.
To form an appositive, use "zash", meaning "which is" or "who is", between the two nominals:
Zhered zash Sean ad is uhwos ad gayam.
brother APPOS Sean to 3s go-FUT to college
My brother Sean is going to college.
Gokhan zash fufelim geshusten ham vefaf.
Gokhan APPOS baker bake-PST this bread
Gokhan the baker baked this bread.
Note that the appositive should come before other prepositional phrases: my brother Sean becomes "zhered zash Sean ad is" and not "zhered ad is zash Sean" (which would denote that the speaker's name is Sean).
"Zash" is also used for appositives with "wir" (we/us): "we students" is "wir zash telemas". Other pronouns take "zash" too when accompanying a noun:
zha ar zash karsti: you idiot
deir zash sokamas: you architects
deyit zash beinet: one of you boys
is zash Phoriphio: I, Phoriphio
"Zash" also joins a pronoun and a number: "wir zash em" means "we three", and "wir zash em teyes" means "we three kings".
In an appositive that echoes back to an antecedent mentioned before in order to correctly place the modifying phrase, the word "zash" is used and then the nominal:
Zilas Dantonik keneksenen heshra ad mem oelfalos we, zash heshra azad ayen az wan kadanizen non khiyel.
citizen-PL Danton-ian follow-PST heshra to 3p unquestioning ADV APPOS heshra for-whom have-PST that he convict-PSV-PST for embezzlement
The Dantonese citizens followed their heshra without question, a heshra who had once been convicted of embezzlement.
"Zash" is used after a position as a title: "Donam zash Idve" means "President Idve". However, "Den" (Saint) does not take "zash": "St. Andy" is "Den Andy".
Proper nouns like "Lehola Galaxy" or "Naspar River" consist of the common noun first, than "zash", then the proper noun:
*opei zash Lehola: Lehola Galaxy
Hazas zash Naspar: Naspar River
Here are the personal pronouns in Kankonian:
is: I
ar: you (singular)
wan: he, she, it
wit: one of us
deyit: one of you
met: one of them
wir: we
deir: you (plural)
mem: they
There is also the pronoun "o", meaning one, a generic you, as in "If one wants to feel energetic in the morning, one should get a good night's sleep".
All pronouns are androgynous. Since "he", "she" and "it" all become "wan", the problem of
having two "wan's" in the same sentence can be solved by changing one to a specific noun (such as "wiri" or "mopiga") or name, or changing an "it" to "this" or "that" (ham). The translation of "it" tends to lean towards "wan" when it refers to a clearly picturable object and is the subject of a sentence, and towards "ham" when it refers to an abstract noun or action and is the object of a sentence or connective (preposition). "Ham" is also used when what is referred to is a gerund or an entire sentence or fact:
Kheri esthien shil puvur is, am ham os meshudzen is.
Kheri call-PST as loser 3s but that NEG bother-PST 3s
Kheri called me a loser, but it didn't bother me.
With statements about temperature, use "mesemiwa" (weather) to translate "it":
Mesemiwa as tziyim.
weather PRS hot
It is hot.
For sentences such as "It was then that . . .", use "enles" (time) to translate "it":
Enles en rei az kam is gerien shil *igot leshal na is.
time PST then REL at 1s notice-PST as missing purse of 1s
It was then that I noticed my purse was missing.
"Enles" also translates "it" when one is talking about the month, season, year, decade, etc.:
Enles as tan tzopu tziyim!
time PRS one summer hot
It is one hot summer!
Enles en 9472.
time PST 9472
It was [the year] 9472.
When "it" means "the answer", translate it with "demoi" (answer):
Wan steanen houmiel meshudzen is, do is emiyain ad wan az demoi en bikhat na is.
3s wonder-PST EQC-what bother-PST 1s so 1s tell-PST to 3s that answer PST knee-EXCPT of 1s
She wondered what was bothering me, so I told her it was my knee.
When "it" means "the person it turns/turned out to be", this is often expressed in Kankonian with a descriptive phrase:
Jim aparen palat, mui piva az palatenen bein en Kate.
Jim feel-PST tap_on_the_shoulder and girl REL tap_on_the_shoulder-PST-PST boy PST Kate
Jim felt a tap on his shoulder, and it was Kate.
But "meya" (person) can also be used:
Jim aparen palat, mui meya en Kate.
Jim feel-PST tap_on_the_shoulder and person PST Kate
Jim felt a tap on his shoulder, and it was Kate.
In newborn gender announcements, "efesh" (baby) is used for "it":
Efesh as makeke!
baby PRS boy
It's a boy!
Polite order varies. While some hold that placing others first is a sign of respect (wan mui is; ar mui wan), others take a "save the best for last" approach and find another person to be most special when she or he is placed last (is mui wan; wan mui ar).
Kankonian is very much a word-order language (subject-verb-object): "I" and "me", "he" and "him", etc. are not distinguished. "Mem" means both "they" and "them"; both "she" and "her" can be represented by "wan".
Since "wit", "deyit" and "met" are pronouns, they can also translate "you", "he", "she" or "it" when what was previously referred to is an excerptal:
Beinet harshamen ad is. Met envwetzen hakamar wowum mui engumen bomires.
boy-EXCPT wave-PST at 3s. 3e wear-PST T-shirt blue and wear_on_the_foot-PST sandal-PL
One of the boys waved at me. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and sandals.
The excerptal pronouns can also be used with numbers, so "bam met" means "two of them". Excerptal pronouns are not used with words like "many" or "few", however:
Is abamen lem argas mem.
3s eat-PST too many 3p
I ate too many of them.
Fa mem kanedenen yan na is.
some 3p crash-PST party of 1s
Some of them crashed my party.
Although a "one of" excerptal becomes "wit", "deyit" or "met", an excerptal such as "bam beinet" (two of the boys) or "em wit" (three of us) does not excerptalize when it is referred back to with a pronoun. Rather, a plural such as "mem" (for "bam beinet") or "wir" (for "em wit") would be used:
Goka* bam go*ishet g*ementizen, mem azhuweishizen im spekatem ghoshi we.
although two lamp-EXCPT break-PSV-PST 3p glue-PSV-PST so_as_to put_back_together quick ADV
Although two of the lamps were broken, they were glued back together quickly.
To say "my" or "mine", use "na" before the pronoun: na is. "Your" or "yours" would be "na ar". What is possessed comes before the possessive: *ine na is (my hair).
How to say "oneself"? For the reflexive, use "zhi-" before the pronoun: zhiis (myself), zhideir (yourselves), zhiwan (itself), zhio (oneself), etc. The reflexive pronouns comes after the verb:
Wan tethesen zhiwan.
3s kill-PST REFL-3s
He killed himself.
Zhi- can be used for prepositional objects as well as direct objects:
Versa hesias ad zhiwan.
Versa talk-PRS to REFL-3s
Versa talks to herself.
An adjective can come after the reflexive to describe it:
Is emen zhiis sevu* er wozak.
3s see-PST REFL-3s pathetic in mirror
I saw my pathetic self in the mirror.
Since pronouns and nouns are not distinguished as two different parts of speech in Kankonian, it is also correct to use zhi- before a noun or name:
Dan nawanden zhi-Dan non ham.
Dan blame-PST REFL-Dan for 3s
Dan blamed himself for it.
When these words are used to emphasize a nominal rather than to form a reflexive, such as "The early emperors did not always follow the rules of kamandra; Ekhula himself ate pork without any utensils", the adverb "erils" is placed after the nominal: Teinarevores kals os pure gepalen pomires na kamandra; Ekhula erils abamen meimas oel eis takiliges.
To indicate something done reciprocally, make *asig (each other, one another) the object of the verb:
Juan mui San rekidas *asig.
Juan and San hate-PRS RECP
Juan and San hate each other.
Hales meyez sem teret na is mutzenass *asig.
all person-PL among family of 3s resemble-PRS RECP
All the people in my family look like one another.
If "each other" means that some members of a group are doing it to others but it is not reciprocated, use "edez" instead of "*asig":
Er Yues ziyen hous tethes id edez dyu stormanes er uhul aas.
LOC United_States problem about kill done_to RECP by kid-PL LOC school exist-PRS
In the U.S., they have a problem with kids killing each other at school. (You would use "edez" here because you do NOT mean that Alice is killing Bob but Bob is also killing Alice.)
Compound nominals are usually head-last: shatrakh (post) + katel (board) = shatrakhkatel (bulletin board). However, body parts come after the head: shaikul (ring) + khod (ear) = shaikul-khod (earring). In these cases a hyphen is used. The connectives "na" and "ad" are also used to make compound words: denis (lint) + na (of) + dup (navel) = denisnadup (navel lint). The irregular plural "bwolwu" (eyes) is often plural as the non-head part of a compound nominal: gehez (gyration) + bwolwu (eyes) = gehez-bwolwu (oculogyric crisis). With regular body-part nominals, however, they must remain singular as non-head parts of the compound: verim (bird) + angi (leg) = verim-angi (stilt), not "verim-angas" -- similar to how we can say "men-bashing" but not "gays-bashing" in English. When only one eye is referred to, however, it is possible for a compound noun to be made from the singular "bwolwo": pupu (worm) + bwolwo (eye) = pupu-bwolwo (eye worm). When you are making a compound nominal from a verb and a nominal, and the nominal component is the head, the verb comes first: adat (to run) + gisu (wheel) = adatgisu (exercise wheel). However, compound nominals can be made from a nominal then a verb if the verb is an implied agent noun: amba (camel) + khat (to stop) = ambakhat (cowcatcher) (since "to stop" really means "stopper" here). When making a compound nominal from an adjective and a nominal, the adjective can come first, in which case it will be a solid word: pies (small) + frelith (strip, runway) = piesfrelith (airstrip). When the nominal and adjective have a space between them, the adjective will always come second: rorzi (bear) + karak (black) = rorzi karak (black bear). Bahuvrihi is common in Kankonian: a starak-tiviud (spoonbill), from starak (beak) + tiviud (paddle), is a kind of bird, not a kind of beak. Rarely, two connectives can make a compound nominal, as in bahai (up) + mer (around) = bahaimer (Ferris wheel). Compound nominals can also consist of a nominal, a verb and a suffix: ne*et (nose) + inzitzi (to pick) + -fash (-er) = ne*etinzitzifash (nose-picker).
Trees may be identified as "fega bepis" (apple tree) or "fega ve*itz" (lemon tree), to distinguish the tree from the fruit. However, such redundant names for plant and animal species as "dodo bird", "tuna fish" and "oak tree" are avoided in Kankonian.
Verbs
Verbs in Kankonian are preceded by subjects and take the following conjugation:
abam - to eat
is abamas - I eat
ar abamas - you eat
wan abamas - s/he eats, it eats
o abamas - (generic) one eats
wit abamas - one of us eats
deyit abamas - one of you eats
met abamas - one of them eats
wir abamas - we eat
deir abamas - you all eat
mem abamas - they eat
The same pronouns can be used with different tenses. The verb in Kankonian takes on these different forms:
Infinitive: Used after a helping verb, without any ending.
Wan wahazas efil venit we.
3s be_able_to-PRS dance good ADV
He can dance well.
Present: To describe an action that is occurring right now, or a fact that always holds true, or an event or action that the speaker/writer wants to keep timeless, as in a timeline or literary analysis. The present tense is also used for something that happens sometime during a time period (such as a month or year), when a person is unsure whether it has already happened or not.
Mara gasias shures.
Mara look_at-PRS flower-PL
Mara is looking at the flowers.
Stenza hazias ad shalob meyez.
stenza make-PRS to drunk person-PL
Stenza makes people drunk.
1031: Povoyikes yeringas shil kabing ad hongdin Tzelshik zhimem.
1031 Povoian-PL declare-PRS as subjugate to reign Tzelshan REFL-3p
1031: The Povoians declare themselves subjugate to Tzelshan rule.
Kam ham oiri Nara letzas 73.
at this year Nara turn-PRS 73
Nara turns 73 this year.
Past: To describe an action or state that happened in the past, but is now completed; translates the past tense (like "ate") and in most cases the past participle (like "have eaten").
Aurea baitziten wudan.
Aurea climb-PST mountain
Aurea climbed the mountain.
Ham wailis pagodomen maikros tri spel na wan.
that director release-PST movie SUPL recent of 3s
That director has released his latest movie.
Future: To describe something that is known or predicted to happen in the future, or something that it is suggested/asked/told that someone do, or something that was suggested/asked/told that someone do that has happened. It is also used for declarations or resolutions.
Wir rezhelos er Shaleya shuyes 4 lamas.
1p arrive-FUT LOC Shaleya across 4 lami-PL
We will arrive at Shaleya in 4 lamis.
Av wan nasuos, sereret butekhes hes ye.
when 3s come-FUT bring-IMPRTV cookie-PL out PREP-ADV
When she comes, bring out the cookies.
Dzasina wafinas az ar kazos.
Dzasina suggest-PRS that 2s nap-FUT
Dzasina suggests that you take a nap.
Eris na yan ksaden is blatzos, do is hoen.
hostess of party tell-PST 3s stay-FUT so 3s do-PST
The party hostess told me to stay, so I did.
Is azfuiras az ar wahazos gedir.
3s hope-PRS that 2s be_able_to-FUT make_it
I hope you can make it.
Is akranos ar ad els.
3s take-FUT 2s to there
I'm taking you there.
Pluperfect: To describe something that was already in the past as of the time in the past you are talking about.
Is spaisenen yea na is av is theshen sokmet ash kutshus.
3s finish-PST-PST soup of 3s when 3s hear-PST knock on door
I had finished my soup when I heard a knock at the door.
Future perfect: To describe something that is in the future now, but will be in the past as of the time in the future you are talking about.
Wir phorenos 10,000 babaritas olme.
1p gain-PST-FUT 10,000 employee-PL universewide
We will have gained 10,000 employees worldwide (across the whole universe).
Enasi: To describe something that has been going on for a while and is still happening or true now.
Spei 150 oiras, wir eroenas hiramik sherev ad babwe*as ad wir.
for 150 year-PL 1p deliver-PST-PRS service from-the-heart to customer-PL of 1p
For 150 years, we have delivered from-the-heart service to our customers.
With a negative, it indicates that, for a prolonged time, something has not been going on:
Is os abamenas hathukh ma rimi we.
3s NEG eat-PST-PRS duck so long ADV
I haven't had duck in so long.
Aseni: A special tense used with certain helping verbs to translate them in conjunction with the helping verb "have".
Ar lesasen hemei az verim spirosen ad vainatz.
2s should-PRS-PST let that bird fly-FUT-PST to free
You should have let the bird fly free.
Oseni: To describe something that was predicted or planned to happen as of a point in the past, but never materialized, or something that it was suggested/asked/told that someone do that was never done. It is also used to translate "would" in the sense of "would later happen", when recounting the past.
Is draikosen ad ar kakel na yeshpeltz.
3s send-FUT-PST to 2s card of birthday
I was going to send you a birthday card.
Is ksaden yed ad is adhasharosen kumes na wan, am gubilas aas nodoi ash adul.
3s tell-PST son of 3s clean-FUT-PST room of 3s but toy-PL exist-PRS still on floor
I told my son to clean his room, but there are still toys on the floor.
Wan wovingosen meshi na wan varel dui kam ham blahatz.
3s call-FUT-PST friend of 3s back later on that day
He would call his friend back later that day.
Future-in-future: To describe something that will still have yet to be done at the point in the future you are talking about.
Er bam blatzas, wir arksasosos Hyaiskindu.
at two day-PL 1p reach-FUT-FUT Hyaiskindu
In two days, we will have yet to reach Hyaiskindu.
Stagnative: To describe what is projected to happen if a person or people do not change something, usually something negative.
Faru Donzar na Sogmordas kanek ar.
someday squad of vigilante-PL beat_up-STAG 2s
Someday the Vigilante Squad will beat you up.
Wir teminen karaph kaluk yehade hakek wan.
1p save-PST dog before car hit-STAG 3s
We saved the dog before the car hit it.
Projected future events that can be prevented are put in the stagnative, especially if you intend them to be prevented:
Akranet wan ad labat kaluk wan enkutek.
take-IMPRTV 3s to hospital before 3s die-STAG
Get her to the hospital before she dies.
Past tense is normally employed in stories:
Kam homon blahatz kam helmetz kampas, zwidan az fuiren utoi leseoti aen.
on some day in past distant prince REL want-PST marry princess exist-PST
Once upon a time, there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess.
Danny en khar ilt, hel nenetzes bmupas mui hekhias zanbam.
Danny PST fellow tall with lip-PL full and finger-PL ten-two
Danny was a tall fellow, with full lips and twelve fingers.
When the narrator is one of the characters, though, living characters and current places are referred to in the present tense:
Meshi zash Danny ad is as khar ilt, hel nenetzes bmupas mui hekhias zanbam.
friend APPOS Danny to 3s PRS fellow tall with lip-PL full and finger-PL ten-two
My friend Danny is a tall fellow, with full lips and twelve fingers.
When reminiscing over the way things were in the past, people may use past tense to describe all the people around and everything that was the way it was, even if they haven't changed yet. Past tense is sometimes used to describe people who are deceased, but present tense is used for the permanent attributes (ethnicity, gender, etc.) of the departed. If someone has seen the spirit of a person who has passed away or otherwise has evidence or proof that the person is still alive in the afterlife, s/he will always speak of that person in the present tense, except for characteristics that would have changed in the afterlife. Literary and other artistic personages are usually spoken of in the present tense when their style is discussed:
Kmashand osesas demenes na wan hous artzas ad paraitortur tri venit we na betzith er "Nayizes".
Kmashand reveal-PRS thought-PL of 3s about power to defeat SUPL good ADV of love in rose-PL
Kmashand reveals his thoughts about the power of love to conquer all in "The Roses".
Past tense is normally used for mythology that no one really believes in anymore:
Din phugisma en eksakraka naiyes az der brahelsi yagolbes aen.
the phugisma PST oyster fabled REL inside ten_million pearl-PL exist-PST
The phugisma was a fabled oyster that had ten million pearls inside.
Present tense is used for songs, even songs written and produced a long time ago:
"Beotsha" dyu Sobosas as daluye ad baizart haugi.
praseodymium by psychologist-PL PRS song for listen fun
"Praseodymium" by Sobosas was a fun song to listen to.
Past tense is used for food that has all been eaten:
Ham wivinushuri azid wir abamen shil luzkat emam en somsum.
that spaghetti REL-ACC 1p eat-PST as meal three-ORD PST delicious
That was some good spaghetti we had for dinner.
The future tense is used with "lidye" (until) when "until" refers to a point that is still in the future:
Dzena rotuos va adat lidye wan shuyesos torturkhazid.
Dzena keep-FUT VA run until 3s cross-FUT finish_line
Dzena will keep running until she crosses the finish line.
Is os sadamos lidye is wahazos rehin barud fuzwufi na is.
1s NEG go_to_bed-FUT until 1s be_able_to-FUT find hippopotamus stuffed of 1s
I won't go to bed until I can find my stuffed hippo.
News headlines are not put by default into the present tense as they are in English. Events that have already happened are placed in the past tense:
Ekluoi ekkhoeren lit Motebwas
fire break_out-PST near Motebuas
Fire breaks out near Motebuas
Events scheduled to happen use the future tense:
Lile na Akavhhutla spalsamos
cinema of ixora close-FUT
Ixora Theater to close
Trends, polls and soft news use the present tense:
83 zapanram na Kebsabazikes laitekas donam
83 percent of Kebsabhazian-PL approve_of-PRS president
83% of Kebsabhazians approve of president
Moods in Kankonian are categorized into "the three I's": indicative, imperative and irrealis. Indicatives take tense suffixes, if conjugated verbs (i.e. not infinitives), and possibly -iz- if passive. Imperatives take -et:
Imperative: To give a command.
Guiset karaph umbe!
feed-IMPRTV dog now
Feed the dog now!
To make a request gentler (Could you feed the dog?), ask "Mahan ar/deir likas helia . . .?", or "Might you mind . . .?":
Mahan ar likas helia guis karaph?
Q 2s might-PRS mind feed dog
Could you feed the dog?
"Iskalar" means "please", but it has a different connotation from the English word and implies that you are begging.
Irrealis covers hypothetical situations, or those dreamt of, that are not the case (in works of fiction, situations that are not even true within that fictional world). These words do not take a mood suffix, nor even a tense suffix (but may take -iz if passive).
A verb takes on these different forms with the different tenses and the imperative:
Infinitive: abam - to eat
Present: abamas - eats
Past: abamen - ate; has eaten
Future: abamos - will eat
Pluperfect: abamenen - had eaten
Future perfect: abamenos - will have eaten
Enasi: abamenas - has eaten
Oseni: abamosen - was going to eat
Future-in-future: abamosos - will have yet to eat
Stagnative: abamek - will eat (if things don't start getting better...)
Imperative: abamet - Eat --- !
Verbs ending in -ai, -ei and -oi change the I to Y when a suffix is added:
Infinitive: grai - to turn
Present: grayas
Past: grayen
Future: grayos
Pluperfect: grayenen
Future perfect: grayenos
Enasi: grayenas
Oseni: grayosen
Future-in-future: grayosos
Stagnative: grayek
Imperative: grayet
Verbs ending in -ss drop one S before a suffix is added:
Infinitive: pariss - to convey
Present: parisas
Past: parisen
Future: parisos
Pluperfect: parisenen
Future perfect: parisenos
Enasi: parisenas
Oseni: parisosen
Future-in-future: parisosos
Stagnative: parisek
Imperative: pariset
Verbs of two or more syllables ending in -a conjugate like this:
Infinitive: ama - to play
Present: amass
Past: amain
Future: amaus
Pluperfect: amainen
Future perfect: amainos
Enasi: amainas
Oseni: amausen
Future-in-future: amausos
Stagnative: amaik
Imperative: amait
Verbs with the accent on the penultimate syllable and an ending of -s (-as, -es, -is, -os, -us, -ous) conjugate like this:
Infinitive: haues - to know
Present: hauess
Past: hauesen
Future: hauesos
Pluperfect: hauesenen
Future perfect: hauesenos
Enasi: hauesenas
Oseni: hauesosen
Future-in-future: hauesosos
Stagnative: hauesek
Imperative: haueset
The most important of all verbs is to be. This is how to conjugate it:
Infinitive: e - to be
Present: as
Past: en
Future: os
Pluperfect: enen
Future perfect: enos
Enasi: enas
Oseni: osen
Future-in-future: osos
Stagnative: ek
Imperative: et
Another irregular verb in Kankonian is to become:
Infinitive: inya - to become
Present: inyas
Past: inen
Future: inyos
Pluperfect: inenen
Future perfect: inenos
Enasi: inenas
Oseni: inyosen
Future-in-future: inyosos
Stagnative: inek
Imperative: inet
And another irregular verb is to go:
Infinitive: uhu - to go
Present: uhwas
Past: uhwen
Future: uhwos
Pluperfect: uhwenen
Future perfect: uhwenos
Enasi: uhwenas
Oseni: uhwosen
Future-in-future: uhwosos
Stagnative: uhwek
Imperative: uhwet
The infinitive passive adds -iz; add another suffix as you do in the active:
Tairak os fuiras abamiz.
fish NEG want-PRS eat-PSV
The fish does not want to be eaten.
Greg palatizen dyu piva az esinen.
Greg tap_on_the_shoulder-PSV-PST by girl REL be_pretty-PST
Greg was tapped on the shoulder by a pretty girl.
Bantz na ar zherthizos ehem ar daitrokos pai lile.
ticket of 2s shred-PSV-FUT after 2s walk-FUT into movie_theater
Your ticket will be shredded after you walk into the movie theater.
Typical verbs form the passive this way:
abamiz - to be eaten
abamizas - is eaten
abamizen - was eaten; has been eaten
abamizos - will be eaten
abamizenen - had been eaten
abamizenos - will have been eaten
abamizenas - has been being eaten
abamizosen - was going to be eaten
abamizosos - will have yet to be eaten
abamizek - will be eaten (assuming nothing changes...)
abamizet - Be eaten!
Other types of verbs form the passive like this:
grai -> grayiz
pariss -> parisiz
ama -> amaiz
haues -> hauesiz
inya -> inyaiz
uhu -> uhwiz
The word "by" with a passive voice is translated by "dyu":
Shai*ap phardizen dyu kafawaroi.
ball catch-PSV-PST by spectator
The ball was caught by a spectator.
Passive voice corresponds to the English use of "they" when it refers to an unknown, unspecified or general personage:
Kelik ksektenizas, do wir fremetos shalang.
road fix-PSV-PRS so 1p take-FUT detour
They're fixing the road, so we'll take a detour.
Epselet hesiizas er Lakhan.
Epselet speak-PSV-PRS LOC Laxan
They speak Epselet in Laxan.
In Kankonian, a helping verb can be made passive also:
Wiri az novosizen baizh rakharten.
man REL try-PSV-PST arrest escape-PST
The man whom "they" tried to arrest escaped, or literally, The man who was attempted to be arrested escaped.
Verbs like burn, freeze, boil, condense, evaporate, etc. are transitive in their basic form. To become intransitive they need to be placed in the passive voice:
Is virakhen shakti na fuburso.
3s burn-PST house of stranger
I burned the stranger's house.
Therat virakhizen.
cloth burn-PSV-PST
The cloth burned.
Habits, practices and customs without any specific person as a subject may be expressed either as passives or in active sentences with "o" (one) as the subject:
Hapowik hesiizas er lei.
Hapoish speak-PSV-PST LOC here
They/we speak Hapoish here.
O hesias Hapowik er lei.
one speak-PRS Hapoish LOC here
They/we speak Hapoish here.
Passive verbs can also come after "inya" (to become). These involve a conjugated "inya" and a passive verb with no ending:
Ham kom inen meradeziz dyu freskines.
this place become-PST overrun-PSV by squatter-PL
This place has become overrun by squatters.
For passive participles with other linking verbs, make the linking verb passive (and appropriately conjugated) while leaving the verb in its infinitive form:
Hames shures meshizas zdapad.
that-PL flower-PL look-PSV-PRS trample
Those flowers look trampled.
Ham seshui adluiizas vifi*.
this food smell-PSV-PRS fry
This food smells fried.
To state that something is to be done, use the conjugated verb "gesh" (to stand) with "ad" to, and then the verb in the passive:
Torturfash geshas ad yeringiz.
win-AGENT stand-PRS to announce-PSV
The winner is to be announced.
If the passive verb takes a dative, invert the order of the dative and passive verb from English:
Thothui* ayinizen ad Zara shil yeshpeltz kyuam na wan.
kitten give-PSV-PST to Zara as birthday five-ORD of 3s
Zara was given a kitten for her fifth birthday.
Engoi benazizas ad ou.
tomorrow promise-PSV-PRS to no_one
No one is promised tomorrow.
Odones na wan zabedizen ab Rapa er dorumphi.
right-PL of 3s deny-PSV-PST from Rapa LOC prison
Rapa was denied his rights in prison.
Clauses headed by ep (as) always take the active instead of the passive:
Basig emelgesen netu ep hotzokh podok ien em.
droodle depict-PST ship as pirate one-eyed would see
The droodle depicted a ship as seen by a one-eyed pirate.
Is baizarten ad "Iyef hous Korukas Ar" ep Argovotones yayaras.
3s listen-PST to happy about touch-PRS 2s as giant-PL sing-PRS
I listened to "Happy to Have You" as sung by Argovotones.
To translate such phrases as "it is suggested that", "it was requested that", "it is felt that", "it was believed that", etc., do not translate the "it". Make the passive verb after "it" into the verb of the sentence, and whatever proposition is suggested, requested, felt, believed, etc. into the subject of the sentence, placing "that" at the beginning of the sentence:
Az halkashos na ar stailaros ham leyo egeletzizen.
that party of 2s sign-FUT this contract request-PSV-PST
It was requested that your party sign this contract.
Verbs in Kankonian are kept in real tense:
Wrong: Wan azirethen ad alhas az penkas abamen bolmas.
3s teach-PST to class that starfish-PL eat-PST clam-PL
Right: Wan azirethen ad alhas az penkas abamas bolmas.
2s teach-PST to class that starfish-PL eat-PRS clam-PL
She taught the class that starfish ate clams.
There is no suffix or special form for gerunds in Kankonian. To say, "Being dumb is
unattractive", phrase it with the infinitive as "E amb as develu" (To be dumb is unattractive).
Tamin as venit.
belong PRS good
It is good to belong.
Is ubass az dartz as kasht pure.
3s believe-PRS that steal PRS wrong always
I believe that stealing is always wrong.
A gerund in the passive voice appears at the beginning of its clause, followed by "dyu" and then its patient:
Is peren hous maziniz dyu argas hagrores yughela.
3s read-PST about fight-PSV by many battle-PL ancient
I read about many ancient battles being fought.
A gerund being done by someone or something takes "dyu" afterwards:
Baitzit dyu Sakha id skebol hazien az is themetzen.
climb by Sakha done_to flagpole make-PST that 3s laugh-PST
Sakha's climbing the flagpole made me laugh. / Sakha climbing the flagpole made me laugh.
The "dyu" construction is also used with an "instead of" clause featuring a subject in English. The word "bebe*i" (instead of) begins the clause, then the verb is used, then (if there is a verb) "id" followed by the object of the verb, then "dyu" followed by what would be the subject of the verb in English:
Bebe*i phor id trenkas na pta* dyu Rapa, homoses ad wan draikas ad wan hen.
instead_of receive done_to pay-PL of net by Rapa parents to 3s send-PRS to 3s money
Instead of Rapa getting social security, his parents send him money.
To say "It is A for B to do C to D", put the verb C at the beginning of the sentence, then use "dyu" followed by the nominal B, then use "id" followed by the nominal D, then use a form of the verb "e" (to be), followed by the adjective A:
Safin dyu welas id wapishas ab homoses ad mem as orol.
keep by child-PL done_to secret-PL from parents to 3p PRS natural
It is natural for children to keep secrets from their parents.
A passive clause is also used with a gerund and its object as the predicate (much as we would mark such a clause with "for" in English):
Adaz ham yan omo kuless as ovu dyu posk na is.
what-that this party really need-PRS PRS play by band of 1s
What this party really needs is for my band to play.
Kankonians cannot say "I love/like/hate it when . . ." Instead, express the loved/liked/hated scenario as a noun done by its agent:
Is betzithas dzhiu mead angat na is dyu thothu na is.
3s love-PRS rub against leg-EXCPT of 3s by cat of 3s
I love it when my cat rubs against my leg.
Skania rekidas reghul mead wan dyu ashelti ad wan.
Skania hate-PRS cheat against 3s by husband to 3s
Skania hates it when her husband cheats on her.
When the -ing verb is used as a verb instead of a gerund, after a comma, Kankonian uses the word "mos" (while) and places the verb in whatever tense the verb in the main clause is:
Luzana daitroken zipi belimes mos humishen dases.
Luzana walk-PST through hall-PL while fear-PST ghost-PL
Luzana walked through the halls, fearing ghosts.
Is efilos ashkhesti, mos oyidzhegos stares kelikzekeli we.
1s dance-FUT onstage while make_up-FUT move-PL road-draw-y ADV
I'll dance onstage, making the moves up as I go.
When the main clause has the helping verb "ien" (would), the verb after "mos" is in the past tense:
Is ien ailis dumath we, mos abamen pitza haliblatzi we.
1s would live alone ADV while eat-PST pizza all-day-y ADV
I would live alone, eating pizza all day.
If you have some but not all of the people or things mentioned doing something, use "mos", then a pronoun, immediately followed by the verb:
Beines na posk geshen ash bakhu mos met hushisen lehesh mui met duesken nephus na met mui bam met wakhiren tzizawa.
boy-PL of band stand-PST on porch while 3e smoke-PST cigarette and 3e have_off-PST shirt of 3e and two 3e drink-PST lemonade
The boys from the band stood on the porch, one smoking a cigarette, one with his shirt off, two drinking lemonade.
To describe something that is or was in the process of happening at a certain time, place the adverb "safga" somewhere in the clause:
Is zhaiwangen safga agras na is av is gerien kobonir e kumes.
