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
Region	New Guinea
Ethnicity	Kanum
Native speakers	100 (2018)[1]
Language family	Trans-Fly – Bulaka River? Yam Tonda Ngkolmpu
Dialects	Ngkâlmpw (Ngkontar) Bädi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: kcd – Ngkâlmpw Kanum khd – Bädi Kanum
Glottolog	ngka1236

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
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩
Plosive	voiceless	p ⟨p⟩	t ⟨t⟩	k ⟨k⟩
	prenasal	ᵐp ⟨mp⟩	ⁿt ⟨nt⟩	ᵑk ⟨ngk⟩
	voiced	b ⟨b⟩		(ɡ) ⟨g⟩
Fricative	plain		s ⟨s⟩
	prenasal		ⁿs ⟨ns⟩,⟨nc⟩
Trill			r ⟨r⟩
Liquid			l ⟨l⟩
Glide		w ⟨w⟩	j ⟨y⟩

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]

External links

• ELAR collection: The Endangered Papuan Languages of Merauke-Indonesia: ethnobiological and linguistic documentation deposited by I Wayan Arka