Kalam_language
Kalam language
Language
Kalam is a Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Kobon, and shares many of the features of that language. Kalam is spoken in Middle Ramu District of Madang Province and in Mount Hagen District of Western Highlands Province.[2]
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Quick Facts Native to, Region ...
| Kalam | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Middle Ramu District, Madang Province; Mount Hagen District, Western Highlands Province |
Native speakers | (15,000 cited 1991)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kmh |
| Glottolog | kala1397 |
Close
Thanks to decades of studies by anthropologists such as Ralph Bulmer and others, Kalam is one of the best-studied Trans-New Guinea languages to date.
There are two distinct dialects of Kalam that are highly distinguishable from each other.[3]
- Etp, with 20,000 speakers, is centered in the Upper Kaironk and Upper Simbai Valleys.
- Ti, with 5,000 speakers is centered in the Asai Valley. It includes the Tai variety.
Kobon is closely related.
Kalam has an elaborate pandanus avoidance register used during karuka harvest that has been extensively documented. The Kalam pandanus language, called alŋaw mnm (pandanus language) or ask-mosk mnm (avoidance language), is also used when eating or cooking cassowary.[4]
Consonants
Vowels
See also: Madang languages § Evolution
Below are some Kalam reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Pawley (2012, 2018).[3][6][7][8] Data is from the Etp dialect unless otherwise noted. Data from Ti, the other major dialect, is also given when noted.
More information proto-Trans-New Guinea ...
| proto-Trans-New Guinea | Kalam |
|---|---|
| (?)*su- ‘bite’ | su- |
| *(mb,m)elak ‘light, lightning, brightness’ | melk [melɨk] ‘light’ |
| *[w]ani ‘who?’ | an |
| *am(a,i) ‘mother’ | ami |
| *ambi ‘man’ | b [mbə] |
| *apus[i] ‘grandparent’ | aps [aβɨs] ‘grandmother’ |
| *aya ‘sister’ | ay |
| *-i(t,l) ‘2DL verbal suffix’ | -it |
| *iman ‘louse’ | iman |
| *imbi ‘name’ | yb [yimp] |
| *-it ‘2/3 dual verbal suffix’ | -it |
| *k(aw,o)nan ‘shadow/spirit’ | kawnan ‘spirit of the dead’ |
| *k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] ‘neck, nape’ | koŋam (metathesis) (cf. Kobon uŋam, loss of *k) |
| *kakV- ‘carry on shoulder’ | kak- |
| *kamb(a,u)u[na] ‘stone’ | kab [kamp] |
| *kanim ‘cuscus’ | kmn ‘game mammal (generic)’ |
| *kin(i,u)[m]- ‘sleep’ | kn- [kɨn] |
| *kindil ‘root’ | kdl [kɨndɨl] |
| *kinV- ‘sleep’ | kn- |
| *kumut, *tumuk ‘thunder’ | tumuk |
| *kumV- ‘die’ | kum- |
| *m(o,u)k ‘milk, sap, breast’ | muk (Ti dialect mok) |
| *ma- ‘not’ | ma- |
| *ma(n,k,L)[a] ‘ground’ | man |
| *maŋgat[a] ‘teeth’ | meg [meŋk] |
| *maŋgV ‘compact round object, egg’ | magi |
| *mapVn ‘liver’ | mapn |
| *mbalaŋ ‘flame’ | malaŋ, maŋlaŋ |
| *mbapa ‘father’ | bapi |
| *mo[k,ŋg]Vm ‘joint’ | mogm |
| *muk ‘brain’ | muk |
| *muk ‘milk’ | muk (Ti dialect mok) |
| *mund-maŋgV ‘heart’ | mudmagi |
| *mV ‘taro’ | m |
| *mVkVm ‘jaw, cheek’ | mkem ‘cheek’ |
| *mVn[a]-‘be, live, stay’ | md- |
| *n(o,u)man ‘mind, soul’ | noman ‘soul’ |
| *na ‘1SG’ | -n-, -in ‘1SG subj. agreement’ |
| *niman ‘louse’ | iman |
| *nok ‘water’ | ñg |
| *nu ‘1PL independent’ | -nu-, -un ‘1PL subj. agreement’ |
| *nV ‘child’ | ñi ‘son’ |
| *nVŋg- ‘know, hear, see’ | ng- (Ti dialect), nŋ- ‘see, perceive, etc.’ |
| *ŋaŋ[a] ‘baby’ | -ŋaŋ ‘baby’ |
| *panV ‘female’ | pañ ‘daughter’ |