3s fold-PST PROG sock-PL of 3s when 3s notice-PST cricket in room
I was folding my socks when I noticed a cricket in the room.
Mahan ar as vwetzu?
-Is vwetzas safga.
Q 2s PRS dressed
-I get_dressed-PRS PROG
Are you dressed?
-I'm in the process of getting dressed.
Kard regudeos safga amaus okoidesk av is os e labat mos watamos efesh ad is.
Kard probably PROG play-FUT video_game when 3s FUT in hospital while give_birth_to-FUT baby to 3s
Kard will probably be playing video games when I'm at the hospital having my baby.
Spei hamargas oiras, is safga moramenas shes na ozuvwi azad is ubass az wan ufoyanos bayis.
for all_these year-PL 3s PROG compose-PST-PRS piece of music for-which 3s believe-PRS that 3s change-FUT world
For all these years, I have been composing a piece of music that I believe will change the world.
Both "zhaiwangen safga" and "safga zhaiwangen", "vwetzas safga" and "safga vwetzas", "regudeos safga" and "safga regudeos", and "moramenas safga" and "safga moramenas" are correct.
The hortatory ("Let's") can be translated with the phrase "Is wafinas az wir", or "I suggest that we", along with the future tense of the verb:
Is wafinas az wir wakhiros purzad.
3s suggest-PRS that 1p drink-FUT purzad
Let's drink some purzad.
A briefer way to do it is to begin the sentence with "wir" and put the verb into the imperative:
Wir wakhiret purzad!
1p drink-FUT purzad
Sentences beginning with "May . . ." to declare a wish that something happen are translated by placing the verb in the imperative after the subject:
Vainatzos belhetet ab hazas sarz rivas phalushizen!
freedom spring-IMPRTV from river-PL where blood spill-PSV-PST
May freedom spring from the rivers where blood has been spilt!
This structure is also used in legal documents and proclamations where we would use "shall":
Aushak mead atzwanes os noashet alhakh id hias meghoida hel pharomes nairi mui gwapatz osh.
ban against law-PL NEG prevent-IMPRTV creation done_to entity-PL non-government with activity-PL similar and ends OSH
The ban on laws shall not prevent the creation of nongovernment entities with similar activities and ends.
Questions beginning in "er" (why?) questioning why someone should do something, or beginning in "eros" (why not?) encouraging someone to do something, take the imperative after the question-word opening:
Er shterenget?
why worry-IMPRTV
Why worry?
Eros morgenet ad wan karg na tzumukh?
why_not buy-IMPRTV for 3s box of chocolate
Why not buy her a box of chocolate?
"Yakh" is the Kankonian word for "if". The verb in a clause beginning with "yakh" is conjugated normally when something does have a possibility to be true or to happen:
Yakh ham wiri hesias yis, yau argas gilas hekiki tzenethas e urauzi.
if this man speak-PRS truth then many thing-PL strange happen-PRS in basement
If this man is telling the truth, then a lot of strange things are going on inside the basement.
Yakh Salina efesos, yau rayalet ayin ad wan haihas prin.
if Salina drop_by-FUT then be_sure_to-IMPRTV give to 3s cake new
If Salina drops by, be sure to give her the new cake.
To translate "if" with the irrealis (subjunctive) mood -- counterfactuals -- use the verb without any suffixes (same as the infinitive form):
Yakh meyez an shpad ekht, yau wir ien awawish adod *inam.
if person-PL have mouth zero then 1p would starve to death
If people had no mouths, we would starve to death.
Yakh is e algas, yau is ien morgen shakti prin.
if 3s BE rich then 3s would buy house new
Were I rich, I would buy a new house.
When what would hypothetically happen is in the past or future, use "yakhen" or "yakhos" instead of "yakh" and use the verb with no suffix:
Yakhen ar tzemau falish, yau wir ien an hen ad morgen id shalut.
if-PST 2s sell marijuana then 1p would have money for buy done_to sugar
If you had sold the marijuana, we would have money to buy sugar.
Yakhos bayis zakhtad, yau is ien fuir an ar hel is.
if-FUT world end then 3s would want have 2s with 3s
If the world were going to end, I would want to have you with me.
"Yazhem yakh" means "what if". For questions in which this is a real possibility, use a tense suffix for the verb:
Yazhem yakh is as lem karsk?
what_about if 3s PRS too fat
What if I'm too fat?
For counterfactuals, however, this uses a verb without a tense suffix, and -en or -os may be added to the "yakh" in "yazhem yakh":
Yazhem yakh meimas an korenes?
what_about if pig-PL have wing-PL
What if pigs had wings?
Yazhem yakhen reghithio muzapeshi a kam god yughela?
what_about if-PST civilization communist exist in era ancient
What if a communist society had existed in ancient times?
"Suppose . . ." statements with counterfactuals begin with "Sorumet yakh . . ." (Suppose if . . .). The "yakh" will become "yakhen" or "yakhos" if the counterfactual is in the past or future:
Sorumet yakh ar e ka*azosis.
suppose-IMPRTV if 2s BE politician
Suppose you were a politician.
Sorumet yakhen avim kobaphadim gezenuv soyinophadim er Tenta.
suppose-IMPRTV if-PST never consensualism replace educationism LOC Tenta
Suppose consensualism had never replaced educationism in Tenta.
Irrealis may also be used with "openg" (as if). "Opengen" and "opengos", like "yakhen" and "yakhos", may be used if the irrealis is in the past or future tense:
Wan emptshoven Danny openg wan e pleu.
3s kiss-PST Danny as_if 3s BE gay
He kissed Danny as if he were gay.
Is semishen opengen fas hakizad der is.
3s feel-PST as_if-PST something shatter inside 3s
I felt as if something had shattered inside of me.
The irrealis is also used with negative "because", when the condition in the clause governed by "because" is not true. When the condition is true, the past, present, future or whatever is used:
Ham ili as ma guhait daz pintzas na efil na wan, amon daz wan takikh we laikiras ayaspas na stormanes.
that show PRS so popular because_of number-PL of dance of 3s but-NEG because 3s accurate ADV portray-PRS life of teen-PL
That show is so popular because of its dance numbers, not because it accurately portrays teen life. [The denotation is that the show does accurately portray teen life, but that's not why it's popular.]
Ham ili as ma guhait daz pintzas na efil na wan, amon daz wan takikh we laikir ayaspas na stormanes.
that show PRS so popular because_of number-PL of dance of 3s but-NEG because 3s accurate ADV portray life of teen-PL
That show is so popular because of its dance numbers, not because it accurately portrays teen life. [The denotation is that it does not accurately portray teen life.]
Irrealis is also used in a dependent clause to agree with an irrealis main clause:
Mem ien kardas az is e zabletz.
3p would think that 3s BE crazy
They'd think I was crazy. (Not "Mem ien kardas az is as zabletz" nor "is en zabletz".)
To indicate "regardless of what may happen", the word "houmiel" (what) begins the phrase, followed by an optional subject, a conjugated "yeiz" (may), the infinitive verb and its object, and the postposition "anol" (regardless of):
Houmiel dehires yeizas shunask, is rayalos faz adaz is kuless ad kuni id ar.
EQC-what circumstance may-PRS require 3s be_sure_to-FUT do what-that 3s need-PRS for help done_to 2s
Whatever circumstances may require, I'll be sure to do what I need to to help you.
To say "stopped coming", "continues to try", "keep saying", etc., use the particle "va" in between the inflected verb and the infinitive: "khaten va nasu", "rotuas va novos".
When verbs like "hear", "see" or "imagine" are being used to take an event as their "object", the event is expressed as a complete sentence, without any connectives leading from the introductory verb. Usually the event will be in the same tense as the introductory verb. For example:
Wan emen kamar daitroken shuyes kelik.
3s see-PST elephant walk-PST across road
She saw an elephant walk across the road.
An exception is when the introductory verb is "tzaiyo" (to remember):
Is tzaiyoas ar themetzen kaikan we.
3s remember-PRS 2s laugh-PST loud ADV
I remember you laughing loudly.
When "hear", "see", "imagine", etc. is infinitive, the verb in the event will be in the same tense as the conjugated verb:
Is fuiras ovai shakti virakhizas.
3s want-PRS watch house burn-PSV-PRS
I want to watch the house burn.
When such a verb is in the imperative, the verb of event will be in the future:
Baizartet ad verim yayaros.
listen-IMPRTV to bird sing-FUT
Listen to the bird sing.
If the subject of the event is the same person or thing as the subject of the sentence, the reflexive prefix zhi- will be used:
Is odenen zhiis phoren sima ad ham onishartz.
3s picture-PST REFL-3s get-PST sima for that test
I saw myself getting a sima on that test.
If the verb such as "see" is in the passive, the verb in the event will be in the same tense, but without the -iz suffix. There are two ways to form such a sentence, with "mos" or without "mos":
Ravakh emizen uskhuphusen ash yehade na is.
hobo see-PSV-PST defecate-PST on car of 3s
The hobo was seen defecating on my car.
Ravakh emizen mos uskhuphusen ash yehade na is.
hobo see-PSV-PST while defecate-PST on car of 3s
The hobo was seen defecating on my car.
Noto tri mamiz ad wan ukmayizen adpinyeshen wasakohir na uhul.
child SUPL young to 3s catch-PSV-PST do_graffiti-PST restroom of school
Her youngest child was caught doing graffiti in the school restroom.
Noto tri mamiz ad wan ukmayizen mos adpinyeshen wasakohir na uhul.
child SUPL young to her catch-PSV-PST while do_graffiti-PST restroom of school
Her youngest child was caught doing graffiti in the school restroom.
The endings on the passive verb and the witnessed verb remain the same if the passive (main) verb is part of a relative clause:
Ravakh az emizen mos uskhuphusen ash yehade na is anen dumas in.
hobo REL see-PSV-PST while defecate-PST on car of 3s have-PST thumb one
The hobo who was seen defecating on my car had one thumb.
If the verb such as "see" is in the irrealis, the verb in the event will have no suffix:
Yakh is apar pakadzhoma avur bulush hupam na is, yau is ien heyiyet.
if 3s feel pakajooma crawl down back of 3s then 3s would scream
If I felt a pakajooma crawling down my back, I would scream.
If the main verb in such a construction is a helping verb, use the tense of the helping verb to determine the tense of sensed verb:
Is wahazen apar pilakh eueren.
3s be_able_to-PST feel ground move-PST
I could feel the ground moving. (To move takes the past tense, since "wahazen", could, is in the past.)
If the witnessed event is in the passive, use the passive -iz and then make the passive verb in the same tense as the main verb:
Hales wir ovayen phirio ashitizen.
all 1p watch-PST temple destroy-PSV-PST
We all watched the temple destroyed.
When the main verb in such a construction is an infinitive AND the verb in the witnessed event is passive, place the main verb in the infinitive, use "id", then make the passive verb in the witnessed event into a passive infinitive, followed by "dyu" (by) and the subject of the witnessed event, then proceed with the active verb in the witnessed event:
Ovai id hamiiz dyu babi as fwu*is.
watch done_to make-PSV by sausage PRS no_fun
Watching sausage be made is no fun.
When the main verb is an infinitive, the verb in the witnessed event is passive, AND the whole such phrase is the object of "ad" (to, in order to), place the infinitive verb, then "id", then a passive infinitive verb at the end of the clause, after "ad":
Argas dephudanas oyezas az atzwanes alhekhizas ad ovai id turdiz.
many anarchist-PL say-PRS that law-PL create-PSV-PRS for watch done_to break-PSV
Many anarchists say laws are created to watch being broken.
Such a construction can also be used with "ai" (to have), instead of a verb such as "to see" or "to watch":
Ham deshing arditzizen ad ai id zriziz dyu arheyizhas.
this essay write-PSV-PST for have done_to tear_apart-PSV by deconstructionist-PL
This essay was written to have torn apart by the deconstructionists.
For infinitive phrases after emotion words, use the connective "hous" (about) to introduce the phrase, and put the verb in its appropriate tense:
Karaph os ma iyef hous prebetos ar.
dog FUT so happy about see-FUT 2s
The dog will be so happy to see you.
Donam en hel zimis hous rehinen zhiis er Guzhud.
president PRS with surprise about find-PST REFL-3s in Hell
The president was surprised to find himself in Hell.
The connective "id" is used to mean that an action is "done to" something. It is used after a gerund to connect it to its object:
Adhashar id goshaniya en hethet stoern.
clean done_to toilet PST task difficult
Cleaning the toilet was a difficult task.
Ovai id zikheth id ventas dyu meyez hazias ad tzareimin is.
watch done_to shoot done_to animal-PL by person-PL make-PRS to angry 1s
Watching people shoot animals makes me angry.
Passive object-phrases like the latter example must have a verb. Instead of "seeing him happy", say "seeing him be happy":
Em id e gweimo dyu ar soerzas is.
see done_to BE sad by 2s pain-PRS 1s
Seeing you sad pains me.
(Note that a second "id" is not required after the verb "e".)
"Id" is also used when the object of a gerund is a reflexive:
Rekid id zhio as ungudma.
hate done_to REFL-one PRS problematic
Hating oneself is a problem.
Busiskhephtyud *aitzartizen ba abu id zhimem dyu halite.
symposium start-PSV-PST with introduce done_to REFL-3p by everybody
The symposium started with everybody introducing themselves.
"Ad" is used to translate "to" or "in order to", and "id" is put between the verb and the object:
Naselle adnatain kelik ad hemei id viovis ad yehade.
Naselle clear-PST path to allow done_to room for car
Naselle cleared the path to make room for the car.
When "to" is used with a meaning more like "as" than "in order to", "shil" is used instead (with "id"):
Shil mehim id Hapowik, ma di ti.
as use done_to Hapoish ma di ti
To use the Hapoish, ma di ti.
To say in order for someone to do something, use "ad" right before the verb, and end the clause with the connective "dyu" followed by whoever or whatever is doing it:
Er Kebsabaz, famoi trayas shta 27 oiras ad estemyul id wan dyu ar.
in Kebsabhaz someone have_to-PRS measure 27 year-PL for have_sex done_to 3s by 2s
In Kebsabhaz, someone must be 27 for you to have sex with him or her.
Describing waiting for someone to do something takes a similar structure:
Is geshen els mos durnen ad dugak id wasakohir dyu wiri Shaleyik.
1s stand-PST there while wait-PST for exit done_to restroom by man Shaleyan
I stood there waiting for the Shaleyan man to exit the restroom.
To say that something or someone makes it [adjective] for someone to do something, use "hazi" (to make) with the connective "az" (that), then place the verb in gerund form, followed by the passive "dyu" and the person who's doing the action as the prepositional object of "dyu", then the form of the verb to be, then the adjective (make it easy, make it difficult, make it fun, make it special, etc.):
Zhashaka hazien az phizur dyu is en re khetz.
white_sound_machine make-PST that sleep by 1s PST COMP easy
The white sound machine made it easier for me to sleep.
If the verb that it was made [adjective] for someone to do takes a direct object, put "id" and the object of "id" somewhere after that verb:
Ovai id hamiiz dyu hekas na tzumukh mui *iletes na tzumukh hazien az abam id kharagas dyu is en haugi.
watch done_to make-PSV by zebra-PL of chocolate and giraffe-PL of chocolate make-PST that eat done_to chocolate_animal-PL by 1s PST fun
Ovai id hamiiz dyu hekas na tzumukh mui *iletes na tzumukh hazien az abam dyu is id kharagas en haugi.
watch done_to make-PSV by zebra-PL of chocolate and giraffe-PL of chocolate make-PST that eat by 1s done_to chocolate_animal-PL PST fun
Watching chocolate zebras and chocolate giraffes being made made it fun for me to eat chocolate animals.
To say that something is too whatever for someone to do something to it, use the ad/id/dyu structure, using "o" after "dyu":
Ham kolab as lem woudan ad adsa*alk id wan dyu o.
that tiger PRS too noble for tame done_to 3s by one
That tiger is too noble to tame.
If the person, creature or thing is too whatever for him, her or it to do something, simply use "ad":
Sharla as lem gavonhar ad du*ug.
Sharla PRS too arrogant for apologize
Sharla is too arrogant to apologize.
If the subject that is too whatever is not the object of the associated verb (whatever it is too much of to do), use the ad/dyu structure without an "id":
Mesemiwa geye*itz en lem howei ad pheliz dyu wir.
weather outdoors PST too cold for swim by 1p
The weather outside was too cold to swim. / The weather outside was too cold for us to swim.
*uthis na wir as lem shege*i ad *ass id halis dyu halis.
town of 3p PRS too big for know done_to everybody by everybody
Our town is too big for everybody to know everybody.
Helping verbs come before the infinitive verb of their clause. They are conjugated, while the infinitive is not: likas wayu (might blow), wahazen hesi (could speak).
The aseni tense, marked with the suffix -asen, is used to translate several helping verbs:
lesasen: should have
halasen: should have (logically)
wahazasen: may have
likasen: might have, may have
trayasen: must have
shamasen: must have (logically)
There are also:
ienen: would have
wahazenen: could have
These take an infinitive action verb: shamasen abam (must have eaten).
The suffix -enos can also be used with helping verbs when they describe an event that will be completed by a point in the future:
Is halenos uspis hes ye hali shuish shuyes in lami.
1s should-PST-FUT spit out PREP-ADV all toothpaste across one lami
I should have spat out all the toothpaste one lami from now.
Masaren na deir trayenos devoliz shuyes in oiri ad gai*et id ham airaimi.
dissertation of 2p have_to-PST-FUT complete-PSV across one year for earn done_to that degree
Your dissertation must have been completed one year from now to earn that degree.
When a helping verb is the infinitive of another helping verb, it does not take an ending:
Wan likas novos khat va nagar.
3s might-PRS try stop VA work
He might try to stop working.
To translate "having" in the sense of "after having done something", use "ehem" (after) followed by a verb in the past tense:
Ehem spaisen nutwa, olan sadamen mui wahazen phizur venit we.
after finish-PST nutwa priest go_to_bed-PST and be_able_to-PST sleep good ADV
Having finished the nutwa, the priest went to bed where he was able to sleep well.
But sometimes "having" is without an "after" implied, and this translates as just a "wakh" (as) with a subject pronoun:
Shohazir muye en pensadis, wakh wan tethesen 347,000 meyez.
dictator also PST murderer as 3s kill-PST 347,000 person-PL
The dictator was also a murderer, having killed 347,000 people.
The phrase "he az as" literally means "qua that is", and describes a consideration that a person is something, similar to starting a sentence with "Being" or "As":
He az as raravik, emenos na is enas amasi ab na ar.
as that PRS rural life of 1s PST-PRS different from of 2sg
Being rural, my life has been different from yours
He az as Kankonik, is khamhaumas ad ar.
as that PRS Kankonian 1s have_something_to_say-PRS for 2s
As a Kankonian, I have something to say to you.
"As" can also be replaced by another verb:
He az shtaas 19 oiras, is gravas stormanes.
as that measure-PRS 19 year-PRS 1sg understand-PRS teen-PL
Being 19, I understand teen-agers.
"As" (or "shtaas" or whatever) stays in present tense, regardless of the actual tense of the sentence:
He az as teinarevor, Ekhula vwetzen sholatar we.
as that PRS emperor Ekhula dress-PST opulent ADV
Being an emperor, Ekhula dressed opulently.
A pronoun can be placed before "he az as" if that clause in the sentence refers to a different subject than is being referred to in the main clause:
Ar he az as dephudanis, is osubass az ar ien grav swetalish na is.
2s as that PRS anarchist 1s doubt-PRS that 2s would understand patriotism of 1s
You being an anarchist, I doubt you'd understand my patriotism.
Only the following verbs are considered helping verbs and therefore able to take an unconjugated verb, without a suffix, followed by its own object:
agel: to be supposed to
asp: to seem
atzethim: to succeed
aunerdzh: not to know what it's like to
azfuir: to hope
el: to have permission to
fartz: to take it upon oneself to
fretz: to be unable to wait to
fuir: to want
gikel: to agree to
hal: should (logically)
helia: to mind
hig: to prefer
hilmis: to be willing
i(en): would
kram: to plan to
kules: to need
kus: to fail to
les: should
lik: might
*is: to begin to (with can't)
mai: to be about to (be on the verge of doing)
meadsa*am: to know better than to
novos: to try, to attempt
ogaud: to refuse
opish: to long, to yearn, to die to
rayal: to be sure to
sagarzh: to be out to
sagriya: to desire
sam: to be destined to, will
sederm: would hate
shakwan: to dare
sham: to have to, must (logically)
shiang: to consider
spladik: to decide
ster: to manage to
thevan: to forget
trai: to have to
tzaiyo: to remember
udeyat: to choose
uhom: to find oneself
vard: to bother to
vrin: to really, really want
wahaz: to be able to
wasemb: to be unwilling to
wayes: to mean to
welkesh: to tend
yark: to strive
yed: would (habitually)
yeiz: to happen to; may
yoi: would love
zazad: to be to
zh*aizi: to know what it's like to
The following are the verbs used in vaic constructions, and all of these verbs take "va":
awegel: to proceed
border: will stop at nothing to
khat: to stop
*aitzart: to start/begin
peversh: to resume
raraz: to keep on
rotu: to continue, to keep
satend: to stop/discontinue/quit
shultz: to pause
spais: to finish
The word "daikiz" (to give up) also takes "va" when it governs "novos" (to try):
Is os daikizen va novos shtu.
1s NEG give_up-PST VA try yet
I haven't stopped trying yet.
Other verbs must take a gerund as an object, and use "id" to connect the gerund to any nouns:
Melia betzithas guis id hathukhes.
Melia love-PRS feed done_to duck-PL
Melia loves feeding the ducks.
Is dratz we esmiyain hesi id Hapowik.
1s slow ADV learn-PST speak done_to Hapoish
I slowly learned to speak Hapoish.
Wiri abusen abam id peksas ad abvodshum.
man resort_to-PST eat done_to insect-PL for survive
The man resorted to eating insects to survive.
Hiko keyess haues id dotzaliya.
Hiko pretend-PRS know done_to trigonometry
Hiko pretends to know trigonometry.
Ham gangi asaros virakh id kyu zes penkas.
this ceremony involve-FUT burn done_to five thousands starfish-PL
This ceremony will involve the burning of 5,000 starfish.
*ebait os zdapad id gharaph.
take_care-IMPRTV NEG trample done_to buckwheat
Be careful not to trample the buckwheat.
A non-helping verb with a "that" phrase as its object (says that she loves tacos) can take either "az" and a whole clause (with a subject and with a direct object, if possible) or a gerund (with the subject understood) and prepositional object with "id":
Maureen oyezas az wan betzithas inzhaiwanges.
Maureen say-PRS that 3s love-PRS taco-PL
Maureen oyezas betzith id inzhaiwanges.
Maureen say-PRS love done_to taco-PL
Maureen says that she loves tacos.
Maureen osatzas az wan dartzas seshui.
Maureen deny-PRS that 3s steal-PRS food
Maureen denies that she steals food.
Maureen osatzas dartz id seshui.
Maureen deny-PRS steal done_to food
Maureen denies the stealing of food.
"Ien", which means "would", is always considered to be past tense (people never use its root "i" as a standalone word). Being a helping verb, it always takes an infinitive: "ien manor" means "would lose". "Ien" can also take other helping verbs, and in these cases the helping verbs are used without tense or mood suffixes: "ien lik powor" (would might come_true) means "would have the possibility of coming true", while "ien wahaz adat" (would can run) means "would be able to run" and "ien les satend" (would should stop) means that under such a hypothetical circumstance, one would say the person should stop whatever.
"Ien" is used with counterfactual situations that one wishes:
Is shumiras az is ien e piva re almonas.
1s wish-PRS that 1s would BE girl COMP intelligent
I wish I were a smarter girl.
"Ienen" is used with past wished counterfactuals:
Is shumiras az is ienen haues az ou abamosen kainushuri.
1s wish-PRS that 1s would-PST know that no_one eat-FUT-PST lasagna
I wish I had known that no one was going to eat the lasagna.
A helping verb as a gerund takes the suffix-free form, then is followed by the infinitive verb and "id":
Kules ozhoitz id vwetz ad howo kam hali blahatz shedrazen is.
need take_care_of done_to clothes to wash on every day drain-PST 1s
Needing to do laundry every day drained me.
The past tense may be used as a gerund, with "id", to translate "having":
Is kureshen sharab hous tethesen id maglimez.
1s feel-PST bad about kill-PST done_to chimpanzee
I felt bad about having killed the chimpanzee.
This can also be done with the future:
Is waheraren hous phoros id kraiski.
1s fret-PST about get-FUT done_to shot
I fretted over the fact that I was going to get a shot.
When the past forms a gerund ("to have loved"), the word "en" is used as the gerund, followed by the infinitive verb:
En abam luzkat bamam hel donam en sudoz deyen.
PST eat meal two-ORD with president PST privilege special
To have eaten lunch with the president was a special privilege.
Is aspas en thevan houmans o troikoss f*ilatades.
1s seem-PRS PST forget EQC-how one cook-PRS pen_shell-PL
I seem to have forgotten how to cook pen shells.
Place "enet" ("en" in the imperative) before a verb with no tense or mood suffix
to make a command to have done something in the past:
Enet howo pumas na ar etza is rezhelos.
PST-IMPRTV wash hand-PL of 2s by 1s arrive-FUT
Make sure you've washed your hands by the time I arrive.
"There is", "there are" and "there will be" be are expressed as the existence of something, with the verb "a" (to exist):
Etesyal aas e shubida.
casserole exist-PRS in refrigerator
There is a casserole in the fridge.
Zanbam uwenges aen er rave.
ten-two swan-PL exist-PST at park
There were twelve swans at the park.
Ashya aos e urauzi nozgeiv.
ashya exist-FUT in cellar abandoned
There will be an ashya in the abandoned cellar.
An existential construction in which the nominal would take an -ing verb in English places "mos" after the subject, then the conjugated action verb (and object or prepositional phrase if there are any), then the verb "a":
Argas meyez mos gheisteiven ham yan aen.
many person-PL while attend-PST that party exist-PST
There were lots of people coming to that party.
Khofembas mos baitzitas badku aas.
spider-PL while climb-PRS wall exist-PRS
There are spiders climbing the wall.
A construction with "a" is used as the equivalent of a generic "they have" or "we have":
Er uhules Yuesik, argas pomires oibugmas aas.
LOC school-PL American many rule-PL pointless exist-PRS
In American schools, they have lots of pointless rules.
The word "do", used to avoid mentioning the same verb twice, is translated by conjugating the verb "ho":
Megar heyess haitokal argas we et houmans is hoas.
Megar like-PRS haitokal much ADV as EQC-how 1s do-PRS
Megar likes haitokal as much as I do.
Wan oyezen az wan adhasharen kogu na klotzab, am is os kardass az wan hoen.
3s say-PST that 3s clean-PST cage of parrot but 1s NEG believe-PRS that 3s do-PST
He said he cleaned the parrot's cage, but I don't think he did.
Parin shelimos poisalan yakh is hoos.
Parin order-FUT lungfish if 1s do-FUT
Parin will order lungfish if I will.
When you have a helping verb, you do not need "ho":
Wan oyezas az wan os kaksados ham khab, am is kardass az wan likas.
1s say-PRS that 3s NEG blow_up-FUT that store but 1s think-PRS that 3s might
He says he won't blow up that store, but I think he might.
When a verb takes a nominal and another verb, "az" is placed after the first verb, and both verbs are in their real tense:
Vugis hazien az is adaten.
snake make-PST that 1s run-PST
The snake made me run.
I fuiras az ar nasuos.
1s want-PRS that 2s come-FUT
I want you to come.
Mahan ar hemeyos az zhered ad is e*aus?
Q 2s let-FUT that brother to 1s enter-FUT
Will you let my brother enter?
Ans wailis id ham ili seress az hames pivas meshas ma dani?
how director done_to that show keep-PRS that that-PL girl-PL look-PRS so hip
How does the director of that TV show keep the girls looking so hip?
Harg pfushen az is koiloaren zipi pomosh.
goat send-PST that 1s make_one's_trajectory-PST through air
The goat sent me flying through the air.
When whatever you need, want, etc. done is in the passive, use the same construction but put the verb in question in passive voice:
Reri kulesen az zanzo siuizosen.
Reri need-PST that tooth extract-PSV-FUT-PST
Reri needed a tooth extracted.
When verbs like let/need/want are in the passive, the verb is put in passive at the end of the sentence, and the sentence begins with "az", the subject and the other verb:
Az wan abamen pa*aunges semesh haziizen.
that 3s eat-PST snail-PL live make-PSV-PST
She was forced to eat live snails.
With verbs like ask, tell, demand, dare, etc., the conjugated verb is used without "az", followed by the noun, and then whatever verb someone is asked, told, demanded, dared, etc. to do:
Kemal egeletzen mopiga draikos yawuvizitz ad wan.
Kemal ask-PST woman send-FUT DNA_tagger to 3s
Kemal asked the woman to send him the DNA tagger.
Is rapereas ar duagos ham kogu na zitar.
1s dare-PRS 2s open-FUT this cage of thylacine
I dare you to open this thylacine cage.
The verb "kuni", to help, is followed by its indirect object (the person being helped), then "ad", then the verb it takes (what you are helping the person do), in the infinitive form. Any objects of the infinitive verb are connected to the verb with "id":
Qunza kunien is ad ekhet id valia oor Zhavartik.
Qunza help-PST 1s to write done_to letter in Javarti
Qunza helped me write a letter in Javarti.
The verb "bagad", to hinder, works the same way:
Kyufa bagaden is ad skayu id bokanges.
toddler hinder-PST 1s to pick_up done_to ornament-PL
The toddler hindered my picking up the ornaments.
When a verb takes two objects, one of which is transformed into the other, use "ad" (to) before the nominal into which something is transformed and place it before the direct object:
Mahan ar hazios ad zwidan wan?
Q 2s make-FUT to prince 3s
Are you going to make him a prince?
When a verb takes a direct object and an adjective, and the adjective describes the transformation of the nominal, place "ad" before the adjective and then state the direct object:
Yahalukes ad ighitu wowum hazias ad tzareimin is.
light-PL to traffic blue make-PRS to angry 1s
Blue traffic lights make me angry.
(On Kankonia, blue traffic lights indicate stop, burgundy prepare to stop and orange go.)
Is retelos ad kiul shakti na is.
1s paint-FUT to white house of 1s
I will paint my house white.
Devo spladiken khelam ad rimi *ine na wan.
Devo decide-PST grow to long hair of 3s
Devo decided to grow his hair long.
When a verb takes two objects and rather than one being transformed into the other, one object is considered as being the other, use the non-transformative connective "shil" (as) rather than "ad":
Helemas ad Janeqavansi esthias shil Janeqa wan.
mother to Janeqavansi call-PRS as Janeqa 3s
Janeqavansi's mother calls him Janeqa.
When a verb takes a direct object and a non-transformative adjective, place "shil" before the adjective and then state the direct object:
Is shiangas shil albevik wan.
1s consider-PRS as stupid 3s
I consider him stupid.
Is poiletzas shil stoern holobwas.
1s find-PRS as difficult astronomy
I find astronomy difficult.
"Shil" can also be used with verbs that are not linking verbs but take an adjective:
Eren halites zeratzen shil vainatz.
they_say everyone be_born-PST as free
They say everyone was born free.
"Shil" can be used with "ai" (to have, in sentences like "Steve has his eyes closed") to introduce an adjective:
Is ayas shil han demoi na is.
1s have-PRS as ready answer of 1s
I have my answer ready.
"Ai" can also introduce an adverb, with "shil" before the adverb:
Is ayas shil lei dzhisuan na is.
1s have-PRS as here ansible of 1s
I have my ansible here.
But "ai" with a prepositional phrase does not require "shil" (using "shil" is still considered grammatically correct, though):
Stamos ayen spash adul uweish mui zakwiz ab levatz na wan.
Stamos have-PST all_over floor glue and glitter from project of 3s
Stamos ayen shil spash adul uweish mui zakwiz ab levatz na wan.
