Coordinating ken

Joining People and Things

Level 1

Put ken between two members; in longer lists, use it before the last member or between successive members.

How It Works

Place ken between parallel words or phrases. Common nouns can share a marker, as in ti asin ken asukar, “the salt and sugar.” Coordinated personal names can each retain ni. Longer lists permit the connector before the last member or between successive members.

It also joins clauses of equal rank. Each clause retains its predicate and required participant marking. The connector itself has no person or number endings; reciprocal and pluralizing verbs have their own participant requirements.

Compare ni Rosa ken ni Tomas, “Rosa and Tomas,” with recipient ken ni Tomas after a giving verb. The first coordinates names; the second introduces a personal oblique participant.

Examples (3)

  1. ti asin ken asukar

    the salt and sugar

    Noun-phrase fragment with a shared marker.

  2. ni Rosa ken ni Tomas

    Rosa and Tomas

    Coordinated personal-name fragment.

  3. Nagawid ni Rosa ken nagsangit ni Tomas.

    Rosa went home and Tomas cried.

    The two clauses name separate actors.