The Qakwan Language
Examples, Explanations, and Exercises

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This page presents the Qakwan language in a series of numbered paragraphs, which feature a mix of explanations, examples, and translation exercises.

The translation exercises show either a Qakwan phrase to be translated into English, or an English phrase to be translated into Qakwan. The exercises have a text input box so you can work them directly on the page, although navigating away from the page may lose what you have typed. If you hover your pointer over the phrase that is to be translated, you'll be shown a valid translation so that you can check your answer; note that this is not necessarily the only valid translation. Refer to the Qakwan-English lexicon as needed; use your browser's search function if you cannot find a word, Qakwan or English, by visually scanning. (You may want to keep the lexicon open in a separate tab or window, to facilitate such searches.)

1. Introductory conversation

   Let us begin by jumping into a brief conversation, to get a sense of the Qakwan language. Each of the phrases shown below is given in Qakwan, then an approximated pronunciation (according to an English-speaker's ear), then a colloquial translation (occasionally with a more literal translation).

   1. alokei! yo santoi we?
      ahlokay! yoh sahntoy weh?
      Hello! How are you? (literally, "Greeted one! Well, healthy?")

   2. yi santoi! yo wu tei we?
      yee sahntoy! yoh woo tay weh?
      Fine! And as for you? (literally, "Yes, healthy! Well, regarding you?")

   3. wo yi. yo kei namei?
      woh yee. yoh kay nahmay?
      So-so. What is your name? (literally, "No yes. Well, which name?")

   4. namei moi sau ya Alan w. yo kei namei toi?
      nahmay moy sow yah ahlahn euh. yoh kay nahmay toi?
      My name is Alan. And what is your name?

   5. ya Hamisi Woyowa w.
      yah khameesee wohyohwah euh.
      Khamisi Woyowa.

   6. tei lefau.
      tay lefow.
      Pleased to meet you. (literally, "You honour")

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2. Sounds and letters

   1. The writing system of Qakwan is adapted from that of European languages, most specifically English. However, a few of the letters are assigned to different sounds than their English counterparts. Also, only some of the letters occur in native Qakwan. The others may be used in foreign names or foreign terms that have not been assimilated, but there is no guarantee that Qakwan speakers will pronounce them "properly".

   2. The alphabet is shown below in its natural order. The shaded rows list foreign letters, which are only used in foreign (non-Qakwan) words and names. These rows are also marked with an asterisk *.

      	Letter	Name	Pronunciation
      	A, a	a'ei	father
      *	B, b	be'ei	bet
      *	C, c	ce'ei	mats
      *	D, d	de'ei	dip
      	E, e	e'ei	bet
      	F, f	fe'ei	Fujiyama
      *	G, g	ge'ei	gone
      *	H, h	he'ei	heal
      	I, i	i'ei	machine
      *	J, j	je'ei	measure
      	K, k	ke'ei	kit
      	L, l	le'ei	gallop
      	M, m	me'ei	mat
      	N, n	ne'ei	not
      	O, o	o'ei	vote
      	P, p	pe'ei	pot
      	Q, q	qe'ei	chip
      *	R, r	re'ei	ladder
      	S, s	se'ei	sad
      	T, t	te'ei	tad
      	U, u	u'ei	zoo
      *	V, v	ve'ei	vine
      	W, w	fwa'ei	water
      *	X, x	xe'ei	shut
      	Y, y	kya'ei	yellow
      *	Z, z	ze'ei	zip
      	'	pyu'ei	{glottal stop}

   3. f is, for most Qakwan speakers, a bilabial fricative. But a pronunciation as an English f or even an English h is also heard.

   4. r is a simple flap, very quick and light, as in Tagalog. We represent this as the "d" sound in ladder, which is not the same as the "d" sound in down. This sound seems to be in transition from foreign to a "quasi-native" status in the phonology of Qakwan.

   5. Qakwan has adopted the convention of representing the foreign "engwa" sound with ng, as in English and many other languages. But this is only the sound of ng in singer; to represent the sound of ng in finger, ngg is used, as in Tagalog.

   6. Qakwan makes substantial use of semivowel diphthongs. This chart gives the sound values for those that occur in the language:

      ai as in sigh au as in brow ei as in pay oi as in toy

      wa as in water we as in wet wi as in week wo as in woe wu as in wounded

      ya as in yacht ye as in yet yi as in year yo as in yodel yu as in you

   7. If necessary, uppercase and lowercase letters can be distinguished by prefixing them with nomai- and tinai-, respectively. However, this distinction is usually left to context, and Qakwan does not natively use uppercase letters anyway, except for names.

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3. Written and spoken word forms

   Qakwan word forms are more restrictive than those of English. For reference, the rules for these constraints are given here, though they are best learned through examples.

   1. Lexicals, which are the words that describe the universe and that make up the bulk of the vocabulary, always end in one of the diphthongs ei (for nouns), au (for verbs), oi (for adjectives), or ai (for non-final components in a compound). These diphthongs do not occur elsewhere. The part of the lexical preceding the ending — called the stem — is otherwise unconstrained, except that it cannot contain a semivowel that is preceded by a vowel.

   2. Functionals, which are the little words that join lexicals together into grammatical structures, always end in a semivowel (w or y) followed by a vowel. The very shortest functionals consist of nothing more than this final syllable. The last semivowel cannot be preceded by a consonant, and any preceding semivowels must be preceded by a consonant. Multisyllabic functionals always end with one of ay, uy, ow, or iw, followed by a vowel.

   3. Names are almost unconstrained in Qakwan. They are preceded by a special name particle, and followed by a kind of schwa sound. This sound does not occur anywhere else in Qakwan (except in one contraction, described later), even in words and names adapted from other languages. The form of names is more thoroughly discussed later.

   4. Three final notes: (1) Consonant clusters are less common than in English; (2) Words and names that begin with vowels are not run in to the preceding word, but are pronounced with a leading (unwritten) glottal stop (the sound of the hyphen in uh-oh); (3) Stress is not significant in Qakwan; native Qakwan speakers tend to lightly stress the first syllable of a word that begins with a vowel, but even this is unnecessary.

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4. Basic sentence structure — nouns, verbs, and adjectives

   1. Qakwan sentences commonly start with a subject noun, followed by a verb, followed by an object noun.

      katei komau apelei.
      The cat eats the apple.

      Qakwan lacks mandatory verb tenses, so this sentence could have been translated in a variety of ways: The cat ate the apple; The cat will have been eating the apple; and so on.

      	untei komau tipalei.
      	The cat will eat the apple.

   2. Sometimes, for poetic effect or emphasis, the word order will be altered. In such situations, markers such as yo, the clause boundary marker, or yu, the inversion marker, are used:

      apelei yu komau katei.
      The apple is eaten by the cat.

      apelei, yo katei komau.
      As for the apple, the cat eats (it).

      	apelei yu lukau katei.
      	As for the cat, the chief sees (it).
      	katei, yo yu lukau qifaimwei.

   3. Qakwan nouns are intrinsically singular and quasi-definite. The most common way to make a noun clearly indefinite or other than singular is to use a quantifier like sei, a/an, fei, at least some, or muqei, many; much, although other contextual cues can be used as well. See Numbers and quantifiers for more detail.

      sei katei komau apelei.
      A cat eats the apple.

      fei katei komau muqei apelei.
      Some cat(s) eat many apples.

      Once a noun has been quantified in this way, it can then be used without repeating the quantifier; the quantity and definiteness is understood from context until a different quantifier or context is established. More often than not, definiteness is just left to context from the outset — a good rule of thumb is not to bother about it unless it's important.

      fei katei komau. yo mei amau lei katei. yo mei amau lei.
      Some cat(s) eat. I like those cat(s). I like them.

      	The cat eats an apple.
      	mei lukau sei untei. yo mei kwentau untei.
      	Some dogs run to the house.

      The translation of sei is not always a/an; nor is it always used where English would use a/an, particularly if it does not help to clarify anything.

   4. Adjectives follow the nouns they modify.

      katei komau apelei kyoloi.
      The cat eats the green apple.

      	The cat sees a red apple.
      	katei nomoi komau apelei kyoloi.
      	Some red apples are seen by the chief.

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5. Oblique (indirect) objects

   1. Qakwan has only one particle word for marking oblique (also called indirect) objects of a verb: wu. Its meaning depends on context:

      mei tonau sei katei wu kanei.
      I give a cat to the woman.

      mei myau kampei wu qitei.
      I go to the countryside from the city.

      Perhaps the best translation of wu is with respect to. When wu is too ambiguous, Qakwan uses the chaining mechanism described in Prepositional verbs and verb chains.

      	I give the cat to the chief.
      	qifaimwei takau mei wu katei.

   2. A verb phrase can be an oblique object:

      mei myau kampei wu pensau.
      I go to the countryside to think.

      	The cat eats to grow.
      	mei kunsau kamonei wu tatau qifaimwei.

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6. Copulaics

   1. The copula sau, to be, is treated as a verb, as it is in English. The predicate complement is treated as a direct object.

      lei sau sei katei.
      That is a cat.

      lei sau katei.
      That is the cat.

      There are other copulaic words — the equivalent of become, seem to be, or resemble, for example. They too are treated as verbs.

      lei simau katei.
      That seems to be the cat.

      lei similau sei petwei.
      That resembles a stone.

      	kanei sau santaimwei.
      	The child becomes a doctor.

   2. Adjective complements take the same form as adjectives that modify nouns. Note the distinctions between these examples.

      katei sau santoi.
      The cat is healthy (characterised by health).

      katei sau santei.
      The cat is the healthy one.

      katei santoi.
      There is a healthy cat.

      katei aqau santoi.
      The cat becomes healthy.

      	The apple is red.
      	fei qukei simau feliqoi.

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7. Proximity pronouns and anaphors

   1. Proximity pronouns are used to distinguish which of multiple possible references is being made. (French makes much use of something similar with ci, here, and la, there.) Qakwan has three proximity pronouns: lei (that; that one there; the previously-mentioned), alei (this; this one here; the now-mentioned), and ulei (yonder; yonder one; the to-be-mentioned). Their precise meaning depends on context.

      lei katei komau alei apelei.
      That cat eats this apple.

      ulei kunei lukau alei kanei.
      Yonder man sees this woman.

      These markers, especially lei, are sometimes used where other languages would have used articles, like the or a in English. ulei is also used as a pronoun whose antecedent has not been provided yet:

      mei kwelau ulei:...
      This is what I want:...

      	alei qifaimwei sau fwetoi!
      	I see yonder tree.

   2. Anaphors can stand in for nouns and verbs.

      temei kyau.
      We {inclusive} do (something).