Stamos have-PST as all_over floor glue and glitter from project of 3s
Stamos had glue and glitter from his project all over the floor.
"Ai" can be used with an active verb as well. Simply use a conjugated "ai", then the active verb in its appropriate tense, then the subject:
Wan ayos raighios damarkis we kaushanga.
3s have-FUT play-FUT continuous ADV videogram
She'll have the videogram playing nonstop.
Jim ayen tzoyen ash stiv na wan klotzab.
Jim have-PST sit-PST on shoulder of 3s parrot
Jim had a parrot sitting on his shoulder.
In such a construction, verbs with "ien" (would) are considered past tense:
Frida ien ai adnasuen argas hen.
Frida would have come_in-PST much money
Frida would have lots of money coming in.
Wir ien wahaz ai tzoyen e karg na posk zeskis.
1p would be_able_to have sit-PST in box of band drummer
We could have the drummer sitting in the bandshell.
To introduce a passive verb with "ai", first use the form of "ai", then the passive verb with the same tense suffix as "ai" (or none for infinitives), then the subject of the passive verb:
Shanitra ayen tshemposizen ous.
Shanitra have-PST remove-PSV-PST cyst
Shanitra had the cyst removed.
Is ayos fashadizos heshra na Danton.
1s have-FUT assassinate-PSV-FUT heshra of Danton
I will have the heshra of Danton assassinated.
Wan en tzaireimin hous ai abamiz ftohom na wan.
3s PRA angry about have eat-PSV tunnel_cake of 3s
She was angry about having her tunnel cake eaten.
When "ai" is in the imperative, place the passive verb in the imperative mood, with the same voice suffix (-iz) as "ai":
Ayet kanizet dyu ham donzaris wan non dartz id kobletar na is.
have-IMPRTV beat_up-IMPRTV by that squadder 3s for steal done_to fabber of 1s
Have him beaten up by that squadder for stealing my fabber.
The word "hel" can be used to translate "with" instead of using "ai" if you are translating an adjective. Be sure to put "shil" before the adjective and put the "shil [adjective]" part of the sentence after the noun:
Jim baizarten safga ad ozuvwi hel bwolwu na wan shil kusht.
Jim listen-PST PROG to music with eye-PL of 3s as closed
Jim was listening to music with his eyes closed.
If you have a participial verb instead of an adjective, use the "mos" construction with "ai" and a passive verb:
Wan geshen vriz hezisya mos ayen sfakzekizen yehade na wan.
3s stand-PST in_a_state_of shock as have-PST wreck-PSV-PST car of 3s
She stood in shock with her car wrecked.
She stood in shock, her car wrecked.
To translate an English past participle that connects as a loose modifier to another clause, use "mos" and the passive voice:
Lekis rehinen swiu na teinarevor, mos ekelangizen mui goruzezizen.
archaeologist discover-PST tomb of emperor as rob-PSV-PST and vandalize-PSV-PST
The archaeologist discovered the emperor's tomb, robbed and vandalized.
It is also possible to use "hel" (with) with the infinitive of the verbs:
Lekis rehinen swiu na teinarevor, hel ekelang mui goruzez.
archaeologist discover-PST tomb of emperor with rob and vandalize
The archaeologist discovered the emperor's tomb, robbed and vandalized.
If the modifying phrase has both at least one past participle and at least one straight adjective, do not use "mos". Connect the adjectives directly to the other cause, using "hel" with the infinitive of the verb that would be passive in English:
Radim gasien dukhar, kwinzi mui hel poilass.
Radim look_at-PST spacecraft shiny and with wipe
Radim looked at the spacecraft, shiny and wiped.
"Shil" should be used instead of "mos" with a passive verb if you have a construction in which the particular way something is done is the point led up to by the main clause. Use "shil" followed by a passive with the real tense:
Avim is abamen bmebas shil etzetizen.
never 1s eat-PST kidney_bean-PL as heat_up-PSV-PST
I've never eaten my kidney beans heated up.
Is akranas hwoisas bupra shil hambirizas, amon shwoerenizas.
1s take-PRS whirlwind-PL burgundy as shake-PSV-PRS but-NEG stir-PSV-PRS
I take my hwoisi bupras shaken, not stirred.
Use an active verb with "mos" and "ai", and place the verb before the subject to translate a present-participal verb in a subordinate clause:
Khados daitroken ad kutshus mos ayen hambiren pumas na wan.
Khados walk-PST to door while have-PST shake-PST hand-PL of 3s
Khados walked to the door, his hands shaking.
When "to have" takes an active verb, "ai" is used with "az" and a verb in real tense:
Sobosis ayen az is asen totsha tatate.
psychologist have-PST that 1s press-PST button repeatedly
The psychologist had me press the button repeatedly.
"Ai" can also be used with "seres" (to keep). Use "seres" in its appropriate tense, then "ai", then the action verb with a passive -iz suffix and a tense suffix, then the object nominal:
Is seresen ai zhaiwangizen pumas na is.
1s keep-PST have fold-PSV-PST hand-PL of 1s
I kept my hands folded.
When a compound verb is made out of a verb and a nominal that forms the object of said verb, the nominal comes first: nuvaf (down) + abam (to eat) = nuvafabam (to sleep with one's face on the pillow, literally to eat down). Nominals may also work other ways in compound verbs: when va*ab (seagull) and wakhir (to drink) make va*abwakhir (to bite off more than one can chew), the implication is that someone is drinking like a seagull drinking soda (which will make its stomach explode). When combining an adjective and verb to make a compound verb, the adjective comes first: feser (welcoming, friendly) + betzith (to love) = feserbetzith (to embrace). Two verbs may also be combined to make a compound verb: zhaki (to crash) + enzes (to land) = zhakienzes (to crash-land). When combining an adjective and a noun for a compound verb, the adjective comes first: prin (new) + dedban (algorithm) = prindedban (to rework). Even two adjectives can form a compound verb: prin (new) + kampas (far) = prinkampas (to push the envelope). Body parts come before verbs in compound verbs: hekhio (finger) + nenya (to name) = hekhionenya (to turn in).
When an action verb is repeated, it may be gapped. Simply introduce the gapping clause with shul (whereas, while), and use the connective id where the verb would be:
Lili anas havilu ski, shul Tiy id havilu blan.
Lili have-PRS ponytail blonde whereas Tiy done_to ponytail brown
Lili has a blonde ponytail, Tiy a brown ponytail.
Nisha sereren ad is domuyizh ad yeshpeltz na is, shul Andy id uweng wopapi.
Nisha bring-PST to 1s blender for birthday of 1s whereas Andy done_to swan inflatable
Nisha brought me a blender for my birthday, Andy an inflatable swan.
To gap a repeated linking verb, introduce the gapping clause with shul and use the connective shil (as) instead of id:
Demed as alpas, shul unzit shil meui.
err PRS human whereas forgive as divine
To err is human, to forgive divine.
Tzires adetamen selmas, shul khamitzi shil tzebrang.
cheese taste-PST mild whereas chili as strong
The cheese tasted mild, the chili strong.
Adjectives
Adjectives of description come after a nominal: the old woman is "mopiga tzmofuz". Determiners (words like this, every, each, enough, few, many, various) come before one: many eggs becomes "argas kehas". Adjectives like next, only, extra, previous and outer are wobbly, although ordinal numbers (first, second, third, last) always come after the nominal.
Articles (the/a/an) are not used. "Fa" (some) is used in its sense of "more than none but not all" ("Some people like oatmeal"), but not as an article ("I bought some bottles of wine" would just be "I bought bottles of wine.")
The determiner "din" is used for "the", however, when the article indicates an animal/plant/fungus as a species:
Din pholot shiangizas shil mutra das sawai Musefi.
the water_buffalo consider-PSV-PRS as mytra according_to religion Musefi
The water buffalo is considered mytra in the Musefi religion.
Adjectives (with the exception of "ham", below) do not inflect to agree in number with the nominal they modify:
piva ilt: tall girl
pivas ilt: tall girls
pivat ilt: one of the tall girls
To inflect adjectives, use "re" before the comparative and "tri" before the superlative. The contrastive takes "hi"; the sublative, "shun":
venit: good
re venit: better
tri venit: best
hi venit: less good, not as good
shun venit: the least good
The comparative and superlative markers appear after the nominal just like the adjective, so the best grapes is "vropes tri venit".
Combine ordinal numbers with "ab" and either "tri" or "shun" to rank superlatives and sublatives:
bamamab tri salishas: the second most important
emamab tri salishas: the third most important
blatam ab tri salishas: the twentieth most important
bamamab shun salishas: the second least important
anaivir bamamab tri salishas: the second most important criterion
anaivir emamab tri salishas: the third most important criterion
anaivir blatam ab tri salishas: the twentieth most important criterion
anaivir bamamab shun salishas: the second least important criterion
Numbers 2 to 10 are written solid with -ab: holamab, zanamab. From 11 on, the ordinal number and "ab" are two separate words: zaninam ab, hospkyuam ab.
Extremes can be intensified by adding "ting" (of all) after the adjective, so "the sweetest friend of all" is "meshi tri wanzasha ting".
The word for "than" is "de":
Shukh as re bamosh de kwisi.
fruit PRS COMP sweet than cabbage
Fruit is sweeter than cabbage.
When you have the verb "hig" (to prefer, would rather) use "eg" (over) for "than" instead of "de":
Is higas fremet huvong eg shilkatan.
1s prefer-PRS take airplane over train
I'd rather take an airplane than a train.
To compare with "of", use "sem" (among) for "of":
Afra as tri burk sem em.
Afra PRS SUPL heavy among three
Afra is the heaviest of the three.
"Among" is used instead of "between" in such comparisons, even when there are only two parties being compared:
Afra as re burk sem bam.
Afra PRS COMP heavy among two
Afra is the heavier of the two.
"Sem" can be accompanied by "hales wir"/"hales deir"/"hales mem" (us all/you all/them all):
Is payoas az Van as tri almonas sem hales wir.
1s think-PRS that Van PRS SUPL intelligent among all 1pl
I think Van is the smartest of us all.
"Ded" (at all) can be placed before "re" or "hi" to mean any: "any more obvious" is "ded re ukal".
"Oulre" means "all the more", and "oulhi" means "all the less":
E defita dash hazias ad oulre deyen is.
BE anosmic simply make-PRS to only-more special 1s
Being anosmic simply makes me all the more special.
To say one thing is as X as another, use "et" between the adjective and the standard:
Ham vugis en rimi et gue* na is.
that snake PRS long as arm of 1s
That snake was as long as my arm.
Put "houmans" after "et" if the standard consists of a subject and verb:
Zwess os amass argas we et houmans wan lesas.
Zwess NEG play-PRS much ADV as EQC-how 3s should-PRS
Zwess doesn't play as much as he should.
Is os wovingas wan supung et houmans is wovingas helemas ad is.
1s NEG call-PRS 3s often as EQC-how 1s call-PRS mother to 1s
I don't call her as often as I call my mother.
Ham katel os as rimi et houmans is kuless.
this board NEG PRS long as EQC-how 1s need-PRS
This board isn't as long as I need.
The construction "os . . . et" literally translates as "not as . . . as" or "not so . . . as". However, in Kankonian, a sentence like "Zana os as tzmofuz et Nasha" (Zana is not as old as Nasha) could mean that Zana is younger than Nasha, or that Zana is older than Nasha. All we know for sure is that Zana and Nasha are not the same age. In English, "Zana is not as old as Nasha" would always mean that Nasha is older than Zana. This would be expressed in Kankonian as "Zana as hi tzmofuz de Nasha" (Zana is less old than Nasha).
To express "as/so" without using the standard afterwards, use "yels" instead of "et":
Vomyon as memtzen. Mahan mukhebz as yels memtzen?
espresso PRS bitter. Q mocha PRS as bitter
Espresso is bitter. Is mocha as bitter?
Vomyon as memtzen, am mukhebz as os yels memtzen.
espresso PRS bitter, but mocha PRS not as bitter
Espresso is bitter, but mocha is not so bitter. (Unlike "os . . . et", "os yels" always means less.)
To say that something reaches a maximum or minimum of a number, place "war" between the adjective and the number:
Meyez az nagaras er lei gai*etas argas war 500,000 pokhales alan oiri.
person-PL REL work-PRS LOC here earn-PRS much as 500,000 pokhal-PL per year
People working here make as much as 500,000 pokhales a year.
Welas az en mamiz war 5 nagaren e ham katetoukshakti.
child-PL REL PST young as 5 work-PST in that sweatshop
Children as young as 5 were working in that sweatshop.
When comparing things with the proportionate number of times bigger, longer, older, etc. something is than something else, put the times word or phrase right before "re" and use "de" instead of "et":
Haihas en baispam re burk de shufski.
cake PST twice COMP heavy than pie
The cake was twice as heavy as the pie.
Biku as kyu peses re tzmofuz de Rapa.
Biku PRS five time-PL COMP old than Rapa
Biku is five times as old as Rapa.
With fractions, "re" is not used:
Iyes na is en bamiksi rimi de iyes na ar.
story of 1s PST two-FRAC long than story of 2s
My story was half as long as your story.
To describe the concept of becoming progressively more whatever, place "dumi" before "re":
Telemas ad is inyas dumi re almonas.
student-PL to 1s become-PRS COMPCOMP COMP smart
My students are becoming smarter and smarter.
Similarly, "dumi hi" can be used to mean "less and less":
Shuyes oiras, ham yizeli inenas dumi hi afas.
across year-PL that comic_strip become-PST-PRS COMPCOMP CNTR funny
Over the years, that comic strip has become less and less funny.
Such phrases as "better yet", "older yet", "sillier yet", etc. are constructed by placing "re" before the adjective and "dui" afterwards (for adjectival uses) or "shil re" before the adjective and "dui" afterwards (for adverbial uses):
Iyes inyas re zabletz dui.
story become-PRS COMP crazy later
The story gets crazier yet.
Shil re sharab dui, movil abamen meyez!
as COMP bad later tribe eat-PST person-PL
Worse yet, the tribe ate people!
For constructions of comparison beginning with "the", such as "the harder I try", use "seng" (the more) or "sawi*" (the less) before each adjective or adverb. Follow each adjective or adverb with the subject and then the verb that apply to it:
Seng tzmofuz o shorevas, seng viriz *ine na o inyas.
the_more old one grow-PRS the_more grey hair of one become-PRS
The older you get, the greyer your hair becomes.
Seng somsum seshui as, sawi* khanzi wan as.
the_more delicious food PRS the_less healthy 3s PRS
The more delicious the food is, the less healthy it is.
Seng rimi we ar nagaras, seng argas ar trenkiizos.
the_more long ADV 2s work-PRS the_more much 2s pay-PSV-FUT
The longer you work, the more you will get paid.
To compare different adjectives, put the word "re" at the beginning of the main clause:
Re mazarias as naspewam de emenos as rimi.
COMP statue-PL PRS timeless than life PRS long
Statues are more timeless than life is long.
In yes/no questions, the word "mahan" goes at the beginning of the sentence; "re" will always come later:
Mahan re valias na zardarios as haghatzai de relizes as sepwam?
Q PRS letter-PL of gratitude PRS ornery than present-PL PRS pleasant
Are thank-you notes more ornery than presents are nice?
Mahan ar kardass az re valias na zardarios as haghatzai de relizes as sepwam?
Q 2s think-PRS that PRS letter-PL of gratitude PRS ornery than present-PL PRS pleasant
Do you think thank-you notes more ornery than presents are nice?
To equate different adjectives, put the word "et" both at the beginning of the main clause and in between the "[noun] is [adjective]" constructions:
Et Leho as salal et Kumphatri as turkvi.
as God PRS good as Kumphatri PRS evil
God is as good as Kumphatri is evil.
Constructions with "not as X as Y" that use "nearly", "half", etc. to modify the comparison require "au" (even) before the adverb in Kankonian:
Atzwanes na Tenta os as au zaniksi darkav de atzwanes na Kebsabaz.
law-PL of Tenta NEG PRS even ten-FRAC strict than law-PL of Kebsabhaz
Tenta's laws aren't one tenth as strict as Kebsabhaz's laws.
Ham seshui os as au remi somsum et houmans is fuiras az wan as.
this food NEG PRS even nearly delicious as EQC-how 1s want-PRS that 3s PRS
This food isn't nearly as delicious as I'd like it to be.
"No more" and "no less" are expressed by "re dyu nos" and "hi dyu nos" before the adjective:
Ham shiat ad peidan as re dyu nos dom de thothu.
that species to dinosaur PRS COMP by none big than cat
That species of dinosaur is no bigger than a cat.
Kata omo as hi dyu nos almonas de ar.
Kata really PRS CNTR by none intelligent than 2s
Kata is really no less intelligent than you.
Possessives that would be pronouns rather than determiners in English (mine, yours, hers, etc.) require "met" (one) before them when they come after "de" (than):
Karaph na is as re tzmofuz de met na ar.
dog of 1s PRS COMP old than 3e of 2s
My dog is older than yours.
Gaimi na ar as hi dyu nos albevik de met na is.
idea of 2s PRS CNTR by none stupid than 3e of 1s
Your idea is no less stupid than mine.
Etil na is as re rimi de met na Dan.
penis of 1s PRS COMP long than 3e of Dan
My penis is longer than Dan's.
Swiu na muwil as hi debini de met na tei.
tomb of slave PRS CNTR elaborate than 3e of king
The slave's tomb is less elaborate than the king's. / The tomb of the slave is less elaborate than that of the king.
When the adjectives/adverbs "argas" (much), "re argas" (more), "tu" (not much), "re tu" (less) and "anti" (how much) are applied to a noun to show how much something or someone fits the criteria of that noun, "zash" is used between the adjective/adverb and nominal:
Ham os hazias az ar as ded re tu zash wiri.
that NEG make-PRS that 2s PRS any COMP little APPOS man
That doesn't make you any less of a man.
Mahan wan as argas zash vushem-pheramis?
Q 3s PRS much APPOS brain-calculator
Is she much of a walking calculator?
Is as tu zash hoyatzol. Is as re argas zash somonosakhis.
1s PRS little APPOS chemist. 1s PRS COMP much APPOS linguist
I'm not much of a chemist. I'm more of a linguist.
Wan as anti zash borathar?
3s PRS how_much APPOS scholar
How much of a scholar is he?
"To tu zash" is used for "how little of a(n)":
Vrefri as to tu zash payofash?
Vrefri PRS how little APPOS thinker
How little of a thinker is Vrefri?
To make an SAT-style analogy between/among two or more pairs of terms, use the construction "zanikas hel" to mean "is to", and "oor" to mean "as":
Em zanikas hel oman oor thesh zanikas hel zewan.
see connect-PRS with blind as hear connect-PRS with deaf
See is to blind as hear is to deaf.
In short form, this would be written in Kankonian as:
em-oman - thesh-zewan
see:blind :: hear:deaf
When superlatives take a possessive, the superlative is translated as an adjective modifying the nominal "weos" (way). The possessive is formed with "ad":
Wir nagaren weos tri venit ad wir ad ushtonu.
1p work-PST way SUPL good to 1p to recycle
We did our best to recycle.
When an adjective is used as a prepositional object in a noun-like manner, "weos" is also placed before it:
Is inen re oshoki ad weos venit.
1s become-PST COMP close to way good
I got closer to good.
Shemebet spyu hames surtei as er naihati sharab na weos sayan.
relationship between that-PL sibling-PL PRS LOC side bad of way normal
The relationship between those siblings is on the bad side of normal.
Adjectives may come in any order:
Piva Hitik anen *ine karak mui pletes.
girl Hita-ian have-PST hair black and straight
Piva Hitik anen *ine pletes mui karak.
girl Hita-ian have-PST hair straight and black
The Hitan girl had straight black hair.
Wiri emptshoven nenetzes Bodusik mui hilis mui dom mui shapsal na mopiga.
man kiss-PST lip-PL Bodus-ian and yellow and big and luscious of woman
Wiri emptshoven nenetzes hilis mui dom Bodusik mui mui shapsal na mopiga.
man kiss-PST lip-PL yellow and big and Bodus-ian and yellow and luscious of woman
He kissed her luscious, big, yellow Bodusian lips.
Some adjectives in English do not exist as adjectives in Kankonian, but instead exist only as verbs: dyamad = to be asleep, yin = to be necessary, etc. Therefore, "Verim esinas" means "The bird is pretty" (is pretty being the verb). To say "the pretty bird", restate as "the bird that is pretty" (verim az esinas). These verbs inflect for tense (esinen, esinos, etc.) like other verbs:
Leseoti az esinen daitroken bulush kelik ad kheban.
princess REL be_beautiful-PST walk-PST down path to castle
The beautiful princess walked down the path to the castle.
To say "be very beautiful", etc., use "shayam argas we" after the stative verb: "esin shayam argas we" (be beautiful very much).
Use "re", "tri", "hi" and "shun" followed by "argas we" to compare adjectives like these:
kavineshar az yin re argas we: the more necessary procedure
kavineshar az yin tri argas we: the most necessary procedure
kavineshar az yin hi argas we: the less necessary procedure
kavineshar az yin shun argas we: the least necessary procedure
The word "twifi" is a filler adjective, like "little" or "old". It comes between the nominal and the content-filled adjective:
laderik twifi dazipapi: a catchy little tune
shakti twifi nekaktel: a nice old house
Names of sapient species (human, Grey, domehead, reptoid, ilti, lef, etc.) function as both nouns and adjectives. However, these words usually function as nouns rather than adjectives when they are in the predicate position:
Bodusikes os as taimones; mem as albazhingas.
Bodus-ian-PL NEG PRS human-PL 3p PRS domehead-PL
Bodusians aren't human, they're domeheads.
(Adjectives in Kankonian don't inflect to agree with nouns in number, so in the previous example, "human" would have been "taimon" instead of "taimones" had it been an adjective.)
Linking verbs take adjectives rather than adverbs:
Khovan meshas tziyim.
stove look-PRS hot
The stove looks hot.
The following verbs are considered linking verbs in Kankonian:
e: to be
inya: to become, to get, to turn
blatz: to stay, to remain
shorev: to grow
asp: to seem, to appear
mesh: to look
rezim: to sound
adlui: to smell
adetam: to taste
azapar: to feel (hot, cold, etc.)
semish: to feel (organically)
kuresh: to feel (emotionally)
khotsh: to vibe (linking verb for psychic sense)
kam: to act
bashwel: to run (tend to be); to get
shilzipu: to test
seshuein: to come off as
asetet: to wax
"Dad" (to vote) is not a linking verb in Kankonian and takes an adverb rather than an adjective:
Ham titiksa dadas khemehekik we pure.
this district vote-PRS liberal ADV always
This district always votes liberal.
The pro-adjective for a linking verb predicate is so (so), rather than "it" as in English:
Meyez wahazas e leflu, auyakh mem os meshas so.
person-PL be_able_to-PRS BE shy even_if 3p NEG look-PRS so
People can be shy, even if they do not look it.
The word for "this" or "that" is "ham". It agrees in number with the noun it modifies:
ham bein: that boy
hames beines: those boys
hamet beinet: one of those boys
When the meaning of "of these" or "of those" is used, preceding words take the singular or plural:
hales hamet: all of these
hales hol hamet: all four of these
The same word is used in Kankonian for "this" and "that". Personal pronouns may be used instead of "ham" to disambiguate meanings. For instance, to say "this boy" (when referring to yourself), you can say "is zash bein", while "that boy" would be "wan zash bein".
The determiners "hali" (every) and "hales" (all) are easily confusable, but "hali" is singular and "hales" is plural. "Hali" is used as a sort of distributive plural adjective, when you are talking about each one individually:
Hales ziyenes na is sapadzen is.
all problem-PL of 1s get_to-PST 1s
All of my problems got to me.
Hali ziyen bridretzen mui bridrizen is, khile in.
every problem nag_at-PST and nag_at-PST 1s each one
Every problem nagged at me, each in its own way.
The word "hal" means "each", but it also means "all" when you are using a mass noun rather than a count noun:
Sharon palaten hal telemis.
Sharon tap_on_the_shoulder-PST each student
Sharon tapped each student on the shoulder.
Hal shalut as bamosh.
all sugar PRS sweet
All sugar is sweet.
"Osales" ("not all" with a plual count noun) and "osal" ("not all" with a mass noun) work similarly:
Osales bepas as gudum.
not_all apple-PL PRS red
Not all apples are red.
Osal holak as kran.
not_all grass PRS green
Not all grass is green.
For "not every" (which modifies a singular count noun), say "osali":
Osali kelik as kaelein fremet.
not_every road PRS worth take
Not every road is worth taking.
For participial adjectives that end in "-ing" in English (like running), phrase them with "az" (that) and then a verb (run) with a present, past or future tense suffix: nenetzes az leyias (smiling lips).
For participial adjectives that end in "-ed" in English, use "az" and then a verb in the passive (-iz-) and a past tense suffix (-en): yeskales az pakohaizen (diced onions).
The constructions "easy to [verb]", "hard to [verb]" "important to [verb]", "impossible to [verb]", etc. are expressed by "ad" (for) followed by the gerund (infinitive) of the verb and then the adjective:
Esit na Dan as ad denit khetz.
name of Dan PRS for spell easy
Dan's name is easy to spell.
Khetekes na Niva as ad em stoern.
freckle-PL of Niva PRS for see difficult
Niva's freckles are hard to see.
If the verb in this construction takes a preposition (such as "fun to talk about"), place the connective before "ad" (for):
Stivet na ar as ash ad adist nekaktel.
shoulder-EXCPT of 2s PRS on for lean nice
Your shoulder is nice to lean on.
If the adjective in this construction is comparative, superlative, contrastive or sublative, place the word "re", "tri", "hi" or "shun" immediately before the adjective:
Vropes bupra as ad abam re nekaktel de kran mem.
grape-PL burgundy PRS for eat COMP nice than green 3p
Burgundy grapes are nicer to eat than green ones.
Sem hales daluyas, besemes as ad arditz tri khetz.
among all song-PL parody-PL PRS for write SUP easy
Of all songs, parodies are the easiest to write.
Bayet na kokti na ar as ad haues salishas, am poergoi na ar as ad haues hi salishas.
number of arcome to 2s PRS for know important but sign of 2s PRS for know CNTR important
Your arcome number is important to know, but your astrological sign is not as important to know.
For an equative (as) construction, place "et" (if there is a standard) after the adjective and before the standard:
Bepas as ad dartz khetz et bupizades.
apple-PL PRS for steal easy as pomegranate-PL
Apples are as easy to steal as pomegranates.
Or "yels" (if there is no standard) immediately before the adjective:
Bupizades as ad dartz khetz. Bepas as ad dartz yels khetz.
pomegranate-PL PRS for steal easy. apple-PL PRS for steal as easy
Pomegranates are easy to steal. Apples are as easy to steal.
Similarly, "os yels" can mean "not as/not so" in a clause after the standard-mentioning clause when the standard is not repeated:
Bupizades as ad dartz khetz. Dabuvores as ad dartz os yels khetz.
pomegranate-PL PRS for steal easy. safe-PL PRS for steal NEG as easy
Pomegranates are easy to steal. Safes are not so easy to steal.
To modify an adjective by a length of term, use the adjective, then the word "hom" (by), then the length of time:
Keishi as ihoo* hom hol drertes.
Keishi PRS pregnant by four month-PL
Keishi is four months pregnant.
Abbeven as slebhumek hom zanfur spases!
library_book PRS overdue by eighteen week-PL
The library book is eighteen weeks overdue!
The word "osh" indicates that you are applying the same adjective to a nominal that you applied to a previous nominal in the sentence:
Is akranen ash ye markam gudum mui trat osh.
1s take-PST on PREP-ADV coat red and hat OSH
I put on my red coat and hat. [The denotation here is that the hat is red.]
Yakh o envwetzas nephus kran o vazhares osh, yau Irlandikes os halas zwintz o kam Blahatz na Den Patrick.
if one wear-PRS shirt green or slacks OSH then Irish-PLURAL NEG will-PRESENT pinch one on day of Saint Patrick
If you are wearing a green shirt or slacks, the Irish will not pinch you on St. Patrick's Day.
If two nominals take the same adjective, but are mentioned in conjunction with a third nominal that does not take that adjective, do not use "osh". Simply repeat the adjective:
Trina anas *ine blan mui oimones blan mui khatal shalei.
Trina have-PRS hair brown and eye-PL brown and skin peach
Trina has brown hair and eyes and peach skin. [Brown hair, brown eyes, peach skin]
If more than two nominals all take the same adjective, rather than using "osh" Kankonian places "hal we" (all) after the last nominal, followed by the adjective:
Salipa anas *ine mui oimones mui khatal hal we blan.
Salipa have-PRS hair and eye-PL and skin all -ly brown
Salipa has brown hair, eyes and skin.
When you are using "ham" (this, that) to modify two different singular nominals, use "osh" to modify the second one. "Osh" should come before the nominal in this case, just as "ham" does:
Is yoyas em ar e lei hel ham talafa mui osh patsha.
1s would_love_to-PRS see 2s in here with that skirt and OSH halter_top
I'd love to see you in here with that skirt and halter top.
On the other hand, if one or both of the nominals take a descriptive adjective in addition to the determiner "ham", "osh" is not used (simply use "ham" twice):
Is yoyas em ar e lei hel ham talafa kab mui ham patsha.
1s would_love_to-PRS see 2s in here with that skirt short and that halter_top
I'd love to see you in here with that short skirt and halter top.
Is yoyas em ar e lei hel ham talafa kab mui ham patsha reri.
1s would_love_to-PRS see 2s in here with that skirt short and that halter_top sexy
I'd love to see you in here with that short skirt and sexy halter top.
To use a verbal phrase to modify a nominal (where we would use a many-hyphenated adjective in English), follow the nominal with "na" and the verbal phrase, putting the verb in its infinitive/gerund form and using "id" to connect it to any of the verb's direct objects:
Ham as gilis na abam id argas et houmans o wahazas sheiz we et houmans o wahazas.
this PRS thing of eat done_to many as EQC-how one be_able_to-PRS fast ADV as EQC-how one be_able_to-PRS
This is an eat-as-many-as-you-can-as-fast-as-you-can thing.
Ham khomar hazien ad yekazsand ayaspas na adat mer ye mui zhaki pai gilas na is.
that further make-PST to hectic life of run around PREP-ADV and crash into thing-PL of 1s
It further made hectic my run-around, crash-into-things life.
To use a whole sentence to modify a noun, place "na" after the noun then the embedded sentence, starting with the verb in gerund/infinitive form, then "dyu" and the subject, with "id" if there is a direct object:
Denit na ham tzehimez anas shad na adat dyu thothu parai totshafanfer.
orthography of that language have-PRS look of run by cat over keyboard
That language's orthography has a cat-ran-over-the-keyboard look.
Ham en iyes na patsh dyu piva id bein.
that PST story of dump by girl done_to boy
It was a girl-dumps-boy story.
A noun may be followed by a verb to make a compound adjective: oyeid (group) + abam (to eat) = oyeidabam (family, as in big enough for a whole family to eat). A compound adjective may also be made up entirely of verbs: euer (to move) + ali (to rest) + euer (to move) = eueralieuer (half-hearted). Rarely, a compound adjective may consist of a noun plus a connective: pumus (hand) + pal (behind) = pumuspal (hands-on). Two adjectives may also form a compound adjective: kran (green) + venit (good) = kranvenit (ripe for the picking).
Adverbs
Adverbs of manner are formed by putting "we" after an adjective: venit we (well), develu we
(unattractively).
Verbs such as "esin" cannot take -we. Instead, to express these adverbially, as in "The baskets were beautifully crafted", use the construction "hel weos az . . ." or "in a manner that . . .": "Veksas sweorzizen hel weos az esinen".
Adverbs inflect just like adjectives:
devim we: smoothly
re devim we: more smoothly
tri devim we: the most smoothly
hi devim we: less smoothly, not as smoothly
shun devim we: the least smoothly
A length of time can be used as an adverb when modifying an adjective measured by that time. For instance:
Kahupha as blatkyu oiras we efeni.
book PRS twenty-five year-PL ADV out-of-date
The book is 25 years out-of-date.