| *sambV ‘cloud’ | seb [semp] |
| *saŋ ‘story, song’ | saŋ ‘women’s song’ |
| *saŋgil ‘hand, finger’ | (?) saglaŋ ‘little finger’ |
| *si(m,mb)(i,u) ‘guts’ | sb [sɨmp] |
| *sisi | ss [sɨs] ‘urine’ |
| *sVkVm ‘smoke’ | skum, sukum |
| *takVn[V] ‘moon’ | takn [taɣɨn] |
| *tu ‘axe’ | tu |
| *tuk- ‘cut’ | tk- ‘sever’ |
| *tumuk, *kumut ‘thunder’ | tumuk |
| *tVk- ‘cut, cut off’ | tk- ‘sever, cut off’ |
| *-un ‘1st plural subject’ | -un |
| *-Vn ‘1SG subj. agreement’ | -n, -in |
| *walaka ‘testicles’ | walak |
| *wani ‘who?’ | an |
| *wati ‘fence’ | wati |
| *yaka ‘bird’ | yakt |
Close
Kalam has eight tense-aspect categories. There are four past tenses, two present tenses, and two future tenses, which are all marked using suffixes:[7]
- past habitual
- remote past (yesterday or earlier)
- today's past
- immediate past
- present habitual
- present progressive
- immediate future
- future
Intransitive verbs in Kalam can be classified as either active or stative. Some active intransitive verbs are:[7]
- am- ‘go’
- kn- ‘sleep’
- jak- ‘stand, dance’
- kum- ‘die, cease to function’
Some stative verbs are:[7]
- pag- ‘(of things) break, be broken’
- sug- ‘(of a fire) go out’
- yn- ‘burn, be burnt, fully cooked’
- wk- ‘(of solid objects and surfaces) crack, burst, shatter’
Serial verb constructions
Transitivity is derived using resultative or cause-effect serial verb constructions.[7]
(1)
pak sug- strike extinguished - ‘put out a fire’
(2)
pak wk- strike shattered - ‘knock something to bits, shatter something’
(3)
pug sug- blow extinguished - ‘blow out a flame’
(4)
puŋi ask- pierce opened - ‘prise something open’
(5)
puŋi lak- pierce split - ‘split something by wedging or levering’
(6)
taw pag yok- step.on broken displaced - ‘break something off by stepping on it’
(7)
tb kluk yok- cut gouge displaced - ‘gouge something out’
Other serial verb constructions in Kalam include:[7]: 117
- d ap (get come) ‘bring’
- d am (get go) ‘take’
- am d ap (go get come) ‘fetch’
- d nŋ (touch perceive) ‘feel’
- ñb nŋ (eat perceive) ‘taste’
- tb tk (cut sever) ‘cut off’
Compounds
Some examples of nominal compounds in Kalam:[7]
(1)
- bin-b
- woman-man
- ‘person, people’
(2)
- ña-pañ
- son-daughter
- ‘child, children’
(3)
- aps-basd
- grandmother-grandfather
- ‘grandparents’
(4)
- ami-gon bapi-gon
- mother-children father-children
- ‘nuclear family, parents and children’
(5)
- kmn-as
- game.mammal-small.wild.mammal
- ‘wild mammals’
(6)
- kaj-kayn-kobti
- pig-dog-cassowary
- ‘large animals’
(7)
- kmn-kaj-kobti
- game.mammal-pig-cassowary
- ‘animals that provide ceremonially valued meat’
(8)
- mñ-mon
- vine-tree
- ‘land, country, territory, world’
(9)
kneb ameb owep wog wati gep sleeping going coming garden fence making - ‘everyday activities’
Animal names
Fauna classification (folk taxonomy) in the Kalam language has been extensively studied by Ralph Bulmer and others. Kalam speakers classify wild mammals into three major categories:[7]
- kmn ‘game mammals, larger wild mammals’: tree kangaroos, wallabies, cuscuses, ringtail possums, giant rats, and bandicoots
- as ‘small wild mammals’: most bush-rats, sugar gliders, and pygmy possums (including Pogonomys spp., Melomys spp., and Phascolosorex dorsalis[9])
- kopyak ‘dirty rats’ (Rattus spp.[9])
Other animal categories are:[7]
- yakt ‘flying birds and bats’
- kobti ‘cassowaries’
- kaj ‘pigs’ (formerly including cattle, horses, and goats when first encountered by the Kalam)