      For nouns, the anaphors are pronouns that function exactly like nouns. (Unlike English, they do not have different forms for subjects and objects, like I and me.) The verb anaphor kyau is actually just the verb for to do.

      	tei kyau lei!
      	We see you.

   3. Proximity pronouns can be used as stand-alone anaphors.

      mei komau alei.
      I eat this.

      mei kyau lei.
      I do it.

      lei lukau alei.
      She saw her.

      Note that the proximity pronouns can be used for any third-person pronoun, including gender-specifics and plurals, such as he, she, them, and so on. (There are, in fact, gender-specific anaphors in Qakwan, used when needed to avoid ambiguity. They are of a compound form that is described in Conversions of grammatical class.)

      	lei sau naisanoi!
      	She wants this one.

   4. Qakwan has a "class" pronoun, qei, which refers to all of a class of things generally.

      mei amau qei apelei.
      I like apples.

      qei katei sau kyutoi.
      Cats are cute.

      qei in this usage is not quite the same as iqei, each; every; the latter is a claim about every member of the class, without significant exception, while the former is a less firm claim about the class generally.

      qei li'onei sau animalei fwetoi.
      The lion is a mighty beast.

      qei pipei sau naitipoi.

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8. Associatives

   1. Most associatives are marked with the particle wa. The "ownee" precedes the particle, and the "owner" follows it.

      katei wa mei komau apelei.
      My cat eats the apple.

      mei komau apelei wa katei.
      I eat the cat's apple.

      The meaning of wa is broad; the best definition is associated with. Though it is commonly used to indicate ownership, it can also indicate description:

      kunei wa fulufei lusinoi
      the man with grey hair

      Verb chains can be used to indicate the nature of the relationship more precisely if necessary; they are discussed in Prepositional verbs and verb chains.

      	lei sau apelei wa mei.
      	The child's mother is sick.
      	You resemble your mother in the face.

   2. wu is used as an associative marker where English would use of with the sense of about or depicting:

      mei lukau fotokaikwei wu tiqaimwei.
      I see the photograph of the teacher.

      fotokaikwei wu tiqaimwei sau okoi.
      The photograph of the teacher is nice.

      If wa were used in these clauses, it would suggest that the photograph belongs to the teacher.

      Recall that wu is also used to mark indirect objects of verbs; these two functions are closely related.

      mei mestau fotokaikwei wu tiqaimwei wu qifaimwei.
      I show the photograph of the teacher to the chief.

      In some situations this can cause ambiguity, in which case verb chains can be used instead.

      	alei sau fotokaikwei wu mamei wa tei.
      	The report on the weather is brief.

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9. Adverbs

   1. Adverbs of manner, which indicate how something is done, are adjectives preceded by the particle wi. Adverbs of location or time are nouns, also preceded by wi. Adverbs usually come after any objects of the verb — that is to say, at the end of a sentence — but may also stand in a separate clause that precedes the sentence to which they apply.

      katei komau wi kwikoi.
      The cat eats quickly.

      katei komau wi mesei.
      The cat eats at the table.

      wi ontei, yo mei komau.
      Yesterday, I ate.

      wi does not literally mean like or at; it is intentionally vague, determined by the verb that governs it. It might be better translated as in the manner of something that is (before adjectives) or in the usual relationship to (before nouns).

      	mei lukau sei qifaimwei wi qitei.
      	I look at the cat happily.

   2. Adverbs of extent, such as throughout and along, do not exist as such in Qakwan. Instead, phrases that intrinsically suggest the idea of extent are used.

      katei komau sei pulei wi totei wa sotikei.
      The cat eats a chicken throughout the daytime.

      katei kulau alonkau kaminei.
      The cat runs alongside the road.

      The last example demonstrates the use of a verb chain.

      I look throughout the area.

   3. Adverbial phrases can be "turned around" in a manner that is quite similar to English:

      tei tansau wi okoi.
      You dance well.
      tei sau okoi wi tansau.
      You are good at dancing.

      This form is also used with anaphors that stand in place of a verb or active participle.

      tei sau okoi wi alei.
      You are good at this.

      Some speakers use the oblique object marker wu in this construction, rather than the adverb marker wi.

      tei sau okoi wu tansau.
      You are good at dancing.

      tei sau okoi wu tansau.
      You are good at dancing.

      The distinction in meaning, if any, is subtle at best. Older Qakwani seem to prefer the wi form, and the younger the wu form. These two forms are also used in leading adverbial phrases; note the use of the comma separator yo:

      wi tansau, yo tei sau okoi.
      wu tansau, yo tei sau okoi.
      At dancing, you are good.

      mei sau fowi maloi wi alei!

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10. Simple conjunctions

    1. The simple conjunctions — and, but, and and/or — are functionals in Qakwan.

       katei komau apelei ye qikei komau tipalei.
       The cat eats the apple and the child eats the lime.

       katei komau apelei qowa qikei wo kyau.
       The cat eats the apple but the child does not.

       Logically, and and but are about the same thing, but but conveys a sense of contra-expectation. So it is in Qakwan as well.

       katei komau apelei qayo qikei komau tipalei.
       The cat eats the apple and/or the child eats the lime.

       The "exclusive or" that we more often use in English is translated as wo ye, which literally means not and:

       katei komau apelei wo ye qikei komau tipalei.
       Either the cat eats the apple or the child eats the lime.

       We will discuss wo in more detail later.

       	I go to the house and you go to the store.
       	untei sau feliqoi qowa katei wo sau.

    2. These conjunctions can separate entire clauses, as we have seen, or words within a clause.

       katei ye qakei komau apelei.
       The cat and the girl eat the apple.

       katei lukau ye komau apelei.
       The cat sees and eats the apple.

       katei komau apelei qowa wo komau.
       The cat eats the apple but not the lime.

       katei lukau apelei ye komau lei.
       The cat sees the apple and eats it.

       Note here that katei is assumed to be the subject of komau since no other subject is provided.

       qukei lukau apelei kyoloi ye meloi.
       The boy sees the green-and-red apple.

       qukei lukau apelei ye tipalei kyoloi.
       The boy sees the green apple and lime.

       In the last example, kyoloi, green, applies to both the nouns apelei and tipalei. An adjective is considered to "distribute" across all unmodified nouns that precede it in a multi-noun clause. If we wanted to indicate that it was only the apple that was green, not the lime, we could move kyoloi to avoid ambiguity, or modify apple separately:

       qukei lukau apelei kyoloi ye tipalei.
       The boy sees the green apple and lime.

       qukei lukau apelei meloi ye tipalei kyoloi.
       The boy sees the red apple and green lime.

       	That man sees the apple and buys it.
       	tei ye mei myau qelfiqei qowa wo kasei.
       	The man and the woman are friends.
       	I have a black-and-white cat.

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11. Prepositional verbs and verb chains

    1. Prepositions are words that describe relationships between nouns, or between verbs and nouns. Qakwan has very few of these, used to mark oblique objects of a verb or to mark association/possession. Instead, many concepts that are handled as prepositions in English and other languages — concepts such as inside of, for, and before — are verbs in Qakwan.

       apelei latau mei.
       apple be-next-to me.
       The apple is next to me.

       katei lukau apelei latau mei.
       cat see apple be-next-to me.
       The cat sees the apple (that is) next to me.

       The latter example not only illustrates a quasi-prepositional construct, but also the Qakwan phenomenon called a verb chain. The object of the first verb effectively becomes the subject of the next verb; the cat does the eating of the apple, while the apple does the "being next to" me. The two verbs are "linked" by the noun between them.

       	The cat is inside the box.
       	mei putau katei atopau mesei.
       	mei sensau lei inau qankei wa mei.

    2. Occasionally a three-verb (or longer) chain leads to ambiguity. In this case wa can be used before a verb to emphasise that the verb plays a more static than active role. For example, this is ambiguous:

       >mei putau katei inau pufei atopau mesei.
       I put the cat in the box on the table.

       The ambiguity can be removed (if desired) by appropriate placement of wa:

       >mei putau katei wa inau pufei atopau mesei.
       I put the cat that is in the box on the table.

       >mei putau katei inau pufei wa atopau mesei.
       I put the cat in the box that is on the table.

    3. A verb chain can also be used in place of a verb with oblique objects.

       mei pankau sei apelei mufau tei.
       I bring an apple benefit you.
       I brought an apple for you. / I brought you an apple.

       mei tonau katei myau kanei.
       I give cat go to woman.
       I give the cat to the woman.

       Note that verb chains operate much like the oblique-object-marking particle wu, but offer greater precision at the expense of being more verbose.

       	mei naitonau katei fenau kanei.
       	I put a lime under the table.

    4. A verb that, in English, would take two oblique objects can be cast as a branched verb chain in Qakwan. Note the placement of ye, and, in the following example.

       mei tonau katei myau kanei ye eqanqau munei.
       I give cat go-to woman and be-in-exchange-for money.
       I give the cat to the woman for money.

       Because katei is the subject of both myau and eqanqau, this is a branched verb chain; ye is needed to separate the third verb clause from the second, so both can share the subject katei. The same thing is done when the verbs are more "prepositional" rather than marking oblique objects:

       katei latau mei ye lukau apelei.
       cat be-next-to me and see apple.
       The cat is next to me and sees the apple.

       Here, the presence of ye, and, lets the subject of the first verb also be the subject of the second verb. We will see another way to express this construct in Subordinate clauses.

       	They are in the kitchen, cooking.
       	katei ye apelei latau mei.
       	You brought the money from the shop to the house.

    5. It's possible to mix chained and unchained verbs. Note the use of wu for one of the objects and a verb for the other:

       mei tonau katei wu kanei ye eqanqau munei.
       I give cat with-respect-to woman and be-in-exchange-for money.
       I give the cat to the woman for money.

       The meaning of wu is, as always, determined by context.

       You put the apple in the box by the table.

    6. Even prepositions that don't seem to lend themselves to reconstruction as verbs are often managed with verb chains by reordering some of the words:

       mei twau estikei kopau pelotei.
       I use club hit ball.
       I hit the ball with a club.

       mei konsafau munei mufau fakansei wa mei.
       I save money benefit vacation of me.
       I'm saving money for my vacation.

       Notice how the sequence of the verbs in a verb chain reflects the relations between the nouns within the verb chain.

       I catch the ball with one hand.

    7. A causative verb is handled as a verb chain starting with kusau, compel; cause.

       tei kusau katei komau apelei.
       You make the cat eat the apple.

       Note that English sometimes expresses the causative with the verb to have.

       mei kusau qikei takalau.
       I had the children go play.

       	I had the children eat.
       	tei kusau mesei yu putau.