"We" is added after "zapanram" (percent) when a percentage is of an adjective:
Is as 100 zapanram we pamba.
1s PRS 100 per-hundred ADV sure
I am 100 percent sure.
To make adverbs out of participial adjectives (the words ending in -ingly), add the word "im" (so as to) before the infinitive of the verb:
Mopiga feyimen im tzareimin ad wiri.
woman smirk-PST so_as_to incense to man
She smirked incensingly at him.
Adverbs of degree come before the adjectives they modify: "shayam venit", very good; "baphash tzmofuz", old enough.
The adverbs "lei" (here), "els" (there), "keiru" (anywhere), "keitzam" (somewhere), "keisi" (everywhere) and "keyokh" (nowhere) do not need a connective with the word to be:
Khepoilas as lei.
khepoila-PL PRS here
The khepoilas are here.
In other contexts they need a connective such as "er" (at), "ad" (towards) or "ab" (from) before them:
Is ailiss er lei.
1s live-PRS LOC here
I live here.
Rasasha draiken tupheles ad els.
Rasasha send-PST package-PL to there
Rasasha sent the packages there.
The adverbs "adhal" and "vikti" mean each. They can be placed before the number and nominal, or after:
Soweibas hwelen adhal sem pokhales.
watermelon-PL cost-PST each six pokhal-PL
Soweibas hwelen sem pokhales adhal.
watermelon-PL cost-PST six pokhal-PL each
The watermelons cost six pokhals each.
Use "adhal" when the only number is the number of rate:
Mos adiren Tenta Kafya morgenen skenas na welt pik adhal em shinas.
while visit-PST Tenta Kafya buy-PST bottle-PL of juice at_the_rate_of each three sina-PL
While visiting Tenta, Kafya bought bottles of juice at three sinas each.
And use "vikti" when the object whose rate is being calculated is also numbered:
Mos adiren Tenta Kafya morgenen kyu skenas na welt pik vikti em shinas.
while visit-PST Tenta Kafya buy-PST five bottle-PL of juice at_the_rate_of each three sina-PL
While visiting Tenta, Kafya bought five bottles of juice at three sinas each.
When expressing agreement, the words muye (so) or osmuye (neither) can be used to begin sentences. These words will be followed by the subject, and then a conjugated helping verb:
Muye is hoas.
so 1s do-PRS
So do I.
Osmuye is hoen.
neither 1s do-PST
Neither did I.
Osmuye wan hoos.
neither 3s do-FUT
Neither will she.
Muye Keshi trayas.
so Keshi have_to-PRS
So must Keshi.
Question Words
Here are the words that are considered question words in Kankonian:
hiel - what, which
ku - when
iri - where
il - who, whom
er - why
ans - how (in what manner, by what method)
anti - how much, how many
to - how (to what degree)
eur - like what
hing - or
ku ad ku - how long
reanti - how much more, how many more
retotu - how much less, how many fewer
"Ku", "iri", "er" and "ans" come at the beginning of the sentence, with the rest of the words in subject-verb-object position:
Iri fakhiv na is as?
where comb of 1s PRS
Where is my comb?
A preposition such as "ad" (to), "ab" (from), "mer" (around), etc. may come before "iri":
Ad iri Cliff daitroken?
to where Cliff walk-PST
Where did Cliff walk?
Lit iri o ailiss?
near where one live-PRS
Where to live near?
"Hiel" (which, what) and "anti" come before the nominal they modify, like typical determiners:
Hiel dayam as ham?
which flavor PRS that
What flavor is that?
Ar morgenen anti behales?
2s buy-PST how_many magazine-PL
How many magazines did you buy?
"To" is an adverb, coming before the adjective it modifies:
Kobi as to ilt?
Kobi PRS how tall
How tall is Kobi?
(When asking questions with "how", use the adjective of greater degree: "how tall?", not "how short?"; "how old?", not "how young?".)
"Reanti" and "retotu" are the comparative forms of "anti" (or "to") and "to tu", respectively. They come before the adjective they modify as adverbs, and before the nominal they modify as adjectives:
Ham hazias ad reanti deyen Katana?
that make-PRS to COMP-how_much special Katana
How much more special does that make Katana?
Pshouwopt as retotu azitz de grurghkeinuz?
stomach_pumping PRS COMP-how-little painful than root_canal
How much less painful is a stomach pumping than a root canal?
Tom anas reanti zanzas de Mark?
Tom have-PRS COMP-how_many tooth-PL than Mark
How many more teeth does Tom have than Mark?
Reanti shalut de menfan aas e ham haihas?
COMP-how_much sugar than flour exist-PRS in this cake
How much more sugar than flour is there in this cake?
Ar kuless an reanti srir?
2s need-PRS have COMP-how_much rope
How much more rope do you need?
Retotu ambas de harges as er amaren sa*alk?
COMP-how-few camel-PL than goat-PL PRS LOC zoo domesticated
How many fewer camels than goats are at the petting zoo?
"Hiel" (what) and "il" work as nominals; they come before the verb when they are in subject position, after the verb when they are in object position:
Il abamen sishek andam?
who eat-PST rice_cake last
Who ate the last rice cake?
Ar emen il er losafak isim?
2s see-PST whom in dormitorium today
Whom did you see at the dormitorium today?
Ar fuiras az il truhuvos engoi?
2s want-PRS that who come_over-FUT tomorrow
Whom do you want to come over tomorrow?
"Eur" appears in predicate adjective position:
Dzhakli as eur?
Dzhakli PRS like_what
What's Dzhakli like?
"Hing" is used as a connective, in questions asking whether something is one thing or the other. It is placed between the choices, and the words are in normal sentence order:
Ar akranos luimash hing wawa?
2s take-FUT paper ALT plastic
Will you take paper or plastic?
When two yes/no questions are posed with "hing" in between, the first clause takes "mahan" but the second does not:
Mahan ar fuiras daitrok, hing wir lesas fremet wogasing?
Q 2s want-PRS walk ALT 1p should-PRS take bus
Do you want to walk, or should we take the bus?
When the first part of a "hing" question is a statement, but the second is a question, "mahan" is not used in either part:
Ar betzithas Kandi, hing ar hoas?
2s love-PRS Kandi ALT 2s do-PRS
You love Kandi, or do you?
Sometimes we will want to use the question words as conjunctions, to mean the fact or question of which, where, who, etc.: "I don't know what he said", "Tell me when you'll be ready", "It depends on how many coins you put in", "I wonder where I should go". In these cases, the question words add houm- (a contracted form of "hous ham", about that) at the beginning:
hiel -> houmiel
ku -> houmku
iri -> houmiri
il -> houmil
er -> houmer
ans -> houmans
anti -> houmanti
to -> houmto
eur -> houmeur
hing -> houming
ku ad ku -> houmku ad houmku
Is steanas houmiel Verma abamen shil luzkat inam.
1s wonder-PRS EQC-what Verma eat-PST as meal one-ORD
I wonder what Verma ate for breakfast.
These words are called embedded question conjunctions, or EQC's (houmanes in Kankonian).
These words mean "the question of", "the issue of" or "the fact of", and are not to be confused with other conjunctional uses of question words such as "av" (when), "az" (who), "sarz" (where), etc. The differences in these words could lead to distinctions in translating a sentence such as "I know when you were at the beach": "Is hauess av ar en er tzaf" means "When you were at the beach, I knew", while "Is hauess houmku ar en er tzaf" means "I know exactly when you were at the beach! You were at the beach at 4:16!"
When "where" is the object of a preposition, the preposition comes before "houmiri":
Is hauess ad houmiri Cliff daitroken.
1s know-PRS to EQC-where Cliff walk-PST
I know where Cliff walked.
Is os wahazas spladik lit houmiri is lesas ailis.
1s NEG be_able_to-PRS decide near EQC-where 1s should-PRS live
I can't decide where to live near.
The object-relative marker "azid" is not used when "houmiel" (what, which) or "houmanti" (how many, how much) modifies the object of the relative clause:
Wrong: Is shterengen houmiel behales azid wan peren safga.
1s worry-PST EQC-what magazine-PL REL-ACC 3s read-PST PROG
Right: Is shterengen houmiel behales wan peren safga.
1s worry-PST EQC-what magazine-PL 3s read-PST PROG
I worried about what magazines he was reading.
Wrong: Is steanas houmanti vitzakhes azid Sambri abamen.
1s wonder-PRS EQC-how_many vitzakh-PL REL-ACC Sambri eat-PST
Right: Is steanas houmanti vitzakhes Sambri abamen.
1s wonder-PRS EQC-how_many vitzakh-PL Sambri eat-PST
I wonder how many vitzakhs Sambri ate.
The EQC use of "houmanti" has led to the creation of a new EQC: houmantu (how little, how few). Since the adjective of higher degree is always used in non-embedded questions (i.e. both English speakers and Kankonian speakers ask, "How tall is Jeff?", not "How short is Jeff?"), there is no non-EQC question word "antu", but the EQC "houmantu" can be used in sentences like these:
Telemas Kankonik naue helblingizen houmantu odones mem anen er uhul.
student-PL Kankonian constantly remind-PSV-PST EQC-how_few right-PL 3p have-PST LOC school
Kankonian students were constantly reminded how few rights they had while at school.
The words "houmreanti" and "houmreantu", with the comparative -re- jambed in between houm- and -anti or -antu, mean "how much more" and "how much less", respectively:
Methermas sezeten houmreanti almonas klotzab as de finis.
ethologist-PL study-PST EQC-COMP-how_much intelligent parrot PRS than mouse
The ethologists studied how much more intelligent a parrot was than a mouse.
Is wahazas zhelis houmreantu desaivwan emenos ien e oel zimas.
1s be_able_to-PRS imagine EQC-COMP-little meaningful life would BE without surprise-PL
I can imagine how much less meaningful life would be without surprises.
"Houmreanti" can be also used as an adjective instead of an adverb, without requiring an "argas" after it:
Is steanas houmreanti hen wiri gai*etas de mopiga er zash huzhus.
1s wonder-PRS EQC-COMP-how_much money man make-PRS than woman LOC that planet
I wonder how much more money a man makes than a woman on that planet.
If the EQC is the object of the preposition in the clause it governs, place the preposition at the end of the clause:
Is os wahazas tzaiyo houmiel wir *auven hous.
1s not be_able_to-PRS remember EQC-what 1p argue-PST over
I can't remember what we were arguing over.
Mahan ar hauess houmantu kaliyaos Kebsabaz forarizas hel?
Q 2s know-PRS EQC-how_little wisdom Kebsabhaz govern-PSV-PRS with
Do you know with how little wisdom Kebsabhaz is governed?
If both subject and object of a clause are EQC's, use the first nominal with its houm-, the connective "id", then the second nominal with its houm-, then the rest of the clause:
Wir nophatwelen safga houmil id houmil betzithas.
1p discuss-PST PROG EQC-who done_to EQC-whom love-PRS
We were talking about who loves whom.
"Houmanti zash" is used for "how much of", and "houmantu zash" for "how little of", when they are applied to a noun to show how much something or someone fits the criteria of that noun:
Is steanas houmanti zash heki*egmatfash Yeshiki as.
1s wonder-PRS EQC-how_much APPOS dreamer Yeshiki PRS
I wonder how much of a dreamer Yeshiki is.
Ham stumas ash houmantu zash parosis Pablo as.
that depend-PRS on EQC-little APPOS magician Pablo PRS
It depends on how little of a magician Pablo is.
Ar kardass az is as houmanti zash istetemis?
2s think-PRS that 1s PRS EQC-how_much APPOS lapdog
How much of a lapdog do you think I am?
In the comparative construction "how much more of" and the contrastive construction "how much less of", the comparative -re- is jambed in between the houm- and the -anti or -tu:
Is os wezias daz is hauess houmreanti zash doklamb is ien e yakh bayis e oel Benetar na is.
1s NEG cry-PRS because 1s know-PRS EQC-COMP-how_much APPOS slow_learner 1s would BE if world BE without Benetar of 1s
I don't cry because I know how much more of a slow learner I'd be if it weren't for my Benetar.
Is steanas houmreantu zash kutatamfash is ien e yakh poergoi na is e Gemas.
1s wonder-PRS EQC-COMP-little APPOS procrastinator 1s would BE if sign of 1s BE Gemas
I wonder how much less of a procrastinator I'd be if my astrological sign were Gemas.
The EQC's do not always appear after a verb. They can also be part of the object of a prepositional connective, usually "hous":
Wir mazinen hous houmanti shuish ad morgen.
1p fight-PST about EQC-how_much toothpaste for buy
We fought over how much toothpaste to buy.
Weviyaezgrin as *auv hous houmil id houmil lesas du*ug.
sorry-war PRS argument about EQC-who done_to EQC-whom should-PRS apologize
A weviyaezgrin is an argument over who should apologize to whom.
"Houming" is the only one of these EQC's that does not come directly after the verb. "Houming" appears in sentences where "zhephir" (whether) comes after the verb, and "houming" appears later in the place where "or" would appear in English:
Is os hauess zhephir is shelimos dzhudzho houming hathukh na Boerbais.
1s NEG know-PRS whether 1s order-FUT jujo EQC-ALT duck of Böbais
I don't know whether to order jujo or Böbais duck.
Rather than use the infinitive ("to"), as in English, such sentences as "Phadan knows how to eat durians", using "how to", "where to", "when to", etc. are translated with "o" (one), with the verb given its tense ending:
Avim is hauesen houmans o oshmulshehe*as.
never 1s know-PST EQC-how one skydive-PRS
I never knew how to skydive.
Nara azirethen ad is houmer o os wakhiras wana na waginya.
Nara teach-PST to 1s EQC-why one NEG drink-PRS water of pond
Nara taught me why not to drink pond water.
"Know to" is translated, similarly, with the connective "az" (that) and the pronoun "o":
Zhanik hauess az o asas totsha yakh o fuiras kainushuri.
Zhanik know-PRS that one press-PRS button if one want-PRS lasagna
Zhanik knows to press the button if she wants a lasagna.
With a strictly personal decision, however, a less generic personal pronoun is used instead of "o":
Zhania os wahazen spladik zhephir wan morgenosen tafenan prin.
Zhania NEG be_able_to-PST decide whether 3s buy-FUT-PST sweatshirt new
Zhania couldn't decide whether to buy a new sweatshirt.
The question word "er" (why) is used conjunctionally (without "az", and not "houmer") when asking what a person's explanation is for something.
Ar kardass er gher vuen?
2s think-PRS why crime decline-PST
Why do you think crime is down? [What do you think caused the decline in crime?]
Contrast with:
Er ar kardass az gher vuen?
why 2s think-PRS that crime decline-PST
Why do you think crime is down? [What leads you to believe that crime is down?]
Sentences may be repeated with a question word in place of a word or phrase that was not heard clearly. With singular nominals, adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases, these words are simply replaced by a question word:
Danny: Bidzhi e izhudia na is as lekht.
Seri: Hiel e izhudia na ar as lekht?
Danny: jack in headphones of 1s PRS shot
Seri: what in headphones of 2s PRS shot
Danny: The jack in my headphones is shot.
Seri: The what in your headphones is shot?
Stefani: Tetheset hales omoles gudum.
Kem: Tetheset hales hiel omoles?
Stefani: kill-IMPRTV all ant-PL red
Kem: kill-IMPRTV all which ant-PL
Stefani: Kill all the red ants.
Kem: Kill all the which ants?
Fima: Deir trayas euer shudorm we mui egrar we ad kreton zyuzos?
Dropa: Wir trayas euer ans ad kreton zyuzos?
Fima: 2p have_to-PRS move stealthy ADV and assiduous ADV to barracks enemy
Dropa: 1p have_to-PRS move how to barracks enemy
Fima: You must move stealthily and assiduously to the enemy barracks.
Dropa: We must move how to the enemy barracks?
Phum Sopho: Awaishor as e khod na ar.
Phetra: Awaishor as iri?
Dr. Sopho: crayon PRS in ear of 2s
Phetra: crayon PRS where
Dr. Sopho: The crayon is in your ear.
Phetra: The crayon is where?
With plural or excerptal nominals, the plural or excerptal form of "hiel" (what) is used:
Kasa: Is betzithas kesetfashes ad havilu.
Zara: Ar betzithas hieles?
Kasa: 1s love-PRS keep_in_place-er-PL to ponytail
Zara: 2s love-PRS what-PL
Kasa: I love ponytail holders.
Zara: You love what?
Sia: Ar kuless an hamet teluat.
Manda: O kuless an hamet hielet?
Sia: 2s need-PRS have this-EXCPT adaptor-EXCPT
Manda: one need-PRS have that-EXCPT what-EXCPT
Sia: You need one of these adaptors.
Manda: You need one of those what?
Multiple question words may be used in combination:
Paul: Irkomet karg khomluoi pai droph.
Lon: Irkomet hiel iri?
Paul: put-IMPRTV box fireproof into garage
Lon: put-IMPRTV what where
Paul: Put the fireproof safe in the garage.
Lon: Put the what where?
Tom: Is morgenen zankyu babitos ad yan.
Zhadiya: Ar morgenen anti hieles ad yan?
Tom: 1s buy-PST ten-five sausage-PL for party
Zhadiya: 2s buy-PST how_many what-PL for party
Tom: I bought fifteen sausages for the party.
Zhadiya: You bought how many what for the party?
With verbs, the word "hiel" is used, and it is conjugated for tense, voice and mood:
Dzhusinda: Is guisos leldintz ad klotzab.
Lou: Ar hielos leldintz ad klotzab?
Dzhusinda: 1s feed-FUT taro to parrot
Lou: 2s what-FUT taro to parrot
Dzhusinda: I will feed the taro to the parrot.
Lou: You will what the taro to the parrot?
Pam: Shalut dartzizen.
Tam: Shalut hielizen?
Pam: sugar steal-PSV-PST
Tam: sugar what-PSV-PST
Pam: The sugar was stolen.
Tam: The sugar was what?
Clay: Shateret ad kashes.
Donnie: Hielet ad kashes?
Clay: crabwalk-IMPRTV to bar-PL
Donnie: what-IMPRTV to bar-PL
Clay: Crabwalk to the bars.
Donnie: What to the bars?
If one is in shock, however, one may simply use "hiel" without a suffix:
Amira: Is kardass az is me tzeushen harbas na ar bulush goshaniya.
Samanda: Ar kardass az ar HIEL?
Amira: 1s think-PRS that 1s just flush-PST key-PL of 2s down toilet
Samanda: 2s think-PRS that 2s what
Amira: I think I just flushed your keys down the toilet.
Samanda: You think you WHAT?
Sentence Tags
Questions asking for reassurance at the end of a statement (Manda's in the hall, isn't she?) are called sentence tags. All tags (isn't it?, aren't they?, don't we?, do you?) are translated as isnaloshas ("I assume") when the speaker is asking for certification of some factual question that she or he is not completely sure about. When written in Roman characters, sentences ending with a sentence tag take a period, not a question mark:
Manda as e belim, isnaloshas.
Manda PRS in hall 1s-assume-PRS
Manda's in the hall, isn't she?
Isn't Manda in the hall?
Okgal as esit Dantonik, isnaloshas.
Okgal PRS name Dantonese 1s-assume-PRS
Okgal is a Dantonese name, isn't it?
Isn't Okgal a Dantonese name?
Ar os heyess splaska, isnaloshas.
2s NEG like-PRS splaska 1s-assume-PRS
You don't like splaska, do you?
When you are asking for reaffirmation on something you already know your interlocutor agrees with -- a value judgment or a matter of taste rather than something factual you want to know -- you instead use wirhauess ("we know"):
Vitzakhes as somsum, wirhauess.
vitzakh-PL PRS delicious 1p-know-PRS
Vitzakhs are delicious, aren't they?
Aren't vitzakhs delicious?
Bobo as karsti, wirhauess.
Bobo PRS idiot 1p-know-PRS
Bobo is an idiot, isn't he?
Isn't Bobo an idiot?
On the other hand, if you are asking "Is or isn't", "Should or shouldn't", etc., repeat the verb with "hing" in between and "os" (not) before the second iteration of the helping verb or copula:
Cliff as hing os as pleu?
Cliff PRS ALT NEG PRS gay
Is or isn't Cliff gay?
Is lesas hing os lesas morgen Monta?
1s should-PRS ALT NEG should-PRS buy Monta
Should I or shouldn't I buy a Monta?
For a verb form that is expressed with a suffix (such as future tense with -os or present tense with -as), rather than a verb, use "ho" (to do) for the negative iteration, and place the negative iteration at the end of the sentence:
Ar tethesos ham *osoth hing os hoos?
2s kill-FUT that moth ALT NEG do-FUT
Are you or aren't you going to kill that moth?
Ar fuiras uhu ad gubilia hing os hoas?
2s want-PRS go to toy_store ALT NEG do-PRS
Do you or don't you want to go to the toy store?
Connectives
Conjunctions and prepositions (and such words as "kaluk" (before), "ehem" (after) and "mos" (during/while) that can be used as both) are called connectives in Kankonian. Connectives like "after", "before" and "because" come before rather than after their clauses:
Is heyiyeten daz zekeno shehe*en ash bad na is.
1s scream-PST because coconut fall-PST on head of 1s
I screamed because a coconut fell on my head.
Although connectives of time can be used either prepositionally or conjunctionally in Kankonian, some other connectives can do double duty too. The word hous, or "about", for instance, can be used conjunctionally in sentences like "Is hesien hous is adirosen Denika", literally "I talked about I was going to visit Denika", to mean "I talked about visiting Denika" (with the denotation that the person visiting Denika was the speaker).
Mui, meaning "and", is repeated without commas in between each item in a lengthy series -- this often gets shortened in speech to sound something like "mwee" (/mwi/) to save time. The same with o, meaning "or", muyo, meaning "and/or", hing, the interrogative "or", and houming, the EQC "or":
Povoi lazahass lis ventas oor somupas mui tapitis mui zhonuakes mui avas mui avanassas.
Povoi feature-PRS such animal-PL as tapir-PL and tapi-PL and jaguar-PL and ava-PL and avanassa-PL
Povoi features such animals as tapirs, tapis, jaguars, avas and avanassas.
Is os alshpitzos o isuos o dartzos o reghulos.
1s NEG lie-FUT or cheat-FUT or steal-FUT or philander-FUT
I will not lie, cheat, steal nor philander.
Lettered/numbered lists are also used in Kankonian with "mui", "o", "muyo", "hing" or "houming". The numbers or Kankonian letters are placed in parentheses resembling the parentheses used in Kankonian for writing mathematical equations. While just the letters (K, A, M, Sh, I, T, etc.) are written in Kankonian script, the letters are to be read as "kinek", "atak", "mopha", "shekh", "it", "testa", etc. Unlike with normal lists, the connective "mui", "o", "muyo", "hing" or "houming" is only used before the last item on a list:
Is os fuiren treth ad amaren daz (1) treth en zufu* (2) bam notat ad is taglisizas dyu dzhevazades (3) thesh id oaupas adnayanas is spei star na blahatz mui (4) asa is uhwenen ad amaren leken.
1s NEG want-PST drive to zoo because (1) drive PST time-consuming (2) two child-EXCPT to 1s frighten-PSV-PRS by rhinoceros-PL (3) hear done_to howler_monkey-PL give_a_headache_to-PRS 1s for rest of day and (4) already 1s go-PST-PST to zoo yesterday
I did not want to drive to the zoo because (1) driving was time-consuming, (2) two of my children are frightened by the rhinos, (3) hearing the howler monkeys gives me a headache for the rest of the day, and (4) I had already gone to the zoo yesterday.
Jen trayen spladik zhephir wan shelimosen (K) hathukh az tzwemiizen hel hashi (A) hathukh na Boerbais (M) vitzakhes (Sh) rorunushuri (I) pifonushuri (T) hathukh na Balvintar zash Piek (D) zandaka (N) kash houming (R) voshak kupulshik.
Jen have_to-PST decide whether 3s order-FUT-PST (a) duck REL braise-PSV-PST with tofu (b) duck of Böbais (c) vitzakh-PL (d) ravioli (e) pifonushuri (f) duck of General APPOS Piek (g) zandaca (h) kash EQC-ALT (i) voshak kupulshik
Jen had to decide whether to order (a) braised duck with tofu; (b) Böbais duck; (c) vitzakhs; (d) ravioli; (e) pifonushuri; (f) General Piek's duck; (g) zandaca; (h) kash; or (i) voshak kupulshik.
Care should be taken not to mistake the letter (O) (the Kankonian letter ol, signifying the tenth item on a list) with the connective "o" (meaning "or").
The word "irkom" (to put) requires a connective of movement (like "pai", into, or "parai", over) rather than a connective of position (like "e", in, or "vyu", above):
Pozer irkomen shalut pai tzeimoa.
Pozer put-PST sugar into coffee
Pozer put sugar in/into the coffee.
To translate "that", "which" or "who/whom", use az when the nominal before it is the subject of the verb in the relative clause (piva az betzithas is, the girl who loves me) and azid when the nominal before it is the object of the verb in the relative clause (piva azid is betzithas, the girl I love). Use "az" rather than "azid" with the verb to be: "the man I used to be" is "wiri az oitshau is en". To become, however, takes "azid": "the woman she became" is "mopiga azid wan inen".
Kankonikes emen heshra shil omolaski az wan as.
Kankonian-PL see-PST heshra as fascist that 3s PRS
The Kankonians saw the heshra for the fascist he was.
A relative clause that describes a noun phrase should come right after the noun phrase:
Wrong: Thothu phoeren az betzithas is.
cat purr-PST REL love-PRS 1s
Right: Thothu az betzithas is phoeren.
cat REL love-PRS 1s purr-PST
The cat that loves me purred.
"Az" is also used rather than "azid" when it refers to a fact or proposition (such phrases as "say that", "know that", "believe that", "mean that", etc.):
Is kardass az wan omo mifshen Paul.
1s believe-PRS that 3s really like-PST Paul
I think that she really liked Paul.
Note that in these sentences, "az" is required; it would be incorrect in Kankonian to say "Is kardass wan omo mifshen Paul". The only time "az" would not be used would be in the cases where "yakh", "yakhen" or "yakhos" would be correct, as in "Is kardasen yakh ar heyes verakh" below, or in the cases where you have a relative clause with a question word such as "er" (why).
When the verb "to find" takes a passive verb, the Kankonian verb "rehin" (to find) takes the connective "az" and a clause with a passive:
Is higolen ad shakti kam ham blahatz mui rehinen az kobletar na is dartzizenen.
1s return-PST to home on that day and find-PST that fabber of 1s steal-PSV-PST-PST
I returned home that day to find my fabber stolen.
The word "az" is used to translate Xing when it is used to mean which Xes:
Anditzfash na Simup ebenizhen pesea az iamien az ka*azosis as pleu.
observer of Simup print-PST article REL claim-PST that politician PRS gay
The Simup Observer printed an article claiming that the politician was gay.
A descriptive "which" which implies an "and" comment -- usually in such a construction in "which it is" or "which it isn't" -- is translated as azmui (which+and):
Stamos ashoven az heshra umbish as barudar, azmui wan as.
Stamos comment-PST that heshra current PRS fascist_pig REL-and 3s PRS
Stamos commented that the current heshra was a fascist pig, which he is.
Piqana zararas az kyupidzik as kasht, azmui wan os as.
Piqana insist-PRS that birth_control PRS wrong REL-and 3s NEG PRS
Piqana insists that birth control is wrong, which it isn't.
When the verb "kardas" (to think) governs a subjunctive/counterfactual clause, use "yakh" instead of "az", and use the irrealis verb without a tense suffix:
Is kardasen yakh ar heyes verakh.
PRS think-PST if 2s like steak
I thought you liked steak.
"Yakhen" or "yakhos" may be used instead of "yakh" as necessary:
Is kardasen yakhen ar guis mormol.
1s think-PST if-PST 2s feed hamster
I thought you had fed the hamster.
Is kardasen yakhos is an ohos na ar pure.
1s think-PST if-FUT 1s have soul of 2s always
I thought you'd always be mine.
A direct quote (with quotation marks) does not use "az". If the word "said", "asked", "replied", etc. is placed before the quote, use "oyezen", "mukluken", "demoyen", etc., in the active voice and past tense. "Said" or one of its substitutes may also be placed after the quote. Use the passive and "dyu", then the name of the speaker:
"Is betzithas maipra", oyezizen dyu Morina.
1s love-PRS maipra say-PSV-PST by Morina
"I love maipra", said Morina.
"Zha Zach!", oyezizen dyu piva mos palaten bein.
VOC Zach say-PSV-PST by girl while tap_on_the_shoulder-PST boy
"Hey, Zach!", she said, tapping him on the shoulder.
"*ine na Greg as zharath", emiyaizen ad is dyu Ana.
hair of Greg PRS shaggy tell-PSV-PST to 1s by Ana
"Greg's hair is shaggy", Ana told me.
"Thesh" (to hear) can be put in the passive, with "ab" (from) to indicate an animal sound:
"Ryau", theshizen ab thothu.
meow hear-PSV-PST from cat
"Meow", went the cat.
"Kiga-kiga", theshizen ab kazawak pies.
scuttle-scuttle hear-PSV-PST from crab little
Scuttle-scuttle, went the little crab. ("Kiga-kiga" is the Kankonian onomatopoeia for the sound of a crab scuttling on the rocks.)
Indirect quotes may use the "oyezizen dyu" type construction if "az" is placed at the beginning:
Az wan hauess zos adod 150 dibas oyezizas dyu Liyandra.
that 3s know-PRS pi to 150 place-PL say-PSV-PRS by Liyandra
Liyandra says that she knows pi to 150 places.
Az Dark anas kababo emam emiyaizen dyu Namisha ad Tzayasha.
that Dark have-PRS nipple three-ORD tell-PSV-PST by Namisha to Tzayasha
Az Dark anas kababo emam emiyaizen ad Tzayasha dyu Namisha.
that Dark have-PRS nipple three-ORD tell-PSV-PST by Namisha to Tzayasha
Namisha told Tzayasha that Dark had a third nipple.
"Adaz" means "what" in its connective use ("Ham as adaz zetzas" means "This is what hurts", while "Abamet adaz ar wahazas umbe" means "Eat what you can now"), or "who" and "whom" in the same sense ("Betzithet adaz ar duwainas" means "Love whom you meet" and "Tasha as adaz haken is" means "Tasha is the one who hit me"). It is also used in the Kankonian equivalent of "It's . . . that . . ." constructions:
Yema na is iskutekhas plan we; phaiyel PAIMO na is as adaz as shluduv.
computer of 1s work-PRS fine ADV just PAIMO of 1s PRS what-that PRS down
My computer is working fine; it's just my PAIMO that's down.
Yakh posolka na Soba e adaz groboshen safga, yau is ien napamba fuir temin wan.
if wheelchair of Soba BE what-that speed-PST PROG then 1s would certainly want save 3s
If it were Soba's wheelchair speeding, I would certainly want to save her.
Karmas na ar as adaz ksadas az ar abamos re argas thevrem.
body of 2s PRS what-that tell-PRS that 2s eat-FUT COMP many carbohydrate
It's your body telling you to eat more carbohydrates.
An "adaz" clause may also be the object of a connective. In such a case, place the connective right before "adaz":
Is os adidemas hel adaz wan oyezas.
1s NEG agree-PRS with what-that 3s say-PRS
I don't agree with what he says.
Where English would use an end-of-clause preposition with "the one" or "what", Kankonian places a connective after "adaz":
Ar as adaz ad is wahazas hesi.
2s PRS what-that to 1s be_able_to-PRS talk
You're the one I can talk to.
Silti as adaz ba wan hilmiss abam.
silti PRS what-that with 3s be_willing_to-PRS eat
A silti is what she'll eat with.
"Adaz" can be used before an adjective to mean "people who are": "adaz bothras" means "the poor" and "adaz a*oshan" means "the lucky".
