Kol language (Papua New Guinea)

The Kol language is a language spoken in eastern New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. There are about 4000 speakers in Pomio District of East New Britain Province, mostly on the southern side of New Britain island.[3]

Kol
RegionEast New Britain Province
Native speakers
(4,000 cited 1991)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kol
Glottologkolp1236
ELPKol[2]

Kol appears to be a language isolate, though it may be distantly related to the poorly attested Sulka language or form part of the proposed East Papuan languages.[4]

Phonology

Phonology of the Kol language:[5]

Consonant sounds
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Plosive p b t k g
Nasal m n ŋ
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Fricative s
Approximant w j

/b, r/ can be realized as [β, d] as intervocalic allophones. /r/ is pronounced as [d] when following a nasal consonant.

Kol displays vowel length contrast.

Vowel sounds
Front Back
High i iːu uː
Mid e eːo oː
Low æː ɑ ɑː ɒ ɒː

Vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words are from SIL field notes (1962, 1981), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[6]

glossKol
headˈkel.a; kela keřne
hairˈkomɒ; komɔʔ kalɛane
earˈbula; bula kɛřlɛ
eyepelnɛl; ˈpenel
nosetaˈli:; tali keřne
toothˈmire; mi̠řɛ kɛřnɛ
tonguedal kɛřnɛ; raal
legpe:re
louseˈtare; ta̠řɛ
dogkuˈɒ:; kwa
pigbu
birdˈule; ulɛ
eggˈkondola; kondo̠la
bloodˈbe:la
boneˈti:le
skintomalu gomo; toˈmolu
breastˈtombo; to̠to la̠nɛ
treeˈti:nel; ti̠nɛl
manmo; tɒ: ˈti:niŋ
womandaiƀɛ; ra:l
sunˈkarege; kařɛ̠qɛ
moonˈigu; i̠qu
waterˈgonu; qu̠nu
firekuˈoŋ; kuɔŋ
stoneˈlela; lɛla
road, pathkɛrɛa; ˈkeria
nameˈole
eatmo raŋ kal oŋ; tam·a
oneˈpusuɒ; titus
twotɛřɛŋ; teˈtepe

See also

References

  1. Kol at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Kol.
  3. Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
  4. Dunn, Michael; Reesnik, Ger; Terrill, Angela (2002). "The East Papuan Languages: A Preliminary Typological Appraisal" (PDF). Oceanic Linguistics. 41 (1): 28–62. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  5. Lindrud, Stellan (October 1992). Kol Language [KOL] East New Britain Province (PDF). Organised Phonology Data: SIL.
  6. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
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