    8. A verb chain does not always have a noun between the two verbs. In that situation, the first verb may be thought of as an auxiliary to the second; or the second verb may play the role that a preposition usually would in English; or the two verbs can be thought of as separated by an implicit lei, that:

       mei opau mufau tei.
       I work benefit you.
       I work for you. / I work to benefit you.

       mei opau kanyau munei.
       I work earn money.
       I work for money. / I work to earn money.

       	I help paint the house.
       	tei opau nai'enkanqau tinkaiqei.

    9. Copulaics can be used in verb chains, like any verb.

       mei kwelau tei aqau feliqoi.
       I want you to become happy.

       temei elau lei sau qifaimwei.
       We elected him (to be) chief.

       The cat chooses fish for dinner.

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12. Questions

    1. Not all sentences are statements. Some are "yes or no" questions, which are marked by the trailing marker we.

       tei komau apelei we?
       Do you eat the apple?

       Note that the overall word order in questions is the same as in statements.

       Sometimes a specific part of a sentence is in question. In this case, we precedes the word or phrase in question instead of being at the end of the sentence.

       we tei komau apelei?
       Do you eat the apple? / Is it you who eats the apple?

       tei we komau apelei?
       Do you eat the apple? / Is it eating that you do to the apple?

       tei komau we apelei?
       Do you eat the apple? / Is it the apple that you eat?

       	Do you paint the house?
       	Is it the house you paint?
       	we tei pentau kasei?

    2. The lexical kei, which, is used to mark "which one" questions.

       kei katei komau alei apelei?
       Which cat eats that apple?

       we is not needed to indicate that this kind of sentence is a question (though no harm is done if it is present) because the presence of kei makes it clear.

       Even "which one" questions do not change word order in Qakwan.

       tei pentau kei kasei?
       You paint which house?
       Which house do you paint?

       	lei sau kei apelei?
       	Which apple do you want?

    3. kei is also used in most "either/or" questions. Compare the meanings of these four examples (the first two are essentially the same — both forms are used equally):

       tei kwelau apelei wo ye tipalei, yo kei?
       Do you want an apple or a lime? (Choose one.)

       tei kwelau kei: yo apelei wo ye tipalei?
       Which do you want, an apple or a lime?

       tei kwelau apelei wo ye tipalei we?
       Do you want either an apple or a lime? (Yes or no.)

       tei kwelau apelei qayo tipalei we?
       Do you want either or both of an apple or a lime? (Yes or no.)

       	namei wa tei sau ya Kim w wo ye ya Tim w, yo kei?
       	Which is your mother, Tish or Sue?

    4. kei is used with words for place, time, etc. to form equivalents to the English question-words where, when, and so on:

       tei lokau kei lokei?
       you are-at which place?
       Where are you?

       Because lokau implies location anyway, lokei is often omitted in such a construction:

       tei lokau kei?
       you are-at which?
       Where are you?

       This omission is only permitted if the utterance is still grammatical.

       	katei lokau kei lokei?
       	Where are you going?

    5. Note the use of the adverbial particle wi and the generic preposition wu in the next two examples. This is because the phrases that are in question are considered, respectively, an adverbial phrase and an oblique object:

       tei upau wi kei tempei?
       you arrive at which time?
       When do you arrive?

       tei upau wu kei nalei ye kei motei?
       you arrive by which reason and which means?
       Why do you arrive, and how?

       	When do I go?
       	tei kwitau qitei wu kei nalei?

    6. A very new development in Qakwan is the use of subordinating conjunction contractions (see Complex conjunctions) as interrogative pronouns; this appears to be a recent borrowing from Spanish or English structure, as subordinating conjunction contractions, or relative pronouns, themselves were likely borrowed from Spanish long ago.

       kosayo tei kyau?
       tei kyau kei kosei?
       What are you doing?

       Note the change in word order. Note also that the adverbial marker, wi, is dropped in this construction:

       tempayo mei myau?
       mei myau wi kei tempei?
       When do I go?

       This construction is more often heard among younger Qakwani.

       	lokayo mei myau?
       	Who loves you?

    7. kei can be used with proximity pronouns.

       kei lei katei komau alei apelei?
       Which of these cats eats that apple?

       It can also be used with numbers, and with both numbers and proximity pronouns.

       kei pya'ei katei...?
       Which five cats...?

       kei lei pya'ei katei...?
       Which of these five cats...?

       kei pya'ei lei katei...?
       Which five of these cats...?

       Numbers are discussed in detail at Numbers and quantifiers.

       	kei lei lu'ei katei komau lei pya'ei tipalei?
       	Which two of these cats eats five of those limes?

    ---

13. Attitudes

    1. Negatives and affirmatives, and probabilities and possibilities, have their own markers, which work in parallel fashion to we.

       tei komau apelei wo.
       You do not eat the apple.

       tei wo komau apelei.
       You do not eat the apple.

       tei komau apelei yi.
       Indeed you do eat the apple.

       yi tei komau apelei.
       You eat the apple.

       tei komau apelei mwiya.
       You eat the apple, perhaps.

       tei mwiya komau apelei.
       You perhaps eat the apple.

       tei wo komau apelei mwiya.
       You do not eat the apple, perhaps.

       tei puyo wo komau apelei.
       You probably do not eat the apple.

       	The cat is not here.
       	lei mwiya sau posoi we?
       	yi tei kwitau qamei!

    2. Qakwan uses particles to augment (fowi), attenuate (saye), and approximate or mitigate (wo yi).

       mei fowi amau qei apelei.
       I very much like apples.

       lei sau saye naisantoi.
       She is a little sick.

       mei wo yi qei amau apelei.
       I sort of like apples.

       yi, which we usually translate as yes, is beginning to supplant fowi as the augmentative particle, so one might now hear instead:

       mei yi amau qei apelei.
       I very much like apples.

       	Cats really like chicken-meat.
       	tei sau wo yi naisantoi we?
       	I'm a little sad.

    ---

14. Names

    1. Names are preceded by the name marker ya, and are followed by a kind of schwa sound — actually pronounced like the eu in French peu, and written as the special stand-alone word w. By convention, names are capitalised.

       ya Elen w komau.
       Ellen eats.

       mei kwentau ya Qang w.
       I know Chang.

       	I am Pat.
       	Pat is my name.
       	ya Pat w ye ya Samyul w sau amikei.

    2. In a name that consists of multiple parts, each part can be separated by a leading name marker and a trailing schwa, or the parts can be pronounced as a single long name. The latter is more commonly done, but the former may be done for clarity or upon introduction of a new name into discussion.

       ya Elen w ya Smit w komau.
       ya Elen Smit w komau.
       Ellen Smith eats.

       There are no rules about which component of a multi-part name represents a family name, given name, and so on.

    3. Sometimes foreign names and words are not readily adaptable to Qakwan phonology or word-shape. In these cases they are left pretty much alone, but the use of the special schwa sound of w within the name proper is avoided.

       ya Yahya Abdal-Aziz w komau.
       Yahya Abdal-Aziz eats.

       mei kwentau ya Yo-yo Ma w.
       I know Yo-Yo Ma.

    4. Inanimate names are dealt with the same as animate ones.

       mei kwentau ya Enggland w.
       I know England.

       mei pekau ya Engglix w.
       I speak (use) English.

       This includes company and product names and designations:

       mei qenau ya Toyota Celica w.
       I have a Toyota Celica.

       	ya Kuniko w pekau ya Qakwan w we?
       	The Skymaster is an airplane from Cessna.

    5. Names function inherently as nouns. A noun can take on the role of an adjective by being cast in an associative clause:

       mei sau wa ya Enggland w.
       I am English.

       mei amau kuqinaiqei wa ya Enggland w.
       I like English cuisine.

       mei amau sei wa ya Enggland w.
       I like the English (ones, things, people, ways, etc.).

       However, sometimes the sense that the associative clause conveys — that of possession, typically — is not the desired one. So alternatively, a name can be followed by -oi, which marks it as an adjective:

       alei kitapei sau ya Kafka w-oi.
       This book is Kafkaesque.

       Despite the hyphen connecting w and oi, the two words are still pronounced as separate syllables.

       	That is a Qakwan word!
       	We're learning a Jungian method.

    6. Names can function as verbs by making use of the verb anaphor kyau:

       mei kyau ya Luk w wu lei.
       I "Luke-ed" him. (Literally, "I do Luke with respect to him.")

       Alternatively, -au can follow the name:

       mei ya Luk w-au lei.
       I "Luke-ed" him.

       Note the difference in the argument structure; wu is not necessary in the latter example, since lei is the only object. As with w-oi, w-au is pronounced as separate syllables.

    7. Entire phrases, whether in a foreign language or native Qakwan, can be names.

       ya Lola's Not Here w sau qantei.
       "Lola's Not Here" is a song.

       ya Lola Wo Lei Lokei w sau qantei.
       "Lola's Not Here" is a song.

    8. The honorific marker siwi often precedes names or titles.

       alokei siwi ya Lam w.
       Hello, honourable Lam.

       tankei siwi metikei.
       Thank you, Doctor. (Literally, "Thanked one honourable Doctor.")

       Goodbye, honourable Chief Kuku.

    9. In casual speech and writing, it is very common to omit ya before a name, especially if the name conforms to the minimal constraints of a lexical or a lexical stem: that is, it contains no diphthongs ending in w or y, nor consecutive vowels. Personal names are often shortened and made to fit these constraints.

       alokei, yo Ed w.
       Hello, Ed.

       Tami w ye Lo'is w ye ya Sunei w sau sastei.
       Tami and Lois and Sunei are sisters.

       Even if ya is used upon introducing a name into conversation, as it usually is regardless of the form of the name, it is often subsequently dropped, whether a suitable "Qakwan" form for the name is used or not. This can yield utterances that don't strictly follow Qakwan's rules, but seldom causes real confusion.

       alei sau ya Thomas Johnson w ye ya Toivo Hakkunen w ye ya Li Yan w. yo Tom w ye Vo w sau apwentaimwei; yo Yan w sau tiqaimwei.
       This is Thomas Johnson, Toivo Hakkunen, and Li Yan. Tom and Vo are students; Yan is a teacher.

       Multipart names, such as peoples' full names, or names of businesses, generally do not drop the leading ya marker.

       alokei, yo santaimwei Borden w.

    ---

15. Vocatives, appositives, and other utterances

    1. Qakwan speakers do not always speak in complete sentences, of course. A very common utterance is simply a subject noun, without any verb or object; or an adjective or adverb, without any noun or verb. This structure plays the role of the impersonal sentence in English, as well as an expletive and a salutation.

       apelei.
       There is an apple.

       timei.
       There's rain. / It's raining.

       kanqoi.
       It's hot.

       slaiqei!
       Damn! / Damnation!

       pelikoi!
       Danger! Look out! (Literally, "Dangerous!".)

       ya Tim w!
       There's Tim! / Hey, Tim!

       	fei katei.
       	Look out! A cat!