"Of which" and "of whom" in phrases such as "some of which", "one of which", "the first of which", "most of whom", "none of whom" and "all of whom" are translated by "na az":
Bein Tentik anen khetekes mui medozhod, pleos na az meshudzen wan.
boy Tentan have-PST freckle-PL and braces neither of REL bother-PST 3s
The Tentan boy had freckles and braces, neither of which bothered him.
Kam sinen notas em, nos na az gede*en nagar hel wan er katz.
Kam have-PST child-PL three none of REL care_for-PST work with 3s in office
Kam had three children, none of whom cared to join him in the office.
A noun inserted into such a phrase comes after the determiner and before the "na az", not at the end as in English:
Mem gu ien nalosh az is as leflu mui az is as merz, pleos naloshiz na az as eosa.
3p likely would assume that 1s PRS shy and that 1s PRS nerd neither assumption of REL PRS true
They would likely assume that I was shy and that I was a nerd, neither of which assumption would be true.
Tshaka wafinen az is hir satendos va abam shalut yer hakos kadiak kam hali blahatz, khile sati*as na az taglisen is.
Tshaka suggest-PST that 1s either stop-FUT VA eat sugar or hit-FUT gym on every day both proposition-PL of REL scare-PST 1s
Tshaka suggested that either I stop eating sugar, or I hit the gym every day, both of which propositions scared me.
Such noun-inserted-into-the-prepositional-phrase constructions cannot be used with family members or body parts.
Two sets of conjunctions that come in pairs ar "hir - yer" (either - or) and "shan - nan" (neither - nor).
With "hir - yer" the "yer" is placed where English "or" would be, and "hir" comes at the latest point where separate words apply, be it the nominals or adjectives themselves:
Is sudeimos hir Fasha yer Tanda.
1s ask_to_accompany_one-FUT either Fasha or Tanda
I shall ask either Fasha or Tanda to accompany me.
Is azfuiras e hir algas yer hasp.
1s hope-PRS BE either rich or famous
I hope to be either rich or famous.
Hir tzeimoa yer pholos a*utzkios.
either coffee or pholos suffice-FUT
Either coffee or pholos will do.
or the verbs:
Is trayas hir fremet shalang yer dereyush.
1s have_to-PRS either take detour or return_home
I must either take a detour or go back home.
Is hir me araten sobum na is, yer as shayam mui shayam houmfi.
1s either just lose-PST file of 1s or PRS very and very confused
Either I just lost my file, or I am so very confused.
or even the whole clauses/sentence:
Hir ar alshpitzas, yer Rapa as adaz as zopserd.
either 2s lie-PRS or Rapa PRS what-that PRS spy
Either you're lying, or it's Rapa who's the spy.
Is ubass az hir ar alshpitzas, yer Rapa as adaz as zopserd.
1s believe-PRS that either 2s lie-PRS or Rapa PRS what-that PRS spy
I believe that either you're lying, or it's Rapa who's the spy.
"Shan - nan" works the same way:
Is as shan talwan nan *a*athis.
1s PRS neither hungry nor thirsty
I am neither hungry nor thirsty.
Deir trayas shan alshpitz nan dartz.
2p have_to-PRS neither lie nor steal
You must neither lie nor steal.
"Nor" without a "neither", in such sentences as "You shouldn't lie, nor should you steal" is translated as "muyos". If there is a helping verb in the clause that follows "nor", it will go after the subject, not before as in English:
Poilass id seuli na efesh os as shampahethet na Kethas, muyos ar lesas shadaz az wan bedeyos khuphusom na efesh ad ar.
wipe done_to mucus of baby NEG PRS job of Kethas nor 2s should-PRS expect that 3s change-FUT diaper of baby to 2s
It isn't Kethas' job to wipe baby mucus, nor should you expect him to change your baby's diaper.
Kankonian uses a connective of intermediate traversal: ob (equivalent to the first "to" in "from Kankonia to Chatony to Javarti").
The connective "ad" (to, for) is almost always used with verbs like "give", even where we would use an indirect object: ayinet ad is (give me). The exception is the verb "zabed" (to deny), which takes "ab" (from).
Dark tzemauen ad wan khovan ad horshel na mopiga.
Dark sell-PST to 3s stove for apartment of woman
Dark sold her a stove for her apartment.
Er ekpotlawa, ashami zabeden ab Gwapue adom.
at military_tribunal judge deny-PST from Gwapue lawyer
At the military tribunal, the judge denied Gwapue a lawyer.
Use "ad" between words to indicate the ethnicity or birthplace of a person who lives in a particular place: a Shaleyan-Kankonian would be "Shaleyik ad Kankonik"; an African-American would be "Afrikik ad Yuesik".
The word "benus" (translated as "type", "kind", "variety", etc.) as well as words like "flavor", "color", "breed", "brand" and "make" all take the word "ad" to mean "of".
Wrong: Ar anas hiel benus na yehade?
2s have-PRS what kind of car
Right: Ar anas hiel benus ad yehade?
2s have-PRS what kind to car
What kind of car do you have?
Family relations also take "ad" instead of "na" (my brother is "zhered ad is", not "zhered na
is"). So do words like "enemy", "friend", "neighbor", etc. So does "bayet" (number). The word "geshtum" (favorite) also takes "ad":
Khour as wakhir geshtum ad wan.
beer PRS drink favorite to 3s
Beer is her favorite beverage.
Possessives are not used with object nominals describing knowledge, nor with diet:
Zwaniz ad is esmiyass safga kamshitmuyas.
sister to 1s learn-PRS PROG ABC's
My sister is learning her ABC's.
Ar ukal we os hauess egirerobes na gohup.
2s clear ADV NEG know-PRS combination-PL of multiplication
You clearly don't know your multiplication tables.
Murtha novosen pure *in az notas ad wan abamosen virtlas.
Murtha try-PST always get that child-PL to 3s eat-FUT-PST vegetable-PL
Murtha always tried to get her children to eat their vegetables.
But may be used with subject nominals:
Shaleyik na is as swe kmofoshi.
Shaleya-ian of 1s PRS slightly rusty
My Shaleyan is a little rusty.
The word "zeltet" (player) takes "id" before the name of a game: zeltet id haitokal (haitokal player).
"Na" is used to indicate "to" in contexts like "right to", "need to", "desire to", etc. The object takes "id":
Halite anas odon na udeyat id sawai na mem.
everyone have-PRS right of choose done_to religion of 3p
Everyone has the right to choose his/her religion.
Nouns like "wahazos" (ability), "kalusos" (inability) and "welkesh" (tendency) take "na", and then a gerund (with "id" if the verb has an object).
Wahazos na spir hetimenas alpore ran taimones deturen.
ability of fly fascinate-PST-PRS humanity since human-PL evolve-PST
The ability to fly has fascinated Man since humans evolved.
Welkesh na Sam na dartz id seshui kheriras is.
tendency of Sam of steal done_to food irk-PRS 1s
Sam's tendency to steal food irks me.
"Na" is also used to connect a nominal to possessive constructions with "menir" (age):
Argas beines na menir na Tom guzhias helhudupon.
many boy-PL of age of Tom enjoy-PRS skateboarding
Many boys Tom's age enjoy skateboarding.
Sometimes -ing verbs or gerunds are translated in connection with time words with "mos", and it is used with a verb inflected for tense; while other times they are translated in connection with time words with "na", and it is used with the verb as a gerund, no suffix. "Na" but not "mos" can combine with a noun to form an attribute, while "mos" but not "na" can combine with a gerund to form a noun phrase that doesn't modify any other noun phrase:
Is frashen blahatz mos nagaren.
1s spend-PST day while work-PST
I spent the day working.
Dzhusinda frashos lami mos itrihios er sidos.
Dzhusinda spend-FUT lami while travel-FUT at outer_space
Dzhusinda will spend a lami traveling in space.
Blahatz tri sharab na pta* na is as re venit de blahatz tri venit na nagar na is.
day SUPL bad of fish of 1s PRS COMP good than day SUPL good of work of 1s
My worst day fishing is better than my best day working.
Blatzas na kilab id tezi sapadzen is.
day-PL of take done_to Ecstasy get_to-PST 1s
The days taking Ecstasy got to me.
The word "mos" is also used with "kard" (busy) before a verb (what someone is busy doing will be in the same tense as the verb to be):
Shevra en kard mos adhasharen felam.
Shevra PST busy while clean-PST attic
Shevra was busy cleaning the attic.
Such words as "year" and "day" require the preposition "kam" (on) where its meaning is intended:
Is novosos ksekten guwesh kam mayat blahatz.
1s try-FUT fix faucet on another day
I shall try to fix the faucet another day.
The adverbs of time are "leken" (yesterday), "isim" (today), "engoi" (tomorrow), "marskar" (last night), "strivi*" (tonight) and "hwudan" (tomorrow night). These do not take "kam". To specify a part of a day, use "kam" with the time of day, "na" and the day:
Is hamios kainushuri kam armar na engoi.
1s make-FUT lasagna on evening of tomorrow
I will make lasagna tomorrow evening.
Zizi ovayen maikrimia kam gashi na leken.
Zizi watch-PST television on afternoon of yesterday
Zizi watched television yesterday afternoon.
"Naphet" (sunset) is used to indicate the number of days ago something happened, and "sasharm" (sunrise) to indicate the number of days in the future something will happen: naphet bam (the day before yesterday), sasharm bam (the day after tomorrow), naphet kyu (five days ago), sasharm hosp-hol (forty-four days from now):
Amba wakhiren wakhir meitel na wan naphet em.
camel drink-PST drink previous of 3s sunset three
The camel had its last drink three days ago.
The word "hel" (with) can introduce subordinate clauses with "shil" (as) and an adjective:
Zhani arksasen ad tetetza hel pumat na wan shil tuthel.
Zhani reach-PST to butterfly with hand-EXCPT of 3s as open
Zhani reached for the butterfly, her hand open.
Sometimes we separate the prepositional object from the rest of the main clause and use it as the subject or object of the main clause. Ex: I have the shoes on which he spat (I have the shoes he spat on). In Kankonian, we use "az" (which or whom), followed by a connective (on) and then the dependent prepositional clause (he spat): Is anas tzatakas az ash wan uspisen. (Lit. I have-PRS shoe-PL which on he spit-PST).
Words like "day", "time", etc. require an "az kam" where we would use "that":
Kam hali pes az kam is amias bwolwu na is, is emas omen na ar.
on every time which on 1s close-PRS eye-PL of 1s 1s see-PRS face of 2s
Every time (that) I close my eyes, I see your face.
Similarly, "weos" (way) requires "oor" when "in" is meant:
Wan tethesen iritz na udun oor weos kasht.
He solved the algebra problem the wrong way.
"E", when it means to be in a place, requires a connective:
Josh as e dusmakor.
Josh PRS in master_bedroom
Josh is in the master bedroom.
When tied to words like "place", therefore, a connective is still needed, even when "place" or such a word is not the prepositional object modifying "to be":
Poparan as kom zevikh ad e er.
Poparan PRS place definitive to BE LOC
Poparan is the place to be.
Nos kom az er is higas e eg niwas gue*es na ar aas.
no place which LOC 1s prefer-PRS BE over between arm-PL of 2s exist-PRS
There's no place I'd rather be than in your arms.
The word "oba" means "without" when it governs a clause that contains a verb instead of only nominals. The verb in the clause of "oba" is in the same tense as the verb in the main clause:
Is daitrokos oba baloubos kraviket na is.
1s walk-FUT without stub-FUT toe-EXCPT of 1s
I shall walk without stubbing my toe.
When an agent of the verb in the "without" clause is introduced and that agent has not been mentioned in the main clause, use a "dyu" construction and make that agent the object of "dyu":
Ans kyufa wahazos pheliz oba kulesos drebek bosho dyu is?
how toddler be_able_to-FUT swim without need-FUT get_out inner_tube by 1s
How shall the toddler swim without me needing to get out the inner tube?
A connective used with a verb after "ad" (to, in order to) is placed at the end of the clause, after the verb:
Wan draiken ad Darren bretkwing ad ama hel.
3s send-PST to Darren slingshot for play with
She sent Darren a slingshot to play with.
(Kankonian grammar is ambiguous in that "Wan draiken ad Darren bretkwing ad ama hel" can mean either "She gave Darren a slingshot for Darren to play with", or "She gave Darren a slingshot for herself to play with".)
"Azad", meaning "for which" or "for whom", is a frequently used connective in Kankonian, filling a variety of roles where a relative would be used but cannot be expressed by a simple "az" or "azid":
Is rehinen fas azad is os hauess houmiel wan as.
1s find-PST something for-which 1s NEG know-PRS EQC-what 3s PRS
I found something for which I don't know what it is. I found something that I don't know what it is.
Ham piva, azad is ubass az wan mifshas is, ekse*en luimash ad is.
that girl for-whom 1s believe-PRS that 3s like-PRS 1s hand-PST paper to 1s
That girl, who I believe likes me, handed me a paper.
Is phoren re argas *iusekas de hames azad is hauesen houmiel o fazas hel mem.
1s get-PST COMP many invitation-PL than that-PL for-which 1s know-PST EQC-what one do-PRS with 3p
I got more invitations than I knew what to do with.
(Note that "azad" cannot take an object-dropping end-of-sentence prepositional clause as in "Wan draiken ad Darren bretkwing ad ama hel".)
Moyan aas e faz id kantes azad ever meyez emiyass ad o az mem as kasht.
joy exist-PRS in do done_to act-PL for-which other person-PL tell-PRS to one that 3p PRS wrong
There is joy in doing things other people tell you are wrong.
Bein azad Asha oyezas az wan as pleu mifshas ar.
boy for-whom Asha say-PRS that 3s PRS gay like-PRS 3s
The boy Asha says is gay likes you.
Wan smolien gaimas azad wan payoen az mem os hekatshen molinzai.
3s criticize-PST idea for-which 3s think-PST that 3p NEG make-PST sense
He criticized the ideas he thought didn't make sense.
Soupha azad ashelti ad Sham emen mopiga emptshoven wiri anen bapiz wowum.
mistress for-whom wife to Sham see-PST woman kiss-PST man have-PST lipstick blue
The mistress whom Sham's wife saw kissing him had blue lipstick.
Soupha azad ashelti ad Sham emen wiri emptshoven mopiga anen bapiz wowum.
mistress for-whom wife to Sham see-PST man kiss-PST woman have-PST lipstick blue
The mistress whom Sham's wife saw him kiss had blue lipstick.
When the noun that heads the relative clause is the subject of the verb in the relative clause (semantically speaking) and the only other arguments you have in the relative clause are the verb, and possibly a direct object (with its adjective(s)), adverbs and prepositional phrases, you use "az" (piva az betzithas is = the girl who loves me). When the noun that heads the relative clause is the object of the verb in the relative clause and the only other arguments in the relative clause are the verb and possibly adverbs and prepositional phrases, you use "azid" (piva azid is betzithas = the girl whom I love). When the noun that heads the relative clause is the prepositional object of a connective and the only other arguments are a verb, a direct object and possibly adverbs and prepositional phrases, you use "az [prep.]" (piva az ad is ayinen betzith na is = the girl to whom I gave my love). Anything else, and you need to keep the extra nominal in and use "azad".
"Azad" is also used in the equivalents of English constructions wherein the word "which" is used much in a way similar to the prepositional "about which", "with which", etc., but wherein "which" does not immediately follow a preposition:
Memis zash "heyes", azad weos az hom o namiyass wan uweyas hesori we shuyes tzehimezes, ien e tzaimakis met ad em id re*eviz.
concept APPOS like for-which means REL by one express-PRS 3s vary-PRS ADV across language-PL would BE interesting 3e for see done_to translate-PSV
The concept of "to like", the means of expressing which varies wildly across languages, would be an interesting one to see translated.
"Azad" is helpful in translating "whose" when it is used as a conjunction, followed by the possession and then the "na" and "ad" and a pronoun for the possessor if the subject of the clause . . .:
Mopiga azad shluos na wan adtitelen is kam ham huwos en shayam goyart.
woman for-whom blanket of 3s warm-PST 1s on that night PST very nice
The woman whose blanket warmed me that night was very nice.
Or followed by the subject of the clause and then the verb and then the possession, "na"/"ad" and pronoun if the object of the clause:
Wiri azad wan abamen vitzakh na wan en shayam tzareimin ad wan.
man for-whom 3s eat-PST vitzakh of 3s PST very angry at 3s
The man whose vitzakh she ate was very mad at her.
When the insertion of "wan" into an "azad" clause results in both the subject and object being third-person singular pronouns, the object of the relative clause is turned into an excerptal:
Wir klazabden ab Chubef seshui azad wan meadsa*amen dartz met.
1p grab-PST from Chubef food for-which 3s know_better_than_to-PST steal 3e
We grabbed from Chubef the food he knew better than to steal.
"Azad" is used when a verb like ask, tell, demand or dare is used in the passive. You phrase it as "for whom that someone do something was asked/told/demanded/dared/etc.", with "az" after "azad":
Geteres azad az mem higolosen egeletzizen ogauden.
soldier-PL for-whom that 3p return-FUT-PST ask-PSV-PST refuse-PST
The soldiers who were asked to return refused.
When such a structure is used with an infinitive rather than a conjugated verb, there is no "adaz"; start with "az", then "o" (one), then the requested or proscribed action with its appropriate tense suffix, then any objects, then the verb like ask, tell, demand, dare, etc. with the passive suffix -iz and no tense suffix, then the rest of the sentence:
Az o klombosos khab na famoi egeletziz as zisen splaza id omasid buvitz er Kebsabaz.
that one leave-FUT store of someone ask-PSV PRS transmission ultimate done_to stigma social LOC Kebsabhaz
Being asked to leave someone's store is the ultimate transmission of social stigma in Kebsabhaz.
"Azad" is used instead of "adaz" with a "the one who . . ." construction:
Is as azad ar os hauess az ar hauess an is.
1s PRS for-whom 2s NEG know-PRS that 2s need-PRS have 1s
I am the one you don't know you need.
The preposition "wudun" (as for) may be placed before a nominal at the beginning of a sentence to start the sentence with any noun as a topic. As with "azad", both the subject and verb are included in the rest of the sentence:
Wudun Kamila, is skinas wan.
as_for Kamila 1s hate-PRS 3s
As for Kamila, I hate her.
Wudun zenitz, is kardass az wan adetamas oor barbar.
as_for cilantro 1s think-PRS that 3s taste-PRS like soap
As for cilantro, I think it tastes like soap.
"Wudun" also means "with" in sentences like the following:
Wudun Muhes na Ozhiyas, o shadukas wantzwaz satzim mui hiramik feser.
with mutual of Ogiers one get-PRS deal great and service friendly
With Ogiers Mutual, you get a great deal and friendly service.
To translate an end-of-sentence preposition with a passive voice, add the passive suffix and tense suffix onto the connective:
Ham amal ukal we polus ashizen.
this bed clear ADV jump on-PSV-PST
This bed has clearly been jumped on.
This ability to add -iz to connectives also works with "ai":
Mega on en hanenzi av wan ayen usleletz ashizen adul na wan.
Mega NEG PST upset when 3s have-PST vomit on-PSV-PST floor of 3s
Mega was not upset when she had her floor vomited on.
In these constructions with passive connectives, it is also possible to slip a direct object between the verb and the connective:
Zhered ad is supung ama kelkes ihemizen.
brother to 1s often play trick-PL towards-PSV-PST
My brother was often played tricks on. / People would often play tricks on my brother.
Or even a prepositional phrase:
Dazirzis uspis pai omen naizen dyu baizhizis.
police_officer spit into face of-PSV-PST by arrested
The cop was spat in the face of by the arrested.
With passive participles with linking verbs (as in the sentence "Those flowers look trampled"), make the linking verb passive and do not add an inflectional suffix onto either the action verb or the connective:
Ham hakamar adluiizas uswawan ash.
that T-shirt smell-PSV-PRS urinate on
That T-shirt smells peed on.
When a passive suffix is added onto a connective, the resulting word follows the same spelling rules as the passives of verbs. For instance, when "mokhass" (within) takes the suffix -iz, it drops one S:
Mosamas az ailis mokhasizen pure va*an en bolpok ehem hamargas oiras.
guideline-PL that live within-PSV-PST always after_all PST unhelpful after all_these year-PL
The guidelines that were always lived within turned out to be unhelpful after all these years.
To say that X did Y so that Z would happen, use the connective "do" (so):
Is *aitzarten kalse we do is anosen argas enles.
1s start-PST early ADV so 1s have-FUT-PST much time
I started early so I would have a lot of time.
To say that X did Y so that Z would not happen, use the connective "khat" (lest) and place the verb in what you avoided happening in the stagnative:
Zhana amien *emar khat meimas rakhartek.
Zhana close-PST gate lest pig-PL escape-STAG
Zhana closed the gate so the pigs wouldn't get out.
To turn a word from preposition into adverb, add "ye" after it:
Is daitroken pai ye.
1s walk-PST into PREP-ADV
I walked in.
Zatura emen fega mui baitziten bahai ye.
monkey see-PST tree and climb-PST up PREP-ADV
The monkey saw a tree and climbed up.
When a verb takes a "ye" adverb, the prepositional adverb can appear either before or after the object:
Is akranen ash ye fasukum ribi na is.
1s take-PST on PREP-ADV polo_shirt striped of 1s
Is akranen fasukum ribi na is ash ye.
1s take-PST polo_shirt striped of 1s on PREP-ADV
I put on my striped polo.
In conditional or counterfactual sentences where the "if" clause, or protasis, comes first, "yakh" (or "yakhen" or "yakhos") comes before the protasis (if ___), and "yau" comes before the apodosis (then ___):
Yakh is letzos zes mos nodoi semesh, yau is shorevek shayam flam hous emenos.
if 1s turn-FUT 1,000 while still alive then 1s grow-STAG very bored about life
If I live to be 1,000, I will grow very bored with life.
Yakh is e avanassa, yau is ien ovu ozuvwi haliblatzi we.
if 1s BE avanassa then 1s would play music all-day-y ADV
If I were an avanassa, I would play music all day.
The connective "oor" means like (or as), while its coördinate term "ziress" means unlike. "Ziress" should be used if there is a negative word in the clause:
Luoi os as *uhwis ziress wana.
fire NEG PRS wet unlike water
Fire is not wet, unlike water. / Fire is not wet like water.
However, if not having the trait is one of the characteristics that makes something like something else, "oor" should be used:
Nibidosis os as khanzi oor zabuwelmis.
schizophrenic NEG PRS healthy like bipolar-ist
A schizophrenic is not healthy, like a bipolar person.
The connectives "temkas ad" (sure to), "senia" (likely to) and "gounia" (unlikely to) take a verb as their object, and the verb takes "id" before its object:
Is as temkas ad tortur id potziya.
1s PRS sure to win done_to prize
I am sure to win the prize.
Ham garmad as senia kalang id kineles.
that driver PRS likely transfer done_to lane-PL
That driver is likely to change lanes.
Triho e karmans ad pozhuss as gounia noash id voshayid.
trip in machine to time-travel PRS unlikely prevent done_to cancer
A trip in the time machine is unlikely to prevent cancer.
Similar is "han" (ready), which takes "ad" (to) and "id" if an object of the verb whoever is ready to do is required:
Mahan deir as han ad mazin id Ratharikes?
Q 2p PRS ready to fight done_to Ratharian-PL
Are you all ready to fight the Ratharians?
The connective "khaim" means "the fact that". It comes at the beginning of a clause, often corresponding to English "it":
Adaz meshudzen is en khaim wan fazen ham oelgebosh.
what-that bother-PST 1s PST the_fact_that 3s do-PST that without-warning
What bothered me was the fact that she did it without warning.
Khaim ar esmiyass tzehimez na is as deniyi.
the_fact_that 2s learn-PRS language of 1s PRS impressive
It's impressive that you're learning my language.
"Zhephir" (whether) may head a clause that is the object of a preposition:
Mem *auven hous zhephir ezgrin azid Kebsabaz khebekas as phesheyenadado.
3p argue-PST about whether war REL-ACC Kebsabhaz wage-PRS PRS oil_war
They had an argument over whether the war Kebsabhaz was fighting was an oil war.
Kankonian has one postposition: the word "anol" (regardless of):
Heshra samas porsh Danton, zhephir remi hales meyez heyess wan anol.
heshra be_destined_to-PRS rule Danton whether almost all person-PL like-PRS 3s regardless_of
A heshra will rule Danton, regardless of whether most people like him.
When "anol" is used with an "or" phrase, use "hing" rather than "o" to translate "or":
Fomsiya na is, maik hing kasht anol!
team of 1s right ALT wrong regardless_of
My team, right or wrong!
Correlatives
The "this/that" words are "ham" (this/that or this one/that one or this thing/that thing), "lei" and "els" (here and there), "umbe" and "rei" (now and then), "shtud" (thus/thusly, in this/that way), "do" (thus, for this/that reason) and "khod" (like this/like that).
The "every" words are "hali" (every), "halite" (everyone/everybody), "halis" (everything), "keisi" (everywhere), "pure" (always), "halesh" (in every way) and "halim" (for every reason).
The "any" words are "eis" (any), "eidu" (anyone/anybody), "eilag" (anything), "keiru" (anywhere), "eire" (anywhere, with numbers), "eigat" (anytime), "eitesh" (in any way), "eyor" (anything like) and "eigel" (for any reason).
The "some" words are "fa" (some), "famoi" (someone/somebody), "fas" (something), "keitzam" (somewhere), "fazre" (somewhere, with numbers), "afaspaz" (sometimes), "fatesh" (in some way, somehow), "famor" (something like), "fashiz" (for some reason), "faru" (someday) and "ti*i" (some kind of).
The more specific "some" words add -bi: "fabi" (some, specific ones), "homonbi" (some, a specific one), "famoibi" (someone/somebody), "fasbi" (something), "keitzambi" (somewhere), "fazrebi" (somewhere, with numbers), "afaspazbi" (sometimes), "fateshbi (in some way, somehow), "farubi" (someday) and ti*ibi (some kind of).
The "no" words are "nos" (no/none), "ou" (no one/nobody), "akh" (nothing), "keyokh" (nowhere), "oure" (nowhere, with numbers), "avim" (never), "oos" (in no way), "ouwor" (nothing like) and "ousim" (for no reason).
"Any" words are used instead of "some" words under four conditions:
1. When asking a question:
Mahan wir wahazas faz eilag azosas ovai id maikrimia isim?
Q 1p be_able_to-PRS do anything besides watch done_to television today
Can we do anything besides watch television today?
2. With a negative:
Poshoi ayinas ad is eis bedan avim.
opium give-PRS to 1s any pleasure never
Opium never gives me any pleasure
3. After "yakh" (if), in a conditional or irrealis clause:
Yakh ar *aizios eis ziyenes, yau wovinget is dash.
if 2s experience-FUT any problem-PL then call-IMPRTV 1s simply
If you have any problems, just call me.
Yakh Stesa an keiru ad uhu ad ad ekkhi, yau wan os ien e ma pwuspud.
if Stesa have anywhere to go to for vacation then 3s NEG would BE so unhappy
If Stesa had anywhere to go for vacation, she wouldn't be so unhappy.
4. When used as if followed by "at all":
Shul retshiya er amekios os shezdalas az hales meyez merstari as tethesfashes zavakid, wan so shezdalas az eis aas.
while incident at subway NEG prove-PRS that all person-PL homeless PRS killer-PL bloodthirsty 3s so prove-PRS that any exist-PRS
While the subway incident does not prove that all homeless people are bloodthirsty killers, it does prove that some exist.
Other situations use "some" words:
Fas meshudzas is, mui is os hauess adaz ham as.
something bother-PRS 1s and 1s PRS know-PRS what-that that PRS
Something's bothering me, and I don't know what it is.
Afaspaz is payoas hous Bikason.
sometimes 1s think-PRS about Bikason
Sometimes I think about Bikason.
The "some" words ending in -bi are used when there is a known, specific entity being referred to, but for some reason the speaker isn't revealing what it is:
Is anas fasbi deyen ad ar.
1s have-PRS something special for 2s
I have something special for you.
Is akranos ar ad keitzambi shayam deyen.
1s take-FUT 2s to somewhere very special
I'm taking you somewhere very special.
Is *asas famoibi az phoros kakapin rish.
1s know-PRS someone REL receive-FUT spanking soon
I know someone who's getting a spanking soon.
Sentencials
The following interjections are used:
Uo! - long-lasting, dull pain
Ayi! - sudden, sharp pain
Han! - shock
Wur! - fright
Tiha! - discovery
Eyala! - suspicion
Ari! - celebration
Agu! - booing
Ahirr! - frustration
Raharaha! - laughter
Howah! - crying
Et... - pausing
OSDA! - NOT!
Eakh! - intellectual disgust
Aikhah! - disgust (being grossed out by a squashed snail, etc.)
Frifri! - personal titillation
Phtut! - pouting
Tzuiy! - commenting that a person is attractive
Negatives
A negative sentence takes "os" before the verb; "os" before another word makes it negative:
Is os betzithas ar.
1s NEG love-PRS 2s
I do not love you.
Os Aniya vratzos dakas rei.
NEG Aniya serve-FUT daka-PL then
Aniya won't be the one to serve dakas then.
Aniya os vratzos dakas rei.
Aniya NEG serve-FUT daka-PL then
Aniya will be preparing/eating, etc. dakas then, not serving them.
Aniya vratzos os dakas rei.
Aniya serve-FUT NEG daka-PL then
Aniya will be serving cranberries, but not dakas then.
Aniya vratzos dakas os rei.
Aniya serve-FUT daka-PL NEG then
Aniya will indeed serve dakas, but some other time.
"Os" comes before a prepositional phrase (including a possessive) when it modifies the prepositional phrase:
Argas vugas thashak aas er Kankonia, am os mer lei.
many snake-PL poisonous exist-PRS REL Kankonia but NEG around here
There are many poisonous snakes on Kankonia, but not around here.
Ham daiking as os na ar, zha Shawn.
that motorcycle PRS NEG of 2s VOC Shawn
That motorcycle is not yours, Shawn.
A negative infinitive takes "os" before the infinitive verb. In sentences with helping verbs, if there is a direct object, the adverb "os" comes after the helping verb and before the infinitive, followed by the verb's object:
Is novosen os dehoi iksa.
1s try-PST NEG lose camera
I tried not to lose the camera.
With conjugated verbs that are not helping verbs, use the conjugated verb, then "os", then the infinitive, then "id" if there is an object:
Is esmiyain os ayarm id heyitzas.
1s learn-PST NEG hate done_to bee-PL
I learned not to hate bees.
With vaic verbs, the negative "os" comes after the word "va", and as usual with vaic constructions an "id" is not used:
Dezha *aitzarten va os abam luzkat inam kam myu oiras kalukumbe.
Dezha start-PST VA NEG eat meal one-ORD on a_few year-PL before-now
Dezha started not eating breakfast a few years back.
With helping verbs like "wahaz", "trai" and "el", placing "os" before the helping verb has a different meaning from placing it after. "Ar os trayas abam ham klanatzad" means "You don't have you eat this banana", while "Ar trayas os abam ham klanatzad" means "It is imperative that you not eat this banana". "Os elas" means someone may not do something, while "elas os" denotes that someone has permission not to do it.
With the words "en" (was) and "os" (will be), "on" is used instead (but "os" is used with "enos", "enen", "osen" and "osos"):
Phoriphio on en meya goyart.
Phoriphio NEG PST person nice
Phoriphio was not a nice person.
Is on os er zapoko engoi.
1s NEG will_be at coffeeshop tomorrow
I will not be at the coffeeshop tomorrow.
After a comma, "not" is translated by "amon":
Ozuvwi guhait er ham *uthis as zhazh, amon shir.
music popular REL this town PRS zhazh but-NEG shir
The popular music in this town is zhazh, not shir.
