Mandobo language explained

Mandobo
Also Known As:	Dumut
Nativename:	Kaeti
States:	Indonesia
Region:	Mandobo District in Boven Digoel Regency, South Papua
Speakers:	30,000
Date:	2002
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Trans–New Guinea
Fam2:	Greater Awyu
Fam3:	Awyu–Dumut
Fam4:	Dumut
Dia1:	Bawah
Dia2:	Atas
Dia3:	Kokenop
Lc1:	bwp
Ld1:	Mandobo Bawah
Lc2:	aax
Ld2:	Mandobo Atas
Glotto:	mand1473
Glottorefname:	Mandobo

Mandobo, or Kaeti, is a Papuan language of Mandobo District in Boven Digoel Regency, South Papua, Indonesia.

Varieties

Ethnologue distinguishes two languages:

• Mandobo Bawah, spoken on the Lower Mandobo River
• Mandobo Atas, spoken on the Upper Mandobo River

Phonology

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i	y		u
Mid	e			o
Open			a

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	k
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᵑɡ
Nasal		m	n
Rhotic			ɾ
Approximant		w		j

^[1]

Evolution

Below are some Kaeti reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Pawley (2012), drawn from McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970).^{[2] [3]}

	Kaeti
maŋgat[a] ‘teeth, mouth’	magot
mVkVm ‘cheek’	(a)moka (cf. Axu moxo pe)
maŋgV ‘compact round object’	(Axu mügo ‘egg’)
amu ‘breast’	am
k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] ‘neck, nape’	koman
kumV- ‘die’	kün (cf. Sawuy xom-, Wambon N. & Wambon S. kim-)
mVkVm ‘cheek, jaw’	(a)moka ‘cheek’
na ‘1SG’	nø(p)
ni, *nu ‘1PL free pron.’	no-güp
na- ‘eat’	(Wambon en-)
k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] ‘neck, nape’	koman
mb(i,u)t(i,u)C ‘fingernail’	betit
imbi ‘name’	üp
apa[pa]ta ‘butterfly’	apap
k(a,o)ndok[V] ‘foot, leg’	kodok
andu- ‘to cook’	odu
mb(i,u)t(i,u)C ‘fingernail’	betit
(ŋg,k)iti-maŋgV ‘eye’	(?) kerop
(mb,p)ututu- ‘to fly’	(?) bere(na)
kumut, *tumuk ‘thunder’	komöt
maŋgat[a] ‘teeth, mouth’	magot
ŋga ‘2SG’	gu
maŋgat[a] ‘teeth, mouth’	magot
maŋgV ‘compact round object’	(Axu mügo ‘egg’)
ka(nd,t)(e,i)kV ‘ear’	kere(top)
k(a,o)ndok[V] ‘foot, leg’	kodok
ka(nd,t)apu ‘skin’	kotae
kumbutu ‘wind’	kiow
kin(i,u)- ‘sleep’	kinum
kumV- ‘die’	kün
k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] ‘neck’	koman
kuya ‘cassowary’	(Sawuy kuye)
kV(mb,p)(i,u)t(i,u) ‘head’	(?) xebia(an)
mVkVm ‘cheek’	(a)moka (cf. Axu moxo pe)
kutV(mb,p)(a,u)[C] ‘long’	(?) guru(op)
ok[V] ‘water’	ok
k(a,o)ndok[V] ‘foot’	kodok

Further reading

• Jang, Hong-Tae. 2003. Survey report on languages of southeastern foothills in Papua Merauke Regency of Papua, Indonesia. Manuscript.
• Lebold, Randy, Ronald Kriens and Yunita Susanto. 2013. A Report on the Bamgi, Kia, and Lower Digul River Language Survey in Papua, Indonesia. SIL International.

External links

• Mandobo at the Awyu–Ndumut research group at VU University Amsterdam

Notes and References

1. Book: Voorhoeve, C. L. . Proto-Awyu-Dumut phonology II . Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. . 2001 . In Andrew Pawley and Malcolm Ross and Darrell Tryon (eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: Studies in Melanesian Linguistics in Honor of Tom Dutton . 361–381.
2. Pawley . Andrew . Andrew Pawley . 2012 . History, Contact and Classification of Papuan Languages . Language & Linguistics in Melanesia Special Issue 2012: Part I . 0023-1959 . Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea . Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea . Hammarström . Harald . van den Heuvel . Wilco . How reconstructable is proto Trans New Guinea? Problems, progress, prospects . 88–164. 1885/38602 .
3. McElhanon, Kenneth A. AND C.L. Voorhoeve. 1970. The Trans–New Guinea Phylum: explorations in deep-level genetic relationships. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.