    2. These utterances can be expanded to a more complete grammatical structure if clarity is needed.

       apelei sau.
       The/an/some apple(s) exist(s).

       sei sau pelikoi.
       It's dangerous.

       We have earlier seen sei translated as the indefinite article, a/an. Here, where it stands alone (not preceding a noun), it functions as an impersonal pronoun, one; it.

       timei sau.

    3. yi is used frequently as an emphasis marker, and it translates many different idiomatic forms of English.

       yi qoloi!
       How pretty!

       sei sau yi pelikoi amulau.
       It's quite dangerous to stay.

       lei sau yi monoi we?
       Is that really true?

       yi kasei!
       What a house!

       	How fortunate!
       	untei yi nomoi!

    4. Utterances are often of multiple clauses. A Qakwan speaker connects one clause to the next with the particle yo, which is like a spoken period (full stop), semicolon, or comma. It indicates that the speaker is continuing to speak, usually within the same theme, but that there is a grammatical break.

       ya Tim w! yo mei kwentau tei.
       Hey, Tim! I know you.

       tei kwentau alei katei; yo lei komau lei apelei.
       You know this cat; it ate that apple.

       Although there is often punctuation of some sort preceding or following yo, it is not necessary to pause there. In fact, punctuation rules are rather loose in Qakwan compared to English.

       ya Stepan w! yo alokei!

    5. Note that the clause boundary marker yo often does duty as a vocative marker, especially when calling to or addressing someone by title; it is also sometimes employed simply as a casual or emphatic greeting.

       yo! yo sakentei! yo sakentei ya Smit w! yo ya Smit w!! yo ya Tim w!!!
       Hey! Sergeant! Sergeant Smith! Hey, Smith!! Tim!!!

       Because the two-word combination yo ya occurs so frequently, it is often contracted to yw, which is pronounced as yeuh; that is, y followed by the eu of French peu. This is the only Qakwan word, besides w, that contains this schwa-like sound.

       alokei, yw Tim w.
       Hello, Tim.

       	yo santaimwei! yo santaimwei!
       	I am tired, Memet.

    6. Adjacent nouns (including pronouns), or adjacent nouns and names, work in apposition to one another.

       mei kwelau lei katei.
       I want that cat.

       alei sau santaimwei ya Lam w amikei wa mei.
       This is Doctor Lam, a friend of mine.

       However, with a multi-noun/pronoun clause (such as a possessive clause), a verb chain with sau, to be, is used; this clarifies which noun or noun clause equates to which.

       falei wa tiqaimwei sau santaimwei fai'opau wi alei lokei.
       The teacher's daughter, who is a doctor, works here.

       Without sau, the apposition would automatically occur between the two immediately adjacent nouns, tiqaimwei and santaimwei, resulting in a different meaning:

       falei wa tiqaimwei santaimwei fai'opau wi alei lokei.
       The daughter of the teacher/doctor works here.

       	The father of the chief, a teacher, lives there.
       	lei sau amikei wa tei sau ya Qo w.
       	lei sau amikei wa tei ya Qo w.

    7. Adjacent identical nouns (a phenomenon referred to as reduplication) convey a sense of endearment. They are separated by a hyphen.

       mei kwelau lei katei-katei.
       I want that kitty-cat.

       The word qiqoi literally means endearing and is also used as an endearment marker. It is sometimes abbreviated to qoi (which can also means anyone's but is seldom used that way, Qakwan speakers usually preferring wa qei for that meaning).

       mei kwelau lei katei qiqoi.
       mei kwelau lei katei qoi.
       I want that kitty-cat.
       I want that dear cat.

    ---

16. Compound words

    1. Qakwan has a simple mechanism for creating compound words out of lexicals. Simply juxtapose the words, with the main word last, and change the part-of-speech diphthong of all the component words except the final one to ai. The part-of-speech diphthong at the very end of the compound determines the grammatical role — noun, adjective, or verb — of the compound word as a whole. If the ai diphthong would be followed immediately by a vowel, that vowel is preceded by a written apostrophe, as a reminder that a glottal stop must occur there.

       tei sau naifeliqoi.
       You are unhappy/sad.

       mei sau nai'esatoi.
       I am imprecise.

       The last component word in the compound is usually the main word, and the preceding word or words serve a modifying role. Note that this is the opposite of the natural order of nouns and their adjectives in Qakwan. Note also that some lexicals are used more often as suffixes, as is shown in the table in Conversions of grammatical class.

       A multisyllabic functional can serve as the final component in a compound (nailiwa, unless), but not otherwise; a monosyllabic functional like yo cannot occur in a compound at all.

       	I am short; you are tall.
       	tei sau tiqaimwei we?

    2. The meaning of a compound is completely predictable from its components. Therefore, the constituent words of a compound, aside from the main one, must have a productive meaning; we cannot simply form compounds out of anything, on a whim, for their meanings are subject to interpretation. We will see later how brand new words, called blended words, are coined from existing words.

    ---

17. Conversions of grammatical class

    1. Every lexical has a grammatical class — noun, adjective, or verb — determined by its diphthong ending. But a lexical can be converted to another class by changing its final diphthong or by combining it with the appropriate affix and/or particle. Here is a chart showing some fundamental common conversions as applied to two nouns, an adjective, and a verb.

       Class	pan-	amik-	mel-	pepel-
       noun / passive agent	panei bread	amikei friend	melei red one	pepelei deceived one
       adjective / passive participle	panoi bready	amikoi befriended	meloi red / reddened	pepeloi deceived
       active verb	panau to make bready	amikau to befriend	melau to redden	pepelau to deceive
       passive verb	yu panau to be made bready by	yu amikau to be befriended by	yu melau to be reddened by	yu pepelau to be deceived by
       active gerund	panainyei act of making bready	amikainyei act of befriending	melainyei act of reddening	pepelainyei act of deceiving
       passive gerund	yu panainyei act of being made bready	yu amikainyei act of being befriended	yu melainyei act of being reddened	yu pepelainyei act of being deceived
       active participle	yu panoi making bready	yu amikoi befriending / friendly	yu meloi reddening	yu pepeloi deceiving; deceptive
       active agent	yu panei "making bready" one	yu amikei befriending one; befriender	yu melei reddening one; reddener	yu pepelei deceiving one; deceiver
       passive quality	panaiqei breadiness	amikaiqei friendliness	melaiqei redness	pepelaiqei deceivedness

       Some of these conversions are seen frequently; others rarely ("'making bready' one"?). Let's look at a few usage examples:

       amaiqei sau impotoi.
       Love is important.

       lei sau kulainyei okoi.
       That is a good run.

       katei amoi wa mei sau naisantoi.
       My beloved cat is sick.

       katei komainyoi sau santoi.
       The eating cat is healthy.

       mei amau qantau.
       I like to sing.

       mei amau qantainyei.
       I like singing (by anyone).

       mei amau qantei.
       I like the song.

       mei makau yu eskusau; yo sowo mei kwelau makainyei yu eskusainyei.
       I apologised; now I want an apology.

       	lei tanei sau yu atumainyoi.
       	tiqaimwei yu amoi yu kilau.```
       	fopaiqei sau matanyoi.```

    2. There is a handful of exceptions to the conversion rules. The first is that a pronoun that is converted directly to an adjective form functions as a possessive adjective:

       katei moi
       (katei wa mei)
       my cat

       mamei loi
       (mamei wa lei)
       his (her/its/their) mother

       qikei koi?
       (qikei wa kei?)
       whose child?

       This form can be thought of as a contraction of wa + pronoun. It is very common. It can also stand alone, without a noun, thus functioning as a possessive pronoun:

       lei sau moi.
       That is mine.

       	papei moi sau santoi.
       	Whose child is this?
       	alei sau moi ye lei sau toi.

    3. The second exception is that a pronoun converted directly to a verb functions as a contraction of the pronoun + sau:

       lau katei.
       (lei sau katei.)
       That's a cat.

       alau feliqoi.
       (alei sau feliqoi.)
       They're happy.

       tau kei?
       (tei sau kei?)
       Which one / who are you?

       These contractions are also very common; they are parallel to what is seen in English (they are happy versus they're happy). Notice that, conveniently, when the impersonal pronoun sei is converted to sau as a contraction, its meaning is exactly the same as that of sau as the copula.

       sei espau okoi.
       One hopes for the best.

       	mau fowi naifeliqoi.
       	lau kei?
       	What is that?

    4. It's common to change the order of ... sau kei? questions around to kei sau ...?, which can then contract to kau ...?.

       kau tei?
       (kei sau tei?)
       Which one / who are you?

       	kau lei?
       	Which one is yours?

    5. The third exception is that mai, tai, and fai are not the combining forms of mei, tei, and fei; rather, they are prefixes that indicate feminine gender, masculine gender, and the collective, respectively.

       taikatei
       tomcat

       mailei ye tailei
       she and he

       ulei sau fai'opei moi.
       This is my career.

       The feminine and masculine prefixes are not common. They are occasionally used with animate nouns and pronouns, as in these examples; seldom elsewhere. It is, in fact, much more common simply to use the three proximity pronouns, even where in English one would feel compelled to use she, he, and so on.

       	She tells him about the cat.
       	lei kwentau tai'alei ye wo mai'alei.

    ---

18. Numbers and quantifiers

    1. Numbers in Qakwan are a subclass of lexical. Usually they have the form of a noun, meaning "a set of so-many". Qakwan uses standard base-10 numbering:

       0 = ma'ei
       1 = qa'ei
       2 = lu'ei
       3 = twi'ei
       4 = fo'ei
       5 = pya'ei
       6 = su'ei
       7 = si'ei
       8 = ko'ei
       9 = no'ei

       Note that the stems of all the numeral words end in a glottal stop. Only numerals and letter-names have stems like this — other lexicals may have glottal stops in the middle, but never at the end of the stem.

       	qa'ei yo lu'ei yo twi'ei...
       	four, five, six...
       	eight, seven, zero, nine...

    2. Cardinal numbers — those that denote quantity — precede their nouns.

       mei komau twi'ei apelei.
       I eat three apples.

       	qa'ei katei komau pya'ei paqei!
       	Here are nine apples and seven limes.

    3. Some words function like numbers, although they don't correspond to exact amounts.

       pokei katei komau muqei apelei.
       A few cats eat many apples.

       pokei and muqei are often used to represent generic plurals when translating from other languages into Qakwan.

