| Kuman | |
| States: | Papua New Guinea |
| Region: | Chimbu Province, from Kundiawa to beyond Kerowagi in the west and Gembogl in the north, at the foot of Mount Wilhelm |
| Date: | 2000 census |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Speakers2: | L2: 70,000 (2021) |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Trans–New Guinea |
| Fam2: | Chimbu–Wahgi |
| Fam3: | Chimbu |
| Iso3: | kue |
| Glotto: | kuma1280 |
| Glottorefname: | Kuman |
Kuman (also Chimbu or Simbu) is a language of Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea. In 1994, it was estimated that 80,000 people spoke Kuman, 10,000 of them monolinguals; in the 2000 census, 115,000 were reported, with few monolinguals. Ethnologue also reported 70,000 second language speakers in 2021.
Like other Chimbu languages, Kuman has rather unusual lateral consonants. Besides the typical pronounced as //l//, it has a "laterally released velar affricate" which is voiced medially and voiceless finally (and does not occur initially).[1] Based on related languages, this is presumably pronounced as //k͡//, allophonically pronounced as /[ɡ͡ʟ̝]/ (see voiceless velar lateral fricative).
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| prenasal/vd. | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Tap | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Lateral | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Semivowel | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Low | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
Syllable structure is (C)V(C). Any consonant can occur in onset position, but in coda position only /m/, /n/, /gɬ/, /l/ and /k/ can occur.
Kuman is an SOV language.
The following basic vocabulary words are from Salisbury (1956)[4] and Trefry (1969),[5] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[6]
| gloss | Kuman | |
|---|---|---|
| head | bit-na; bɩtiɩno | |
| hair | iŋguno; yungo | |
| ear | kina-na; kunano | |
| eye | gumutino; ongomit-na | |
| nose | guma-ne; gumano | |
| tooth | siŋguno | |
| tongue | dirambino | |
| leg | kati; kat-na | |
| louse | numan | |
| dog | aʝg; agi; akɬ ̥ | |
| pig | bogla; bugɬa | |
| bird | kua | |
| egg | mugɬo; muɬo | |
| blood | borɔmai; bořumai; maiam | |
| bone | yambiřo; yombura | |
| skin | gaŋgino | |
| breast | amu-na; amuno | |
| tree | endi | |
| man | yagl; yakɬ ̥ | |
| woman | ambu | |
| sun | ande; andesuŋgua | |
| moon | ba | |
| water | nigl; nikɬ ̥ | |
| fire | baugl; doŋga | |
| stone | kombuglo; kombugɬo | |
| road, path | konbo; konumbo | |
| name | kaŋgin; kangi-ne | |
| eat | neuŋgua | |
| one | suařa | |
| two | suo |