Phonology

Papuan languages tend to use simple forms of phonology. The standard system of five phonemic vowels (/i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/) is quite common, although other systems do exist. No Papuan language has yet been found to have more than 10 vowel phonemes. Many Papuan languages, especially those of the Sepik-Ramu basin area, have unusual vowel systems, with a very high preponderance of central vowels.

Consonantal systems also tend to be simple. Usually, consonants are articulated at one of three places: the lips (this is referred to as bilabial), the back of the teeth (dental), or the back of the roof of the mouth (velar). Some systems add a fourth place of articulation, the high roof of the mouth (palatal). Most languages distinguish at least two types of consonants, an oral one (e.g., /p/) and a nasal (e.g., /m/). In some languages of the Lakes Plain family, however, nasal consonants may be lacking entirely—an extremely rare characteristic among the languages of the world.

Continuant sounds, such as /f/ and /s/, tend to be restricted in Papuan languages. Some languages lack them entirely, others have only /s/, while still others have a restricted set composed of /f/, /s/, and in some cases one other. No Papuan language comes close to having the eight continuant sounds found in English. Papuan languages also normally lack a distinction between /l/ and /r/; the spoken word commonly varies freely between these two articulations with no contrast in meaning.

Some Papuan languages also use tone, the distinctive use of variations in pitch to distinguish words, as in Chinese or the languages of Southeast Asia. This is found sporadically throughout New Guinea, in the Eastern Highlands family, the Sko family, the Lakes Plain family, and others. In Obokuitai of the Lakes Plain family, for example, /ti/ spoken with a high pitch means ‘string bag,’ but when spoken with a falling pitch it refers to a type of butterfly. A similar word, /di/, means ‘red’ when spoken with a high pitch but ‘you’ when spoken with a low pitch. The form /ku/ is distinctive with three pitches: spoken with a high pitch, it means ‘cassowary’; with a low pitch, ‘wood’; and with a falling pitch, it refers to a kind of soil.

Morphology and grammar

Word structure in Papuan languages exhibits great variation in complexity. In some languages there is little or no inflection, or marking of the root word for tense, person, number, gender, mood, voice, and case. In others inflection is quite complex.

In general—and sometimes to an astounding degree—verbs have a richer capacity for inflection than nouns. The only widespread inflectional categories of nouns are case (to distinguish between nouns, pronouns, and adjectives) and gender. The number of genders range from two to a dozen or more. The languages of the Torricelli and Lower Sepik-Ramu families have a highly unusual system in which the gender of most nouns is determined by their phonological properties. Languages with noun gender typically require all modifiers of the noun to take proper inflectional affixes (prefixes, suffixes, and infixes) to agree in gender and number with the noun.

The Yimas language (Lower Sepik-Ramu family), which has a noun inflection pattern much like that of the Bantu languages of Africa, provides an example of how entire sentences must change according to noun gender. In Yimas the sentence “I saw my two big betel nuts (patntrm)” would be rendered as patntrm tma-k ama-na-ntrm kpa-ntrm tm-pal tma-ka-tay; “I saw my two big shells (kaŋkl)” as kaŋkl kla-k ama-na-ŋkl kpa-ŋkl k-rpal kla-ka-tay; “I saw my two big bones (tanpl)” as tanpl pla-k ama-na-mpl kpa-mpl p-rpal pla-ka-tay; and “I saw my two big mats (irwawl)” as irwawl ula-k ama-na-wl kpa-wl wu-rpal ula-ka-tay.

Verbs may be inflected only minimally, usually by adding a suffix for tense. For example, in Watam (Lower Sepik-Ramu family), neŋg-rin ‘gave’ is a composite word made of the root neŋg- ‘give’ and the suffix -rin, which indicates the past tense.

However, verbs can be much more complex. They generally use affixes to mark not only tense but also the person and number of their subject and their object. Occasionally, they also mark their indirect object with affixes. For example, in Fore (Trans-New Guinea family, Eastern Highlands subgroup), the sentence na-ka-i-e might be literally translated as ‘me + see + he + (statement marker)’ and means ‘he sees me.’ The object of this sentence is marked with a prefix, and the subject is marked with a suffix. This is diagnostic of Trans-New Guinea languages. In the Yimas language of the Lower Sepik-Ramu family, na-n-ŋa-ntuk-mpun ‘he gave it to them’ is literally ‘it + he + give + (past tense marker) + them.’ In some languages the person and the number of the subject and object are each expressed with a different affix, as in Nimboran (Nimboran family): the phrase gua-i-b-am, literally ‘live + (plural marker) + above + he,’ means ‘they live above’ (with “they” as the plural of “he”).

