Prerequisite: Lesson 4.
New words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cok | many, much |
One word. The rest of this lesson needs no new vocabulary at all.
Say it twice
To say “more than one”, say the noun twice with a hyphen between.
| One | More than one |
|---|---|
| anak | anak-anak |
| ruma | ruma-ruma |
| rafiki | rafiki-rafiki |
| doktor | doktor-doktor |
Nothing is added. Nothing inside the word changes. There is no word in Amadunia this does not work on.
In a sentence
| Amadunia | English |
|---|---|
| Anak-anak kula pan. | The children eat bread. |
| Mi kan ruma-ruma. | I see houses. |
| Rafiki-rafiki suda lai. | The friends came. |
| Doktor-doktor saufa sema. | The doctors will speak. |
When you already said how many
If there is a number, do not double the noun. The number already told everyone.
| Amadunia | English |
|---|---|
| tri anak | three children |
| du ruma | two houses |
| cok rafiki | many friends |
| des doktor | ten doctors |
So: anak-anak or tri anak — never tri anak-anak.
When you do not need it at all
A plain noun is neither singular nor plural — it is just the thing. Mi kan anak is “I see a child” or “I see children”, whichever is obvious from where you are. Double the noun only when the “more than one” actually matters and nothing else in the sentence says it.
A conversation
— Yu suda kan anak-anak? — Ya. Tri anak. Anak-anak keci! — Rafiki-rafiki lai? — Cok rafiki saufa lai.
Did you see the children? — Yes. Three children. The children are small! — Are the friends coming? — Many friends will come.
Practice
- Anak-anak nomu akua. — The children drink water.
- Mi kan du sol? — Do I see two suns?
- Rafiki-rafiki suda kula. — The friends ate.
- Cok din, cok rat. — Many days, many nights.
- Doktor bil ruma-ruma. — The doctor knows the houses.
What you can already say
Five lessons, 57 roots. Past, present, future; one thing or many; and a grammar in which no word has ever changed its shape.