Konukuian

Konukuian
Kōnukūna
Pronunciation	[[koːnukuːnə]]
Created by	The Ramosian
Date	2025
Setting	Alt-history Hawaii]
Native to	Konuku
Native speakers	~300 (2007)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Konukuian
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese
Hawaiian is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Konukuian (Konukuian: Kōnukūna) is a critically endangered language of the Sinitic language family that takes its name from Konuku, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed.

Name

The Konukuian language takes its name from the largest island in the Konukuian archipelago, Konuku. Linguists suggest it comes from Old Chinese 東島 /*toːŋ/ /*tuːwʔ/

Family and origin

Konukuian is a member of the Sinitic language family and is related to languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien.

Orthography

Main article: w:Hawaiian alphabet

Phonology

Main article: w:Hawaiian phonology

Grammar

Konukuian, like most Sinitic is an analytic language with subject-verb–object word order.

Verbs

Aspect and Mood

Konikuian verbs can be analytically marked with particles to indicate aspect and mood. Below is a list of common Aspect, and Mood Markers

• Perfective: pref ulu, from OC 矣
• Imperfective: imperf ʻo, from OC 恆
• Infinitive: inf lu, from OC 以
• Intentive: int ka, from OC 將
• Present progressive: pres.prog ʻua, from OC 于
• Imperative: imp a, from OC 做
• Prohibitive: proh mo, from OC 毋

Pronouns

Konukuian has a set of personal pronouns that distinguish person and number, and show different forms depending on their grammatical function (subject, object, possessive). It also notably preserves a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns, a feature less common in many modern Sinitic languages but attested in some Sinitic varieties and other Sino-Tibetan branches.

Personal pronouns

			Function
			Subject Form (Nominative)	Possessive Form (Genitive)	Object Form (Accusative)
Singular (1)	1st (I)		nā (吾)	nāko (吾之)	ne (我)
	2nd (you)		nū (你)	nūko (你之)	nē (汝)
	3rd (he/she/it)		ʻā (它)	ʻīko (伊之)	ʻī (伊)
Plural (2+)	1st (we)	incl. (you & I)	hiʻa (咱)	hiʻa ko (咱之)	nehiʻa (我咱)
		excl. (I, not you)	puliʻa (弗咱)	puliʻa ko (弗咱之)	punēliʻa (弗汝咱)
	2nd (you plural)		nūʻu (你等)	nūʻu ko (你等之)	nēʻu (汝等)
	3rd (they)		ʻāu (它等)	ʻāu ko (它等之)	ʻīku (伊等)

Note: The distinction between subject, possessive, and object forms is similar to some patterns found in early Chinese and some modern Sinitic dialects, rather than a typical Indo-European case system. The possessive form is often constructed using the genitive particle ko, possibly related to 之.

Articles

Articles are categorized into two categories, which are definite and indefinite. The indefinite article in Konikuian is not written but the definite articles has two forms:

• he SG from OC 此 /*sʰeʔ/
• 'e PL from OC 多 /*[t.l]ˤaj/

Vocabulary Comparison

Unlike a majority of Sinitic languages, a majority a Konukuian's vocabulary consists of at least two moras. Many Konikuian words have cognates in other Chinese varieties. As compared to Mandarin, Konikuian prefer to use the monosyllabic form of words, without suffixes.

Meaning	Old Chinese	Konikuian	Mandarin	Cantonese	Hokkien	Wu
'I'	吾 *ŋa	nā	wú	ng4	ngô͘	6ngu
'you'	你 *nɯʔ	nū	nǐ	nei5	lí	1ni
'one'	一 *qliɡ	'uli	yī	jat1	it	7iq
'two'	二 *njijs	nī	èr	ji6	jī	6gni
'three'	三 *sum	hū	sān	saam1	saⁿ	1se
'four'	四 *hljids	lila	sì	sei3	sì	5sy
'five'	五 *ŋaʔ	nā	wǔ	ng5	gō͘	6ng
'six'	六 *C-rjuk	lu'u	liù	luk6	la̍k	8loq
'sun'	日 *njit	ni'i	rì	jat6	li̍t	8gniq
'name'	名 *mjeŋ	mie	míng	ming4	miâ	6min
'ear'	耳 *njəʔ	no'u	ěr	ji5	hī	6gni
'god'	神 *Cə.li[n]	holi	shén	san4	sîn	6zen
'fish'	魚 *ŋja	ni'a	yú	jyu2	hî	6ng
'air'	氣 *C.qʰəp-s	kūla	qì	hei3	khì	5chi
'bird'	鳥 *tˤiwʔ	kiu	niǎo	niu5	chiáu	5tiau
'death'	死 *sijʔ	hi	sǐ	sei2	sí	5shi