| Kol | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | East New Britain Province |
Native speakers | (4,000 cited 1991) [1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kol |
| Glottolog | kolp1236 |
| ELP | Kol |
The Kol language is a language spoken in eastern New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. There are about 4000 speakers in Pomio District of East New Britain Province, mostly on the southern side of New Britain island. [2]
Kol appears to be a language isolate, though it may be distantly related to the poorly attested Sulka language or form part of the proposed East Papuan languages. [3]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t | k g | |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
| Rhotic | r | |||
| Lateral | l | |||
| Fricative | s | |||
| Approximant | w | j |
/b, r/ can be realized as [β, d] as intervocalic allophones. /r/ is pronounced as [d] when following a nasal consonant.
Kol displays vowel length contrast.
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Low | æː | ɑ ɑː | ɒ ɒː |
The following basic vocabulary words are from SIL field notes (1962, 1981), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: [5]
| gloss | Kol |
|---|---|
| head | ˈkel.a; kela keřne |
| hair | ˈkomɒ; komɔʔ kalɛane |
| ear | ˈbula; bula kɛřlɛ |
| eye | pelnɛl; ˈpenel |
| nose | taˈli:; tali keřne |
| tooth | ˈmire; mi̠řɛ kɛřnɛ |
| tongue | dal kɛřnɛ; raal |
| leg | pe:re |
| louse | ˈtare; ta̠řɛ |
| dog | kuˈɒ:; kwa |
| pig | bu |
| bird | ˈule; ulɛ |
| egg | ˈkondola; kondo̠la |
| blood | ˈbe:la |
| bone | ˈti:le |
| skin | tomalu gomo; toˈmolu |
| breast | ˈtombo; to̠to la̠nɛ |
| tree | ˈti:nel; ti̠nɛl |
| man | mo; tɒ: ˈti:niŋ |
| woman | daiƀɛ; ra:l |
| sun | ˈkarege; kařɛ̠qɛ |
| moon | ˈigu; i̠qu |
| water | ˈgonu; qu̠nu |
| fire | kuˈoŋ; kuɔŋ |
| stone | ˈlela; lɛla |
| road, path | kɛrɛa; ˈkeria |
| name | ˈole |
| eat | mo raŋ kal oŋ; tam·a |
| one | ˈpusuɒ; titus |
| two | tɛřɛŋ; teˈtepe |