| Telefol | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Sandaun Province, Telefomin District |
| Ethnicity | Telefol people |
Native speakers | (5,400 cited 1994)[1] |
Trans–New Guinea
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tlf |
| Glottolog | tele1256 |
| ELP | Telefol |
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Telefol is a language spoken by theTelefol people inPapua New Guinea, notable for possessing abase-27numeral system.
TheIligimin people also spoke Telefol, but they were defeated by the Telefol proper.[2]
| Phonemic | ɑ | ɑː | e | eː | i | iː | o | oː | u | uː | b | d̪ | ɸ | k | kʷ | l | m | n̪ | ŋ | s̪ | t̪ | w | j |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | aa | e | e | i | ii | o | o | u | uu | b, p | d, g | f | k, g | kw | l | m | n | ng | s | t | w | y |
| Uppercase | A | Aa | E | I | Ii | O | U | Uu | B | D | F | K | Kw | M | N | S | T | W | Y |
Single⟨e⟩ and⟨o⟩ represent both their single and long vowels, since they rarely contrast.
/b/ is written⟨p⟩ pre-consonantally and word-finally.
Single/k/ is written⟨g⟩ intervocalically, and/kk/ is written⟨k⟩ intervocalically.
/kd/ and/ŋd/ are written⟨kg⟩ and⟨ngg⟩ (since they're pronounced[ɡ] and[ŋɡ] respectively).
Initial/ɡ/ is also written with⟨g⟩ in loan words, e.g.,Got 'God'.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | (Glottal) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n̪ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | (p)b | t̪d̪ | kkʷ (ɡ) | (ʔ) | ||
| Fricative | f | s̪ | (h) | |||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Semivowel | w | j |
/ʔ/ and/h/ only appear in a few particles and some exclamations./p/ and/ɡ/ only appear in a few loans.
| Phoneme(s) | Condition | Allophone |
|---|---|---|
| /b/ | intervocalic | [b~β] |
| syllable-final | [pʰ] | |
| /f/ | free-variation | [f~ɸ] |
| /k/ | intervocalic | [ɣ] |
| /l/ | intervocalic | [ɾ] |
| /kd/ | (everywhere) | [ɡ] |
| /ŋd/ | (everywhere) | [ŋɡ] |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | iiː | uuː | |
| Mid | eeː | ooː | |
| Open | ɑɑː |
There are two contrastive phonemic tones in Telefol, high and low. For example,ùlín 'club' vs.úlìn 'planted'.
/e/ and/eː/,/o/ and/oː/, are nearly in complementary distribution. Also, single/e/ and/o/ don't occur in one-syllable words or in terminal syllables.
Vowel length only contrasts in initial syllables. However, in initial syllables single/u/ and/o/, and/i/ and/e/, don't contrast.
Syllable structure is (C)V(ː)(C).[citation needed]
/l/ does not occur word-initially.[citation needed]
/ŋ/ is allowed in medial, but not word-initial, onsets.[6]
Telefol is asubject–object–verb language.[citation needed]
Telefol has a rich aspectual system.[7] Telefol verbs have "punctiliar" (momentary/completed) and "continuative" stems.[8]
Telefol uses a base-27 counting system. This is mapped onto the body by counting each of the following: the left pinky to the left thumb (1-5); the wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm, and shoulder (6-10); the side of the neck, ear, and left eye (11-13); the nose (14); and similarly on the right side in reverse order, from the right eye to the right pinky (15-27).[9][10]
Telefol hasdyadic kinship terms (terms referring to the relationship two or more people have to each other), which are uncommon in the world's languages and not prevalent in Papua New Guinea. However, they are a salient feature of the Ok languages. Related terms are found inOksapmin,Mian, andTifal.[11]
Below are some reflexes ofproto-Trans-New Guinea proposed byPawley (2012):[12]
| proto-Trans-New Guinea | Telefol |
|---|---|
| *m(o,u)k ‘milk, sap, breast’ | müük, mɔk ‘spittle’ |
| *maŋgat[a] ‘teeth, mouth’ | (Faiwol makat-kalim ‘whiskers’) |
| *maŋgV ‘compact round object’ | magap ‘round object, fruit, seed, etc’’ |
| *m(i,u)ndu ‘nose’ | mutu ‘nose’ |
| *k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] ‘neck, nape’ | kum ‘left side of neck’ |
| *kumut, *tumuk ‘thunder’ | tumuun ‘thunder’ |
| *niman ‘louse’ | tim ‘louse’ |
| *kal(a,i)m ‘moon’ | kaliim ‘moon’ |
| *k(i,u)tuma ‘night, morning’ | kutim ‘morning’ |
| *na ‘1SG’ | na- |
| *ni, *nu ‘1PL’ | nu |
| *mbena ‘arm’ | ban ‘forearm’ |
| *[w]ani ‘who?’ | wan(tap), waan(ta) ‘who?’ |
| *pVnum ‘wind’ | inim |
| *kinV ‘shoulder’ | tiŋ (Faiwal kiiŋ) |
| *mbilaŋ ‘tongue’ | fɔŋ (cf.Faiwol falaŋ,Tifal filaŋ) |
| *mbena ‘arm’ | ban ‘forearm’ |
| *amba ‘sibling’ | baab |
| *(kambu)-sumbu ‘ashes’ | (ku)-tab |
| *mbilaŋ ‘tongue’ | foŋ (Tifal filaŋ) |
| *(mb,p)ututu- ‘to fly’ | (?) fúlúluú (+ V.) |
| *pVnum ‘wind’ | (?) inim |
| *m(i,u)ndu ‘nose’ | mutuum |
| *kumut, *tumuk ‘thunder’ | tumuun |
| *k(i,u)tuma ‘night, morning’ | kutim |
| *ŋgatu(k,n) ‘knee’ | katuun |
| *k(a,e)(nd,t)ak ‘neck’ | ditak (Faiwal getak) |
| *saŋ ‘story, song’ | saŋ ‘myth, story’ |
| *sumbu ‘ashes’ | (ku-)tab |
| *maŋgV ‘compact round object’ | (úún) makáb ‘egg’ |
| *maŋgat[a] ‘teeth, mouth’ | (Faiwal makat-kalim ‘whiskers (lit. chin-hair)’) |
| *kal(a,i)m ‘moon’ | kaliim |
| *k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] ‘neck, nape’ | kum ‘left side of neck’ |
| *k(o,u)ndVC ‘bone’ | kun |
| *kutV(mb,p)(a,u)[C] ‘long’ | (Kati M. kudub) |
| *kinV ‘shoulder’ | tiŋ- |
| *m(o,u)k ‘milk, sap, breast’ | múúk |
| *ok[V] ‘water’ | óók |
| *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu ‘skin, bark’ | káál |
| *kal(a,i)m ‘moon’ | *kaliim |