34_Potential Mood

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Grammatical Concept: Ability and Possibility

The Potential Mood expresses the ability to perform an action (“I can”) or the possibility of an event occurring (“It can happen”). Asaxi handles this using a Sentence-Final Particle, wrapping the entire proposition in a mode of capability.

1. The Potential Particles (ken / ken.ná)

Grammatical Function:

• Type: Low Binding Particle (Clause Modifier).
• Function: Potential Mood Marker.
• Position: Appears at the very end of the clause or sentence (Post-Verbal Tail).

Usage Logic:

• Capability: The subject possesses the skill or capacity.
• Possibility: The event is feasible.

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2. The Particles

Particle	Meaning	Etymology	Structure
ken	Can / Able to	Singlish “Can”	[Clause] + ken
ken.ná	Cannot / Unable	Singlish “Cannot”	[Clause] + ken.ná

(Note: ken.ná fuses the negative ná to the particle, leaving the main verb positive).

3. Syntactic Structure

Formula:

[Subject] ... [Verb] + [Potential Particle]

Example (Ability):

To wo shěsonů ken. SUBJ 1SG read CAN “I can read.” (I have the ability).

Example (Inability):

To wo shěsonů ken.ná. SUBJ 1SG read CANNOT “I cannot read.” (I lack the ability).

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4. Interaction with Other Modifiers

Because ken is sentence-final, it stacks after the verb prefixes.

Comparison:

• Permission (Prefix): To wo băhèshěsonů. (“I am allowed to read”).
• Ability (Particle): To wo shěsonů ken. (“I am able to read”).
• Combined: To wo băhèshěsonů ken. (“I can be allowed to read” / “It is possible for me to get permission”).