Kobon language
Encyclopedia
Kobon is a language of Papua New Guinea
. It has somewhere around 90-120 verbs.
and Western Highlands Province, north of Mount Hagen
.
, and a fricative trill /r̝/, though the frication on the latter is variable.
Voiced consonants are prenasalized after vowels, and some are optionally voiceless word-initially. Some voiceless consonants are optionally voiced between vowels. All consonants but the nasals have final devoicing. For example, final /l/ is [ɬ], and final /d/ is [ntʰ]. (/w/ and /j/ do not occur in final position.)
language.
Singular, dual
, and plural are distinguished in personal pronoun
s and kin terms.
Like the other Kalam languages, Kobon is famous for having a very small number of verb
s—perhaps less than 120 for the entire language. These verbs are combined with noun
s into phrases
with specific meanings, much as one says "have dinner" rather than "dine" in English.
This makes for an interesting window into semantics
. One might expect that with a very limited set of verbs, their meanings would be quite general, as have, do, be and go are in English. To some extent this is born out. For example, there is only one verb of perception
. That is, the same verb is used for see, hear, taste, smell, feel (both physically and emotionally), think, and understand (compare with "I see" for "I understand" in English). Another verb is used for making sound, whether it's speaking, singing, praying, crying, twigs breaking, rocks clattering, or water gurgling. However, some Kobon verbs are quite specific. There is one exception for sound, for example: there's a specific verb for calling a pig. There are also three verbs of pouring, depending on whether the thing being poured is solid, liquid, or food; and there is even a verb that means to quarter a cassowary
.
for over 30 years. The special letters ƚ and ɫ are used for the subapical retroflex lateral flap
and palatal lateral
, respectively.
5–15% of Kobon speakers are literate.
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. It has somewhere around 90-120 verbs.
Geographic distribution
Kobon is spoken in Madang ProvinceMadang Province
Madang is a province on the northern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea. The province has many of the country's highest peaks, active volcanoes and its biggest mix of languages...
and Western Highlands Province, north of Mount Hagen
Mount Hagen
Mount Hagen is third largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is the capital of the Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in central mainland Papua New Guinea, at an elevation of ....
.
Vowels
Vowels are /i e ɨ ə a o u/. /i/ and /u/ may be [jɪ] and [wʊ~ʍʊ̥] word-initially. /ɨ/ and /ə/ are written ‹ü› and ‹ö›.Consonants
Kobon distinguishes an alveolar lateral /l/, a palatal lateral /ʎ/, a subapical retroflex lateral flapRetroflex lateral flap
The retroflex lateral flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It has no symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet, but an ad hoc symbol may be easily created .-Features:Features of the retroflex flap:...
, and a fricative trill /r̝/, though the frication on the latter is variable.
| m ‹m› | n ‹n› | ɲ ‹ñ› | ŋ ‹ŋ› | |
| p~b~mb ‹b› | d~nd ‹d› | ɟʑ~ɲɟʑ ‹j› | k~ɣ~ŋɡ ‹g› | |
| f~ɸ~v~β ‹p› | s ‹s› | tɕ ‹c› | kʰ~kx~x~ɣ ‹k› | h ‹h› |
| l ‹l› | ʎ ‹ɫ› | |||
| ɾ̝̊~ɾ̝~r̝ ‹r› | ɭ~ɽ ‹ƚ› | |||
| w ‹w› | j ‹y› |
Voiced consonants are prenasalized after vowels, and some are optionally voiceless word-initially. Some voiceless consonants are optionally voiced between vowels. All consonants but the nasals have final devoicing. For example, final /l/ is [ɬ], and final /d/ is [ntʰ]. (/w/ and /j/ do not occur in final position.)
Grammar
Kobon is an SOVSOV
SOV is an acronym for several terms:in organizations*Same Old Vanderbilt, usually refers to Vanderbilt Commodores football by their fans due to lack of success over the years*Stade Olympique Voironnais, a French rugby union club...
language.
Singular, dual
Dual
Dual may refer to:* Dual , a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another** Dual , a formalization of mathematical duality** . . ...
, and plural are distinguished in personal pronoun
Personal pronoun
Personal pronouns are pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common nouns. All known languages contain personal pronouns.- English personal pronouns :English in common use today has seven personal pronouns:*first-person singular...
s and kin terms.
Like the other Kalam languages, Kobon is famous for having a very small number of verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s—perhaps less than 120 for the entire language. These verbs are combined with noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s into phrases
Verb phrase
In linguistics, a verb phrase or VP is a syntactic unit composed of at least one verb and the dependents of that verb. One can distinguish between two types of VPs, finite VPs and non-finite VPs . While phrase structure grammars acknowledge both, dependency grammars reject the existence of a...
with specific meanings, much as one says "have dinner" rather than "dine" in English.
This makes for an interesting window into semantics
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
. One might expect that with a very limited set of verbs, their meanings would be quite general, as have, do, be and go are in English. To some extent this is born out. For example, there is only one verb of perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
. That is, the same verb is used for see, hear, taste, smell, feel (both physically and emotionally), think, and understand (compare with "I see" for "I understand" in English). Another verb is used for making sound, whether it's speaking, singing, praying, crying, twigs breaking, rocks clattering, or water gurgling. However, some Kobon verbs are quite specific. There is one exception for sound, for example: there's a specific verb for calling a pig. There are also three verbs of pouring, depending on whether the thing being poured is solid, liquid, or food; and there is even a verb that means to quarter a cassowary
Cassowary
The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today...
.
Writing system
Kobon has been written in the Latin alphabetLatin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
for over 30 years. The special letters ƚ and ɫ are used for the subapical retroflex lateral flap
Retroflex lateral flap
The retroflex lateral flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It has no symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet, but an ad hoc symbol may be easily created .-Features:Features of the retroflex flap:...
and palatal lateral
Palatal lateral approximant
The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a rotated lowercase letter ⟨y⟩ , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is L.-Features:Features of the palatal lateral...
, respectively.
- a b c d e g h i j k l ƚ ɫ m n ñ ŋ o ö p r s u ü w y
5–15% of Kobon speakers are literate.