Telefol language

 ( Languages Of Sandaun Province ) 

Telefol is a language spoken by the Telefol people in Papua New Guinea, notable for possessing a base-27 numeral system.

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History The Iligimin people also spoke Telefol, but they were defeated by the Telefol proper.

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Orthography

+ Telefol alphabet ! Phonemic

Single and represent both their single and long vowels, since they rarely contrast.

is written  pre-consonantally and word-finally.
     

Single is written intervocalically, and is written intervocalically.

and  are written  and  (since they're pronounced  and  respectively).
     

Initial is also written with in loan words, e.g., Got 'God'.

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Phonology

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Consonants

+ Consonants ! ! Labial consonant ! Dental consonant ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar consonant ! (Glottal)

and  only appear in a few particles and some exclamations.  and  only appear in a few loans.
     

+ Allophones ! Phoneme(s) ! Condition ! Allophone
syllable-final

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Vowels

+ Vowels ! ! Front vowel!! Central vowel!! Back vowel

There are two contrastive phonemic tones in Telefol, high and low. For example, ùlín 'club' vs. úlìn 'planted'.

and ,  and , are nearly in complementary distribution. Also, single  and  don't occur in one-syllable words or in terminal syllables.
     

Vowel length only contrasts in initial syllables. However, in initial syllables single and , and and , don't contrast.

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Phonotactics Syllable structure is (C)V(ː)(C).

does not occur word-initially.
     

is allowed in medial, but not word-initial, onsets.
     

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Grammar Telefol is a subject–object–verb language.

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Verbal aspect Telefol has a rich aspectual system. Telefol verbs have "punctiliar" (momentary/completed) and "continuative" stems.

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Counting system 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).

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Kinship Telefol has dyadic 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 in Oksapmin, Mian language, and Tifal language.

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Evolution Below are some reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Andrew Pawley (2012):

müük, mɔk ‘spittle’

(Faiwol language makat-kalim ‘whiskers’)

magap ‘round object, fruit, seed, etc’’

mutu ‘nose’

kum ‘left side of neck’

tumuun ‘thunder’

tim ‘louse’

kaliim ‘moon’

kutim ‘morning’

na-

nu

ban ‘forearm’

wan(tap), waan(ta) ‘who?’

inim

tiŋ (Faiwol language kiiŋ)

fɔŋ (cf. Faiwol language falaŋ, Tifal language filaŋ)

ban ‘forearm’

baab

(ku)-tab

foŋ (Tifal language filaŋ)

(?) fúlúluú (+ V.)

(?) inim

mutuum

tumuun

kutim

katuun

ditak (Faiwol language getak)

saŋ ‘myth, story’

(ku-)tab

(úún) makáb ‘egg’

(Faiwol language makat-kalim ‘whiskers (lit. chin-hair)’)

kaliim

kum ‘left side of neck’

kun

(Muyu language M. kudub)

tiŋ-

múúk

óók

káál

*kaliim

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See also

• Ok languages

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Bibliography

• William A. Foley (1986). 9780521286213, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521286213

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External links

• Telefol on globalrecordings.net
• WALS - Telefol
• PNG Language Resources: Telefol information
• Paradisec has a number of collections that include Telefol language materials.

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