The "any" words are "eis" (any), "eidu" (anyone/anybody), "eilag" (anything), "keiru" (anywhere), "eigat" (anytime), "eitesh" (in any way), "eyor" (anything like) and "eigel" (for any reason). The "no" words are "nos" (no/none), "ou" (no one/nobody), "akh" (nothing), "keyokh" (nowhere), "avim" (never), "oos" (in no way), "ouwor" (nothing like) and "ousim" (for no reason). The "any" words can be negated with "os". Double negatives to make a single negative are verboten in Kankonian. "I don't have anything to sell you" or "I have nothing to sell you" may be translated as either "Is os anas eilag ad tzemau ad ar" or "Is anas akh ad tzemau ad ar", but not "Is os anas akh ad tzemau ad ar". Rather, double negatives are interpreted literally in Kankonian, i.e. two negatives make a positive. If someone says "Is os wahazas wakhir nos foyeth", or "I can't drink no soda", she means she has to have soda, at least occasionally.
In statements where a negative word is used with "oor" (like), use "amnosnetz" (except itself) with the sentence:
Akh oor zedai aas amnosnetz.
nothing like heroin exist-PRS except-itself
There's nothing like heroin (except heroin itself).
Only
The word for "only" in Kankonian is oul. "Oul" may function as an adjective:
Zekhani en oul meshi ad is.
Zekhani PST only friend to 1s
Zekhani was my only friend.
but also functions as an adverb. As a rule, "oul" comes before whichever word the concept of "only" applies to, much like "os".
Oul geteres dzhavash elas traniz ad balvintar ad Kho*ota*ai na Kwemos.
only soldier-PL exceptional may-PRS promote-PSV to general to armed_forces of Kwemos
Only exceptional soldiers may be promoted to general in the Kwemos Armed Forces.
Wan wakhiras oul welt na smezi.
3s drink-PRS only juice of cranberry
He only drinks cranberry juice.
Is oul arditzas zurmasineyis; is os peras wan.
1s only write-PRS science-fiction 1s NEG read-PRS 3s
I only write science fiction, I don't read it.
Oul spas paketenas.
only week elapse-PST-PRS
It's only been a week.
"Oul" may also come before a prepositional phrase, in which case it comes right before the connective:
Ham elas ovayiz oul dyu ar.
this may-PRS view-PSV only by 2s
This is for your eyes only.
In an "only . . . if" sentence, the word "oul" (only) comes right before "yakh":
Is hilmiss abam postouf oul yakh wan as na tshyabe.
1s be_willing_to-PRS eat popcorn only if 3s PRS of caramel
I'll only eat popcorn if it's caramel.
When "only" has an implication of "but", the word amoul is used instead of oul:
Emenos er venyas as oor emenos arpild, amoul hapre venit.
life LOC heaven PRS like life terrene but-only much_more good
Life in Heaven is like terrene life, only much better.
The word for "all" as in "the only thing" is oulos. It does not take "azid":
Oulos is fuiren en feshmet na trahi.
all 1s want-PST PST sandwich of ham
All I wanted was a ham sandwich.
Asa is emiyain ad ar oulos is hauess.
already 1s tell-PST to 2s all 1s know-PRS
I already told you all I know.
The word for "not only" is onoul when it appears as the first item; am (but) appears later on:
Rorzas abamas onoul tairak, am muye shukhes.
bear-PL eat-PRS not-only fish but also berry-PL
Bears eat not only fish, but also berries.
When it appears as the second item without am (but), amonoul (but not only) is used for "not only":
Rorzas abamas shukhes, amonoul tairak.
bear-PL eat-PRS berry-PL but-not-only fish
Bears eat berries, not only fish.
Numbers
0: ekht
1: in
2: bam
3: em
4: hol
5: kyu
6: sem
7: treil
8: fur
9: hel
10: zan
11: zanin
12: zanbam
13: zanem
14: zanhol
15: zankyu
16: zansem
17: zantreil
18: zanfur
19: zanhel
20: blat
21: blatin
25: blatkyu
29: blat-hel
30: dern
35: dernkyu
40: hosp
49: hosp-hel
50: kozanis
60: sizanis
69: sizanis-hel
70: tranis
75: traniskyu
80: fuzanis
81: fuzanisin
88: fuzanisfur
90: helzanis
91: helzanisin
100: ram
108: ram-fur
150: ram-kozanis
175: ram-traniskyu
200: bam-ram
501: kyu-ram-in
999: hel-ram-helzanis-hel
1,000: zes
5,681: kyu-zes-sem-ram-fuzanisin OR kyu-zes-sem-fur-in
10,000: isass
100,000: dukhel
237,604: bam-dukhel-em-isass-treil-zes-sem-ram-hol OR bam-dukhel-em-treil-sem-ekht-hol
1,000,000: gahelsi
10,000,000: brahelsi
100,000,000: sihelsi
1,000,000,000: muhelsi
10,000,000,000: shuhelsi
100,000,000,000: naihelsi
1,000,000,000,000: sraniska
10,000,000,000,000: zan sraniska
100,000,000,000,000: ram sraniska
1,000,000,000,000,000: deviska
1 quintillion: armiska
1 sextillion: gegiska
1 septillion: atriska
1 octillion: zes atriska
1 nonillion: gahelsi atriska
1 decillion: muhelsi atriska
1 undecillion: sebuda
1 duodecillion: zes sebuda
1 tredecillion: gahelsi sebuda
1 quattuordecillion: muhelsi sebuda
1 quindecillion: marnuda
1 sexdecillion: zes marnuda
1 septendecillion: gahelsi marnuda
1 octodecillion: muhelsi marnuda
1 novemdecillion: kholuda
1 vigintillion: zes kholuda
1 unvigintillion: gahelsi kholuda
1 duovigintillion: muhelsi kholuda
1 trevigintillion: ishuda
1 quattuorvigintillion: zes ishuda
1 quinquavigintillion: gahelsi ishuda
1 sexvigintillion: muhelsi ishuda
1 septenvigintillion: sraniska ishuda
1 octovigintillion: deviska ishuda
1 novemvigintillion: armiska ishuda
1 trigintillion: gegiska ishuda
1 untrigintillion: atruda
1 duotrigintillion: zes atruda
1 googol: ramekhtes
1 tretrigintillion: gahelsi atruda
1 quattuortrigintillion: muhelsi atruda
1 quintrigintillion: sraniska atruda
1 sextrigintillion: deviska atruda
1 septentrigintillion: armiska atruda
1 octotrigintillion: gegiska atruda
1 novemtrigintillion: atriska atruda
1 quadragintillion: zes atriska atruda
1 unquadragintillion: gahelsi atriska atruda
1 duoquadragintillion: muhelsi atriska atruda
1 trequadragintillion: sebuda atruda
1 quattuorquadragintillion: zes sebuda atriska atruda
1 quinquaquadragintillion: gahelsi sebuda atruda
1 sexquadragintillion: muhelsi sebuda atruda
1 septenquadragintillion: marnuda atruda
1 octoquadragintillion: zes marnuda atruda
1 novemquadragintillion: gahelsi marnuda atruda
1 quinquagintillion: muhelsi marnuda atruda
1 unquinquagintillion: kholuda atruda
1 duoquinquagintillion: zes kholuda atruda
1 trequinquagintillion: gahelsi kholuda atruda
1 quattuorquinquagintillion: muhelsi kholuda atruda
1 quinquaquinquagintillion: ishuda atruda
1 sexquinquagintillion: zes ishuda atruda
1 septenquinquagintillion: gahelsi ishuda atruda
1 octoquinquagintillion: muhelsi ishuda atruda
1 novemquinquagintillion: sebasha
1 sexagintillion: zes sebasha
1 unsexagintillion: gahelsi sebasha
1 duosexagintillion: muhelsi sebasha
1 tresexagintillion: sraniska sebasha
1 quattuorsexagintillion: deviska sebasha
1 quinquasexagintillion: armiska sebasha
1 sexasexagintillion: gegiska sebasha
1 septensexagintillion: atriska sebasha
1 octosexagintillion: zes atriska sebasha
1 novemsexagintillion: gahelsi atriska sebasha
1 septuagintillion: muhelsi atriska sebasha
1 unseptuagintillion: sebuda sebasha
1 duoseptuagintillion: zes sebuda atriska sebasha
1 treseptuagintillion: gahelsi sebuda sebasha
1 quattuorseptuagintillion: muhelsi sebuda sebasha
1 quinquaseptuagintillion: marnuda sebasha
1 sexaseptuagintillion: zes marnuda sebasha
1 septenseptuagintillion: gahelsi marnuda sebasha
1 octoseptuagintillion: muhelsi marnuda sebasha
1 novemseptuagintillion: kholuda sebasha
1 octogintillion: zes kholuda sebasha
1 unoctogintillion: gahelsi kholuda sebasha
1 duooctogintillion: muhelsi kholuda sebasha
1 treoctogintillion: ishuda sebasha
1 quattuoroctogintillion: zes ishuda sebasha
1 quinquaoctogintillion: gahelsi ishuda sebasha
1 sexoctogintillion: muhelsi ishuda sebasha
1 septenoctogintillion: marnasha
1 octooctogintillion: zes marnasha
1 novemoctogintillion: gahelsi marnasha
1 nonagintillion: muhelsi marnasha
1 unnonagintillion: sraniska marnasha
1 duononagintillion: deviska marnasha
1 trenonagintillion: armiska marnasha
1 quattuornonagintillion: gegiska marnasha
1 quinquanonagintillion: atriska marnasha
1 sexnonagintillion: zes atriska marnasha
1 septemnonagintillion: gahelsi atriska marnasha
1 octononagintillion: muhelsi atriska marnasha
1 novemnonagintillion: sebuda marnasha
1 centillion: zes sebuda atriska marnasha
10306: gahelsi sebuda marnasha
10309: muhelsi sebuda marnasha
10312: marnuda marnasha
10315: zes marnuda marnasha
10318: gahelsi marnuda marnasha
10321: muhelsi marnuda marnasha
10324: kholuda marnasha
10327: zes kholuda marnasha
10330: gahelsi kholuda marnasha
10333: muhelsi kholuda marnasha
10336: ishuda marnasha
10339: zes ishuda marnasha
10342: gahelsi ishuda marnasha
10345: muhelsi ishuda marnasha
10348: kholasha
10351: zes kholasha
10354: gahelsi kholasha
10357: muhelsi kholasha
10360: sraniska kholasha
10363: deviska kholasha
10366: armiska kholasha
10369: gegiska kholasha
10372: atriska kholasha
10375: zes atriska kholasha
10378: gahelsi atriska kholasha
10381: muhelsi atriska kholasha
10384: sebuda kholasha
10387: zes sebuda atriska kholasha
10390: gahelsi sebuda kholasha
10393: muhelsi sebuda kholasha
10396: marnuda kholasha
10399: zes marnuda kholasha
10402: gahelsi marnuda kholasha
10405: muhelsi marnuda kholasha
10408: kholuda kholasha
10411: zes kholuda kholasha
10414: gahelsi kholuda kholasha
10417: muhelsi kholuda kholasha
10420: ishuda kholasha
10423: zes ishuda kholasha
10426: gahelsi ishuda kholasha
10429: muhelsi ishuda kholasha
10432: ishasha
10435: zes ishasha
10438: gahelsi ishasha
10441: muhelsi ishasha
10444: sraniska ishasha
10447: deviska ishasha
10450: armiska ishasha
10453: gegiska ishasha
10456: atriska ishasha
10459: zes atriska ishasha
10462: gahelsi atriska ishasha
10465: muhelsi atriska ishasha
10468: sebuda ishasha
10471: zes sebuda atriska ishasha
10474: gahelsi sebuda ishasha
10477: muhelsi sebuda ishasha
10480: marnuda ishasha
10483: zes marnuda ishasha
10486: gahelsi marnuda ishasha
10489: muhelsi marnuda ishasha
10492: kholuda ishasha
10495: zes kholuda ishasha
10498: gahelsi kholuda ishasha
10501: muhelsi kholuda ishasha
10504: ishuda ishasha
10507: zes ishuda ishasha
10510: gahelsi ishuda ishasha
10513: muhelsi ishuda ishasha
10516: atrasha
1 googolplex: ramekhtekhtes
1 googolplexian: ramekhtekhted
Graham's number: kopoi
For first say "inam", for second "bamam", for third "emam", etc. The -iska, -uda, and -asha words drop an A before the suffix, so trillionth is "sraniskam".
Add the suffix -iksi for a fractional part: one quarter = holiksi; one millionth = gahelsiiksi.
Mixed numbers combine the whole number with the fraction by use of "mui" (and): three and five eighths is "em mui kyu furiksas".
Once is "baisin", twice "baispam" and thrice "baisem". After that, you have to say "shil" (for) with the number word and then "peses" (times): shil hol peses (four times), shil kyu peses (five times), shil zan peses (ten times), etc.:
Bein zentzizen dyu karaph shil hospsem peses.
boy bite-PSV-PST by dog for forty-six time-PL
The boy was bitten by the dog forty-six times.
When a number word in applied to more than one noun, it refers to the total of those nouns put together. For instance, in the sentence:
Hol makekas mui malazas as e alhas na Shishani.
four boy-PL and girl-PL PRS in class of Shishani
There are four boys and girls in Shishani's class.
the meaning is that her class has two boys and two girls, or three boys and one girl, or one boy and three girls.
With constructions such as this, the nominals that are counted must all be plural: you would still say "hol makekas mui malazas" even if there were three girls and only one boy, not "hol makeke mui malazas".
Conversely, if we apply the particle "osh" to a number word, the sentence:
Hol makekas mui osh malazas as e alhas na Shishani.
four boy-PL and OSH girl-PL PRS in class of Shishani
There are four boys and four girls in Shishani's class.
means that her class has four boys and four girls.
"Osh" should come after a number word if it is applied to a kinship term or body part:
Natia sinas zherdu em mui zwanzu osh.
Natia have-PRS brother-PL three and sister-PL OSH
Natia has three brothers and three sisters.
Hales geteres anen gue*es bam mui angas osh.
all soldier-PL have-PST arm-PL two and leg-PL OSH
All the soldiers had two arms and two legs.
Age is described with the verb "shta" (to measure):
Is shtaas 20 oiras.
1s measure-PRS 20 year-PL
I am 20 years old.
Nothan shtaas 3 blatzas.
newborn measure-PRS 3 day-PL
The newborn is 3 days old.
Helemas ad is ayinen ad is ham glob av is shtaen 15 oiras.
mother to 1s give-PST to 1s this ring when 1s measure-PST 15 year-PL
My mother gave this ring to me when I was 15.
The connective "hel" is used for the adjective n-year-old:
Is duwainen bein hel 19 oiras helesit Paul.
1s meet-PST boy with 19 year-PL named Paul
I met a 19-year-old boy named Paul.
Trini as zwaniz hel 7 drertes ad is.
Trini PRS sister with 7 month-PL to 1s
Trini is my 7-month-old sister.
Au meya hel 4 oiras wahazas azraum ham.
even person with 4 year-PL be_able_to-PRS figure_out this
Even a 4-year-old could figure this out.
Phurtis koilizen dyu tomoghas na meyez giri hel 15 oiras.
actress surround-PSV-PST by horde of person-PL horny with 15 year-PL
The actress was surrounded by a horde of horny 15-year-olds.
The verb "letz" is used before an age to indicate turning an age ("oiras" is not normally used):
Av storman Rasaphi letzas 13, wan *ahinas aphmyular na wan.
when kid Rasaphi turn-PRS 13 3s celebrate-PRS aphmyular of 3s
When a Rasaphi kid turns 13, she or he has her or his aphmyular.
Av Safira letzen 100, donam draiken ad wan valia helaudi.
when Safira turn-PST 100 president send-PST to 3s letter congratulatory
When Safira turned 100, the president sent her a congratulatory letter.
The construction "letz n mos nodoi semesh" (turn n while still alive) is used to express living to be an age:
Rambispes as meyez az letzas 100 mos nodoi semesh.
centenarian-PL PRS person-PL REL turn-PRS 100 while still alive
Centenarians are people who live to be 100.
Emiemiemiemihoimas ad is letzen 540 mos nodoi semesh.
great-great-great-grandfather to 1s turn-PST 540 while still alive
My great-great-great-grandfather lived to be 540.
The construction "mutzena shta id n" is used to indicate how old a person looks (as with "letz", the word for months/years is not normally used):
Piva er huduponia mutzenain shta id veye 17.
girl at skatepark resemble-PST measure done_to about 17
The girl at the skatepark looked about 17.
Terry shtaas 453 oiras, am wan mutzenass shta id 60.
Terry measure-PRS 453 year-PL but 3s resemble-PRS measure done_to 60
Terry is 453 years old, but he looks 60.
Ar os mutzenass shta id blahatz wanono 40.
2s NEG resemble-PRS measure done_to day past 40
You don't look a day over 40.
With "vai" (over) or "sun" (under), the word "menir" (age) and "zash" are normally used before an age:
Ou vai menir zash 2 as eosa we iyef.
nobody over age APPOS 2 PRS true ADV happy
No one over the age of 2 is truly happy.
Welas sun menir zash 10 edtirizen.
child-PL under age APPOS 10 keep_out-PSV-PST
Children under 10 were kept out.
With the expression "weishan ash" (to push), simply the number is used for age, without "oiras":
Sam weishanas ash 40.
Sam breathe-PRS on 40
Sam is pushing 40.
When you are giving multiple dimensions, the number for length is given first and the number for width second. The number for height or depth, if it is included as well, is given third:
Katel shtaen zansem akhatzes embens sem akhatzes.
board measure-PST ten-six akhatz-PL by six akhatz-PL
The board measured sixteen akhatz [in length] by six akhatz [in width].
Sheli na naskel na Pero shtaen bam akhatzes embens bam akhatzes embens zan akhatzes.
model of pyramid of Pero measure-PST two akhatz-PL by two akhatz-PL by ten akhatz-PL
Pero's model of a pyramid was two akhatz [in length] by two akhatz [in width] by ten akhatz [in height].
Buito na Viana shtaas zanbam shitzes embens hol shitzes embens bam shitzes.
swimming_pool of Viana measure-PRS ten-two shitz-PL by four shitz-PL by two shitz-PL
Viana's swimming pool is twelve shitz [in length] by four shitz [in width] by two shitz [in depth].
Floors are numbered as per American English, so "behush inam" means first floor (American) or ground floor (British), "behush bamam" means second floor (American) or first floor (British), "behush emam" means third floor (American) or second floor (British), etc.
Numbers usually come before the noun (kyu vropes, five grapes; hosp blatzas, forty days). With body parts and family members, however, they come after the noun (khodes em, three ears; zwanzu hol, four sisters). This also applies to excerptal body parts and family members (hekhiat bam na is, two of my fingers; zherdut em ad wan, three of his brothers). Only, almost, etc. come after the body word or kinship term but before the number: bwolwo oul in (only one eye). When body parts are used to refer to parts of inanimate objects, such as "gheri" to refer to the heel of a shoe, the number still comes after the noun:
Khosh anas angas em.
table have-PRS leg-PL three
The table has three legs.
The number "one" is usually implied in an excerptal: to say "one of the doors", one would say "kutshat", not "in kutshat". However, if one is contrasted with another number by use of o (or), "in" is used:
Wir fuiros e hesh wasakohir adshmelzas in wit o re argas de in wit aphos phokulet mos triho.
1p want-FUT BE by restroom in_case one 1e or COMP many than one 1e get-FUT diarrhea during trip
We'll want to be by a restroom in case one of us or more than one of us get diarrhea on the trip.
Yakh sharat in o bam ad is blatzos weveng saipos, yau ham os plan das is.
if daughter-EXCPT one or two to 1s stay-FUT single for_life then that FUT fine according_to 1s
If one or two of my daughters stay single for life, that's fine by me.
Numbers also come after "inam" (first) or "andam" (last) to express "first two", "last three", etc.:
Is phoren skenas na welt andam bam.
1s get-PST bottle-PL of juice last two
I got the last two bottles of juice.
When you have an excerptal and mention the total number of the nominal in question, the number word goes after the nominal:
Alsazas az *iuwalas en maikrat kyu az torturen ad laniz.
hero-PL REL shine-PRS PST movie-EXCPT five REL win-PST to award
Shining Heroes was one of five movies to win an award.
Is en sharat em.
1s PRS daughter-EXCPT three
I was one of three girls.
Fur ewadat zansem en ab Hita.
eight finalist-EXCPT ten-six PST from Hita
Eight of sixteen finalists were from Hita.
The excerptal number goes before the excerptal nominal in such constructions, even if the nominal is a family member or body part:
Kyu yedet treil utoyen.
five son-EXCPT seven marry-PST
Five of seven sons married.
To use "re argas" (more) or "hi argas" (less) with a number, use the words "re argas" or "hi argas", followed by "hom" (by) and then the number word:
re argas hom bam huwas: two more nights
hi argas hom em skenas: three fewer bottles
re argas zwaniz hom in: one more sister
hi argas kiketes hom bam: two fewer ribs
When a cardinal number is used to number something, place the number word after the noun and put "zash" before the number:
Is ailiss er shakti zash kyu-ekht-in-ekht-bam.
1s live-PRS at house APPOS five-zero-one-zero-two
I live in house 50102.
When letters (K, A, M, Sh, I, T, etc.) are used to "number" something, the word "zash" comes in between the letter and the preceding noun:
Is udeyaten hakim zash M, tataya blatz er shakti.
1s choose-PST option APPOS C namely stay at house
I chose option C: stay home.
For ranks, put the noun before the connective "helihil" (with rank) and then the number word:
Wan as daluye helihil in er poilang odum umbe.
3s PRS song with-rank one LOC country right now
It's the #1 song in the country right now.
Prefixes
These prefixes can build words in Kankonian:
ad-: denotes making something towards something (from the preposition for to/for; often turns nouns or adjectives into verbs)
favozh (charge) -> adfavozh (to charge)
hashar (clean) -> adhashar (to clean)
hel-: denotes use of an object, or being with something (from the preposition for with)
fulas (mop) -> helfulas (to mop)
yarma (frustration) -> helyarma (frustrated)
oel-: denotes being without something (from the preposition for without)
vetzezh (caffeine) -> oelvetzezh (decaf)
koruk (touch) -> oelkoruk (laissez-faire)
az-: a prefix derived from the relative "az" (that)
apar (to feel an external sensation) -> azapar (to feel an organic sensation)
*auv (argument, quarrel) -> az*auv (argument, reasoning for one's position in a debate)
na-: makes an adjective meaning pertaining to
bubal (palm of the hand) -> nabubal (palmar)
danshin (reason, logic) -> nadanshin (rational, logical)
oor-: indicates that something is like something (from the connective for like/as)
koharul (actinium) -> oorkoharul (actinide)
alpas (human) -> ooralpas (hominid)
kaluk-: means before
kroikanv (literate) -> kalukkroikanv (preliterate)
tifiliy (sexual playing) -> kaluktifiliy (foreplay)
ehem-: means after
begini (history) -> ehembegini (postmodern)
wudun (flood) -> ehemwudun (postdiluvian)
me-: means not
dabavzor (violent) -> medabavzor (nonviolent)
taimon (human) -> metaimon (nonhuman)
loi- or loy-: denotes that an action is occurring again
dad (to elect) -> loidad (to reëlect)
etzet (to heat up) -> loyetzet (to reheat)
en-: forms a verb meaning to have something on the body
bad (head) -> enbad (to wear on the head)
omen (face) -> enomen (to wear a facial expression)
mer-: denotes a center around which something revolves (from the preposition for around)
heles (sun) -> merheles (heliocentric)
Hegheos (continent on Kankonia) -> merhegheos (Hegheocentric)
der-: indicates a noun meaning enough to fill something
bordar (truck) -> derbordar (truckload)
humbar (boat) -> derhumbar (boatload)
khom-: forms an adjective meaning that something is safe from something
kaksith (bomb) -> khomkaksith (bombproof)
efesh (baby) -> khomefesh (babyproof)
lusp-: describes what or who formerly was something
donam (president) -> luspdonam (ex-president)
sayuppiva (girlfriend) -> luspsayuppiva (ex-girlfriend)
wogasing (bus) -> luspwogasing (skoolie)
hevu-: indicates a relationship in a combined family
yed (son) -> hevuyed (stepson)
teret (family) -> hevuteret (stepfamily)
minu-: indicates something halfway so
bamosh (sweet) -> minubamosh (semisweet)
zinyam (public) -> minuzinyam (semipublic)
tithi-: indicates a thousandth of a unit of measurement
imis (unit of time) -> tithiimis (1/1,000 of an imis)
tzandar (unit of weight) -> tithitzandar (1/1,000 of a tzandar)
nish-: indicates a millionth of a unit of measurement
gwanar (unit of liquid volume) -> nishgwanar (1/1,000,000 of a gwanar)
tzetz (unit of length) -> nishtzetz (1/1,000,000 of a tzetz)
vil-: indicates a billionth of a unit of measurement
tzandar (unit of weight) -> viltzandar (1/1,000,000,000 of a tzandar)
tzetz (unit of length) -> viltzetz (1/1,000,000,000 of a tzetz)
berlid-: indicates a trillionth of a unit of measurement
imis (unit of time) -> berlidimis (1/1,000,000,000,000 of an imis)
gwanar (unit of liquid volume) -> berlidgwanar (1/1,000,000,000,000 of a gwanar)
wabush-: indicates something false or fake
zurmas (science) -> wabushzurmas (pseudoscience)
payasos (profundity) -> wabushpayasos (pseudoprofundity)
audes-: indicates that something is applied to itself
nophatwal (discussion) -> audesnophatwal (metadiscussion)
iyes (story) -> audesiyes (frame story)
Suffixes
These suffixes can build words in Kankonian:
-os: turns an adjective into an abstract noun, meaning "the state of being"
beltzam (hypocritical) -> beltzamos (hypocrisy)
goyart (kind) -> goyartos (kindness)
-is: means a person associated with something, similar to English -ist
vatzbak (guitar) -> vatzbakis (guitarist)
shphurm (to sail) -> shphurmis (sailor)
em (three) -> emis (triplet)
gahelsi (million) -> gahelsis (millionaire)
-fash: makes a verb into an agent noun, similar to English -er
tortur (to win) -> torturfash (winner)
datir (to rebel) -> datirfash (rebel)
-ov: indicates a measure of degree of something
ilt (tall) -> iltov (height)
kampas (far) -> kampasov (distance)
-i: turns a noun or verb into an adjective
welt (juice) -> welti (juicy)
shuvrim (to pervade, to permeate) -> shuvrimi (pervasive)
-i: indicates an adjective or noun for the practitioner of a religion
Guzhud (Hell) -> Guzhudi (Hadeist)
rasaph (Ciladian for ultimate incarnation) -> Rasaphi (member of the Rasaphi religion)
-as: indicates a noun for the name of a religion
Guzhud (Hell) -> Guzhudas (Hadeism)
rasaph (Ciladian for ultimate incarnation) -> Rasaphas (Rasaphism)
-ish: makes a noun into a noun that means "the state of being an X"
hoimas (father) -> hoimish (paternity)
malazi (little girl) -> malazish (girlhood)
-ia: means place for
venta (animal, pet) -> ventia (pet shop)
shazhora (frozen yogurt) -> shazhoria (yogurt parlor)
-ya: means the scientific study of something
windi (cell) -> windya (cytology)
hwurish (paranormal) -> hwurishya (parapsychology)
-laya: indicates study of a taxonomic group
bazruva (reptile) -> bazruvlaya (herpetology)
peksis (insect) -> pekslaya (entomology)
-em: makes an adjective out of a body part
ne*et (nose) -> ne*etem (nasal)
fulpha (cheek) -> fulphem (buccal)
-i*: makes the juvenile form of an animal
thothu (cat) -> thothui* (kitten)
vivir (eagle) -> viviri* (eaglet)
-okh: makes the adult form of an animal
karaph (dog) -> karaphokh (dog, as opposed to puppy)
gomei* (frog) -> gomei*okh (frog, as opposed to tadpole or froglet)
-ore: indicates a collective species
alpas (human) -> alpore (humanity)
maglimez (chimpanzee) -> maglimezore (chimpkind)
-oi: indicates a word or turn-of-phrase peculiar to a language or dialect
Tzelan (Tzelshan island) -> Tzelanoi (Tzelanism)
Vikasko (isolated social group living in the deserts of Povoi) -> Vikaskoi (Vikaskism)
-ik: indicates nationality, ethnicity, living somewhere or language
Shaleya (Shaleya) -> Shaleyik (Shaleyan)
Rensha (Rensha) -> Renshik (Renshan)
tzaf (beach) -> tzafik (beachwad)
davren (academia) -> davrenik (academese)
-liv: indicates a speaker of a language
Inglish (English) -> Inglishliv (Anglophone)
Hapowi (Hapoi) -> Hapowiliv (Hapoiphone)
-isp: indicates a specifically ethnic member of a people
Kankonia (Kankonia) -> Kankonisp (ethnic Kankonian)
Shaleya (Shaleya) -> Shaleyisp (ethnic Shaleyan)
-or: indicates an inhabitant or citizen of a place, regardless of ethnicity
Hita (Hita) -> Hitor (Hitan citizen, of any ethnicity)
Tenta (Tenta) -> Tentor (Tentan citizen, of any ethnicity)
-or: indicates a slight tendency towards a color or approximate age
gudum (red) -> gudumor (reddish)
wowum (blue) -> wowumor (bluish)
dern (thirty) -> dernor (thirtyish)
-eria: indicates a place, a collection, or an abstract noun made from a concrete noun
tei (monarch) -> teyeria (kingdom)
esit (name) -> esiteria (onomasticon)
uhul (school) -> uhuleria (schooling)
-om: indicates a bag for something
*uyub (potato) -> *uyubom (potato sack)
khuphus (feces) -> khuphusom (diaper)
-ar: forms words to denote way or style
osi (future) -> osiar (futurism; futuristic)
deves (conventional, traditional) -> devesar (the traditional way)
-ming: indicates being without something in a positive or relieving way (from the word for "free")
uag (angst) -> uagming (angst-free)
yiem (tax) -> yiemming (duty-free shop)
-in: indicates a specific one or example of something (from the word for one)
shumir (to wish) -> shumirin (wish)
butzekh (to restrict) -> butzekhin (stricture)
-in: used with "abam" (to eat) to make an adjective indicating diet
venta (animal) -> ventabamin (carnivorous)
shukh (fruit) -> shukhabamin (frugivorous)
-in: forms the names of hormones
salv (female) -> salvin (estrogen)
ilt (tall) -> iltin (human growth hormone)
-iz: turns the name of a food into the name of a chemical or nutrient in the food
kwuha (licorice) -> kwuhiz (glycyrrhizin)
shoip (tomato) -> shoipiz (lycopene)
-oides: forms adjectives pertaining to a certain landform or biome
hazas (river) -> hazathoides (riparian)
Skhatza (the planet Schaza) -> skhatzoides (pertaining to schazoid slime)
-shad: creates an arch or ultimate form of a word
zyuzos (enemy) -> zyuzosshad (archenemy)
matel (cobra) -> matelshad (king cobra)
-an: forms a grammatical term out of another word
shuar (ownership) -> shuaran (genitive)
houm (about what) -> houman (EQC)
-inos: forms a grammatical term out of another word
az (that, which, who(m)) -> azinos (relative)
kant (to act) -> kantinos (agent)
-ang: forms a name for a type of verb out of another word
payo (to think) -> payoang (thinking verb)
hesi (to speak) -> hesiang (speaking verb)
-bi: makes a general "some" word into a "some" word zeroing in on a special entity
famoi (someone/somebody) -> famoibi (someone/somebody, with a specific person in mind)
keitzam (somewhere) -> keitzambi (somewhere, with a specific location in mind)
-am: makes an ordinal number
in (one) -> inam (first)
hol (four) -> holam (fourth)
-iksi: makes a fractional number
bam (two) -> bamiksi (half)
zes (thousand) -> zesiksi (thousandth)
-a: makes a number word into an -uple word
bam (two) -> bama (double)
treil (seven) -> treila (septuple)
-ikh: makes a word to measure divisions of rankings
zapanram (percent) -> zapanramikh (percentile)
treil (seven) -> treilikh (septile)
-zad: indicates the number of sides on a two-dimensional figure
kyu (five) -> kyuzad (pentagon)
zan (ten) -> zanzad (decagon)
-had: indicates the number of faces on a three-dimensional figure
fur (eight) -> furhad (octahedron)
blat (twenty) -> blat-had (icosahedron)
-bisp: makes a number word into an age range
blat (twenty) -> blatbisp (twentysomething)
ram (hundred) -> rambisp (centenarian)
-ok: indicates a number of ways or reasons
bam (two) -> bamok (doubly)
kyu (five) -> kyuok (quintuply)
-era: indicates number of books/movies/albums in a series
em (three) -> emera (trilogy)
treil (seven) -> treilera (heptalogy)
-athe: makes a number into a grammatical number
bam (two) -> bamathe (dual)
em (three) -> emathe (trial)
-tes: indicates multiplication by a number
treil (seven) -> treiltes (sevenfold)
argas (many) -> argastes (manifold)
-ob: indicates number of copies of a paper
em (three) -> emob (triplicate)
kyu (nine) -> kyuob (nonuplicate)
-bov: forms a word to indicate the number of jacks played in jacks-type games
hol (four) -> holbov (foursies)
fur (eight) -> furbov (eightsies)
-hekt: denotes the surgical removal of an organ
kariks (appendix) -> kariks-hekt (appendectomy)
giu*a (tonsil) -> giu*ahekt (tonsillectomy)
-at: forms the name of a particle
os (not) -> osat (electron)
uweish (glue) -> uweishat (gluon)
-enya: is a suffix from Shaleyan forming the name of a drug
pham (Shaleyan plant) -> phamenya (phamein)
tosfaba (apricot) -> tosfabenya (laetrile)
-izh: makes an eponymous adjective out of someone's name
Dadilas (name of the Kabuvian general) -> dadilasizh (behaving like Dadilas)
Pozer (name of the ancient lesbian poet) -> pozerizh (lesbian)
Color Words
Here are the basic colors in Kankonian:
karak: black
kiul: white
viriz: grey
gudum: red (includes maroon)
rahat: orange
hilis: yellow
kran: green (includes aqua)
wowum: blue (includes turquoise)
kratsh: purple (includes burgundy, lavender, lilac, and indigo)
likt: pink (includes magenta, peach, and apricot)
blan: brown
dania: dark brown
thilev: beige (includes cream)
hihim: gold
blintz: silver
"Dania" is used for darker brown than "blan", and is the word used for dark brown hair or skin. Brown eyes, however, are always referred to with "blan", no matter how dark they are.
