Telefol language
Telefol is a language spoken by the Telefol people in Papua New Guinea, notable for possessing a base-27 numeral system.
History
The Iligimin people also spoke Telefol, but they were defeated by the Telefol proper.Orthography
Single and represent both their single and long vowels, since they rarely contrast.is written pre-consonantally and word-finally.
Single is written intervocalically, and is written intervocalically.
and are written and .
Initial is also written with in loan words, e.g. Got 'God'.
Phonology
Consonants
and only appear in a few particles and some exclamations. and only appear in a few loans.| Phoneme | Condition | Allophone |
| intervocalic | ||
| syllable-final | ||
| intervocalic | ||
| intervocalic | ||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | |||
| Mid | |||
| Open |
There are two contrastive phonemic tones in Telefol, high and low. For example, ùlín 'club' vs. úlìn 'planted'.
and, and, are nearly in complementary distribution. Also, single /e/ and /o/ don't occur in one-syllable words or in terminal syllables.
Vowel length only contrasts in initial syllables. However, in initial syllables single and, and and, don't contrast.
Phonotactics
Syllable structure is.does not occur word-initially.
is allowed in medial, but not word-initial, onsets.
Grammar
Telefol is a subject–object–verb language.Verbal aspect
Telefol has a rich aspectual system. Telefol verbs have "punctiliar" and "continuative" stems.Counting system
Telefol uses a base-27 counting system. This is mapped onto the body by counting each of the following: the left pinky to the left thumb ; the wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm, and shoulder ; the side of the neck, ear, and left eye ; the nose ; and similarly on the right side in reverse order, from the right eye to the right pinky.Kinship
Telefol has dyadic kinship terms, 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 Tifal.Evolution
Below are some reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Pawley :| proto-Trans-New Guinea | Telefol |
| *mk ‘milk, sap, breast’ | müük, mɔk ‘spittle’ |
| *maŋgat ‘teeth, mouth’ | |
| *maŋgV ‘compact round object’ | magap ‘round object, fruit, seed, etc’’ |
| *mndu ‘nose’ | mutu ‘nose’ |
| *kma ‘neck, nape’ | kum ‘left side of neck’ |
| *kumut, *tumuk ‘thunder’ | tumuun ‘thunder’ |
| *niman ‘louse’ | tim ‘louse’ |
| *kalm ‘moon’ | kaliim ‘moon’ |
| *ktuma ‘night, morning’ | kutim ‘morning’ |
| *na ‘1SG’ | na- |
| *ni, *nu ‘1PL’ | nu |
| *mbena ‘arm’ | ban ‘forearm’ |
| *ani ‘who?’ | wan, waan ‘who?’ |
| *pVnum ‘wind’ | inim |
| *kinV ‘shoulder’ | tiŋ |
| *mbilaŋ ‘tongue’ | fɔŋ |
| *mbena ‘arm’ | ban ‘forearm’ |
| *amba ‘sibling’ | baab |
| *-sumbu ‘ashes’ | -tab |
| *mbilaŋ ‘tongue’ | foŋ |
| *ututu- ‘to fly’ | fúlúluú |
| *pVnum ‘wind’ | inim |
| *mndu ‘nose’ | mutuum |
| *kumut, *tumuk ‘thunder’ | tumuun |
| *ktuma ‘night, morning’ | kutim |
| *ŋgatu ‘knee’ | katuun |
| *kak ‘neck’ | ditak |
| *saŋ ‘story, song’ | saŋ ‘myth, story’ |
| *sumbu ‘ashes’ | tab |
| *maŋgV ‘compact round object’ | makáb ‘egg’ |
| *maŋgat ‘teeth, mouth’ | |
| *kalm ‘moon’ | kaliim |
| *kma ‘neck, nape’ | kum ‘left side of neck’ |
| *kndVC ‘bone’ | kun |
| *kutV ‘long’ | |
| *kinV ‘shoulder’ | tiŋ- |
| *mk ‘milk, sap, breast’ | múúk |
| *ok ‘water’ | óók |
| *aapu ‘skin, bark’ | káál |
| *kalm ‘moon’ | *kaliim |