Komo language

The following table provides a summary of the consonants found in Komo.[11]

The voiced alveolar implosive [ɗ] does not occur word finally in Komo, and the velar nasal [ŋ] does not occur word initially. There have been cases of a palatal nasal [ɲ] and an alveolar trill [r] occurring word medially, however these are not considered distinct phonemes but rather the result of phonological processes.[11]

Consonant gemination is common word medially in Komo, however is not phonologically significant and therefore optional. It is not allowed word initially or finally.[11]

Consonant clusters are only allowed word medially in Komo, and can include a maximum of two consonants.[11]

The following table provides a summary of the phonemic vowels found in Komo.[11]

Komo displays a contrastive seven-vowel inventory /i, ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ, u/ with Advanced Tongue Root [ATR] contrast in the high vowels and a typologically unusual and unattested ATR harmony system.[13] The first process is anticipatory, a [+high, +ATR] vowel /i, u/ causes a preceding [-high, -ATR] vowel /ɛ, a, ɔ/ to assimilate to [+ATR] and surface as the allophones [e, ə, o] respectively. The second process is progressive and a [+high, -ATR] vowel /ɪ, ʊ/ causes a following [+high, +ATR] vowel to surface as [+ATR]. Vowel length is not phonologically significant in Komo.

Tone also plays an important role in Komo.[7] There are 3 tone levels in Komo, low (L), medium (M) and high (H). Tone plays a role in verbal morphology. The majority of verbal roots in Komo are monosyllabic at one of the three tones, and when inflected with a single argument they display a pattern of tonal melody. Depending on the class of verb, the tone of the root verb may change depending on the tone of the morphemes that attach to it in relation to its class[4]

Both codas and onsets are optional in Komo, therefore Komo allows the following syllable types:[11]

• V
• CV
• VC
• CVC

A noun is referred to as a "zaga". A majority of nouns in the Komo language do not inherently express number. Most nouns have either a general singular or plural meaning.[14] For instance:

• dog/dogs= kʼáw
• head/heads= k'up

Then there are certain nouns that are specifically either singular or plural:

• Man= yiba
• Girl= bamit
• People= giba

Komo nouns mainly distinguish gender in terms of masculine and feminine.

The number in the Komo language correlates to the gender of the noun. As shown in the chart, singular nouns are preceded by an "a". The plural form of these nouns are in some cases preceded by "gu".

The order of elements in a noun phrase goes as follows: noun--modifying expression--numeral--demonstrative. This order cannot be altered, especially because numerals should not come before modifying expressions. The following sentence gives an example of a complete noun phrase:

• gʉ giba bbissina a dish ba (these three strong men)

Adjectives in the Komo language, as known as modifying expressions, are descriptive words that can be added to further define the noun. The adjectives describe particular qualities, such as the look, shape, sound, taste, or size, of the noun. In the Komo language, the adjectives appear after the noun they modify and agree with the gender and number of the noun.[15] Below are a few examples of adjectives with the noun it modifies:

• paarsha basara- a beautiful horse
• she ppatana- a white tooth
• yi gwaz tʉlira- a tall boy

Pronouns are words or phrases that take the place of nouns. In the Komo language, there are eight different personal pronouns with four singular pronouns and four plural pronouns. The following chart displays the 8 personal pronouns:[15]

The Komo language also uses possessive pronouns to show ownership. Typically in a sentence structure, the word "ba" comes between the possessed noun and possessor noun. This particular word indicates to the reader that a relationship between two nouns is being described.[15] For example:

• gubi ba bbamit (house of the woman)
• gʉ kura ba Asadik (Asadik's donkeys)

In the Komo language, a verb or "kam yay" is the foundation or key basis in forming a proper sentence. A verb describes an action, state, process, event, or quality. In sentences, the verb agrees with the subjects. For example, a subject that is in the 1st person singular needs to have the verb follow in the 1st person singular.

The following chart displays a verb with markers for all the persons:[16]

Regarding verb structure of the Komo language, all finite lexical verbs, or words that express action, must be structured alongside an Aspect-Directional (AD) suffix. The AD is followed by Bound Pronominal (BP) suffixes that classifies person, number, and gender

The following diagram displays a class diagram for segmental morphemes incorporating a Komo verb:[17]

The Komo language relies on directional morphology. These directional morphemes attached to the verbs in a sentence structure are not typically used, but are common among Nilo-Saharan languages. These morphemes code a wide selection of functions beyond a direction of motion. AD morphemes help to code tense and direction of the motion like the words "towards" and "away". AD morphemes can also code the location as well.[14]

• sɔ̀kɔ́n ìp-ì-p' ìyyà ɪ́ma
• PROG drink.SG-AD1-3SG.F water there
• She is drinking water there. (She is there = at the water drinking place)