Here are some other color words:
gudumnawoan: maroon
woiposkran: aqua
kwatkwon: turquoise
bupra: burgundy
dumis: lavender
gmaleta: lilac
vovav: indigo
nivu: magenta
shalei: peach
shaleinatosfaba: apricot
thrishthilev: cream
"Kar" and "splen" may be placed after a color name to indicate a dark or light shade of the color: "kran kar" means dark green and "kran splen" means light green.
Hair can be described as ski (blonde), regi (dirty blonde, a subset of ski), ski na tosfaba (strawberry blonde, a subset of ski), shrazh (sandy), rahat (red), singez (reddish-brown), blan (brown), dania (dark brown), karak (black), viriz (grey), kiul (white), or fwelkheta (salt-and-pepper).
Human eyes are described as wowum (blue), viriz (grey), kran (green), uviwa (amber), santz (hazel), gudumnawoan (maroon), kratsh (violet), blan (brown), vreltatza (tortoiseshell), brunolgi (with heterochromia iridum), zasiun (changing), or oeloimoni (aniridiate).
Compounds may also be used to describe intermediate colors: kratshgudum (violet-red), rahatshgudum (orange-red), gudumrahat (red-orange), hilisrahat (yellow-orange), rahat-hilis (orange-yellow), kranhilis (green-yellow), hiliskran (yellow-green), wowumkran (blue-green), kranwowum (green-blue), kratshwowum (violet-blue), wowumkratsh (blue-violet), and gudumkratsh (red-violet).
The spectrum of color is used as a metaphor for physical attractiveness: Gudum (red) is the equivalent of calling someone "a ten", rahatgudum (orange-red) is "a nine", rahat (orange) is "an eight", hilisrahat (yellow-orange) is "a seven", hilis (yellow) is "a six" or "a five", hiliskran (yellow-green) is "a four", kran (green) is "a three", kwatkwon (turquoise) is "a two", and wowum (blue) is "a one". Sometimes rahat-hilis (orange-yellow) is used for "six" and kranhilis (green-yellow) for "five" when communicating with people in whose languages a ten-point scale is used.
Kinship Terms
Kankonian uses the following kinship terms:
mother: helemas
father: hoimas
parents: homoses
sister: zwaniz (pl. zwanzu)
brother: zhered (pl. zherdu)
sibling: surten (pl. surtei)
twin sister: bamzwaniz (pl. bamzwanzu)
twin brother: bamzhered (pl. bamzherdu)
wife/husband: ashelti
daughter: shara
son: yed
child: noto
aunt/uncle (parent's sibling): ladan
aunt/uncle (parent's sibling's spouse): mesim
niece/nephew (sibling's child): elfom
niece/nephew (spouse's sibling's child): herang
female cousin: mera
male cousin: kanwir
cousin: shaniz
female cousin on one's mother's side: mimera
male cousin on one's mother's side: mikanwir
cousin on one's mother's side: mishaniz
female cousin on one's father's side: hamera
male cousin on one's father's side: hakanwir
cousin on one's father's side: hashaniz
grandmother: emihelemas
grandfather: emihoimas
grandparents: emihomoses
granddaughter: obishara
grandson: obiyed
grandchild: obinoto
great-grandmother: emiemihelemas
great-grandfather: emiemihoimas
great-grandparents: emiemihomoses
great-granddaughter: obiobishara
great-grandson: obiobiyed
great-grandchildren: obiobinoto
great-aunt/great-uncle: emiladan
cousin once removed: shyudan
cousin twice removed: bamshyudan
cousin thrice removed: emshyudan
sister-in-law (spouse's sister): dzhemal
brother-in-law (spouse's brother): seres
sibling-in-law (spouse's sibling): dzhemes
sister-in-law (sibling's wife): pola
brother-in-law (sibling's husband): tomus
sibling-in-law (sibling's spouse): polus
sister-in-law (spouse's sibling's wife): eyeni
brother-in-law (spouse's sibling's husband): dondar
sibling-in-law (spouse's sibling's spouse): eyendar
mother-in-law: shefri
father-in-law: tarmat
parent-in-law: shefmat
daughter-in-law: selmi
son-in-law: dzheisi
child-in-law: selsi
in-laws: sheltshtanzes
stepmother: hevuhelemas
stepfather: hevuhoimas
stepparents: hevuhomoses
stepdaughter: hevushara
stepson: hevuyed
stepchild: hevunoto
stepsister: hevuzwaniz (pl. hevuzwanzu)
stepbrother: hevuzhered (pl. hevuzherdu)
stepsibling: hevusurten (pl. hevusurtei)
half-sister: bamiksizwaniz (pl. bamiksizwanzu)
half-brother: bamiksizhered (pl. bamiksizherdu)
half-sibling: bamiksisurten (pl. bamiksisurtei)
significant other, life partner: mabekad
co-wife/co-husband: muyeashelti (muyea for short)
sperm donor: kherisezhobor (kheso for short)
fianc e/fianc : lai
surrogate mother: aghemas
surrogate father: aghoimas
surrogate parent: aghomoset (exc.)
sister from the womb: zwaniz ab fubos (zaf for short)
brother from the womb: zhered ab fubos (zhaf for short)
sibling from the womb: surten (pl. surtei) ab fubos (saf for short)
widow/widower: okermi
semiwidow/semiwidower (polygamous person who has lost one/some spouse(s) but not all): minuokermi
angel mom: rentza
angel dad: tazga
broken-nester: emori
Ageing Terms
Before someone is born, s/he is a haihi (fetus). After s/he is born, up until her/his thirteenth birthday, s/he is a welas. A female welas is a malazi, and a male welas is a makeke. A welas aged 0 or 1 is an efesh. For the first month after birth, an efesh is a nothan. A welas aged 2 or 3 is a kyufa. From age 4 until s/he starts school after her/his sixth birthday, s/he is a polas. Upon starting uhul welas at 6 to age 12, s/he becomes an uhulwelis. The term uhulwelis sometimes includes 13-year-olds who have yet to graduate from an uhul welas, but other times it is interpreted strictly as a subset of welas and therefore excludes people who have had their thirteenth birthday. A welas who is not yet an uhulwelis can be called a weli*.
From 13 to 29, a person is a storman. A female storman is a piva, and a male storman is a bein. Piva and bein are usually used for people 30 to 49 as well. Someone who is 20 in 29 in Kankonian years is a blatbisp; a twentysomething in Earth years is a twentisamthing. Someone 30 to 49 is a nupanis. In Kankonian years, a person 30 to 39 is a dernbisp, and person 40 to 49 a hospbisp. Using the length of Earth years, someone 30 to 39 is a thoertisamthing, and someone 40 to 49 is a fortisamthing.
From age 30 up, a person is a khorom. Vaikozanis is also used to mean, by definition, someone over 50, and is equivalent to saying "grown woman" or "grown man", i.e. a khorom who is not a storman nor a nupanis, while the meaning of khorom is closer to "adult". Khorom, by contrast, is sometimes used to mean something similar to ranweteboernis, which means everyone who isn't a welas. A female khorom is a mopiga, and a male khorom is a wiri. In Kankonian years, someone 50 to 69 is a barzamis. A person 50 to 59 is a kozanisbisp, and a person 60 to 69 is a sizanisbisp. Using the length of Earth years, someone 50 to 59 is a kwinkwadzhenarian and someone 60 to 69 is a seksadzhenarian. Anyone 70 or older is a wetzfoneris. In Kankonian years, a person 70 to 79 is a tranisbisp, a person 80 to 89 is a fuzanisbisp, a person 90 to 99 is a helzanisbisp, and a person over 100 is a rambisp. Using the length of Earth years, someone 70 to 79 is a septuadzhenarian, someone 80 to 89 is an oktodzhenarian, someone 90 to 99 is a nonadzhenarian and someone over 100 is a zentenarian. Among rambispes, someone 100 to 199 is an inrambisp, someone 200 to 299 a bamrambisp, someone 300 to 399 an emrambisp, someone 400 to 499 a holrambisp, someone 500 to 599 a kyurambisp, someone 600 to 699 a semrambisp, someone 700 to 799 a treilrambisp, someone 800 to 899 a furrambisp, someone 900 to 999 a helrambisp and someone over 1,000 a zesbisp.
Useful Phrases
Yes - So
No - Thi
Maybe - Hole
I don't know - Is os hauess
Hello/hi - Hau; hai; tohayes isim
Good morning - Guzhiet galir
Good evening - Guzhiet armar
Good night - Guzhiet huwos
Welcome to Kankonia - Blatzet venit we ad Kankonia
Good-bye - Melse wit yeizas enkut etza rei (or the less morbid melse wit); autran; dui
Hello (on telephone) - Zaniken
Thank you - Izar
You're welcome - Ar os kuless
Hello, my name is Kate Stewart. - Hau, esit na is as Kate Stewart.
Hi, I'm Jim Miller. - Hai, is as Jim Miller.
What is your name? - Hiel as esit na ar?
Nice to meet you. - Guzhias duwain.
How old are you? - Ar shtaas anti oiras?
I am 45 years old. - Is shtaas 45 oiras.
Yes? (responding to someone calling your name) - Ans?
How are you doing? - Ans ar gesas?
I'm wonderful. - Is as satzim.
I'm fine. - Is as plan.
So-so - Brenetz
Bad - Sharab
Terrible - Ospre
Excuse me / Hello? (I need to speak with you). - Adzha!
Excuse me (let me get through). - Sendim.
I'm sorry. - Is as weviya.
Could you repeat that? - Mahan hiel?
What time is it? - Wir *aizias hiel enles?
It's 3:00. - Wir *aizias 3 na enles.
It's 6:20. - Wir *aizias 6 mui 20.
It is 17-7 (date). - Blahatz as 17 e 7.
What is the weather like? - Wir anas hiel benus ad mesemiwa?
It is raining. - Awivi pashas.
It is snowing. - Ubru pashas.
Do you speak English? - Mahan ar hesias Inglish?
How do you say "menu" in Kankonian? - Ans o oyezas "menu" oor Kankonik?
Where is the bathroom? - Iri wasakohir as?
Where is the nearest hotel? - Iri anshpir tri oshowei as?
Happy birthday! - Guzhiet yeshpeltz!
Merry Christmas! - Guzhiet Navidad!
Happy Chanukkah! - Guzhiet Khanuka!
Happy New Year's / Happy new year! - Guzhiet Blahatz na Oiri Prin!
Congratulations (to one person)! - Is dzhazaharas ar!
Congratulations (to multiple people)! - Is dzhazaharas deir!
Bless you! / Gesundheit! - Blatzet semesh!
I love you. - Is betzithas ar.
Conversation
To get a person's attention in Kankonian, you may say, "Hai" or another greeting, or you may address them by name, with the vocative preposition zha before her/his/their name(s): "Zha Danny!" This can also be accomplished non-verbally with a tap on the shoulder. If you do not know a person's name but need to call her/him from afar, say, "Zha mopiga!" (to a woman over 50), "Zha wiri!" (to a man over 50), "Zha piva!" (to a young woman), "Zha bein!" (to a young man), "Zha malazi!" (to a little girl), or "Zha makeke!" (to a little boy). A "Zha malazi!", "Zha bein!", etc. greeting may be accompanied by tapping the person on the shoulder if you are near her or him. The sentence you ask the person will then be started with adzha (excuse me), e.g. "Adzha, mahan ar filess rave?" (Excuse me, do you know the way to the park?)
A conversation may be started by asking someone for the time, a lighter, etc. or perhaps by one person taking interest in another person's clothes, hair, purse, pet, accent, etc.: "Ab iri ham shpur as?" (Where's that accent from? -- which will probably lead to a conversation about Povoi or Bodus or wherever the person comes from). It is possible for two strangers to converse only in small talk before going their separate ways and perhaps never crossing paths again. If the two interlocutors are new to each other, they will probably introduce themselves with "Hai, is as Alhe Zaya Danny" or "Hau, esit na is as Kora Akhlis Sandy" (native Kankonians usually use full names when introducing themselves). To ask how a person is doing, someone will ask, "Ans ar gesas?" Kankonians never say this just to be polite; they actually expect the other person to answer. Should a Kankonian ask how someone is, s/he will be prepared for a long story from her/his interlocutor (My pet sea dragon died yesterday, then my bicycle got a flat, and I've lost the code to my arcome . . . )
The traditional greeting in Kankonian is Tohayes isim (greetings today) or simply Tohayes (greetings), although Hau and Hai are very common today. Saying Tohayes isim is similar to saying, "Salutations!" Hau! is usually glossed as "Hello!", while Hai! is usually glossed as its homonym "Hi!" There are also greetings for times of day: Guzhiet galir is good morning; Guzhiet armar is good evening; Guzhiet huwos is good night. These are less commonly used than their equivalents in Germanic or Romance languages, however. Over the telephone, someone greets her/his interlocutor with the word Zaniken!, meaning "connected!", as both speakers want to make sure the phone line is connected before they begin their conversation.
Kankonians do not like to interrupt with an idle comment, and will often stare at a person as said person chats on the phone or ansible to avoid interrupting her/his conversation, hoping that s/he will notice them. When two or more Kankonians are talking, however, they are quick to notice a newcomer to the conversation who "wants in", and will make her/him feel welcome. If someone has an important thing to say when others are talking, s/he will usually say, "Ham as salishas!" (This is important!) The conversation is then handed over to her or him. Even if someone does interrupt a conversation, be it by ansible, by landline phone, by cellphone or in person, with something idle, the interruptee will try not to seem offended, to avoid seeming too strict about etiquette.
The most common way of saying good-bye on Kankonia is Autran. Dui, meaning "later", equivalent to "See you later", is also very common. The traditional way of saying good-bye was "Melse wit yeizas enkut etza rei", which meant, "Unless one of us should die by then". Some like to shorten this to the less morbid "Melse wit!" instead. These greetings are also used over the phone. A Kankonian may also say "Is betzithas ar" (I love you) as a way of saying good-bye.
A conversation in Kankonian involves turn-taking, with each participant speaking a few sentences (or a handful of words) at a time. Reciprocity keeps a conversation going. Extended silence by the person whose turn it is may indicate that s/he does not know what to say, or is afraid to say something. Judging by the person's facial expression, it may be possible to tell that s/he is completely confused by what has been said, or has not picked up on an unstated (false) assumption another person made. A person telling a long story may still have her/his story punctuated by comments from the listeners. Even during an academic lecture, the lecturer can expect to hear questions and comments from the attendees instead of giving an unbroken speech. To indicate you are still listening when someone else is taking a long turn, you may say "Youm" (equivalent to "mhm") or "Haum" ("Oh" or "I see") or "Ha" ("Mmmmm" or "OK") or even "Haum, ha" ("Oh, OK"). The average time between one speaker's statement and the next speaker's follow-up is 0.42 seconds in Hegheos, 0.44 seconds in Povoi, 0.47 seconds in Dumang, 0.49 seconds in Durben, 0.53 seconds in Kupulshas and 0.55 seconds in the Tzelshas Islands. The equivalent of "Ummmmmm . . .", indicating that the person is thinking of her/his answer, is "Shwe . . ."
Fillers punctuate the conversations of Kankonians; the more uncertain they are or the more impromptu the conversation, the more frequent the fillers. "Se", equivalent to "like", is the most common filler. Sentences may be started with "Rauess" (You know,) or "Mei" (So . . .). "Mahan ar edeskas is?" (Do you grasp me?) is analogous to "You know what I'm saying?" Sentences may also be ended with stad (equivalent to "man" or "dude"), or with zha mopiga, zha wiri, zha piva, zha bein, zha malazi or zha makeke. Zha piva and zha bein are particularly common in song lyrics. Et is a common speech disfluency (think "er" or "um"). Haum or ha, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, may also be used.
To ask someone to repeat what s/he has just said, Kankonians ask "Mahan hiel"? "Hiel" means "what", while "mahan" normally marks a yes/no question, but in this case is simply used to signal that a question is coming up, so the interlocutor can be prepared to expect a question and the speakers will avoid both parties failing to hear each other. A helpful gesture in Kankonian conversation is the waudarzarami, in which one speaker will repeat a second speaker's sentence for a third party who did not hear what the second speaker said. For instance, suppose Danny, Tara and Zhizhi are in the room together. Danny says, "Is emen ili hous ezgrin er Sodar" (I saw a TV show about the war in Sodar) and Tara asks, "Mahan hiel?" (What did you say?) Zhizhi will then say, "Wan oyezen, 'Is emen ili hous ezgrin er Sodar'" (He said, "I saw a TV show about the war in Sodar").
When recounting a conversation, Kankonians try to get the exact words and intonation right, often trying to replicate the speaker's deep/high/nasal/hyponasal/monotonous/animated voice. The word sen, clipped from parisen (conveyed), is used as a past tense verb with no present, future tense or infinitive, to informally tag a speaker in a conversation: Yau wan sen, "Rekh, stad!" (Then he was all, "Sure, dude!")
The standard apology in Kankonian is "Is as weviya" (I'm sorry). Like its English equivalent, it is used not only in apologizing, but also when hearing bad news (such as one's interlocutor's husband passing away). "Is as shayam weviya" means "I am very sorry", and "Is as wuari we weviya" means "I am profusely sorry". To accept an apology, say, "Is nivendas ar" (I accept your apology).
People are usually addressed by their first names in conversation or in correspondence (although they will introduce themselves with their full names). The exceptions are someone's biological mother and father, who will most often be addressed as mimi (mom) and haha (dad). If someone grows up in a polyandrous family in which she or he does not know which man is her or his biological father, she or he will refer to all the men by their first name. Even titles like Phum (Dr.) sometimes go with a first rather than last name -- similar to Dr. Phil or Judge Judy. In newspaper, magazine and journal articles, people are usually referred to on second reference by their last name only -- even for kids. The exception is when two or more siblings who share the same biological mother and father are mentioned in the same article, in which case they will be referred to with their first names, or last and first names (without the element name) upon second reference. When people are given pseudonyms in an article, however, it is usually just a first name. There is no equivalent to "Ms." or "Mr." in Kankonian; if a non-Kankonian is being referred to by surname, s/he will be given the honorific from her/his native language.
Kankonians do not change their speech with another Kankonian based on their interlocutor's gender or age (except people will use simpler vocabulary around children, similar to the way they do with immigrants who don't speak Kankonian as a first language). Older people, even teachers, Vigilante Squadders and people at the Pandominium, do not demand more "respect" from younger speakers. Children will freely joke with and insult their parents. Women and men do have speech differences, however, based on their inherent psychological differences (with women using pronouns more often and men talking about things more often). Baby talk, more often imitating very young children than with very young children, includes a number of reduplications with shw- (such as kravishwavi for kravik, toe) based on suppositions of the way children attempt to speak (using SH and W a lot). Kankonian adults do not raise the pitches of their voices when addressing young children, however.
When asking alternative questions, Kankonians will typically list the answer their interlocutor is "supposed to" give second/last. For instance, instead of asking, "Can we talk, or do you want to do your hair?", they'll ask, "Do you want to do your hair, or can we talk?"
Kankonians do not have an "inside voice" and an "outside voice"; they will use whatever volume of voice occurs naturally to them at the moment, which is often quite loud. Even at a library there are no norms about keeping quiet. Obviously, however, they will whisper to keep something a secret. Kankonians also use a loud voice when speaking to someone who is way across the room, or in another room, or outside the building altogether, for the practical purposes of being heard. Their voice will get louder if it becomes apparent that someone didn't hear them. A voice may become quieter but more intense to make what is said extra dramatic. Kankonians do not believe that speaking in a louder voice will make it easier for immigrants or foreigners to understand them.
Kankonian proxemics are a convoluted topic, as the Kankonians have no real personal space. Even in the rural regions of Kankonia, people will not step away if another person steps quite close to them. People climbing right over other people to get by is a common sight. However, people will jump farther away from their interlocutor than they currrently are to recoil in fear, and if a Kankonian person becomes angry with his interlocutor, he may step closer to her. If he is already right next to her, he may stay where he is, but he might indicate increasing anger by bumping right into her. Distance relative to where one was standing before can therefore be seen as a defining factor in Kankonian proxemics. Kankonians do not have an orientational symbolism in their communication, i.e. they do not associate having one's back turned to someone as a sign of disrespect for her/him.
There are no taboo topics in Kankonian conversation. Death, rape, child molestation, genitalia, feces, urine, blood and murder are all openly talked about, regardless of the time, place, or station of one's interlocutor. If you ask a Kankonian what STD's he has or how much money she makes, the Kankonian will answer matter-of-factly. There are also no taboos regarding speaking to, or speaking about certain things to, a certain relative (such as a man speaking to his mother-in-law or joking with his sister).
The Kankonians do not see much need for privacy or keeping their conversations private. Someone being offended by a comment from someone next to her while she was making a phone call would be incomprehensible to Kankonians; the Kankonians understand that by making a cellphone call right in front of another person, you forfeit your right to privacy. If a Kankonian wants to keep something a secret (for instance, she is holding a surprise party for someone and doesn't want him to find out), she will move somewhere away from him or go in a room with a white sound machine playing and lock the door. If two people are talking and a third person from whom they want to keep something secret walks by, they will simply stop talking about it. If they are concerned, one of them may ask him, "Mahan ar theshen ham?" (Did you hear that?)
Kankonian insults include such words as karsti (idiot) and veziri (jerk). However, the Kankonians will most commonly either use a political insult, or compare a person to a nonsapient animal. Politically insulting someone includes calling him a devesis, obviously, but also dandis, from the letter dand, the first letter in "devesis". Bungksazidfash, meaning truncheon-wielder, or bungksa for short, is equivalent to "pig" and insults police officers. A synonym is varim. Heshra, from the title for the dictator of Danton, is also very insulting. These terms are equivalent to calling someone a fascist. There are also the terms hainoslass, meaning unity fetishist, and varo, meaning stability fetishist. Animal insults include ar zash phoroish vathazh (you hairy gorilla), ar zash hakuil heyapnoi (you slippery eel), ar zash matel savait (you cunning cobra), ar zash pa*aung az toetshas (you plodding snail), ar zash kluromb az klopfas (you clomping tarpan) and ar zash fermum az boervikas (you hideous tarantula) or ar zash pakadzhoma az boervikas (you hideous pakajooma). The Kankonians would find the concept of "silent treatment" incomprehensible; they believe that if you want to show someone he is beneath you, the best way to do it is to insult him.
Letters
A Kankonian letter has four parts. The first part is the address of the sender, written at the top. The sender's name is included before his or her address. The second part is the opener. The opener consists simply of the addressee's name (there is no word for "dear" in Kankonian) followed by two commas (the equivalent of a semicolon). The third part is the body of the letter. The fourth part is the closing. Normally this consists of the word "azilingo" (sincerely), followed by a comma, and then the sender's name on the same line. However, if a signature is included, the word "azilingo" will be followed by two commas, then room will be made for the signature, then the next line will be the sender's name.
Every part of a Kankonian letter written left-to-right is on the left, except for the address at the top, which is left-justified but on the top right side of the page.
Example letter:
_____________________________________________________Adru Keziri Don
_____________________________________________________1214 Lat na Agna
_____________________________________________________Marsapiya 34.3199
Sia,,
Hai! Hiel tzenethenas hel ar mui Tom me? Emiyait ad is ireras hous ekkhi ad Gomateti azid deir ataden.
Is itrihien a Nolata hel sayupbein zash Randra ad is niwas 5 e 10 mui 15 e 10. Mos wir en els, wir emen vugis hel bad oor pumath. Wan aspen nawetz wir av wan pteugen arig ab sto ash fega tzakava. Muye wir emen layas verimes az as sherm na yara, oor pupoa mui zamalipu. Wir ovayen sii bovokharden pupu somsum.
Kam huwos wir nuisenen er Anshpir Anoko. Ham as durwur na anshpires tri argi er Yaras Tzelshas mui beikulsas er Atapihaki. Met az er wir nuisenen as er Vo'udzhi. Mem vratzen ad wir layas stalsas Tzelshik er dazhuules na wir, goka* av dansugar akranen hes ye gaga ofas mui hhalpeo wan teyeven wan mui wan phalushizen spash soma na Randra! Wir shwanetzen uhu ad akkukhu helesit Na-Issadzhi, az er wir phoren saphavas. Az shaiyi*es os pirsenen as venit!
Derikh wir amauren kam 15 e 10 az as senkti ad higol ad nagar. Is azfuiras az is prebetos ar kam blattreilam! Ayinet ad is woving debis.
Azilingo, Don
_____________________________________________________Adru Technetium Don
_____________________________________________________1214 Agna St.
_____________________________________________________Marsapiya 34.3199
Dear Sia,
Hi! What has been going on with you and Tom recently? Tell me more about the vacation to Gomateti you made.
I traveled to Nolaata with my boyfriend Randra between 5-10 and 15-10. While we were there, we saw a shovel-headed snake. It seemed to taunt us when it stuck its tongue out from its position on the tzakava tree. We also saw a number of the birds that are native to the island, such as a pupo'a and a zamaliipu. We watched a si'i devour a delicious worm.
At night we stayed at the Aanooko Hotel. This is the biggest hotel chain in the Tzelshas Islands, centered in Ataapihaki. The one we stayed at was in Vo'uji. They served us a number of Tzelshan dishes in our suites, although when the bellboy brought out the gaga ofos and hhalpeo, he dropped it and it spilt all over Randra's tank top! We had the joy of going to an akkukhu named Na-Issaji, whereat we got saphavas. Good thing the flames didn't spread!
We finally came back home on 15-10, in time to go back to work. I hope to see you on the twenty-seventh! Give me a call sometime.
Sincerely,
Don
Dialects
Global Kankonian is the dialect taught to foreigners. It is characterized by pronunciation and grammar like those on this page, and by absence of dialect-specific words. It is spoken in places like Khoikal, Spanitz and Kherwudan, and is understood all over the planet.
The Tze*ethik Language
Tze*ethik had differences from modern Kankonian in its pronunciation, in grammar and in vocabulary.
Pronunciation
In pronunciation, the vowel OU was pronounced like a U with the tongue root retracted. Accent was unpredictable, and the keeping or dropping of a final vowel before a suffix is often reflected in modern words:
thothu (tho-THU) + -i* = thothui*
davu (DA-vu) + -is = davis
The PH was originally a voiceless bilabial fricative (/ɸ/), like the F in Japanese "fugu". After Kerina pronounced the PH's in Phoriphio as linguolabial trills, the trend among khemehekas of pronouncing PH this way caught on. With the destruction of devesar, the taboo against breaking wind had been lifted, thus opening the door for a raspberry sound in Kankonian. It is believed the F (foyem) in Tze*ethik was pronounced unlike the F we know today (though exactly what it sounded like is a mystery), because a language with /ɸ/ would be unlikely to have another sound as well that sounded so similar to it.
The Kankonians are proud of their linguolabial trill, and do not want to trade it for a sound simpler to say. For this reason, it has stayed stable despite its phonological complexity.
Pronouns and verb conjugation
Verb conjugation in Tze*ethik was a lot more complicated than in Kankonian. The following pronouns existed:
is: I
ar: you (masculine)
shar: you (feminine)
gher: he
mil: she
wan: it
wit: one of us
deyit: one of you
met: one of them
wir: we
deir: you (plural)
mem: they
And a verb was conjugated in the present tense as follows:
is abamu: I eat
ar abamas: you (masculine) eat
shar abamash: you (feminine) eat (When addressing a plant or lifeless object, people would choose "ar" or "shar" at a whim.)
gher abameth: he eats
mil abamal: she eats
wan abamiv: it eats
wit abamit: one of us eats
deyit abamout: one of you (an all-male group) eats
deyit abamit: one of you (an all-female group) eats
met abamat: one of them eats
wir abamind: we eat
deir abamous: you (all male or mixed) eat
deir abamish: you (all female) eat
mem abamar: they (all male, mixed or inanimate) eat
mem abamas: they (all female) eat
A verb in the past tense looked like this:
is abamib: I ate
ar abamod: you (masculine) ate
shar abamot: you (feminine) ate
gher abamif: he ate
mil abamai: she ate
wan abamen: it ate
wit abamot: one of us ate
deyit abamot: one of you (an all-male group) ate
deyit abamet: one of you (an all-female group) ate
met abamet: one of them ate
wir abamond: we ate
deir abamor: you (all male or mixed) ate
deir abamesh: you (all female) ate
mem abamand: they (all male, mixed or inanimate) ate
mem abamend: they (all female) ate
And a verb in the future tense looked like this:
is abamos: I will eat
ar abamos: you (masculine) will eat
shar abamosh: you (feminine) will eat
gher abamoth: he will eat
mil abamol: she will eat
wan abamon: it will eat
wit abamosit: one of us will eat
deyit abamosout: one of you (an all-male group) will eat
deyit abamosit: one of you (an all-female group) will eat
met abamosat: one of them will eat
wir abamosind: we will eat
deir abamosous: you (all male or mixed) will eat
deir abamosish: you (all female) will eat
mem abamosar: they (all male, mixed or inanimate) will eat
mem abamosas: they (all female) will eat
Around the year 400, verbs started conjugating to show caste. The singular present tense looked like this:
is abamu: I eat
ar abamas: you (masculine, emperor or second-caste) eat
shar abamash: you (feminine, second-caste) eat
ar abamath: you (masculine, third-caste) eat
shar abamarth: you (feminine, third-caste) eat
ar abama*: you (masculine, hazhu*) eat
shar abama*: you (feminine, hazhu*) eat
gher abameth: he (emperor or second-caste) eats
mil abamal: she (second-caste) eats
gher abamekh: he (third-caste) eats
mil abamakh: she (third-caste) eats
gher abame*: he (hazhu*) eats
mil abama*: she (hazhu*) eats
wan abamiv: it eats
Around 600, ara (subcaste) crept in, so that a male over about 25 would be addressed with "ar abamayas" (you eat), while a male under about 25 would be "ar abamuas" (you eat). The -ay- and -u- (as in the words "bahai" and "bulush") were inserted for older or younger people before the person/gender/tense suffix in the singular. People were expected to know all the forms by the time they turned 16.
