Grammar
Kuman is an SOV language.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009) |
| Kuman | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Chimbu Province, from Kundiawa to beyond Kerowagi in the west and Gembogl in the north, at the foot of Mount Wilhelm |
Native speakers | 120,000 (2000 census) [1] L2: 70,000 (2021) [1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kue |
| Glottolog | kuma1280 |
Kuman (also Chimbu or Simbu) is a language of Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea. In 1994, it was estimated that 80,000 people spoke Kuman, 10,000 of them monolinguals; [2] in the 2000 census, 115,000 were reported, with few monolinguals. [1] Ethnologue also reported 70,000 second language speakers in 2021. [1]
Like other Chimbu languages, Kuman has rather unusual lateral consonants. Besides the typical /l/, it has a "laterally released velar affricate" which is voiced medially and voiceless finally (and does not occur initially). [3] Based on related languages, this is presumably /k͡𝼄/, allophonically [ɡ͡ʟ̝] (see voiceless velar lateral fricative).
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | |
| prenasal/vd. | ᵐb ~ b | ⁿd ~ d | ᵑɡ ~ g | ||
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Fricative | s | ||||
| Tap | ɾ | ||||
| Lateral | l | ʟ | |||
| Semivowel | w | j | |||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a | ||
Kuman is an SOV language.
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009) |
The following basic vocabulary words are from Salisbury (1956) [6] and Trefry (1969), [7] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: [8]
| gloss | Kuman |
|---|---|
| head | bit-na; bɩtiɩno |
| hair | iŋguno; yungo |
| ear | kina-na; kunano |
| eye | gumutino; ongomit-na |
| nose | guma-ne; gumano |
| tooth | siŋguno |
| tongue | dirambino |
| leg | kati; kat-na |
| louse | numan |
| dog | aʝg; agi; akɬ ̥ |
| pig | bogla; bugɬa |
| bird | kua |
| egg | mugɬo; muɬo |
| blood | borɔmai; bořumai; maiam |
| bone | yambiřo; yombura |
| skin | gaŋgino |
| breast | amu-na; amuno |
| tree | endi |
| man | yagl; yakɬ ̥ |
| woman | ambu |
| sun | ande; andesuŋgua |
| moon | ba |
| water | nigl; nikɬ ̥ |
| fire | baugl; doŋga |
| stone | kombuglo; kombugɬo |
| road, path | konbo; konumbo |
| name | kaŋgin; kangi-ne |
| eat | neuŋgua |
| one | suařa |
| two | suo |
Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no turbulence. This class is composed of sounds like and semivowels like and, as well as lateral approximants like.
A lateral is a consonant in which the airstream proceeds along one or both of the sides of the tongue, but it is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth. An example of a lateral consonant is the English L, as in Larry. Lateral consonants contrast with central consonants, in which the airstream flows through the center of the mouth.
Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be stops, fricatives, nasals, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and the symbol for the voiced fricative is used instead. Uvular affricates can certainly be made but are rare: they occur in some southern High-German dialects, as well as in a few African and Native American languages. Uvular consonants are typically incompatible with advanced tongue root, and they often cause retraction of neighboring vowels.
In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant or resonant is a speech sound that is produced with continuous, non-turbulent airflow in the vocal tract; these are the manners of articulation that are most often voiced in the world's languages. Vowels are sonorants, as are nasals like and, liquids like and, and semivowels like and. This set of sounds contrasts with the obstruents.
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