- kayn ‘dogs’
- soyŋ ‘certain snakes’
- yñ ‘skinks’
Rodent names include:[6]
- House Rat (Rattus exulans, Rattus niobe, Rattus ruber) – kopyak ~ kupyak
- Garden Rat (Rattus ruber) – kopyak gulbodu
- Long-snouted Rat (Rattus verecundus) – sjaŋ
- Small Mountain Rat (Rattus niobe) – katgn
- Prehensile-tailed Rat (Bush-tailed Giant Rat) (Pogonomelomys sevia) – ymgenm ~ yamganm, beŋtud, gtkep
- Giant Bamboo Rat (Rothschild's Woolly Rat) (Mallomys rothschildi) – mosak; aloñ, kabkal, maklek
- Giant Cane Rat (Hyomys goliath) – mumuk
- Grassland Melomys Rat (Melomys rufescens) – alks
- Lorentz's Rat (Melomys lorentzii, Melomys platyops) – mug; moys (M. lorentzii spreads Pandanus julianettii (alŋaw) seeds, according to the Kalam)
- rat that feeds on pandanus nuts (Anisomys imitator) – gudi-ws ~ gudl-ws
- Highland Giant Tree Rat (Uromys anak) – abben
- Lowland Giant Tree Rat (Uromys caudimaculatus) – kabkal
- Mountain Water-rat (Hydromys shawmayeri) – kuypep kuykuy-sek
- Waterside Rat (Parahydromys asper) – godmg, ñabap
- Earless Water Rat (Crossomys moncktoni) – kuypep
- small rat, found near homesteads – walcegon
Marsupial names include:[6]
- Pseudochirops corinnae (Golden or Stationary Ringtail) – wcm; puŋi-mdep; wlpog
- Pseudochirops cupreus (Copper Ringtail) – ymduŋ; bald, kagm, kas-gs, tglem-tud
- Pseudochirulus forbesi – (Painted Ringtail) – skoyd; boñay
- Cercartetus caudatus (Pygmy Possum) – sumsum
- Dactylopsila palpator (Mountain striped possum, Long-fingered Triok) – blc
- Echymipera sp. – ? yaked
- Phalanger carmelitae (Black Mountain Cuscus) – maygot, ? yng-tud
- Phalanger gymnotis (Ground Cuscus) – madaw; ket-ketm, kñm
- Phalanger maculatus – aklaŋ; aklaŋ kawl-kas-ket, aklaŋ pk, gabi, takp
- Phalanger orientalis – ? madaw, ? takp
- Phalanger permixteo – ? kmn sbi
- Phalanger sericeus (Silky Cuscus, Beech Cuscus) – atwak; añ, beŋ-tud
- Phalanger sp. – sbi, yaked
- Spilocuscus maculatus – takp
- Microperoryctes longicauda (Long-tailed Bandicoot) – wgi; amgln, weñem
- Peroryctes raffrayana (Hunting Bandicoot) – pakam
- Phascolosorex dorsalis – aln; may also refer to Antechinus melanurus (Marsupial Rat)
- Dasyurus albopunctatus (New Guinea Quoll, Marsupial Cat) – suatg
- Dendrolagus goodfellowi (Tree Kangaroo) - kabacp, kabcp
- Petaurus breviceps (Sugar Glider) – aymows, kajben, yegaŋ
- Thylogale brunii (Bush Wallaby) – kutwal ~ kotwal
- Dorcopsulus vanheurni (Small Forest Wallaby, Common Mountain Forest Wallaby) - sgaw
Reptile names and folk taxonomy in Kalam:[10]
- yñ: reptiles
- yñ yb: familiar small lizards
- yñ ladk: gecko
- yñ yb: skink
- yñ yb: colonial skinks
- kls: Papuascincus stanleyanus, Common skink
- mabdagol: Papuascincus stanleyanus, Red-tailed skink
- mas: Emoia spp., Ant skinks (including E. baudini [most common], E. pallidiceps, and perhaps also E. kordoana)
- yñ ladk: non-colonial skinks
- sydn: Prasinohaema prehensicauda, Casuarina skink
- sydn km: Green casuarina skink
- sydn mlep: Brown casuarina skink
- mañmod: Prasinohaema flavipes, Tree skink
- pymakol: Lobulia elegans, Beech skink
- mamŋ: Sphenomorphus darlingtoni, Begonia skink
- komñ: Sphenomorphus sp.nr. jobiensis, Bush skink
- ñgñolom: Sphenomorphus leptofasciatus, Banded skink
- wowy: Lepidodactylus sp., Common gecko
- sydn: Prasinohaema prehensicauda, Casuarina skink
- yñ yb: colonial skinks
- yñ ladk: reptiles other than familiar small lizards
- aypot: Hypsilurus nigrigularis, Dragon lizard
- wbl: Varanus spp.
