Skou language explained

Skou
Nativename:	Tumawo
States:	Indonesia
Region:	, Jayapura Regency
Speakers:	700
Date:	1999
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Skou
Fam2:	Western
Iso3:	skv
Glotto:	nucl1634
Glottorefname:	Skou

Skou (Sekol, Sekou, Sko, Skouw, Skow, Sukou), or Tumawo (Te Mawo), is a Papuan language of Indonesia.

Distribution

Skou is spoken in three villages of, Jayapura Regency. The villages are:^[1]

• (Skou name: Te Tángpe), the westernmost and most populous Skou village
• (Skou name: Te Máwo), located between Skou Yambe and Skou Sai villages
• (Skou name: Te Bapúbi), the easternmost and least populous Skou village

Phonology

Consonants

The Skou consonants are:^[2]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /ink/
Fricative		pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/
Liquid			pronounced as /ink/
			pronounced as /ink/
Semivowel		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/

Vowels

Vowels can be nasalized, except for /ɨ/ and /u/.^[2]

	Front		Central		Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Open	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/

Tone

Skou contrasts three different tones in monosyllables: high, low and falling, which can be combined with nasality for a six-way contrast.

!Pitch!Oral !Nasal

high [˥]	ta'grass'	tã 'bird'
low [˨]	ta'hair'	tã 'canoe'
falling [˥˩]	ta'arrow'	tã 'machete'

Tone in Skou is affiliated with each word, rather than with each syllable.

In addition to lexical differences in tone, tone has grammatical functions.

For instance, tense in Skou is differentiated by tone.

non-past tense forms

[ni hu]falling-falling'I sew'	[ni ha]falling-high'I stand'	[ni hũ]falling-low'I drink'
past tense forms
[ni hu]falling-low'I sewed'	[ni ha]falling-low'I stood'	[ni hũ] falling-low 'I drank'

Pronouns

Skou differentiates three types of pronouns: free pronouns, genitive pronouns and dative pronouns.

Pronouns!!Free!Genitive!Dative

	[ni˥˩]	[ni˥˩]	[nɛ˨]
	[nɛ˨]	[nɛ˥˩]	[nɛ˨]
	[mɛ˥˩]	[mɛ˥˩]	[mɛ˨]
	[ɛ˨]	[ɛ˥˩]	[ɛ˨]
.	[kɛ˨]	[kɛ˥]	[kɛ˨]
.	[pɛ˨]	[pɛ˥˩]	[pɛ˨]
	[tɛ˨]	[tɛ˥˩]	[tɛ˨]

References

• Donohue, Mark. 2004. A Grammar of the Skou language of New Guinea. Singapore: National University of Singapore. Available at http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:402710:4/component/escidoc:402709/skou_donohue2004_s.pdf.

Notes and References

1. Donohue, Mark. 2004. A Grammar of the Skou language of New Guinea. Singapore: National University of Singapore. Available at http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:402710:4/component/escidoc:402709/skou_donohue2004_s.pdf.
2. Book: Foley, William A. . William A. Foley . Palmer . Bill . 2018 . The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide . The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs . The World of Linguistics . 4 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 197-432 . 978-3-11-028642-7.