Around 850, masculine singular forms began to reflect shegeri. "He eats" for a third-caste older male with a high shegeri would be "gher abamayekh-mes", while for a third-caste male with a medium-level shegeri it would be "gher abamayekh-dam", and for a third-caste male with low shegeri it would be "gher abamayekh-lus". There are even records of such gradations as "abamayekh-dam-mes" and "abamayekh-lus-dam".
Eventually the forms became too complicated to remember, and, with the arrival of the khemehekas, they collapsed into the verbs and pronouns we have today.
Plurals
Nouns started out with no singular/plural distinction. Around -2500, shortly after the language began to be written down in its own alphabet, the singular/plural distinction was made. When the distinction first became used, there were some nouns (bwolwu, garakhien, surtei, zherdu, zwanzu) that were plural only, and singulars for them were invented. Other irregular plurals included:
gumu - gumu
khod - khodu
meimas - meimu
noto - notu
pumus - pumu
zanzo - zanzu
Some of the irregular plurals survived, but those listed directly above did not. Shortly after the singular/plural distinction appeared, excerptal nouns began to make their way into the language, modeling themselves after the -t endings of the excerptal pronouns which were already in use. "Babi" (sausage) took the plural "babitos", as distinguishing it from "babas" (concussions) was found to be useful. "Anthoi" never gained a singular/plural distinction.
When plurals and excerptals were first used, adjectives inflected to agree with nominals in number, so that "the brown monkey" was "zatura blan", "the brown monkeys" was "zaturas blanes" and "one of the brown monkeys" was "zaturat blanet". This went into disuse when the age of modern Kankonian dawned.
Vocabulary
Many words now replaced by borrowings from other planets or modern coinages like "estemyulis" existed in Tze*ethik: phopherent (order, now tsha), estid (chaos, now tshoi), amfun (country, nation, now poilang) gaparin (prostitute, now estemyulis), bmoth (beard, now iaskar). Many of these were deliberately changed by the khemehekas. "Bmoth", for instance, had become much used in swearing since beards had gained a dirty reputation of late among the devesis community, so a word of the Chatonians was borrowed in its place.
The word for first was originally "stap". It later became "inam" to become more regular, going along with "bamam", "emam", "holam", etc.
Sometimes archaic words would leave their mark on the language. When "hoth" (alive) became driven out by "semesh", for instance, it survived in the word "hothos" (life).
Appositives
Appositives were originally formed by "az" and the appropriate form of to be: "az eth" for men, "az al" for women, "az iv" for things. After all the present-tense forms of the copula simplified into "as", people started using "az as". Around 1500, "az as" fused into "zash".
Suffixes
The agent ending was originally -fazis, formed by "faz", to do, and the personal suffix -is. The plural was -fazas and the excerptal -fazat. Around 1500, the ending was corrupted into -fash, so "torturfazis" became "torturfash", and -fashes and -fashet became the new plural and excerptal endings.
The honorific o-
The prefix o- could be added before a Tze*ethik word to give the impression that it, he or she was honorable or particularly worthy of respect. "Veksas" (basket), for instance, could become "oveksas". "Owiri" was often heard for gentleman and "omopiga" for lady. These two are still used ("omopiga" now as "ompiga"), but have a connotation of extreme gentility and are not exactly complimentary. The phrase "oyeas na oteinarevor" (soups of the emperor) was routinely used to refer to the lavish soups prepared for the emperor of the Hegheosik Empire on 5-7, Feast of the Soups. The word "soups" was not used much otherwise, so "oyeas" survives as the plural of "yea" to this day.
Profanity
The name of God (Leho) was often used in mild swearing, to denote being taken aback, being overwhelmed or sometimes just a situation where one would want to roll his or her eyes. "Hashu Leho" was one commonly used phrase, meaning "Oh no, God!", that expressed dread. "Leho esid!" (real God!) was similar to saying "Oh my god!" The minced oaths "legho" and "lekh" were often used in its place. Expressions like "hashu Leho" and "Leho esid!" were considered mildly taboo because Kankonians believed that people should not take Leho's name in vain.
Guzhud (the name of the Hazumi concept of Hell) was considered a much stronger word when used in its non-literal sense, but "polite" people used "guzukh" instead. It was often equivalent to the adverbial use of "wicked", so that "Guzhud dani" meant "wicked cool".
A less expected word used in cursing was "thevatz", the Kankonian word for "to torture". "Leho thevatzet ar" meant "May God torture you!", while "Thevatzizet er Guzhud!" meant "Be tortured in Hell!" "Thevatzet Dana!" meant "Damn Dana!" or "Screw Dana!" "Thevatzet zhigher!" meant "May [God] damn Himself!" and was one of the rudest things you could say in Tze*ethik. The minced oaths were "Febasedark!", "Febaset Dana!" and "Thevisitzgheb!" "Zab" is also used to this day as an equivalent to "damn" or "damn it".
The lower body was also an inspiration for profanity. The most commonly used such word was "etil", the Kankonian word for the penis. Something that was "etili" was considered to be sucky (similar to "khatz" today), so that "Ham iv etili" meant "That sucks". "Etil ad" meant "sucks to", so that "Etil ad teinarevor!" meant "Sucks to the emperor!" A person could also be insulted by being called an "etil". "Edil", or, more subtly, "efil" were often used as minced oaths for this.
"Sokh" (testicle) could be used in swearing, so that "e sokhet na is" (in my testicle) was similar to "My ass!" or "My eye!" "Bad-sokh" (testicle-head) was an insulting name for a person. Similar was "sakhu", the word for semen, which was shouted out when things went wrong. "Baphash na sakhu na ar/shar" (enough of your semen) meant that you were tired of another person's lies or games, similar to "bullshit". "Zog" could replace "sokh" and "zagu" could replace "sakhu".
"Ziv" was an archaic word for the vagina, and calling a woman a "ziv" was equivalent to calling her a bitch. "Mopiga-ziv" meant "whore". There were no euphemisms known for these terms.
"Bmoth", which meant "beard", was used in such constructions as "E bmoth na ar!" (In your beard!), similar to saying "Screw you!" "Falskiet bmoth na ar mer wan!", or "Wrap your beard around it", meant "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" "Bmothet ham!" meant "Suck on that!" "Mil anal bmoth" (or even "Mil aneth bmoth", using the masculine form of "have") meant "She has a beard" and was a way of accusing a woman of being a lesbian, something taboo in those days. "Bmosh" was used euphemistically.
As the days of taboos were numbered during the khemehekis/devesis wars, these words (most of them, at least) lost their taboo and became an everyday part of the language. Many of the minced oaths from the days of Tze*ethik survive to this day, as they had become so ingrained in the language, and most people are unaware of their origins.
Borrowings
Many of the words are native to Kankonian, including most of the most common, essential ones -- the words for day and night, in and out, when and here, man and woman, live and eat, I and you. Other tribal languages that once existed before being exterminated on this planet contributed words for local plant and animal species, with a few other borrowings from the classical languages such as phaselen, dankhupiss, dyebnakh, sephardim, and aktash (Ciladian), vonisi keti and poergoi (Povoian), and pastet (Mophasian). Other planets have made their own contributions: from Mensinghi are poilang, wiwang, tratua, hwang, hwangkuli, dzhwatoi, and utoi; from Earth paund, graund, beisbal, hip-hap, and peyote; from Schaza imatzehib, tzin, ethesino, iashan, shasada, basotla, khama, syukass, piledoimau, and iukwat; from Chatony amingi, remiding, Lahu, iaskar, ang oi, tshoi, tsha, mekkhak, and vening; from Kwemos via Gwasouth baka, abalaka, eyi*i, gukpal, and gobisalitla; from Shaleya anayal, phelus, khemehek, dalek, dekahin, dashayal, meshiya, halasadukhul, dephudan, onyepanyemi, and ash; from Tenta bein, piva, and sankatsho; from Kebsabhaz savalya, kagar minyes, khamash, hasid telyafas, tisenya dakhav, vagatinyud, varakh nisep, and kadul fi'im; from Saros khetef, bazap, pavis, dahef, khap oleph, khap dif huzapim, datekhnangezel, bazep, khekad, and kalif dozat; from Javarti silti, natilkha, khendigobisutu, zdeduli, and zhudalamelka; from Bodus malas, nekas du taras, and bodan; from Bt!a lut, moerg, doern, khoerphoerp, poert-hh, moerst-hh, sthe, and shoerhhe; from Danton lyozghor, khunaran, and asaghim; from Cetonia mawuima, Huiwui, Oo-uma, maoho, hoo-u, and hoo-uwa; from Keitel dzhipkhed and zemkiphel; from Adzhetyom zhoergal; and from Querre pesta and midia. Words can come from far-out and unlikely places; korimboga, for instance, comes from the country of Spepele on Junsu, where the ahi tuna is native. Some other Kankonian words are eponymous, such as ratzeyinti (from the cannibalistic Ratzeyinta tribe), sese (from physician Sese Aluminum Mark), huir (from physician Huir Gadolinium Atusa), and hoto (from Hoto, the amateur pilot of thirteenth-century Kankonia).
Phonaesthesia
Native Kankonian words reflect their meaning in their sounds; the phonemes are symbolic. As the ancient philosopher Khardas wrote about the word "phizur" (to sleep): "The PH represents an exhaustion, the blowing of the lips as when one has just been overwhelmed or finished a long and hard day, that precedes sleep; the I represents a prolonged dream, as if pulled out; the Z the otherworldliness of when you are in a dream; the U the coldness and darkness of the night in which you sleep; and the R the vibrations in the mouth when snoring". Such words as "wakhir" (to drink), "bwolwu" (eyes), "ne*et" (nose), "mopiga" (woman), "hilis" (yellow), "karak" (black), "kokok" (jet black or anus) and "shoip" (tomato or pulse) also have a clear resemblance to their meaning that comes from a sum of the phonaesthetic parts. This method is used to this day to form new words, such as "phwash" (windshield wiper).
Metaphors and Metonymies
Fire for rage:
luoikashos (fire-mind): soul filled with rage
tzefratzeo hel tsheleges (rage with embers): towering rage
skyarath (oily rag): a response to an angry person's rage that only makes her/him even angrier
nati ab sedel (made of asbestos): unable to get angry
eshampa lishuwis (to play firefighter): to calm someone down
Water for sadness:
paplos na buito (swimming pool scene): sad scene
iyes na wana (water story): sob story
ophuv (to drown): to be very sad
koriuv (to dry up): to cheer up
shwatz (rainbow): the happy feeling one gets after recovering from a bout of depression
Seizures for fear:
e tzezodoni (to be epileptic): to be phobic
maikros na patlaizi (seizure film): horror movie
ash adul (on the floor): gripped/paralyzed by fear
hohokh (grandma seizure): panic
Light for love:
laimiz (sunny): filled with love
heles na oshmul na o (sun in one's sky): love of one's life
an nos helesyahal e kumes (to have no sunlight in one's room): to have no heart
hami shiyimes ad (to make sunbeams at): to flirt with
noto ad heles (child of the sun): hopeless romantic
e kar ad (to be dark for): to hate
Burning for oppression:
helskendiz (to brand): to stomp on the face of
hel khazides na goilupi (with marks from an iron): downtrodden
papas pai luoi (to lead into the fire): to walk all over
rebretzin (to abacinate): to crucify
Heat for adversity:
ihem tziyimov (to face the heat): to face it down
tze*eth (desert): hostile place
shewadar (oasis): silver lining
adkurush (to cool off): to unwind
usfwiva wuari we (to sweat profusely): to be drenched in pain
A year for life (emenos):
havarmi *ayani (to anticipate spring): to be expecting
veletom na *ayani (vernal equinox): blessed (birth)
*aizi dayarom natzopu (witness/undergo the summer solstice): to come of age
veletom namorov (autumnal equinox): beginning of midlife
morov na emenos (autumn of life): midlife
shehe* na morov (fall of autumn): midlife crisis
arat haphlaphes (to lose one's leaves): to grow old
fega kam seldu (tree in winter): elderly frame
ufoyan she mesemiwa (change as of the weather): life change
gestang na dayarom (solstice holiday): rite of passage
Hearts for life (hothos):
zav tzazhur na (to stab the heart of): to murder
akran tzazhur (to take a heart): to take a life
an nos bomb (to have no heartbeat): to be dead
bam bombes (two heartbeats): two separate living souls
meya-tzazhur (heart-person): living soul
Moving for effort:
euer gumas na o (to move one's feet): to get cracking
euer khogad (to move a boulder): to try very hard
Ar tzoyas radhat we! (You're sitting still!): You're not trying!
eueralieuer (move-rest-move): half-hearted, half-assed
euer bayis (to move the world): to give it one's all
Blood for being exciting and interesting:
shedid rivas (to add blood): to be refreshing
ayin rivas ash (to give blood to): to spice up
rivas-hothos (lifeblood): spice of life
oelrivi (anemic): bland
omen gudum (red face): interesting personality
ayin *eski na rivas ad (to give a blood transfusion to): to breathe new life into
usrivas wuari we (to bleed profusely): to be an artistic masterpiece
Rivas zeshsumen ad bad na is (The blood rushed to my head): Inspiration came to me
Chickens and eggs for sex and reproduction:
ekseti kehas (to lay eggs): to start a family
woaka opomyali (parthenogenetic hen): independent woman
pavarvo na *evria (rooster of the barnyard): alpha male
nabkehi (dud-egg): stillborn child
Multiple births for companionship:
zeratzen kam nam blahatz (to be born on the same day): to be peas in a pod
oor bamas nam*aitzarti (like identical twins): best friends
faz oelbamis (to do [something] without a twin): to go it alone
Mem as bamas tamgib (They're conjoined twins): They're inseparable
pad na furas (set of octuplets): crowd
House for country:
zaso shakti (to run the house): to govern the country
adhashar shakti (to clean house): to fix the nation's problems
sokamis (architect): statesman
behadet (to trespass): to immigrate illegally
Shirts for reputation and stains for blemishing:
hel nephus shtar (with a fine shirt): well-respected
envwetz nephus na helemas/hoimas ad o (to wear one's mother's/father's shirt): to ride on the reputation of one's mother/father
nephus kiul (white shirt): squeaky-clean reputation
eivdewith nephus na (to stain the shirt of): to tarnish the reputation of
furst nephus na Dan zipi kmedu (to drag Dan's shirt through the mud): to drag Dan's name in the mud
yevdua rahat (orange stain): black mark
ploshes mui hales (spots and all): warts and all
Yevdua ogaudas ush (The stain won't come out): I'm a prisoner to an incident in my past that has permanently hurt my reputation
Jellyfish for freedom:
hasusadobethani (jellyfish-floating): freewheeling
kobis (polyp): caged bird
wahatasa (medusa): free man
marb ab kobis ad wahatasa (to go from a polyp to a medusa): to become emancipated
seres kobis ash kmatar (to keep a polyp on the ocean floor): to be ageist
Ketchup for blood and bloodshed:
phalush id tzeyup (spilling of ketchup): bloodshed
tzeyupi (ketchupy): murderous
paplos na tzeyup (ketchup scene): violent scene
korukas na tzeyup (ketchup letters): suicide note
oeltzeyup (ketchupless): bloodless
Gonads for sex:
ayin oopas/sokhes ad (to give ovaries/testicles to): to have sex with
mopiga-oopo (ovary-woman): prostitute
wiri-sokh (testicle-man): pimp
she oopas/sokhes (in terms of ovaries/testicles): in bed
vainatzoopi/vainatzsokhi (free-ovaried/free-testicled): sexually liberated
sokh sheiz (fast testicle): quickie
Metal for money:
lataz (metallic): lucrative
abam mui weishan lataz (to eat and breathe metal): to be made out of money
an phutelo wetzan na lataz (to have a stomach full of metal): to be rich
mehim medozhod (to wear braces): to have money readily available
hel lataz vin (with thin metal): on a tight budget
yukhonzes vainatz (free nuggets): loose change
moyet prou blintz (scheme after silver): get-rich-quick scheme
Origins
How a language isolate like Tze*ethik with vocabulary based on phonaesthesia came to be on the continent of Hegheos has long been a mystery to Kankonians.
The most prominent theory was first proposed by Home Magnesium Hhepia. The Seafaring Theory holds that it started with contact between the Traptos and an unknown seafaring people. It is believed that the Tze*ethik language was created as a creole, relexing the grammar of Traptos. The vocabulary may have come from the mysterious sailors who made contact with the Traptos. Traptos documents record many contacts with sailing peoples the names of which appear only in a few Traptos documents, and the grammar of Tze*ethik was nearly identical to the grammar of Traptos. Such artifacts as sculptures of nesikar, swords with winged hilts and big-eyed statues of people are found in artifacts from the Pikutlik ocean, and are also found in the Traptos civilization. The genes of people who trace their ancestry to the Traptos are also similar to the genes of those tracing their ancestry to the Tze*ethiks, and it is generally accepted that a band of Traptos migrated and became Tze*ethik. Some linguists believe that the seafaring people and the Traptos may have coined a priori vocabulary when creating Tze*ethik.
An alternative theory is proposed by Emsi Dysprosium Shanas. Emsi holds that Kankonian/Tze*ethik is actually a Ktibagik-Athrozold language. This is based on such Ktibagik/Tze*ethik apparent cognates as kelo/hilis (yellow), tebu/dzipu (nit/louse), kali/heles (sun), nen/*ini (dead) and khwoum/gumu (leg/foot). Recurring correspondences, such as Ktibagik K with Tze*ethik H, or Ktibagik N with Kankonian *, are pointed out. Skeptics consider these to be mere coincidences. Variations on the theory, which many consider to be improvements, include that the Ktibagik language was used as the lexifier in creating a relex of Traptos; that the seafaring people spoke a Ktibagik-Athrozold language; or that Tze*ethold languages and the Ktibagik-Athrozold language phylum, judging by the roots in the proto-languages, are actually part of a macro-phylum of languages called the Shuyes-hegheosold languages.
As the centuries wore on, Tze*ethik evolved into several other languages on the continent of Hegheos: Telasik, Khombonei, Khattaziy, Eloershik, Spanitzik, Ladaudor, Arstabwei, Onik, Rezmureinik, Zhordonik, Etheyik, Kabyutanik, Kyedhemonigh, and Atarik. These were eventually replaced by Kankonian as Kankonian became the global language for the planet.
Literature
Much of the first literature on Kankonia was mythology. Prior to the year 1, literature is known mostly from Ciladia (and such nearby places as Mophasia) and the early, pre-empire Tze*ethik civilization. A popular genre in early Ciladia was the ekpasar, a dull genre of linear stories meant to tell to children that vividly described an action increasing in intensity until the very end. As the Ciladian civilization matured, plays became popular. Ciladian playwrights gave us such plays as "Semat's House", a comedy by Kephalen with camaraderie and drunken revelry and "Sitting Around the Water", a story of some philosophers by Gekemas. The Ciladian tradition of writing plays spread to Mophasia, where "Mak-hhariz", a play about a peripatetic hunter and fur trader and the people he encounters, was written; it is considered to be the premiere work written in the Mophasian language. Popular to this day is "Stories of the Cave", a Ciladian collection of stories. It is set within the frame story of Kulesab, a student who turns in a story that the teacher insists is plagiarized, his reasoning being that it is too good to have been written by a mere 7-year-old. To prove that Kulesab really does have a talent at making stories, the schoolmaster keeps him in a cave and gives him several elements (such as a doctor, a stew and the sand dunes of Durben) and has him spin a story out of them. After several assignments and the delightful stories that come out of them, the schoolmaster and teacher are convinced Kulesab is a real raconteur.
The hero epic endured as a genre in the ancient civilizations. The Ciladians had the story of Ubatesh, who saved the Ciladian army from outside threats, both human and supernatural, innumerable times. Tze*ethia had Kaghovar, best remembered for fighting a monster with a septillion heads. Amadia had the epic of Lyepomon, who was born half angel. Across the ocean, the Povoians developed the fantastic tale of Soigöv, who was eaten by a bapra (human-eating sand monster) and visited the underworld, then came back to the overworld.
The tradition of writing plays and poetry spread from Ciladia to Tze*ethia, where the early popularity of "Standing in Ktibagu", Makhamos' comedy about crazy lovers living in the ancient city-state, proved the viability of the genre in Tze*ethia. Other Tze*ethik critics, such as Nakhass and Hezharm, preferred serious pieces like Drenaz's "Kabasenar", the tragedy of a Ciladian king. The immensely popular Tze*ethik play "Demila and San", by the female playwright Vandi, told the tragic love story of a girl named Demila and a boy named San, who are recognized as the archetypal romantic couple in literature. In -384 Kmashand, author of "The Roses", "Kalvar's Spring" and "Takeleth", influenced the direction of Kankonian drama when he argued that every play should reveal something about human nature. Kmashand influenced Luesi's cynical "Garden of Khensil", which made the case that when forced to choose between love and fortune, Man will choose fortune. Despite its downbeat message, it remains one of the best-known works in the Kankonian language today. Immensely popular to this day for its politically incorrect humor, "Intestines of the Duck" makes fun of the Renshans and their worship of Ravathegh. Obros wrote fables, featuring local animals from camels to Egyptian plovers. The ultimate work of the ancient Tze*ethiks is the Tzalath, a tome that to this day is considered holy by Hazumis, Rasaphis and Musefis alike.
After the empire began, literature on Hegheos largely went out of fashion. Writers put their energy into making kamandra scrolls and textbooks. In the seventh century, however, fantasy stories began to come into fashion. Stories about ptorts, dragons, unicorns, buhangems and naxibus were written. "Sogolas", a novel by Thavanda about a vampire, was written during this period. One story well known from this age is "Andy the Anthoi", often used now to teach Kankonian to outsiders. "Keri and Sisela", a novel by Udzhark about the unfaithful wife of a pavwazh, reflected the mood of the empire days.
When the khemehekas first became a force to be reckoned with, the use of psychedelic drugs had a tremendous influence on literature. Kaimul az As Tethesfash's (Kaimul the Slayer's) novel "Candy Sight" started off a string of trippy works, such as Dzhasandra's "Walls Around Me", Faradar's "The Sun Slowly Melts", Laima's "Mango Arrowhead" and Yeshiki Lani's "Being Eaten". "From the Cage Out", by Nobera, told the story of life inside an attic. Pak Gordon's "Fading by the Railroad" was the last major work before the devesas disappeared from the planet.
Around 1500, literature came back into fashion. Zele Stannum Shaniya started the trend in 1514 with "Heights of the Cypresses", a steamy romance novel. Ilsi Europium Khavna was famous for her bodice-rippers, such as "Rapisha", the tale of a young woman from Povoi. Anka Cadmium Sadu popularized writing about other planets with "Burning of the Dragon", a story of war and betrayal set on Kwemos. Late in the sixteenth century there was a fad in which circles of people would sit around and read Geshi Antimony Kem's "Wife and Dowager", a long novel about the day-to-day adventures of a gossipy woman throughout her life that started off the popularity of reading in groups. People read the often bubblegummy novels that were put out that day together throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The next major era in literature began around 2350, when the novelist Larou Erbium Frantz, who put out such novels as "Khasan", "Reasons" and "Standing by the Ash Trees", called for a return of the classics. Novels and plays that imitated the style, themes and traditional setting of ancient Ciladian and Tze*ethik works became a new craze across Kankonia. Critics to this day point to Nuba Californium Sean's "Honey and Raspberry Wine", a tragic play set in the deciduous forests of old Hegheos, and Anizh Copper Anev's "The Bat at My Door", a novel about an old man dealing with death, as examples of excellence in the "nouveau ancien" genre.
In the twenty-eighth century, the modern age of Kankonian fiction dawned. One influence was the literary expert Hesa Osmium Hela, who opined that the characters in fiction should be a mix of good traits and bad traits, being as lifelike as possible. Her thinking introduced a rash of novels and plays that were character-centered, rather than plot-centered: "Eksela" by Roza Manganese Idris, "Wanda" by Bioert Phosphorus Krevi and "The Explorer" by Phaza Indium Mokha. Meanwhile, theme-centered stories, such as Wada Aurelium Shakru's "Holes in the Tunnel", remained popular.
Works published since that are considered classics include "Remorse", a novel about a serial killer by Tipi Dysprosium Len; "A Dance in the Garden", a romance novel told from two points of view by Sari Sodium Magaz; "Emi's House", a play by Tegi Arsenic Yanda dealing with life after a divorce; "Shesi", a war novel by Hefe Ferrum Donnie; "The Spleen of What Is Sour", a novel by Tzera Uranium Paul about a man questioning his membership in the Vigilante Squad; "The Bezist Comes Back", a novel about a suicide by Kasi Hydrogen Rak; "The Moons of Logosa" by Zhoid Neon Kastar, the "king of science fiction"; "The Man Who Evaporated Himself", another science-fiction novel by Gari Lanthanum Khamus about a man driven to insanity by being stranded on a foreign planet; "Twenty Sunsets", a play by Naen Oxygen Zando about clinical depression and drug use; and "The Elephant Returns to Dust", a play about daily life in the streets of Dumang by Oshme Potassium Brani. Of perennial interest is the epic fantasy "Honor Below the Lint", a 4867 Boez Ytterbium Kesi novel based on the hero myths and most fantastic literature of the ancient days, filled with betrayal, evil, love lost and regained and heroism, set in the fictional land of Omaskhan.
Around 5500, literature on Kankonia took a postmodern turn. Entire novels, for the first time, were often composed simply as a series of sensations. Influence from Shaleyan and Bodusian literature gave an alternatingly spiritual and apathetically non-human feel to literature. Other pieces of literature written since can only be understood with the help of psychotropic drugs during the reading experience. When the effect of the drugs wears off, the reader takes some more of the drug and resumes reading. Literature in this vein (whether that vein is filled with heroin or something else) includes "Help Two" by Pare Argon Dan, "Karana" by Ghoda Samarium Lisa, "I'm Paul" by Suno Phosphorus Paul, "A Visit to the King" by Uzba Rhenium Lara, "Computer Science" by Doshi Hydrogen Sharos, "Two Silences" by Loep Argentum Mendri, "Black Orchid" by Aral Titanium Raza, "The Blue Nebula" and "To Be Taken Inside the Lung" by Shoan Nitrogen Thandra, "Laikwein" by Torami, and "The Souls Inside the Praying Mantis" by Yole Zinc Dark.
Popular authors today include Lami Neptunium Maureen, a stream-of-consciousness author; Paez Meitnerium Asal, a psychedelic writer in the tradition of Kaimul zash Tethesfash; Zhaem Germanium Veni, who writes science fiction; Ermi Scandium Gokan, an off-the-wall playwright; Nebu Potassium Gary, who writes stories of war set on other planets; Lima Neon Dabi, a writer of bloody murder and crime fiction; Sapo Lithium Ani, an author of romances between two well-developed characters; Ozik Mendelevium Lori, who writes lesbian romances; Hain Carbon Darm, who writes humorous novels; Mene Tungsten Sharma, a graphic novel writer; and Mano Stannum Hairi, who writes epic fantasy stories set in galaxies far away from Lehola or other known galaxies, most notably the Red Veil series.
Popular poets include Sakhawas, Imadari, Zauthin, Vundi, Zhani of Dhalatz, Elek Dysprosium Gana, Sedi Arsenic Bokhra, Meeth Ununpentium Abra, Kolo Meitnerium Rahend, Sapa Indium Helesh, Tepo Xenon Gedam, File Ferrum Thayana and Ghezhu Platinum Nashisha.
One Kankonian form of poetry is the philhigolfash. ("Phil" is the Ciladian word for eight, and "higol" means to return, so: eight-returner.) The first line has eight syllables; the next six lines have sixteen syllables each; and the number of syllables returns to eight in the last line:
Av mimi hesias ad is
Wan rezimas openg wan im waherar fuiras trisha* fas
Fas azid wir hauesen spyu zhiwir mos gotapis na is
Rei wir ailisen kalui, am rei argas insitz aen
Umbe is payoas hous blatzas azid wan fuiras trisha*
Yerat is dash kashositrihias shemebetes na foerd
Na gasi bulush ye ad dege id em id omen na wan
Er mimi fuiras e meshas?
Translation:
When Mom speaks to me
She sounds as if she wants frettingly to bring something back
Something we knew between us during my childhood
Then we lived together, but then there was much conflict
Now I think about the days she wants to bring back
Immediately I just think back to the power relationships
Of looking down to avoid seeing her face
Why does Mom want to be my friend?
(In the above poem, "fuiras" is pronounced as two syllables, and "na is" as two separate syllables.)
A palindromic poem, or palindroem (tesasuya in Kankonian), is a poem in which the first line is the same as the last line, the second line is the same as the penultimate line, the third line is the same as the antepenultimate line, and so on. Palindroems may either have an odd number of lines (with one line in the center) or an even number of lines (with one line twice in a row). Here is an odd-lined palindroem:
Is heyess ovai id ayames er lates
Ayam huwos kuduas ash phukadri mos meshas kernan
Khil is ayames as haug
Is novoss khil ayam mos wan hushupas ab ratem
Khil is ayames as haug
Ayam huwos kuduas ash phukadri mos meshas kernan
Is heyess ovai id ayames er lates
Translation:
I like watching owls on the streets
A barn owl perches on a phykadri, looking stern
Catching owls is fun
I try to catch the owl as it swoops down from the ratem
Catching owls is fun
A barn owl perches on a phykadri, looking stern
I like watching owls on the streets
Gestures
Briefly lifting the head to the top, with the Adam's apple clearly seen, indicates an answer of yes (the haiyi). Briefly lowering the head, reaching the chin to the neck, indicates no (the baki). The display of the palm is a greeting. To tell a person or animal to come here, stick out the index finger of one hand, with the hand pulled out some distance from the body, and move the hand towards the chest. A cupped hand with the concavity on top indicates that you like something; turned upside-down it indicates that you dislike something. The placement of a fist behind the derrière is a clue that someone needs to use the restroom. When you alternatingly move one fist above and back on top of the other, you are pantomiming smoking on a bong and mean that someone must be on drugs ("smoking something"). Pulling the fist up as if pulling on a string means peace. Forming the hand into a shape of a hole (the Japanese "money" sign) is asking for the time. To indicate that you are doing well, point one index finger to the sky; to indicate that you are doing badly, point one index finger to the ground. Forming the hand into the shape of the letter dand stands for "devesis", and is used for foreign enemies (such as the Dantonese and Kebsabhazians) who are perceived as being conservative.
Click here for a classification of all the languages of Kankonia.
Click here to learn more about the Lehola galaxy as a whole.
List of glossing abbreviations used on this page
1e - first person excerptal
1p - first person plural
1s - first person singular
2e - second person excerptal
2p - second person plural
2s - second person singular
3e - third person excerptal
3p - third person plural
3s - third person singular
ADV - adverb
ALT - alternative question
APPOS - appositive
BE - be (copula or locative)
CNTR - contrastive
COMP - comparative
COMPCOMP - increasing comparative or contrastive
EQC - embedded question conjunction
EXCPT - excerptal
FRAC - fractional part
FUT - future tense
IMPRTV - imperative mood
LOC - locative
NEG - negative
ORD - ordinal number
OSH - osh-particle (repeated adjective)
PL - plural
PREP-ADV - prepositional adverb
PROG - progressive aspect
PRS - present tense
PST - past tense
PSV - passive voice
Q - question
RECP - reciprocal
REFL - reflexive
REL - relative
REL-ACC - relative (object)
STAG - stagnative tense
SUBL - sublative
SUPL - superlative
VA - va-particle
VOC - vocative
Kankonian - English
A B D E F G H I K L * M N O P R S T U V W Y Z
English - Kankonian
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
This page courtesy of Khemehekis. Write to
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