- wbl km: Varanus prasinus, Emerald monitor
- wbl yb: Varanus indicus, Water monitor
- ñom: snakes
- soyŋ; ñom: relatively harmless snakes
- klŋan: Chondropython viridis, Green python
- soyŋ: ordinary snakes, Tropidonophis montanus, Toxicocalamus loriae, etc.
- soyŋ yb
- soyŋ pok: reddish snake
- soyŋ mosb: dark green snake
- sataw: terrifying serpents
- ymgwp: Python spp.
- nm: Python amethistinus, Giant python
- jjoj: snake sp.
- kodkl: Acanthophis laevis, Death adder (?)
- sataw: Micropechis ikaheca, Small-eyed snake (?)
- other terrifying reptiles
- soyŋ; ñom: relatively harmless snakes
- yñ yb: familiar small lizards
Frog names in Kalam are:[9]
- Litoria angiana (various phenotypes): komnaŋat, jejeg, (jejeg) pkay, kawag
- komnaŋat: bright green polymorph; usually found in Saurauia spp. and Ficus dammaropsis
- kawag: dark green or black polymorph
- jejeg: four types:
- jejeg pkay: polymorph with reddish belly
- jejeg mj-kmab or jejeg km: bright green polymorph
- jejeg mlep: dull brown polymorph
- jejeg mosb: black polymorph
- Litoria arfakiana: daŋboŋ
- Litoria modica (or Litoria becki[6]): wyt
- Litoria micromembrana: kosoj
- Litoria bulmeri: kogop
- Nyctimystes disruptus: kwyos, gepgep
- kiwos: red-bellied polymorphs[6]
- Nyctimystes foricula: gojmay (also bin-pk[6])
- Nyctimystes kubori: kwelek
- Nyctimystes narinosus: mabas
- Nyctimystes sp.: kabanm
- Oxydactyla brevicrus: kabanm
- Cophixalus parkeri: kabanm [mature], lk (including bopnm) [immature]
- Cophixalus riparius: gwnm
- Cophixalus shellyi: gwnm sbmganpygak
- Choerophryne variegata: lk (including bopnm)
- Asterophrys sp.: gwnm
- Xenorhina rostrata: gwnm
- Barygenys sp.: gwnm sbmganpygak
- Papurana grisea: akpt, cebs
Note: Cophixalus shellyi, Choerophryne darlingtoni, and Oxydactyla brevicrus also tend to be identified by Kalam speakers as lk if calling from low vegetation, but as gwnm (usually applied to Cophixalus riparius and Xenorhina rostrata) if found in daytime hiding spots.[9]
Plant categories include:[7]
- mon ‘trees and shrubs’ (excluding palms and pandans); e.g., bljan ‘Macaranga spp.’ is a mon that has four named kinds
- mñ ‘vines and robust creepers’
A comprehensive list of Kalam plant and animal names is given below.[6]
More information Scientific name, Common name ...
