Oan language

The Oan language (natively called Oalanu) is widely spoken in Konoa, The Oan Isles, East Polynesia, and to a lesser degree, Asian Pacific Islands. It forms the part of the West Polynesian branch of Polynesian languages. It is the only surviving member of the Oanoana family. It spoken by 90 million people across the South Pacific Ocean, and forms one of the official languages of the Polynesian Union. Various accents and dialects of the language exist, the "core" dialect being Rokalanunyanataoalanu of the Oan capital La Rochelle. In Codexian, it is frequently referred to as Oan (which is also the Codexian demonym for the Oan Isles).

Phonology

Script

Main Article: Script of the Oan language

The Oan language is written in a special syllabary. It contains 900 symbols that represent syllables, although only a third are in common use. The script was developed from early forms of the katagana script from Ziseshouwei.

Phonetics

Vowels:

Consonants

Synthesis

The Oan language is a synthetic language. It has derivational synthesis. For example the word silawasaitaka is formed from the phrase 'silence of the flower of the sea' and means "spiritual calm" and is often translated to the Codexian word "serenity". Many complex Oan words are derived from abstract or metaphorical poetic or idiomatic phrases that are fused to create an altogether different meaning.

Relational synthesis is shown in the word Rokalanunyanataoaloanu. It means: The Rock dialect of Oan. The word "Dialect" is a diminutive of the word language. In such words there is often a change in TONE not stress. Fusional synthesis can be found in words such as "hello" or Autenāutu. It is a synthesis of the phrase "I see you" and would be written as "Au tena autu" in expanded form. The "ā" is a fusion of the last vowel of the word "tena" or "see" and the first vowel of autu or you. The sole purpose of macrons in Oan words is to indicate fusion which is often stressed.

In all words that are synthesised from others, the staccato monosyllabic pronunciation is often changed altogether depending on the word, and this distinguishes them from the words they were fused from. Vowels that are next to each other to not always belong to one syllable. In words such as "Oa" the letters are pronounced distinctly, but a hard "h" is used as a transative sound. This applies to most vowels. "y" and "w" are only used as transitional sounds if they are explicitly indicated. When vowels are next to each other but belong to different syllables, they pronounced as separate words entirely, but the pause that is used to indicate word change is absent. This is seen in the Oan word for please Auaeautu. The syllables are in fact Au/ae/au/tu. It may be difficult for non Oans to distinguish between these.

Nouns

Nouns are names of things.

Articles

Articles are neither definite nor indefinite. They indicated various things:

• The article "u" indicates a single person, eg. u loanu (boy)
• The article "ki" indicates more than one person, eg. ki loanu (boys)
• The article "i" indicates a non-person, eg. i reatu (island)
• The article "ti" indicates more than one non-person, eg. ti reatu (islands)
• The article "ku" indicates characteristics typically associated with a particular thing or person, eg. ku manu (manhood)

Locative

Discussed in the section on Prepositions.

Possessive

The word "ta" is the equivalent of the word "of" and is used for both nouns and pronouns to indicate possession. The word "ta" is placed after the word that is being possessed.

Verbs

Verbs are states of being. They hace three tenses: past, future and present. The ordinary tense is the present tense. They are simple eg. Ti manu haha (The men laugh). When the article of the subject precedes the verb, it functions like an auxiliary verb, eg. Ti manu ti tinini (The men are many). The second tense is the past tense. "-ile" is suffixed to the verb to indicate the past tense and the same article that precedes the noun, precedes the verb and functions like an auxiliary verb such as "was" or "did", eg. Ti manu ti hahaile (The men laughed). The third tense is the future tense. No suffix is attached to the verb. Instead the word "to" precedes the verb and succeeds the article, eg. Ti manu ti to haha (The men will laugh).

Infinitives

The infinitive is attached at the end of the clause. The verbal component of the infinitive is always in the present tense. The preposition "ta" indicates the beginning of the infinitive. The article that precedes the subject also precedes the infinitive indicator "ku". together they function as the Codexian "to". Eg. Ki manu ki koraile ta ki ku tanuha mali (The men worked to make money). The phrase can be transliterated as: T "The men worked for the making of money".

Prepositions

Prepositions indicate relation. There are different words to indicate different locations, but all prepository phrases must beginning with the word "ko" and the object must be suffixed by "-eni". Eg. Ki manu ki hanu ko reatueni (The men are on the island). The preposition functions as a verb. Eg. in the past tense: Ki manu ki hanuile ko reatueni (The men were on the island). Eg. in the future tense: Ki manu ki to hanu ko reatuenu (The men will be on the island).

Pronoun

Pronouns are nouns that take the place of the subject or object:

• Singular first person: au (I or me)
• Singular second person: autu (You)
• Singular third person: autuna (Him or her)
• Singular third person (non-person): lautuna (it or that)
• Plural first person: mau (we or us)
• Plural second person: mautu (you)
• Plural third person: mautuna (them or they)
• Plural third person (non person): kautuna (them or those)

Idioms

The Oan language is extremely idiomatic. For example the phrase "u manu ua pala ro u solo" literally means the man meets with the sun. In actual fact it means the man has awoken. This expression is used instead of "u manu ua (ki)tika". Which would mean, the man rises.

Moods

The Oan language has four grammatical moods.

Indicative

Indicative moods are positive beliefs or factual statements, eg. Ki manu haha (The men laugh).

Imperative

Imperatives can be a single word eg. "Wayana!" (Go). They can also be sentences. The imperative is indicated by the word lua eg. Autu lua tena mama ta autu! (You shall/must/will see your mother).

Subjunctive

The subjuctive mood indicates doubt or uncertainty. They are indicated by the word "rua" and means "perhaps, maybe or if". Eg. Rua ki manu ki hanu ko reatueni, mautuna lua tena ti teno. (If the men are on the island, they might find fruit) or "Ki manu lua tena ti teno rua mautuna ki ko reatueni" (The men will find fruit if they are on the island). The imperative lua turns to doubt when it is coupled with the word Rua. It is seen as a negation of lua.

Interrogative

There are two ways to make a question. The first is to place the word alu or 'what' at the beginning of a sentence. It is often used together with a verb. For example: alu hoa is a question of manner, the equivalent of 'how' and so on. The most common combinations are alu hoa (manner), alu wayana (direction or route), alu kati (time), alu pita (frequency), alu ko (location), alu manu (person), alu tono (thing), alu paola (amount) and alu kopaola (position). For example: Alu manu u kaluile i telo? (Who ate the fruit).

The second way to form a question is to add the word na at the end of a normal clause. Au u ana na? (You are good?)

Basic phrases

Translated Text

God save the Ruler of the Sea God preserve our nation God protect us from enemies God keep us from disunity

The sea, the land and the sky Praise your holy name. For you have given us a good home. We are free, and equal.

u Oa, tiaki u Ratiranga-ta-i-Moana u Oa, tiaki i iwi ta autu u Oa, tiaki kaui ti hoariri u Oa, tiaki kaui ku a kotahi

i moana, i rangi e i whenua Whakamoemiki i ingoa tapu ta mautu Mautu u hoatuile autu i noho pai Autu ku noa e ku rite