Ngkolmpu Kanum language

Ngkolmpu Kanum, or Ngkontar, is part of a dialect chain in the Yam family spoken by the Kanum people of New Guinea. The Ngkâlmpw (Ngkontar) and moribund Bädi varieties have limited mutual intelligibility may be considered distinct languages.[1]

Ngkolmpu
Ngkontar
RegionNew Guinea
EthnicityKanum
Native speakers
100 (2018)[1]
Dialects
  • Ngkâlmpw (Ngkontar)
  • Bädi
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
kcd – Ngkâlmpw Kanum
khd – Bädi Kanum
Glottologngka1236
ELP

Dialects

Languages spoken by the Kanum have variously been referred to as Ngkâlmpw Kanum, Enkelembu, Kenume, and Knwne.[2][3] Carroll describes three varieties forming a dialect chain. Ngkolmpu is divided into Ngkontar and the moribund variety Baedi (Bädi).

Phonology

Consonants

Ngkolmpu Kanum has 15 consonant phonemes (plus two marginal phonemes) at three points of articulation: bilabial, coronal, and velar. Prenasalized voiceless stops and fricatives contrast with voiceless and nasal realizations, which is typologically unusual. The orthography is enclosed in angle brackets.

Bilabial Coronal Velar
Stops Voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩
Prenasalized Voiceless mp <mp> nt <nt> ŋk <ngk>
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Voiced b <b> (ɡ) ⟨g⟩
Fricatives Voiceless s <s>
Prenasalized Voiceless ns <ns>,<nc>
Trill r ⟨r⟩
Lateral l ⟨l⟩
Glides w ⟨w⟩ j ⟨y⟩ (w)

Grammar

The Ngkolmpu (Ngkâlmpw) Kanum variety is notable for its complex verbal inflection and tendency to distribute grammatical features throughout an utterance, referred to as distributed exponence.[3]

Numerals

Kanum has a numeral system to the base six, which is typologically rare among languages of the world.[4] The numerals are as follows:

Base Numbers Powers of 6 Decimal
1 naempr 61 traowo 6
2 yempoka 62 ptae 36
3 yuow 63 tarumpao 216
4 eser 64 ntamnao 1296
5 tampui 65 ulamaeke 7776

For example, the numeral 200 is:

swabra ptae ynaoaemy ntamnao
56²s (36s)(and) 2 (and)3×6

References
  1. Evans, Nicholas (2018). "The languages of Southern New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 641–774. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Ngkolmpu Kanum language". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Carroll, Matthew J. (2016). The Ngkolmpu Language with special reference to distributed exponence (PhD thesis). The Australian National University. doi:10.25911/5D74E0CFD5B85.
  4. Carroll, Matthew (20 June 2018). "How to count to 1296 in Ngkolmpu – MORPH". Morph. University of Surrey.
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