       A quantity measured out by a non-quantifier uses a compound with numei (count):

       pankaitwainumei nutei
       basketful of nuts
       basket's worth of nuts

       (Literally, a "basket-count" of nuts.)

       	pokei katei komau muqei paqei.
       	no'ei apelei ye si'ei tipalei.
       	mei nesau tintanainumei leqei.

    4. Multidigit numbers are constructed as quasi-compounds made up of the individual digits, highest power of 10 coming first. Only the final digit takes the word-ending diphthong.

       tei komau qa'ma'ei apelei.
       You eat ten apples.

       mei komau qa'twi'pya'ei apelei.
       I eat one-hundred thirty-five apples.

       The glottal stop sign, the apostrophe, has no sound when it precedes a consonant. It serves only for visual recognition in that context.

       	si'ma'ei
       	eighteen
       	We saw four-hundred-five trees.

    5. There are "multi-zero" words for very large quantities.

       mei komau qa'aikilei apelei.
       I eat one-thousand apples.

       Note that, to compound a digit with a multi-zero word, the compounding diphthong ai is used.

       Numbers of more than three digits are broken into separate noun clauses, and are stated, for example, as "so many millions and so many thousands and so many":

       no'fo'aikilei ye su'lu'si'ei apelei
       ninety-four thousand, six hundred twenty-seven apples

       pya'aimekei ye si'no'mo'aikilei ye ko'su'ma'ei apelei
       five million, seven-hundred-one thousand, eight-hundred-sixty apples

       	qa'aikilei urei
       	ninety million, thirty-one thousand, two

    6. The "multi-zero" words are perhaps better recognised as standard metric prefixes.

       mei qenau pokei kilaikamei apelei.
       I have a few kilogrammes of apples.

       Here are the most common metric prefix words (remembering that they are usually compounded with the ai diphthong).

       pikei = pico- (0.000 000 000 001)
       nanei = nano- (0.000 000 001)
       mikei = micro- (0.000 001)
       milei = milli- (0.001)
       sentei = centi- (0.01)
       tesei = deci- (0.1)
       tekei = deka- (10)
       ekatei = hecto- (100)
       kilei = kilo- (1 000)
       mekei = mega- (1 000 000)
       kikei = giga- (1 000 000 000)
       telei = tera- (1 000 000 000 000)

       Interestingly, the "multi-zero" words for ten and hundred are seldom used within multidigit numbers. They confine themselves to metric prefixes and approximations. They can still be used in ordinary enumeration, but they have an archaic air.

       	qa'ma'ei milailitei
       	seventy-two kilometres
       	five-hundred gigabytes

    7. There are ways to represent various kinds of approximation.

       mei komau wo yi qa'ma'ei apelei.
       I eat about ten apples.

       mei komau fei qa'ma'ei apelei.
       I eat tens of apples.

       	ya Kim w qenau fei qa'lu'ei amikei.
       	about twenty-five years

    8. A quantity out of a larger set uses the associative marker and the "quasi-plural" marker like so:

       lu'ei wa fei filei wa mei
       two of my children

       Compare:

       lu'ei filei wa mei
       my two children

       A word like mostei, majority of; most of, is a quantifier and behaves like any number:

       mei komau mostei apelei.
       I eat most of the apple.

       mei komau mostei wa fei apelei.
       I eat most of the apples.

       mei komau mostei iqei apelei.
       I eat most of each apple.

       	Two of the four boxes are empty.
       	fei wa fei katei fomau.
       	I saw most of the movie.

    9. An ordinal number is created by compounding it with the ordinal number affix, pyoi.

       mei komau apelei qa'no'aipyoi.
       I eat the nineteenth apple.

       Ordinal numbers are often written as shown below.

       mei komau apelei 19#.
       I eat the 19th apple.

       	I see the twentieth house.
       	fwei twi'aipyoi sau fotunoi.
       	the 5th day of November

    10. A number used as an identifier, or label, is preceded by the marker nuya, which follows the noun that is being identified (if any).

        mei komau apelei nuya qa'no'ei.
        I eat apple number nineteen.

        Identifier numbers are usually written as digits, of course.

        mei komau apelei nuya 19.
        I eat apple #19.

        Identifier numbers may be used without an identified noun.

        mei komau nuya qa'no'ei.
        I eat #19.

        Long identifier numbers may omit the "thousands boundary" words.

        telefonaiskei sau nuya su'ko'twi'ma'no'no'ei
        The telephone number is six-eight-three-zero-nine-nine.

        	I live in apartment number sixteen-oh-two.
        	mimau nuya 1! mimau nuya 1!

    11. It's common to omit nuya when specifying dates and times; the fact that the number follows the noun, rather than precedes it, makes its function clear.

        sei tempau kei?
        What time is it?

        itei (nuya) su'ei.
        It's six o'clock. (Literally, hour (number) six.)

        fyaitempei wa itei (nuya) qa'qa'ei.
        It's after eleven o'clock.

        Even the qualifying noun, such as itei, may be omitted if context is sufficient:

        sei tempau kei? yo su'ei.
        What time is it? Six.

        Note the order of the components, from smallest to largest, in giving a more precise time:

        minutei (nuya) twi'ma'ei wa itei (nuya) su'ei.
        It's thirty minutes past six.

        twi'ma'ei wa su'ei.
        Thirty past six.

        Date structures are similar.

        sei asau kei? yo malatei, yo tikei (nuya) lu'qa'ei wa qanwamei wa anei (nuya) lu'ei kilei ye no'ei.
        What is the date? It's Tuesday, the twentieth day of January, in the year two-thousand-nine.

        malatei, yo lu'qa'ei wa qanwamei wa lu'ei kilei ye no'ei.
        It's Tuesday, the twentieth of January, two-thousand-nine.

        	mimei tatau wi itei qa'lu'ei wa luntei.
        	I saw him at seven-fifteen, on the first of March.

    12. Fractions are indicated with the use of the marker mayu. The numerator of a fraction is a regular cardinal number, and precedes the denominator.

        mei komau lu'ei mayu twi'ei apelei.
        I eat two-thirds of the apple.

        If the numerator is one, it can be omitted:

        mei komau mayu twi'ei apelei.
        I eat a third of the apple.

        If the fraction is not out of a unit, but out of a larger set, wa is used, just as we saw earlier with whole numbers:

        mei komau mayu fo'ei wa apelei.
        I eat a quarter of the apples.

        mayu also translates as per in expressions like kilometres per hour:

        koqaitwei myau wi qa'ma'ei kilaimetei mayu itei.
        The car is moving at ten kilometres per hour.

        	mayu lu'ei wa fei apelei sau maloi.
        	Three-quarters of that apple are bad.

    13. A number converted directly to a verb means to make X of; to multiply by X; to "X-uplicate".

        mei twi'au lei.
        I triple it.

        mei mayu lu'au lei.
        I halve it.

        Numbers converted directly to adjectives are discussed in More, less, same, and different.

    14. Decimals are indicated with the use of the marker piwa.

        mei komau lu'lu'ei piwa pya'no'ei apelei.
        I eat twenty-two point five nine apples.

        Note that the whole number part and the decimal part are independently considered compound numbers.

        Pi is about three point one four.

    15. Mathematical operators are represented formally by lexicals:

        ko'ei yu pyusau wu lu'ei kwantau qa'ma'ei.
        Eight added to two equals ten.

        ko'ei yu qisau wu lu'ei kwantau fo'ei.
        Eight divided by two equals four.

        Less formally, operators may be represented with more everyday words:

        ko'ei ye lu'ei sau qa'ma'ei.
        Eight and two are ten.

        	Seven multiplied by twelve equals eighty-four.
        	su'ei fwei twi'ei sau qa'ko'ei.
        	Six minus two is four.

    16. Measurements are expressed using various models. To express an extent:

        mimei sau latoi wi itei wu tatainyei!
        we are late at hour with-respect-to the meeting!
        We are an hour late for the meeting!

        mei sau senoi wi twi'ma'ei anei.
        I am old at thirty year.
        I am thirty years old.

        Or, more simply, where context permits:

        mei sau twi'ma'ei (anei).
        I am thirty (years old).

        To express an excess:

        mei sau senoi qumoi wa twi'ma'ei anei.
        I am old excessive by thirty year.
        I am thirty years too old.

        qumoi can be omitted, although then the difference between a measurement and an excess comes down to the difference between wi and wa:

        mei sau senoi wa twi'ma'ei anei.
        I am thirty years too old.

        An excess, or a sufficiency, does not necessarily require numbers:

        mei sau fatikoi qumoi fesau.
        I am tired excessive help.
        I am too tired to help.

        lau yi naisanoi (sufiqoi) swimanau!
        That's indeed crazy (enough) succeed!
        That's just crazy enough to work!

        Note that the English sufficiency marker, enough, is optional in Qakwan in this context.

        To measure mass nouns:

        qa'ma'ei kilaikwamei salei.
        Here are ten kilogrammes of salt.

        (Recall that a stand-alone noun phrase is the Qakwan equivalent of an English "there is..." or "here is..." statement.)

        Measurements as descriptors use the associative particle wa like so:

        kunei wa twi'ma'ei anei
        the thirty-year-old man

        sei fentei wa lu'ma'ei kilaimetai mayu itei
        a twenty-five kilometre-per-hour wind

        lei polei umoi wi qa'ma'ei metei sau pelikoi.```
        That ten-metre-tall tree is dangerous.

        	tei sau umoi wi qa'si'si'ei sentaimetei.
        	This twenty-centimetre-high box weighs eight kilogrammes.

    See Comparisons of quantity and Comparisons of degree for discussions of numeric comparisons.

    ---

19. Spellings and initialisms

    1. Qakwan is not as fond of initialisms (RCMP and USA, for example) as English is, and will tend instead to coin acronyms, as was done in English with laser and radar. When initialisms are borrowed as such into the language, they tend to be adapted as whole words, roughly following the pronunciation of the contributing language (usually English).

       mei qenau devedei.
       I have a DVD.

       mei kwentau ya ibi'em w.
       I know (about) I.B.M.

       Note that ibi'em takes the name marker because it is referring to the name of a company, whereas dividei has been borrowed as a word. Note also that both have foreign letters in them, so the pronunciation may vary widely from one Qakwan speaker to another.

       On those rare occasions that a Qakwan initialism is needed, the letters are adjoined and pronounced as a quasi-compound word. They are written in uppercase letters, without any intervening punctuation.

       mei kwentau qemikei MEK.
       mei kwentau qemikei me''e'ke'ei.
       I know (about) the chemical M.E.K.

       Note that both the trailing apostrophe in me' and the leading apostrophe in 'e' are retained in writing, in those rare situations where they are written out.

       My sick father needs an EKG.

