| Tifal | |
| Also Known As: | Tifalmin |
| Region: | Sandaun Province, Telefomin District |
| Date: | 2003 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam2: | Central & South New Guinea ? |
| Fam4: | Mountain |
| Dia1: | Tifal–Urap |
| Dia2: | Atbal |
| Iso3: | tif |
| Lc1: | urm |
| Ld1: | Urap |
| Glotto: | tifa1245 |
| Glottoname: | Tifal |
| Glotto2: | urap1239 |
| Glottoname2: | Urapmin |
| Notice: | IPA |
Tifal is an Ok language spoken in Papua New Guinea. Dialects are Tifal (Tifalmin), Urap (Urapmin) and Atbal (Atbalmin).
The Tifal language is bounded by Papuan and Irian Jaya speakers to the south and west, the Telefomin valley in the east, and the Sepik river to the north.
| Phonemic | ɑ | ɑː | b | d | eː | f | i | iː | k | l | m | n | ŋ | o | oː | s | t | u | uː | w | j | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | aa | b, p | d | e | f | i | ii | k | l | m | n | ng | o | oo | s | t | u | uu | w | y | |
| Uppercase | A | Aa | B | D | E | F | I | Ii | K | L | M | N | O | Oo | S | T | U | Uu | W | Y |
| Plosive | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Fricative | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Semivowel | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Liquid | pronounced as /ink/ |
pronounced as //b// is realized as pronounced as /link/ word finally, as pronounced as /link/ in syllable-coda position before a consonant, and pronounced as /link/ elsewhere.
pronounced as //t// is realized as pronounced as /link/ in syllable coda before a consonant and pronounced as /link/ elsewhere.
pronounced as //d// is realized as pronounced as /link/ intervocalically, e.g. pronounced as //didab//: pronounced as /[dɪˈɾʌpʰ]/ 'water container'.
pronounced as //k// is pronounced as /link/ intervocalically, pronounced as /link/ in syllable coda before consonants, and pronounced as /link/ elsewhere.
pronounced as //s// is realized as pronounced as /link/ before pronounced as //u//.
pronounced as //l// is alveolar adjacent to back vowels and alveodental elsewhere. One dialect realizes pronounced as //l// as pronounced as /link/ intervocalically.
| Close | pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/ |
pronounced as //o// and pronounced as //oː// rarely contrast.
| word-initially and finally | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| in open syllables, before, and between and | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| before or ; between and | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ |
Syllable structure is (C)V(pronounced as /ː/)(C). The expression 'oh my!' may be an exception.
pronounced as //d// only occurs word-initially. pronounced as //f// only occurs syllable-initially. pronounced as //ŋ// is always syllable-final.
Initial pronounced as //l// only occurs in some dialects. Initial pronounced as //kw// occurs in two dialects, and may usually be interpreted as C+V.
pronounced as //w// and pronounced as //j// occur syllable-initially. Only one dialect allows syllable-coda pronounced as //j//.
In inflected words stress lies on the last syllable of the verb stem. If there are long vowels stress falls on the first syllable in the word. If all vowels are short, stress falls on the last syllable. If it is closed stress falls on the first syllable.
Nouns are not inflected but may mark possession. Body parts and kinship terms are obligatorily possessed, and some kinship terms require affixing. On other nouns possession is optional, except for proper names which are never possessed.
| 1 | singular | ni-/na- | nala-/nalal-/-nila | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| plural | nuu-/no- | nuulu-/nulul- | ||
| 2 | singular | m | kab- | kaltab-/kalab- |
| f | kub- | kultub-/kulub- | ||
| plural | kib- | kiltib- | ||
| 3 | singular | m | a- | ala-/alal-/al- |
| f | u- | ulu-/ulul-/ul- | ||
| plural | ib-/i- | iltib-/ilib-/ilal-/il- | ||
| Suffix: | -mi~ni | -i~-di | -yo | ta | -siik/-siin | soo/soono |
|---|
| Suffix: | -mi~ni | ta | -kal | tab |
|---|
Tifal has a rich aspectual system.[1] Verbs may be separated into four groups based on how they transform from continuative to punctiliar aspect. Some only have vowel and/or simple stem changes, some have suppletive stems, some change compound-final stems, and some which have allomorphs which add (or rarely) to the stem.
Verbs also can be divided based on transitivity. Some require direct objects, some with optional objects, some with optional locational objects, and a few intransitive verbs.
Most final verbs mark tense, mood, and person, but most verbs can mark aspect and not tense and still be a final verb.
| pres | -b/m1 | -d | |
| yesterday past | 1-m-som/-a-som | -b | |
| dist. past | -a-s | ||
| very remote past | -bis | -s | |
| abilitative | 1-m-am | 1-d-am | |
| near future | 1-m-okom | 1-d-okom | |
| dist. future | 1-m-okob | 1-d-okob | |
Tifal sentences are contain inflected verb-root-chains, often with a final fully conjugated verb. One must inflect for the amount of time between one verb in the chain and the next.[2]
Marking spatial relation between verbs and their objects is obligatory. "up" must be clarified as either "upslope" or "upstream", "down" as "downslope" or "downstream", and "across" as "across land" or "across a river".[2]
Tifal has dyadic kinship terms (terms referring to the relationship two or more people have to each other), which are present in less than 10 languages and not prevalent in Papua New Guinea. However, they are a salient feature of the Ok languages. Related terms are found in Oksapmin, Mian, and Telefol.[3]