Kuman (alsoChimbu orSimbu) is a language ofChimbu Province,Papua New Guinea. In 1994, it was estimated that 80,000 people spoke Kuman, 10,000 of themmonolinguals;^[2] in the 2000 census, 115,000 were reported, with few monolinguals.^[1]Ethnologue also reported 70,000 second language speakers in 2021.^[1]

• Voiced plosives are usually prenasal, but may fluctuate in word-initial position as ordinary voiced stops[b,d,ɡ].
• Voiceless stops/p,t,k/ are always aspirated[pʰ,tʰ,kʰ] in word-initial position.
• /ɾ/ only occurs word-medially and word-finally. In word-final position it is heard as a trill[r].
• /s/ can be pronounced as[s],[ᵗs] in word-initial position.
• /w/ can be pronounced as[β] before front vowels/i,e/.
• Like otherChimbu languages, Kuman has rather unusuallateral consonants./ʟ/ is heard as voiceless velar lateral[ʟ̥] when preceding a consonant. It is also heard as a voiceless alveolar fricative[ɬ] before an /s/.^[3][4] It may also be realized as a "laterally released velar affricate" (presumably[ɡʟ̝], found in otherPapuan languages) which is voiced word medially and voiceless word finally (not occurring word initially).^[5]

• /a/ can be heard as either central[ä] or back[ɑ] in free variation.
• /e/ is pronounced as[ɛ] as a first vowel in a word.
• /o/ is pronounced in its lax form as[ɔ] before /ɾ/.

Syllable structure is (C)V(C). Any consonant can occur inonset position, but incoda position only /m/, /n/, /gɬ/, /l/ and /k/ can occur.^[6]

Kuman is anSOV language.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2009)

The following basic vocabulary words are from Salisbury (1956)^[7] and Trefry (1969),^[6] 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

• Hardie, Peter. 2003.Is Kuman Tonal? An account of basic segmental and tonological structure in the Papuan language Kuman. MA thesis: Australian National University
• Dryer, Matthew S.;Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013)."Kuman".World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

• Kuman phonology and sample text
• Kaipuleohone has aChimbu-Wahgi collection from Andrea L. Berez thatincludes Kuman language materials
• A number of collections inParadisec includeKuman materials

• Languages of Simbu Province
• Languages of Eastern Highlands Province
• Chimbu–Wahgi languages
• Subject–object–verb languages

• Language articles citing Ethnologue 25
• Language articles citing Ethnologue 15
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Language articles with old speaker data
• Pages with plain IPA
• Articles to be expanded from December 2009
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