Ah Oka

Ah Oka
‘ā ōka
Pronunciation	[ʔaː oːka]
Created by	Jukethatbox
Date	2024
Ethnicity	Tipu Oka
Native speakers	1,000 (2026)
Language family	Sinatolean Hauhau Ah Oka
Early forms	Proto-Sinatolean Himé Hauhau
Writing system	Latin

Ah Oka (‘ā ōka [ʔaː oːka]) is a Sinatolean Hauhau language spoken on Ka Oka (kā ōka) island in the Nelahgan Islands. It is the most spoken descendant of the ancient Hau-Hau language, with around 1,000 speakers as of 2026. The Hau-Hau branch was the first Sinatolean language branch to diverge with the arrival of the T'pu Hau people on the Pukahau Archipelago of the Nelahgans.

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p	t	k	ʔ
Nasal	m	n
Approximant	w	l

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i iː	u uː
Mid		o oː
Open	a aː

Phonotactics

Ah Oka's syllable structure is strictly (C)V(k); /k/ is the only consonant that can appear in coda positions, and only in word-final positions. It appears in a fair amount of words however, such as tāk "young, new".

Grammar

Articles

Number

Ah Oka preserves the pu plural article from Hau-Hau, which itself its derived from the Proto-Sinatolean *-pu- infix. Singularity is not inflected.

Demonstrative

Ah Oka has four demonstrative pronouns, which act as articles.

	Singular	Plural
This	ti	tī
That	tu	tū

Personal pronouns

Singular ersonal pronouns in Ah Oka have ergative-absolutive alignment; this is believed to have been preserved from all the way back in Proto-Sinatolean, though it was dropped in all other Sinatolean descendant languages.

		Singular		Plural
		ergative	absolutive
First person		la	lō	pula
Second person		ki	‘ā	puā
Third person	inanimate	mi	mā/ mō	pumi
	animate			mā‘a

Example texts

Swadesh

No.	English	Ah Oka
0	Ah Oka	‘ā ōka
1	I	la
2	you (singular)	ki
3	he	mi
4	we	pula
5	you (plural)	puā
6	they	mā‘a
7	this	ti
8	that	tu
9	here	ti kā
10	there	tu kā
11	who	mūa
12	what	mū mi
13	where	mū kā
14	when	mū tī‘a
15	how	mū ‘um
16	not	‘o
17	all	kūkū
18	many	kū
19	some	‘o kū
20	few	‘o kū
21	other	‘o ti
22	one	nuk
23	two	pana
24	three	nau
25	four	‘owok
26	five	‘in‘a
27	big	pō
28	long	pō
29	wide	tiki
30	thick
31	heavy
32	small
33	short
34	narrow
35	thin
36	woman
37	man (adult male)
38	human being
39	child
40	wife
41	husband
42	mother
43	father
44	animal
45	fish
46	bird
47	dog
48	louse
49	snake
50	worm
51	tree
52	forest
53	stick
54	fruit
55	seed
56	leaf
57	root
58	bark
59	flower
60	grass
61	rope
62	skin
63	meat
64	blood
65	bone
66	fat
67	egg
68	horn
69	tail
70	feather
71	hair
72	head
73	ear
74	eye
75	nose
76	mouth
77	tooth
78	tongue
79	fingernail
80	foot
81	leg
82	knee
83	hand
84	wing
85	belly
86	guts
87	neck
88	back
89	breast
90	heart
91	liver
92	drink
93	eat
94	bite
95	suck
96	spit
97	vomit
98	blow
99	breathe
100	laugh
101	see
102	hear
103	know
104	think
105	smell
106	fear
107	sleep
108	live
109	die
110	kill
111	fight
112	hunt
113	hit
114	cut
115	split
116	stab
117	scratch
118	dig
119	swim
120	fly
121	walk
122	come
123	lie
124	sit
125	stand
126	turn
127	fall
128	give
129	hold
130	squeeze
131	rub
132	wash
133	wipe
134	pull
135	push
136	throw
137	tie
138	sew
139	count
140	say
141	sing
142	play
143	float
144	flow
145	freeze
146	swell
147	sun
148	moon
149	star
150	water
151	rain	‘iko‘o
152	river
153	lake
154	sea
155	salt
156	stone
157	sand
158	dust
159	earth
160	cloud
161	fog
162	sky
163	wind
164	snow
165	ice
166	smoke
167	fire
168	ash
169	burn
170	road
171	mountain
172	red
173	green
174	yellow
175	white
176	black
177	night
178	day
179	year
180	warm
181	cold
182	full
183	new	tāk
184	old
185	good
186	bad
187	rotten
188	dirty
189	straight
190	round
191	sharp
192	dull
193	smooth
194	wet
195	dry
196	correct
197	near	kati
198	far	katu
199	right	kā‘a
200	left	kāmu
201	at
202	in
203	with	‘a
204	and	‘a
205	if	‘ī
206	because
207	name