    2. Numeric identifiers were described earlier, but identifiers may consist of intermixed strings of letters and numbers. These are just all quasi-compounded together in one big word, as are strings of letters and numbers used as model names (as of airplanes or automobiles).

       mei komau apelei nuya ke'qa'no''u'ei (K19U).
       I eat apple number kay-one-nine-yoo (K19U).

       lau ya fe'qa'su'ei (F-16) w.
       That's an eff-sixteen (F-16).

       Note the two different structures: nuya is used to mark an identifier; ya and w are used to mark a model name.

       	numei wa ya Wasp w sau nuya ce've'si'ei (CV-7).
       	I'm buying a Martin dee-thirty-five (D-35)!

    3. Letter names can be used like numbers, as in algebra:

       kya'ei kwantau lu'ei xe'ei
       y = 2x

       ce'ei yu swamutau lu'ei kwantau a'ei yu swamutau lu'ei yo yu pyusau be'ei yu swamutau lu'ei
       c² = a² + b²

    ---

20. Blended words

    1. A blended word, in Qakwan, is a word built from more basic words, but whose meaning cannot be perfectly predicted from its components, nor whose components can be perfectly identified (though it is sometimes pretty obvious).

       sopaqei komau ufei wa kwipulei.
       hawk eat egg of pheasant.
       The hawk eats the pheasant eggs.

       sopaqei, hawk, is a blended word built from the stems of solei, sun, and paqei, bird. Likewise, kwipulei is a blended word built from the stems of kwikoi, quick; fast; speedy, and pulei, chicken; domestic fowl. Clearly, a hawk is not simply a sunny kind of bird, nor is a pheasant simply a fast chicken, else we would have simply used the phrases paqei soloi and pulei kwikoi.

       	mei yu fistau wu ofutei ye inofutei.
       	Where are my socks and gloves?

    2. There are no fixed rules for how a blended word should be constructed, but the pattern of using the entirety of the main concept (in this example, bird and chicken) is common, as is avoidance of difficult (by Qakwan standards) consonant clusters. The only real requirements are that the blended word follow the general word shape rules of any lexical, and that it not be the same as some other word.

       Anyone can coin a blended word. That doesn't mean that anyone else will necessarily understand it.

    3. Note that blended words are not necessarily constructed to represent concepts that can easily be represented in other ways. For example, there is no particular single word in Qakwan for pheasant egg, since the same concept can be represented as ufei wa kwipulei. However, if usage eventually determines that it would be convenient to have a single word to represent this concept, then a blended word — perhaps *kwipulufei or *kwipufei — might arise.

    ---

21. Verb tenses and aspects, and auxiliary verbs

    1. Most of the examples so far have used the English simple present tense or past tense, but Qakwan verbs are actually tenseless by default. They usually take their tense from context:

       katei komau wi ontei.
       cat eat at yesterday.
       The cat ate yesterday.

       katei komau wi amanei.
       cat eat at tomorrow.
       The cat will eat tomorrow.

       However, Qakwan has a sizable set of verbs to express a great many tenses and aspects when needed.

       katei pau komau.
       cat finish eat.
       The cat ate / has eaten.

       katei fyau komau.
       cat going to eat.
       The cat will eat.

       It is acceptable to use these tense and aspect verbs even where context renders them unnecessary, but this is usually not done.

       All tense and aspect verbs are copulaics (see below), whereas other auxiliary verbs are not:

       mei amau komau.
       I like to eat.

       	I want to eat an apple.
       	They will leave.
       	ankei moi tumau yu sufau.
       	The dog helped find you.

    2. More than one tense/aspect verb and auxiliary verb may be used.

       mei kwelau posau pensau.
       I want to be able to think.

       untei pau apenau komensau komau.

    3. A conjunction, like ye, between main verbs distributes any tense/aspect/auxiliary verbs across those main verbs:

       mei kwelau komau ye kwitau.
       I want to eat and leave.

       	lei qentau takau sowo pensau.
       	I was eating and laughing.

    4. Even tenses and aspects that do not use an auxiliary verb in English generally do in Qakwan (when they are used at all).

       mei wo mansau komau mitei.
       I don't (habitually) eat meat.

       Lola pounded and pounded on the door.

    5. These tense and aspect verbs can be used on their own as copulaics.

       mei pau tiqaimwei.
       I was a teacher.

       mei qentau feliqoi.
       I tend to be happy.

       	tei tumau naipotoi.
       	I was tired.

    ---

22. Imperatives

    1. Simple imperatives (commands) are formed by using a verb as the first element in a clause; that is, without a subject.

       komau!
       Eat!

       komau apelei!
       Eat the apple!

       wo komau apelei! / komau apelei wo!
       Don't eat the apple!

       	sau okoi!
       	Look at the moon!

    2. The honorific marker siwi can be used to soften a command or request.

       siwi komau!
       Please, eat.

       Compare:

       mei kwelau akwei.
       I want water.

       mei siwi kwelau akwei.
       I would like water.

       	Please help me.
       	siwi wo fumsifau.

    3. First- and third-person imperatives use the clause marker yo to help establish to whom an imperative is directed. The verb is in the imperative mood because no subject precedes it in its clause.

       temei, yo komau!
       Let's eat!

       tiqaimwei, yo komau apelei!
       Teacher, eat the apple!

       tei, yo komau apelei!
       You, eat the apple!

       	Let's go!
       	iqei, yo lukau ya Lun w.

    4. A softer form of the imperative uses the auxiliary verb qatau, ought.

       tei qatau komau.
       You should eat.

       mimei qatau nwau kwitau.
       Let's leave now.

       santaimwei qatau telefonau temei.
       The doctor ought to telephone us.

       	santaimwei qatau telefonau temei.
       	That cat should not be on the desk.
       	tei siwi wo qatau fumsifau.
       	Let's eat!
       	You all should see this.

    ---

23. Conditional statements

    1. Conditional statements are constructed using an "if-then" structure, in whole or in part:

       katei komau liwa lei sau santoi.
       cat eat if it is healthy.
       The cat will eat if it is healthy.

       	I will leave if you want.
       	mau lisoi liwa tau.

    2. While liwa marks a real conditional, suya marks an irreal conditional, in which the "if"-clause is presumed to be untrue. This is the conditional mood.

       katei komau suya lei sau santoi.
       cat eat if only it is healthy.
       The cat would eat if only it were healthy.

       The condition can actually be omitted if we simply want to suggest hypotheticality for its own sake:

       katei komau suya
       cat eat if only.
       The cat would eat.

       Note that context or additional description can also be used to convey hypotheticality.

       	I would leave if you wanted.
       	kapalei komau akwei suya alei sau netoi.

    3. The order of if-then clauses can be reversed, as in English, in which case we need the verb kusau in a verb chain to serve as a conjunction:

       liwa katei sau santoi kusau lei komau.
       if cat is healthy cause it eat.
       If the cat is healthy then it will eat.

       And the conditional mood is conveyed, again, by use of suya:

       suya katei sau santoi kusau lei komau.
       if only cat is healthy cause it eat.
       If the cat were healthy then it would eat.

       Verbs as conjunctions are explained in Complex conjunctions.

       	If you want me to leave, I will.
       	If you wanted me to leave, I would.

    ---

24. Verb transitivity

    1. In Qakwan, all verbs are transitive, although a verb's object may be unexpressed.

       mei komau apelei.
       I eat the apple.

       mei komau.
       I eat (something).

       mei pensau apelei.
       I think about the apple.

       mei pensau.
       I think about (something).

       (Note that the translation of pensau is properly not just think, but think about.)

       	Fire burns.
       	The sun shines upon the sea.

    2. Qakwan does not have state verbs, as English does with such intransitive verbs as to sleep and to rest. Instead, it has change-of-state verbs, as English does with to awaken and to seat.

       mei sitau lei.
       I seat them.

       mei sufau lei.
       I put him to sleep.

       mei naisufau lei.
       I awaken him.

       alei komaikwei naisantau lei.

    ---

25. Passive, reflexive, and reciprocal constructions

    1. For a transitive verb to apply back to the subject, it can be used with the inversion particle yu to form a passive voice.

       estikei tanyau potelei.
       The stick breaks the bottle.

       estikei yu tanyau.
       The stick breaks. (The stick gets broken.)

       English allows so-called ambitransitive verbs like to break, which is transitive if an object is present and intransitive if not. Qakwan does not allow ambitransitive verbs.

       	lei yu amau.
       	The house is burning.

    2. Passive verbs can be used imperatively:

       yu sitau!
       Sit! (literally, "Be seated!")

       Go to sleep!

    3. Another way to apply a verb to its subject is to use the verb reflexively, using the reflexive pronoun swei, self.

       mei sitau swei.
       I seat myself.

       ya Tiko w sufau swei.

    4. Reciprocal verbs are reflexives that involve multiple subjects acting upon each other. Qakwan represents these in similar fashion to English, by use of the pronoun sokei.

       fei qakei kupau sokei.
       Some girls are hitting each other.

       Contrast this with the simple reflexive:

       fei qakei kupau swei.
       Some girls are hitting themselves.

       The cats are fighting!

    5. Qakwan has an indirect passive, marked with twayu.

       katei twayu tonau.
       The cat is given to.

       This is a rather infrequent construction.

    ---

26. Subordinate clauses

    1. Subordinate clauses occur in Qakwan in many of the same situations as in English. They are preceded by the combination of the associative marker and the clause boundary marker: wa yo. The wa ensures that the entire trailing clause plays an associative/descriptive role to the leading clause. The end of the subordinate clause is marked with yo wa; this is an idiomatic construction — its meaning does not follow from its component words — but it is easy to remember, because it is the "reverse" of wa yo.

       katei wa yo kulau yo wa komau pulei.
       The cat that is running is eating chicken.

       As in English, in Qakwan a subordinate clause can have its own subject, leaving the object (explicit or implicit) as the referent to the main clause.

       katei wa yo mei tonau wu (lei) yo wa komau.
       The cat that I give to (it) is eating.

       katei wa yo mei twayu tonau (lei) yo wa komau.
       The cat that I am given to (it) is eating.

       	The cat that is eating dinner is sick.
       	mei lukau kanei wa yo lokau pwetakwelei.

    2. In Qakwan, subordinate clauses are even less frequently marked for tense than main clauses, but it can be done if necessary.

       katei wa yo komau wi ontei yo wa...
       the cat that ate yesterday...

       katei wa yo fyau wu tonau yo wa...
       the cat that will be given to...

       The tense of the subordinate clause might not be the same as that of the main clause.

       katei wa yo mei fyau tonau wu yo wa pau komau.
       The cat that I will give to ate.

       The car that I like was sold.

