Kaikiwan

Kaikiwan
káikwi/túlelù káikwi
Pronunciation[kʌ́i.kʷi]
[ʔɤ́ʎɨ̯ʎù kʌ́i.kʷi]
Created byJukethatbox
Date2023-2024
Native toKaikiwi Island
Native speakers5-10 (2023)
L2: 6,000-10,000
Kaikiwi–Tol-Sun
  • Kaikiwic
    • Kaikiwan
Standard form
OPKLC Standard Kaikiwan
Dialects
  • Eastern dialect(Mwípék)
  • Northern dialect(Tùwanòpék)
  • Diasporic dialects
    • Hawaiian dialects
      • Oahu vernacular
      • Kailua Kona vernacular
      • Moloka'i dialect
    • NZ/Kiwi dialects
      • Māori-Kaikiwan Pidgin
      • Te Kaha vernacular
      • Whitianga dialect
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
New Zealand
Hawai'i
Regulated byOPKLC
(Organisation for the Preservation of Kaikiwan Language and Culture)
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Kaikiwan is a Kaikiwi–Tol-Sun language spoken natively on the island of Kaikiwi. It is a critically endangered language with a native speaker population of around 10 at the highest estimates. Very few native Kaikiwans still inhabit Kaikiwi Island; instead, the vast majority of said native speakers live in New Zealand or Hawai'i; the youngest of these native speakers, 78-year-old Mániwamaé, was born and raised in Oahu.

Although there are not many remaining native speakers of the language, the L2(second-language) community is thriving. Thousands of non-native Kaikiwan speakers live in New Zealand, Hawai'i and Japan, with even the most conservative estimates putting the number of L2 speakers at around 6,000, with the most optimistic estimates putting it as high as 10,000.

Aesthetics

Kaikiwan is heavily aesthetically influenced by the Polynesian languages, mainly Hawaiian and Māori, and much of its vocabulary is borrowed from said languages as well as English and Japanese. However, its grammar is entirely unique and not based on any prevailing natlangs, and any similarities are coincidental unless specified otherwise.

Phonology

Orthography

Consonants

Vowels

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

Morphology

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources