Skou language

Last updated
Skou
Tumawo
Native toIndonesia
Region Muara Tami District  [ id ], Jayapura Regency
Native speakers
(700 cited 1999) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 skv
Glottolog nucl1634
ELP Skou

Skou (Sekol, Sekou, Sko, Skouw, Skow, Sukou), or Tumawo (Te Mawo), is a Papuan language of Indonesia.

Contents

Distribution

Skou is spoken in three villages of Muara Tami District  [ id ], Jayapura Regency. The villages are: [2]

Phonology

Consonants

The Skou consonants are: [3]

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b ɟ ~ ɡʲ
Fricative f h
Liquid lateral l
rhotic r
Semivowel w j

Vowels

Vowels can be nasalized, except for /ɨ/ and /u/. [3]

Front Central Back
oralnasaloralnasaloralnasal
Close i ĩ ɨ u
Mid e ə ə̃ o õ
Open a ã

Tone

Skou contrasts three different tones in monosyllables: high, low and falling, which can be combined with nasality for a six-way contrast. [2]

PitchOralNasal
high [˥]ta

'grass'

'bird'

low [˨]ta

'hair'

'canoe'

falling [˥˩]ta

'arrow'

'machete'

Tone in Skou is affiliated with each word, rather than with each syllable.

In addition to lexical differences in tone, tone has grammatical functions. [2]

For instance, tense in Skou is differentiated by tone.

non-past tense forms
[ni hu]

falling-falling 'I sew'

[ni ha]

falling-high 'I stand'

[ni hũ]

falling-low 'I drink'

past tense forms
[ni hu]

falling-low 'I sewed'

[ni ha]

falling-low 'I stood'

[ni hũ]

falling-low

'I drank'

Pronouns

Skou differentiates three types of pronouns: free pronouns, genitive pronouns and dative pronouns. [2]

Pronouns
FreeGenitiveDative
1SG[ni˥˩][ni˥˩][nɛ˨]
1PL[nɛ˨][nɛ˥˩][nɛ˨]
2SG[mɛ˥˩][mɛ˥˩][mɛ˨]
2PL[ɛ˨][ɛ˥˩][ɛ˨]
3SG.NF[kɛ˨][kɛ˥][kɛ˨]
3SG.F[pɛ˨][pɛ˥˩][pɛ˨]
3PL[tɛ˨][tɛ˥˩][tɛ˨]

Related Research Articles

The Sko or Skou languages are a small language family spoken by about 7000 people, mainly along the Vanimo coast of Sandaun Province in Papua New Guinea, with a few being inland from this area and at least one just across the border in the Indonesian province of Papua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torricelli languages</span> Language family

The Torricelli languages are a family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast, spoken by about 80,000 people. They are named after the Torricelli Mountains. The most populous and best known Torricelli language is Arapesh, with about 30,000 speakers.

The Lower Mamberamo languages are a recently proposed language family linking two languages spoken along the northern coast of Papua province, Indonesia, near the mouth of the Mamberamo River. They have various been classified either as heavily Papuanized Austronesian languages belonging to the SHWNG branch, or as Papuan languages that had undergone heavy Austronesian influence. Glottolog 3.4 classifies Lower Mamberamo as Austronesian, while Donohue classifies it as Papuan. Kamholz (2014) classifies Warembori and Yoke each as coordinate primary subgroups of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea languages.

Isaka (I’saka) is the language spoken by the people of the villages of Krisa and Pasi in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. It has also been referred to as Krisa, after the village, although this name is not actually a possible word in the language itself. The sole published source for the language is Donohue and San Roque (2004), although the authors of this have also Identified I’saka material in Donald Laycock's unpublished fieldnotes.

Tauya not to be mistaken with Tauya the Zambian indie artist, is a Rai Coast language spoken in the Ramu River valley, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea by approximately 350 people. The Linguistics Department at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, has Tauya language resources.

The Border or Upper Tami languages are an independent family of Papuan languages in Malcolm Ross's version of the Trans–New Guinea proposal.

The Lakes Plain languages are a family of Papuan languages, spoken in the Lakes Plain of Indonesian New Guinea. They are notable for being heavily tonal and for their lack of nasal consonants.

Isirawa is a Papuan language spoken by about two thousand people on the north coast of Papua province, Indonesia. It's a local trade language, and use is vigorous. Stephen Wurm (1975) linked it to the Kwerba languages within the Trans–New Guinea family, and it does share about 20% of its vocabulary with neighboring Kwerba languages. However, based on its pronouns, Malcolm Ross (2005) felt he could not substantiate such a link, and left it as a language isolate. The pronouns are not, however, dissimilar from those of Orya–Tor, which Ross links to Kwerba, and Donahue (2002) accept it as a Greater Kwerba language.

Sulka is a language isolate of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. In 1991, there were 2,500 speakers in eastern Pomio District, East New Britain Province. Villages include Guma in East Pomio Rural LLG. With such a low population of speakers, this language is considered to be endangered. Sulka speakers had originally migrated to East New Britain from New Ireland.

The Burmeso language – also known as Taurap – is spoken by some 300 people in Burmeso village along the mid Mamberamo River in Mamberamo Tengah subdistrict, Mamberamo Raya Regency, Papua province, Indonesia. It is surrounded by the Kwerba languages to the north, the Lakes Plain languages to the south, and the East Cenderawasih Bay languages to the west.

Warembori is a moribund language spoken by about 600 people in Warembori village, Mamberamo Hilir District, Mamberamo Raya Regency, located around river mouths on the north coast of Papua, Indonesia.

Golin is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Pantar language</span> Papuan language spoken in parts of Indonesia

Western Pantar, sometimes referred to by the name of one of its dialects, Lamma, is a Papuan language spoken in the western part of Pantar island in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. Western Pantar is spoken widely in the region by about 10,000 speakers. Although speakers often use Malay in political, religious, and educational contexts, Western Pantar remains the first language of children of the region, and is acquired to some extent by immigrants.

Bukawa is an Austronesian language of Papua New Guinea.

Iau or Turu is a Lakes Plain language of West Papua, Indonesia, spoken by about 2,100 people, native speakers of this language are the Turu people (Iau). Most speakers are monolingual, and their number is growing. Other peoples in the western Lakes Plain area speak basic Iau. Iau is heavily tonal, with 11 tones on nouns and 19 simple and compound tones on verbs.

Abun, also known as Yimbun, Anden, Manif, or Karon Pantai, is a Papuan language spoken by the Abun people along the northern coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula in Sausapor District, Tambrauw Regency. It is not closely related to any other language, and though Ross (2005) assigned it to the West Papuan family, based on similarities in pronouns, Palmer (2018), Ethnologue, and Glottolog list it as a language isolate.

Saweru is a Papuan language closely related to Yawa of central Yapen Island in Geelvink (Cenderawasih) Bay, Indonesia, of which it is sometimes considered a dialect. It is spoken on Serui Island just offshore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaure language</span> Language in Indonesia

Kaure is a Papuan language of West Papua. It is spoken in the villages of Lereh, Harna, Wes, Masta, and Aurina.

The Piore River or Lagoon languages form a branch of Skou languages. Historically most have been lumped together as a single Warapu language, with Nouri variously classified. They are spoken in the Sissano Lagoon area of West Aitape Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. The Piore River runs to the west of all the languages, and so speakers do not find it an acceptable name. However, it is not clear which name would be better, as the name of the lagoon, 'Sissano', is used for different neighboring languages.

The Western Skou or Inner Skou languages form a branch of Skou languages. They are spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. They are called Western Skou by Donohue (2002), Inner Sko by Foley (2018), and West Vanimo Coast by Usher (2020).

References

  1. Skou at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Donohue, Mark. 2004. A Grammar of the Skou language of New Guinea . Singapore: National University of Singapore. Available at .
  3. 1 2 Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.