Tombonuwo language

Tombonuwo (Tambonuo) is a Paitanic language spoken in the Pitas and Labuk-Sugut Districts of northwest Sabah, Malaysia.[2][3]

Tombonuo
Lobu · Mutangar Tombonuo
Native toMalaysia
RegionSabah
EthnicityTambanuo
Native speakers
10,000 (2000)[1]
3,000 Lingkabau (2003)[1]
Dialects
  • Lingkabau
Language codes
ISO 639-3txa
Glottologtomb1244

Phonology[4]

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive p b t d g k ʔ
Fricative s
Affricate dʒ
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral l
Trill r
Semi-vowel w j

The phonemes /p, t, k, s, ʔ/ are voiceless. All other expressions are voiced.

Vowels
Non-back Back
High i u
Non-high a o

/o/ is often pronounced as unrounded [ʌ].

/a/ is neutralized to [ʌ] in a pre-stressed syllable.

Morphology

Focus

Sabahan languages are characterized by "focus" morphology, which marks a syntactic relationship between the predicate of a clause and the "focused" noun phrase of the clause[5] (see Austronesian alignment).

Tombonuwo has four focus categories, conventionally labelled "actor", "patient", "referent" and "theme".[6] Focus is marked by affixation on the verb.

  • Actor: -um- / m(u)-
  • Patient: -on (Present tense) / -∅ (Past tense)
  • Referent: -an
  • Theme: i-

Tense and aspect[6]

The only marked tense in Tombonuwo is past tense.

  • Past tense: n- (-in-)
  • Stative: o-
  • Perfective: ko-
  • Non-volitional past tense: n-o-
  • Accomplishment: n-o-ko-

Demonstratives[6]
  • Near the speaker: itu
  • Far from the speaker: iri
  • Medium distance from the speaker: ono

References
  1. Tombonuo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. King, Julie (1984). The Paitanic language family. pp. 146. ISBN 0858832976. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. Lobel, Jason William (2013). Philippine and North Bornean languages: issues in description, subgrouping and reconstruction (PDF) (PHD dissertation). Manoa: University of Hawai'i. p. 370.
  4. King, John Wayne (1993). Tombonuwo phonemics. pp. 97–106. ISBN 9789839638059. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. Boutin, Michael (1988). Problems in analyzing focus in the languages of Sabah. p. 54. ISBN 0883122146. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. King, John Wayne; Levinsohn, Stephen (1991). Participant reference in Tombonuo. p. 76. ISBN 0-85883-406-5. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)


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