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Abbreviations:
|
Close
Colors
Kalam speakers distinguish more than a dozen color categories.[6]
- tud ‘white, light coloured’
- sum ‘grey, esp. of hair’
- tun ‘light grey; ash’
- mosb ‘black, dark coloured’
- lkañ ‘red/purple; blood’
- pk ‘orange/bright reddish-brown/bright yellowish-brown/rich yellow; ripe’
- sml ‘rather bright red-brown/yellow brown’
- waln ‘yellow’
- mjkmab ‘green’
- ksk ‘pale green, yellow-green; unripe (of fruit)’
- lban ‘rich green, sheeny; succulent or mature (of foliage)’
- gs ‘dull brown, green or olive’
- mlp ‘straw coloured; withered (of foliage)’
- muk ‘blue’
- sŋak ‘blue-grey, as blue-grey clay’
- kl ‘striped, spotted, mottled’
Time
Pawley and Bulmer (2011), quoted in Pawley and Hammarström (2018), lists the following temporal adverbs in Kalam.[7][6]
- mñi ‘today’
- toy ‘tomorrow’
- (toy) menk ‘day after tomorrow’
- toytk ‘yesterday’
- menk atk ‘day before yesterday’
- goson ‘3 days from today’
- goson atk ‘3 days ago’
- ason ‘4 days from today’
- ason atk ‘4 days ago’
- goson ason ‘5 days from today’
- goson ason atk ‘5 days ago’
Rhyming compounds
Kalam, like English, has different types of rhyming compounds.[7]
- alternating consonants
- gadal-badal [ŋgándálmbándál] ‘placed in a disorderly manner, criss-cross, higgledy-piggledy’
- gley-wley [ŋgɨléywuléy] ‘rattling, clattering’
- addition of consonants
- adk-madk [ándɨkmándɨk] ‘turned over, reversed’
- ask-mask [ásɨkmásɨk] ‘ritually restricted’
- alternating vowels
- ñugl-ñagl [ɲúŋgɨlɲáŋgɨl] ‘sound of evening chorus of insects and frogs’
- gtiŋ-gtoŋ [ŋgɨríŋgɨróŋ] ‘loud noise, din, racket’
- Kalam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- 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.
- Pawley, Andrew (2012). Hammarström, Harald; van den Heuvel, Wilco (eds.). "How reconstructable is proto Trans New Guinea? Problems, progress, prospects". History, Contact and Classification of Papuan Languages (Language & Linguistics in Melanesia Special Issue 2012: Part I). Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea: 88–164. hdl:1885/38602. ISSN 0023-1959.
- Majnep, Ian Saem; Bulmer, Ralph (1977). Birds of my Kalam Country [Mn̄mon Yad Kalam Yakt]. illustrations by Christopher Healey. New Zealand: Auckland University Press. pp. 150, 152. ISBN 9780196479538. OCLC 251862814.
- Blevins, Juliette; Pawley, Andrew. "Typological Implications of Kalam Predictable Vowels" (PDF). julietteblevins.ws.gc.cuny.edu.
- Pawley, Andrew and Ralph Bulmer. 2011. A Dictionary of Kalam with Ethnographic Notes. Canberra. Pacific Linguistics.
- Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- Note: Data in Pawley (2012) is drawn from Pawley and Bulmer (2011).
- Bulmer, Ralph N.H. and Michael Tyler. 1968. Karam classification of frogs. Journal of the Polynesian Society 77(4): 621–639.
- Bulmer, RNH (1975). Kalam Classification Of Reptiles And Fishes. Journal of the Polynesian Society 84(3): 267–308.
- Andrew Pawley and Ralph Bulmer. 2011. A dictionary of Kalam with ethnographic notes. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
- Bulmer, Ralph N.H. 1967. Why is the cassowary not a bird? A problem of zoological taxonomy among the Karam of the New Guinea highlands. Man 2(1): 5–25.
- Bulmer, Ralph N.H. 1968. Kalam colour categories. Kivung 1(3): 120–133.
- Bulmer, Ralph N.H. 1974. Folk biology in the New Guinea highlands. Social Science Information 13(4/5): 9–28.
- Bulmer, Ralph N.H. and J.I. Menzies. 1972–1973. Kalam classification of marsupials and rodents. Journal of the Polynesian Society 81(4): 472–499, 82(1):86–107.
- Bulmer, Ralph N.H. and Michael Tyler. 1968. Karam classification of frogs. Journal of the Polynesian Society 77(4): 621–639.
- Bulmer, Ralph N.H., J.I. Menzies and F. Parker. 1975. Kalam classification of reptiles and fish. Journal of the Polynesian Society 84(3): 267–308.
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