    ---

27. Complex conjunctions

    1. We have already seen a few common conjunctions, like ye, and, and liwa, if. Most other conjunctions in Qakwan are constructed on the basis of subordinate clauses.

       mei myau lokei wa yo tei myau.
       I go-to place that you go-to.
       I go where you go.

       kulau wi tempei wa yo tei eskuqau pelintikaiqei.
       run at time that you hear alarm.
       Run when you hear the alarm.

       Qakwan tends to leave out words that can be gathered from context, provided the resulting grammatical structure does not cause confusion.

       fei untei sau fatikoi wi nalei wa yo senoi.
       more-than-zero dog be tired at reason that old.
       The dogs are tired because they are old.

       You {plural} leave when we {exclusive} do.

    2. These "subordinate clause" conjunctions have a structure that can be used in more specific situations, where it is clear that they are simply subordinate clauses like any other.

       mei myau qelfiqei wa yo tei myau.
       I go to the store that you go to.

       kulau wi sekontei wa yo tei eskuqau pelintikaiqei.
       Run the second that you hear the alarm.

       You like the same colours that I do.

    3. There are functional contractions for the more common "subordinate clause" conjunctions.

       mei myau lokei wa yo tei myau.
       mei myau lokayo tei myau.
       I go where you go.

       kulau wu tempei wa yo tei eskuqau pelintikaiqei.
       kulau tempayo tei eskuqau pelintikaiqei.
       Run when you hear the alarm.

       fei untei sau fatikoi wu nalei wa yo tei sau.
       fei untei sau fatikoi nalayo tei sau.
       The dogs are tired for the same reason that you are.

       These contractions are actually more commonly used than the more verbose forms. They are also referred to as relative pronouns.

       	lei sau nalayo mei pau koloi.
       	lei sau yu sowo mei pau koloi.
       	Do you know whom I saw?

    4. tempayo can also mean while. naitempayo means until.

       katei komau tempayo mei yu sufau.
       The cat eats while I sleep.

       mei yu sufau naitempayo mimei kwitau.
       I'll sleep until we leave.

       	Please wait while I eat.
       	We won't leave until you all are ready.

    ---

28. Compound clauses

    1. Utterances may include compound clauses, most commonly using ye, and, or wo ye, or (exclusive).

       katei komau apelei ye tipalei.
       The cat eats the apple and the lime.

       katei lukau ye komau apelei wo ye tipalei.
       The cat sees and eats the apple or the lime.

       katei komau apelei nomoi ye kyoloi.
       The cat eats the big, green apple.

       Note that, unlike English, in Qakwan ye is used between multiple adjectives as well as between multiple nouns and multiple verbs.

       	qikei ye mei famau ye sau fatikoi.
       	Either open or close the door!

    2. If an adjective immediately follows another adjective, it functions as a modifier to it. In English such modification is usually done using an adverb of manner.

       apelei samasoi katoi
       the cattishly yellow apple

       Note the distinction:

       apelei samasoi ye katoi
       the yellow, cattish apple

       alei sau petwei makakoi supwesoi.

    3. A possessive can be compound. Note the presence of the associative marker wa before both possessors:

       mamei wa ya Tom w ye wa mei
       the mother of Tom and me

       Compare with the result if the associative marker is not used after ye:

       mamei wa ya Tom w ye mei
       the mother of Tom, and me

       That colour is my sister's and father's favourite.

    ---

29. Comparisons of quantity

    1. Comparisons of quantity make use of the concepts of more, less/fewer, same amount of, and different amount of, along with a word for as or than to mark that which is being compared.

       mei qenau muyu apelei taya tei.
       I have more apples than you.

       mei qenau lowi apelei taya tei.
       I have fewer apples than you.

       mei qenau quwe apelei taya tei.
       I have the same amount of apples as you.

       mei qenau naiquwe apelei taya tei.
       I have a different amount of apples than you.

       These forms can be truncated if we want to leave some parts of the utterance to context.

       mei qenau muyu apelei.
       I have more apples.

       mei qenau muyu.
       I have more.

       	Here are more horses.
       	tei nesau quwe kapalei taya mei.
       	mei siwi posau qenau muyu we?

    2. Note that mass nouns, like water and salt, use the associative marker wa between them and the comparison word:

       mei nesau muyu wa akwei.
       I need more water.

       Some nouns can function as both mass nouns and count nouns, and the presence of wa indicates which:

       mei kwelau muyu wa empanei.
       I want more pie.

       mei kwelau muyu empanei.
       I want more pies.

       Even quwe and naiquwe add wa before mass nouns, and not before count nouns:

       mei kwelau quwe wa empanei.
       I want the same amount of pie.

       mei kwelau quwe empanei.
       I want the same number of pies.

       	Here is a different amount of salt.
       	tei nesau lowi wa salei wu faikomainyei toi.

    3. Comparison functionals can be combined with numbers. Note the position of taya and the resulting variations in meaning:

       mei kwelau muyu taya pya'ei kapalei.
       I want more than five horses.

       mei kwelau pya'ei muyu kapalei.
       I want five more horses.

       Both forms can be combined:

       mei kwelau muyu taya lu'ei muyu kapalei.
       I want more than two more horses.

       	You need more than one kilogramme.
       	Here are a dozen more apples.

    4. quwe means same number or degree. There are other words for same kind of and the very same:

       mei kwelau kiwo.
       I want the same kind.

       mei kwelau siwa.
       I want that very one.

       mei kwelau naikiwo.
       I want a different kind.

       mei kwelau naisiwa.
       I want a different one.

       And these words can modify nouns as well:

       mei kwelau kiwo kapalei.
       I want the same kind of horse.

       mei kwelau siwa kapalei.
       I want that very horse.

       Note the structural distinction between the next two examples, where numbers are involved:

       mei kwelau siwa fo'ei kapalei.
       I want the very same four horses.

       mei kwelau fo'ei wa siwa kapalei.
       I want four of those very horses.

       	The girl wants the same kind of bicycle.
       	mei lukau siwa twi'ei kunei taya mei pau lukau!
       	mei lukau twi'ei wa siwa kunei!

    5. The concepts of at least and at most are handled using wo as follows:

       mei kwelau wo lowi taya fo'ei kapalei.
       I want no less than four horses.
       I want at least four horses.

       tei qenau wo muyu taya no'ei katei.
       You have no more than nine cats.
       You have at most nine cats.

       	siwi ya Sutohara w qenau wo lowi taya twi'ei kasei.
       	This weighs no more than a kilogramme.
       	There are at least two more kilogrammes of salt.

    6. Multiplicatives are tangentially related to comparisons.

       mei kwelau kapalei pya'oi.
       I want five times as many horses.

       Note how the number is converted directly to an adjective in this usage, and the resulting meaning.

       tei qenau wo lowi apelei mayu lu'oi.
       You have at least half as many apples.

       	We have thirty times as many people.
       	You need at least twice as much salt as I do.

    ---

30. Comparisons of degree

    1. Comparisons of degree make use of the same functionals as comparisons of quantity, but they modify verbs and adjectives instead of nouns. Note the positions of the comparison functionals:

       tei sau muyu umoi taya mei.
       you are more tall than I.
       You are taller than I (am).

       mei lowi amau qei apelei taya tei.
       I less like apples than you.
       I like apples less than you (do).

       lei tonau konsetei quwe okoi taya alei.
       She has as good an idea as he does.

       It's important to realise that when a noun follows taya, it is implicitly being compared to the subject of the first clause. To compare it to the object of the first clause, the verb must be repeated, or kyau used in place of the verb:

       mei quwe amau qei tipalei taya kyau qei apelei.
       I like limes as much as (I) do apples.

       Because the verb immediately follows the comparative particle taya, it is not considered to be an imperative even though it has no explicit subject; rather, it implicitly takes the same subject as the leading clause.

       	I like horses more than you do.
       	kapalei toi sau muyu nomoi taya moi.
       	The cat is hungrier than the dog.
       	alei kapalei amau qei tipalei taya kyau qei apelei.

    2. In comparisons of degree, it's common to omit muyu.

       lei sau fatikoi taya mei.
       he is tired compared to me.
       He is more tired than I.

       mimei amau kapalei taya lei.
       we like the horse compared to them.
       We like the horse more than they (do).

       lau fopoi taya tanyoi.
       she's scared compared to hurt.
       She's more scared than hurt.

       This is not commonly done in comparisons of quantity.

       	This horse likes limes more than it does apples.
       	This bicycle is faster than that one.
       	lau lateloi taya umoi.

    3. The subject, verb, and object in the trailing clause of a comparison may all be different from the ones in the leading clause.

       mei lowi amau tipalei taya nesau.
       I like lime less than (I) need (it).

       mei amau tipalei taya tei nesau apelei.
       I like lime more than you need apple.

       Note the optional omission of muyu in the latter example.

       	fei animalei pesau tempei taya mei posau tonau.
       	I am as strong as you are smart!

    4. The comparison functionals can be negated with wo, just as in comparisons of quantity. Note its position in the phrase:

       mei wo lowi amau tipalei taya lei.
       I like lime no less than he (does).
       I like lime at least as much as he (does).

       	fei katei wo muyu famau taya fei untei.
       	I like Shumi at least as much as I do you.

    5. The second clause in a comparison can be completely implied. Consider this example:

       alei qamei sau muyu okoi taya lei.
       This room is worse than that one.

       Compare it to these examples, which leave the second clause implied:

       alei qamei sau lowi okoi.
       This room is worse.

       qamei lowi okoi.
       Here is a worse room.

       	katei moi sau muyu sufiqoi.
       	lei tonau koqaitwei lowi tinoi wu mimei.
       	I need a bigger room.

    6. Multiplicatives can also be used in comparisons of degree and frequency; in these cases the quantifier is either an adverb,...

       mei kwelau apelei wi mayu lu'oi taya tei.
       I want an apple half as much as you do.

       ... or an adjective modifying another adjective (which English also considers to be an adverb).

       lei sau potoi qa'ma'oi taya mei.
       She is ten times as smart as I am.

       mei tonau apelei wi oftoi lu'oi taya tei.
       I give apples twice as often as you.

       	I pity him twice as much as his parents do.
       	Jim donates blood three times as often as I do.

    7. Superlatives are comparisons against all other members of a set. Qakwan employs sumuyu, most, and sulowi, least, in this situation.

       tei sau sulowi umoi taya qikei.
       You are least tall of the children.

       Frequently the comparison set is implied; the structure parallels that of the comparatives:

       lei sau sumuyu umoi.
       He is tallest.

       lei sau wo sumuyu nai'umoi.
       She is not shortest.

       mei qenau pwei sumuyu tinoi.
       I have the smallest piece.

