Other
comments: There are three small number words 1, 2, 3ː aterei 'one', aere
'two' and ii 'three' in Koromu or Kesawai language. Composites and
reduplication – 4, 5 areː 'Four' is expressed by combining aere 'two'
with the specific article ato 'a, one' and reduplicating this, as in:
aerato aerato [a two a two]. 'Five' is a composite consisting of aerato
reduplicated and combined with aterei ato. 'a one' [aterei 'one'
combined with ato 'a']: aerato aerato aterei ato [a two a two a one].
Body part tallying system – groups of five. For larger quantities Koromu
speakers use actions involving the body. This nonverbal communication
can be described verbally in several different ways:
Speakers can indicate a quantity using actions with body parts. They can
describe this with the terms for body parts and verbs which describe the
actions. The body parts are: wapi ahane 'thumb/fist' (lit. the hand’s
mother) wapi 'hands' and ehi 'legs' '5' is expressed by clasping wapi
ahane hand mother-P3s 'fist' (lit. mother of the hand. Also used for the
thumb. In counting it refers to the fist with the thumb at the top.)
'10' is expressed by bunching two wapi ahane [hand mother] 'fists'
together. [Note that there is no plural marker on nouns in Koromu.] '15'
is expressed by clasping the two wapi 'hands' together on one knee ehi
toko (lit. leg bone/joint). [Wapi 'hand' without ahane 'mother' is
sufficient here.] '20' is expressed by clasping the wapi 'hands' and ehi
legs together. Actions using wapi 'hand' and ehi 'leg' can also be
described with possessives. '10' can be indicated by io wapi aere
1sGEN hand two 'my two hands', '20' can be indicated by io wapi ore
ehi ore 1sGEN hand with leg with 'my hands and legs (lit. my hands with
legs)', '30' can be indicated by io wapi ore ehi ore no wapi aere
my hand with leg with your hand two 'my hands with my legs with your
two hands', '40' can be indicated by io wapi ore io ehi ore ….
my hand with my leg with no wapi ore no ehi ore
your hand with your leg with 'my hands and my legs … with your hands and
your legs …' (For more details on clausal structures see Priestley
forthcoming.
Large amounts in Papua New Guinea’s currency, such as 100, 500 and 1000
kina, can be expressed by reference to a particular cultural artifact in
different sizes. Since these expressions are used when speakers do not
want other people to understand the amounts they are discussing I am not
putting them in print at this time. Koromu exponents of the semantic
primes for quantity: werai 'a few/ a little', asao/asa/atsao 'some',
nupu 'much, many', nupu 'all' werai reduced to rai means 'very few' nupu
reduplicated as nupu nupu means 'very many' ‘Very many’ can also be
expressed by lengthening the first vowel, as in nuupu Groups. The
enclitic =ama is used to indicate ‘group of’.
A whole group of women can be expressed by pisi as a modifier of hena
'women'. Referencesː
Priestley, Carol. 2009. A grammar of Koromu (Kesawai), a
Trans New Guinea language of Papua New Guinea. PhD thesis. The
Australian National University Priestley, Carol. Forthcoming. Body part
nouns in Koromu: Links with numeracy, values and emotions. For the
Australian Linguistic Society Conference 2011
Koromu Phonological inventory
Consonants are
voiceless stops, fricatives, nasals, a liquid/tap and two approximants.
The consonants inventory:
|
Bilabial |
Alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
Plosives |
p |
t |
|
k |
|
Fricatives |
|
s |
|
|
h |
Nasals |
m |
n |
|
|
|
Tap |
|
r |
|
|
|
Approximants |
w |
|
y (j) |
|
|
The vowel inventory
|
Front |
Mid |
Back |
High |
i |
|
u |
Mid |
e |
|
o |
Low |
|
a |
|
|