Verbs in Papuan languages can also use inflection to indicate aspect—that is, whether the action is completed or ongoing. In Marind (Marind family), epa-no-kiparud ‘I am tying’ is literally ‘(marker indicating ongoing action) + I + tie.’ To render the sentence “I have tied,” one would say menda-no-kiparud, literally ‘(marker indicating completed action) + I + tie.’

Mood, which indicates whether the action is likely or simply possible, is also a matter of verb inflection. This is illustrated by the Dani language (Trans-New Guinea family, Dani subgroup), in which the verb wathi ‘I killed him’ can be transformed into wasik ‘I will likely kill him’ and waʔle ‘I may possibly kill him.’

Papuan verbs can also incorporate a myriad of other information. In some languages they indicate the location or direction of the action and its temporal coordinates. In Alamblak (Sepik family), for instance, mi-brɲi-r ‘he went down’ is literally ‘down + go away + he.’ To render “he first went away up at night” in Yimas, one says na-pay-wi-ŋka-pu-kia-ntut, literally ‘he + first + up + go + away + at night + past tense marker.’ In other languages verbs can indicate extra participants, such as the ultimate causer of the action or its beneficiary. For example, in Kewa (Engan family), ma-piraa-ru ‘I made someone sit’ is literally ‘cause + sit + I + (past tense marker).’ In Tairora (Trans-New Guinea family, Eastern Highlands subgroup), one renders “he tied it for me” as rumpa-ti-mi-te-ro, literally ‘tie + me + for + completed + he + (past tense marker).’

The word order of sentences in Papuan languages tends to be varied. The languages of the Trans-New Guinea family typically have the order subject–object–verb (SOV), as do the majority of other Papuan language families, but in some languages word order is rather free. Such languages are characterized by postpositions (e.g., town in), unlike SVO languages, which tend to use prepositions (e.g., in town). Both the Torricelli and East and West Bird’s Head families are exceptions to this generalization, however. Rather than using SOV word order, they use the order subject–verb–object (SVO) and use prepositions. In the case of the Bird’s Head families, this may be due to Austronesian influence, but this is highly unlikely for the Torricelli family.

Papuan languages are commonly characterized by chains consisting of a series of juxtaposed verbs, as in this example from Kalam (Trans-New Guinea family, Eastern New Guinea Highlands group, Kalam subgroup): mon pk d ap ay, literally ‘wood + hit + hold + come + put,’ describes the gathering of firewood. Some Papuan languages have a very small inventory of verb roots, so verb series like this are necessary to provide explicit descriptions. Kalam is exemplary in this regard: with less than 100 verbs of largely general meanings, such serial structures are a necessity. For example, in Kalam nŋ means ‘to perceive’; wdn nŋ ‘eye + perceive’ means ‘to see’; gos nŋ ‘thought + perceive’ means ‘to think’; wsn nŋ ‘sleep + perceive’ means ‘to dream’; and ñb nŋ ‘eat + perceive’ means ‘to taste.’

Many Papuan languages also make a formal distinction among the verbs within these chaining structures, differentiating between inflectionally simpler, formally stripped-down dependent verbs and independent verbs with full inflectional possibilities. Normally, the dependent verb precedes the independent one, which carries the bulk of the inflectional information. The Iatmul language (Sepik family) illustrates this well: in the phrase vɨ-laa yə-kɨyə-ntɨ ‘having seen it, then he will come,’ the first verb (vɨ- ‘to see’) is dependent and the second (yə- ‘to come’) independent. The latter verb is inflected for tense via the future suffix -kɨyə and for the subject via an additional suffix -ntɨ ‘he.’ The dependent verb takes only the suffix -laa, which marks it as a dependent form and indicates that the action of the verb it is suffixed to precedes that of the next verb, as with ‘having…, then….’

To take this example one step further, in Iatmul the subjects of the dependent verb must be the same as that of the next verb. If this is not the case, two independent verbs must be used: vɨ-ntɨ maa yənti ‘he saw and he (someone else) came.’ This restriction does not apply to all Papuan languages; instead, many, and especially those of the Trans-New Guinea family, have a special class of dependent verb forms. These “switch reference” forms, as they are known, indicate whether the subject remains the same for the next verb or is different. In Barai (Koiarian family), for example, bu ive i-na vua kuae ‘they + food + eat + suffix indicating that the subject remains the same + talk + say’ is translated as ‘they ate and then told stories.’ The suffix -na on the dependent verb i- indicates that the subject is the same for both clauses. To render “they ate and then we told stories,” the sentence would have to include a marker indicating that the subject of the dependent clause is different from the subject of the independent clause: bu ire i-mo no vua kuae ‘they + food + eat + suffix indicating that the subject is different + we + talk + say.’