       A subset of comparatives or superlatives follows this model, using wa:

       lu'ei wa (fei) qamei muyu okoi.
       Here are two of the better rooms.

       alei sau qa'ei wa (fei) koqaitwei sumuyu naikwikoi.
       This is one of the slowest cars.

       Note that the plural marker fei is optional.

       	I want the best room.
       	This is the saddest day.
       	lei tonau koqaitwei sulowi fwetoi wu mimei.
       	mei nesau qa'ei wa koqaitwei sumuyu kwikoi wa tei.
       	Here are some of the oldest buildings in the city.

    8. Ordinal-superlatives follow this model:

       kasei senoi (sumuyu) lu'oi
       the second-oldest house

       sumuyu is optional in this structure.

       	tei qenau qamei okoi sumuyu lu'oi.
       	This is the fifth-worst score.

    9. Another form of comparison of degree — the verb simile — uses the adverb particle wi before the verb simau:

       tei pekau ya Qakwan w wi simau sei naipalakei.
       You speak Qakwan like a native.

       lei qantau wi simau ya Elvis Presley w.
       He sings like Elvis Presley.

       A small change in the structure of this sentence — the removal of wi — results in a very different meaning:

       lei qantau simau ya Elvis Presley w.
       He sings to be like Elvis Presley.

       You eat like a horse!

    10. The consecutive comparison — bigger and bigger, for example — uses the adjective amentoi to modify the adjective of comparison:

        lei aqau muyu umoi amentoi.
        It becomes more big increasedly.
        It's getting bigger and bigger.

        We're going faster and faster!

    ---

31. Quoted and figurative speech

    1. Qakwan has a number of spoken punctuation markers in addition to yo. Quoted speech takes advantage of two of them:

       mei takau (wu) kwaya "mei sau naisantoi" naikwaya.
       I said, quote, "I am sick" unquote.

       It is conventional to include quote marks along with the spoken quote-mark words in written Qakwan. Note that kwaya can be considered to subsume wu, though it is not wrong to include wu. It's also common to omit naikwaya if the narrator of the quoted speech is finished speaking.

       The teacher said, 'Go home'.

    2. Words-as-words, and non-literal uses of words, use the marker pair kwiyu and naikwiyu.

       mei kwiyu "komau" naikwiyu katei.
       I "eat" cats.

       Sarcasm is sometimes signaled by yo wo at the very end of an utterance. This is similar to the recent practice in North American English of pausing after a statement, then appending the word not.

       sukei sau yi okoi wu tei, yo wo!
       Sugar is so good for you... not!

       	I have to 'attack' you.
       	mei yi yu fopau, yo qukei fwetoi, yo wo!

    ---

32. Miscellaneous examples

    In this sketch of Qakwan's grammar, perhaps the best way to present more complex and realistic grammatical and idiomatic concepts is by example, with a minimum of (attempted) explanation.

    1. Pleasantries and colloquialisms:

       alokei!
       Hello!

       alokei siwi!
       Hello, Sir/Ma'am!

       alokei, yo mau ya ... w.
       Hello, I am (named) ... .

       tei lefau (mei).
       Pleased to meet you. (Literally, "You honour (me).")

       wi pasoi.
       Goodbye. (Literally, "Peacefully.")

       namastei.
       Hello / Goodbye. (Literally, "Blessed one.")

       ofei!
       Welcome! (Literally, "Welcomed one!")

       tei lefau.
       Nice to meet you.
       How do you do?

       santoi we?
       How are you?

       yi santoi! yo (wu) tei we?
       I'm fine! And you?

       matinei okoi.
       Good morning.

       tikei okoi.
       Good day.

       noqei okoi.
       Good night.

       wi amanei.
       Until tomorrow.

       we we?
       What's up? / Really?! (Literally, a pair of unattached question markers)

       siwi ...
       Please, ...

       tankei.
       Thanks.

       mei (fowi) tankau (tei).
       I thank (you) (very much).

       mei yu lefau.
       You're welcome. (Formal; literally, "(I) am honoured.")

       naima'ei.
       You're welcome. (Informal; literally, "Anti-zero." Originally humourous or sarcastic?)

       wo impotoi.
       It doesn't matter.
       Never mind.

       mei wo filitau.
       I don't care.; It's all the same to me.

       (siwi) eskusau.
       (Please) excuse me.; I'm sorry.

       tei pekau ya Qakwan w we?
       Do you speak Qakwan? (Literally, "You use Qakwan?")

       mei (wo) pekau ya Qakwan w.
       I (don't) speak Qakwan.

       laya _______ w (wu ya Qakwan / Engglix w) sinifau kei?
       What does _______ mean (in Qakwan / English)?

       kei sinifau laya _______ w (wu ya Qakwan / Engglix w)?
       How do you say _______ (in Qakwan / English)?

       wo fumsifau.
       No smoking.

       yi tikei! yi selei!
       What a day! What a sky!

       pelikoi!
       Look out! Careful!

       matakei okoi wi uqei.
       Nice weather today.

       yi tikei! yo yi tomentei!
       What a day! What a storm!

       alei sau maloi wu tei.
       This is bad for you.

       mei wo niwi posau kyau lei.
       I can't do it anymore.

       suposau mimei eqau ulei.
       What if we tried this?

       lau qumoi!
       That's too much!

       sei wo kapiqainyoi yu kyau.
       It's not clear what is happening.

       mei wo swasau pipayo telefonau.
       I don't know who (it was that) telephoned.

       mei wo kwentau pipayo telefonau.
       I don't know (the one) who telephoned.

       safinafei moi yu atumau fei ankilei.
       My hovercraft is full of eels.

    2. Survival phrases (© TravelPhrases, http://www.travelphrases.info/):

       qamei moi lokau kei (lokei)?
       Where is my room?

       palaqei lokau kei (lokei)?
       Where is the beach?

       alqamei lokau kei (lokei)?
       Where is the bar?

       tuqau lei moi wo!
       Don't touch me there!

    3. Speechifying:

       wu ko'si'ei anei fwiya ....
       Four score and seven years ago ....

    4. Bickering:

       tei kyau lei! yo tau kasaloi!
       You did it! It's your fault!

       wo mei kyau lei!
       I didn't do it!

       yi tei kyau!
       Yes, you did!

       wo mei!
       Not me!

       yi kyau, yo naimosei!
       Did so, idiot ("anti-brain")!

       wo kyau, yo falakei!
       Did not, fool ("fooled one")!

    5. News reports:

       wi ontei, yo matakei okoi yu sisau wi pentinoi yu sowo tomentei eletikoi ye nomoi kupau qitei. yo lei matanyau fei alamei eletikoi ye yu nalau fei kilei kamonei yu nailuminau.
       Yesterday's fair weather ended abruptly when a severe thunderstorm pummelled the city, tearing down power lines and leaving thousands of homes in the dark.

       yo matakei qanqau wi pentinoi fenau 26 selsei yu komfotoi ye aqau timei pesoi. yo lei yu kyau pwaqau itei 17:00, yo ye yu nalau fei ekipei wa fesaiqei uqentoi wa qitei yu tanfau alisau.
       A sudden change from a balmy 26 degrees Celsius to a furious downpour happened about 5 p.m. and left the city's emergency services scrambling.

       yo qa'ei kunei yu pankau wi kwikoi wu ospitalei ya Sunnybrook w; yo lei yu tonau tanyaiqei losoi wa kapei yu sowo sei talupapei wa lu'ma'ei kilaikwamei yu qimtosau fei tupei wa fentei wa qa'ma'ma'ei kilaimetei mayu itei kupau lei wi ya Kennedy Road w wi ya Sheppard Avenue East w.
       One man was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital with serious head injuries after a flying twenty-kilogram sign, ripped loose by the storm's one-hundred-kilometre-per-hour gusts, struck him near Kennedy Road and Sheppard Avenue East.

       yo wu epotei, yo ya Toronto Blue Jays w kanyau nau ya New York Yankees w, yo numei sau si'ei puntei nau lu'ei.
       In sports, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees by a score of seven runs to two.

    6. The Babel Text:

       wi fowi paitempei, yo totei tolakei qenau qa'ei lankei.
       at extreme past, whole world have one language.
       Long ago, the whole world had one language and a common speech.

       yo muqei pipei myau istau, yo lei tofalau kampei nomoi wi ya Xinar w, yo lei nofau alei.
       well, many person go to east, well they encounter meadow big at Shinar, well they inhabit it.
       As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

       yo lei takau sokei wu kwaya "temei qatau faqau kinpetwei ye sekuqinau alei wi akoi" naikwaya. yo lei pekau kinpetwei lilau petwei ye pekau panisei sau petwamentei.
       They tell each-other as-for quote "we-inclusive ought to make brick and bake it completely" end-quote. So they use brick instead of stone and use tar to be mortar.
       They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

       yo wi neqei, yo lei takau sokei wu kwaya "temei qatau faqau qitei wu swei, yo alei qenau tulei wa yo alkansau selei yo wa sowo temei yu kwentau iqei pipei, yo ye wo yu salalau wu tolakei" naikwaya.
       well, at next, they tell each-other as-for quote "we-inclusive ought make city as-for self, well it have tower that reach sky, well therefore we-inclusive be known each person, well and no be scatter as-for world" end-quote.
       Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

       yo qowa ya Atu w myau lukau qitei ye tulei wa yo pipei faqau.
       well, but God go see city and tower that human build.
       But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.

       yo ya Atu w takau wu kwaya "pipei posau kyau lei yu sowo pekau samei lankei, yo sowo naikosei wa yo alei pyanau kyau yo wa sau naiposoi wu alei" naikwaya.
       well, God tell as-for quote "people can do this because use same language, well therefore nothing that they plan do, well be impossible as-for them.
       The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them."

       yo kwaya "temei qatau konfusau alei wu lankei aloi sowo alei wo kapiqau sokei" naikwaya.
       well, quote "we-inclusive ought go confuse them as-for language theirs therefore they no understand each-other" end-quote.
       Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

       yo ya Atu w salalau alei wu totei tolakei, yo sowo alei sisau faqau qitei.
       well God scatter them with-respect-to all Earth, well therefore they cease build city.
       So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

       yo sei namau ya Babel w wu alei, yo sowo ya Atu w konfusau totei tolakei wu lankei wi lei lokei. yo wi lei lokei, yo ya Atu w salalau alei wu totei tolakei.
       well one name Babel with-respect-to it, well because God confuse all Earth with-respect-to language at this place. well at this place, well God scatter them with-respect-to all Earth.
       That is why it was called Babel — because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

    7. Article I of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

       iqei pipei yu nasau sau olotoi, yo ye kwantoi wu lefaiqei ye toftei. yo lei qenau pensaiqei ye empataiqei ye qatau amyau sokei wi sistoi.
       All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.