Kilmeri language
Kilmeri is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea near the border with Indonesian Papua. It is not being learned by children.
| Kilmeri | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Sandaun Province |
| Ethnicity | 2,800 (2004)[1] |
Native speakers | 2,000 (2004)[1] |
Border
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kih |
| Glottolog | kilm1241 |
| ELP | Kilmeri[2] |
| Coordinates: 2.916313°S 141.298028°E | |
Kilmeri is spoken around Ossima ward (2.916313°S 141.298028°E) in Bewani-Wutung Onei Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.[3][4]
Phonology
Kilmeri possesses the bilabial trill /ʙ/, which is not present in other Border languages, but is found in Kwomtari and Sko languages.[5]
Kilmeri has 7 vowels.[5]
u ɪ ʊ e ə o a
Pronouns
The Kilmeri pronouns are:[5]
singular dual plural 1incl dedukoyo nuko 1excl ko koyo uke 2 de deyo ine 3 ki ~ ke kiyo iki
Verbs
Kilmeri verb forms can express complex modality. Examples:[5]
de-le PROB-go ‘will probably go’ lam < le-m go-POT ‘might go’ lou < le-ou go-FRUST ‘go in vain’ lap < le-p go-IMP ‘go!’ klam < k-le-m NEG.IMP-go-NEG.IMP ‘don’t go!’ loipap < le-ipe-p go-first-IMP ‘go first, and then…’
Circumfixes can also be applied to verbs in Kilmeri.
Number agreement in Kilmeri is absolutive rather than accusative.[5]
In Kilmeri, intransitive verbs, as well as the two transitive verbs ‘eat’ and ‘throw down to’, agree with subjects in number. This pattern is also present in Amanab. These verbs are:[5]
gloss singular plural ‘eat’ ni ile ‘throw down to’ pakʊne pakʊpi ‘come’ pule pulupi ‘die’ sui supuli ‘go’ le mole ‘sit’ nake mape ‘sleep’ nui sapi ‘speak’ mui molive
However, number marking for transitive verbs, except for ‘eat’ and ‘throw down to’, refers to the number of the object, rather than the subject.[5]
gloss singular plural ‘carry’ wili moli ‘carry hanging’ lali laluli ‘cook’ si sepi ‘cut’ suke sukeli ‘dig’ rari rararpi ‘erect’ newe newaupi ‘fetch someone’ lakive leki ‘fill’ norive nororpi ‘harvest’ lapiye lapapi ‘mark’ lopi lopapi ‘sharpen’ merive mererpi ‘take out’ pulive puloli ‘tear’ pike pikeki
References
- Kilmeri at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Endangered Languages Project data for Kilmeri.
- 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.
- United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
- Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.