Foi language
Foi | |
---|---|
Region | Papua New Guinea |
Native speakers | 6,000 (2015)[1] |
Papuan Gulf?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | foi |
Glottolog | foii1241 |
Foi,also known asFoeorMubi River,is one of the twoEast Kutubuan languagesof theTrans-New Guineafamily spoken alongLake Kutubuand Mubi River, located in theSouthern Highlands ProvinceofPapua New Guinea.[1]Dialects of Foi are Ifigi, Kafa, Kutubu, Mubi.[2]ASwadesh listfor the Foi language was documented byThe Rosetta Projectin 2010.[3]The estimated number of Foi speakers as of 2015 is between 6,000 and 8,000.[4]
Grammar[edit]
Syntax[5][edit]
Foi is asubject–object–verblanguage, similar to most languages inPapua New Guinea.
Foe adopts the usage of focused objects as sentence-initial. In noun phrases, Foi follows the pattern of Noun + Quantifier and Adjective + Noun.
Adverbial phrases are marked postpositionally bycliticsin Foi.
Foi also has a series ofevidentialsto mark theverbal aspectof seen, unseen, deduced, possibility, and mental deduction.
Morphology[5][edit]
Thesubjector focus transitive in a sentence is marked with-moas shown in example (1) below.
no-mo
I-FOC
agira
sweet.potato
nibi'ae
eat.did
'I ate the sweet potato'
Where the focus is on the person who is eating the sweet potato.
Base Form | Marked for Subject or Focus Transitivity | |
---|---|---|
1 sg. | na(no) | no-mo |
2 sg. | naʔa | nomaʔa-mo |
3 sg. | jo | jo-ø |
1 pl. excl. | jia | jia-mo |
1 pl. incl. | jija | jija-mo |
2 pl. | haʔa | hemaʔa-mo |
3 pl. | jaʔa | jaʔa-ø |
1 dl. excl. | jage | jage-mo |
1 dl. incl. | jaʔa | jaʔa-ø |
2 dl. | hagaʔa | hagemaʔa-mo |
3 dl. | hagera | hagera-mo |
Lexical[edit]
Foi has separate words for today and yesterday, as well as two, three, four and five days prior and hence.[5]
Pronouns[5][edit]
Singular,dual,and plural are distinguished inpersonal pronouns.In addition, Foe also marksclusivityforfirst-personpronouns.
singular | dual | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1st person | inclusive | na(no) | jaʔa | jija |
exclusive | jage | jia | ||
2nd person | naʔa | hagaʔa | haʔa | |
3rd person | jo | hagera | jaʔa |
It was not made clear if a reported minimal distinction in the first-person plural form between the inclusivejiaand exclusivejijais real.
Phonology[edit]
Vowels[edit]
Foi features 5vowels.
Consonants[edit]
The 16consonantsincluding theglottal stopused in Foi are:
Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n ñ | ||||
Stop | b | t d | k g | ʔ | ||
Non-sibilant fricative | f v | |||||
Sibilantfricative | s | h | ||||
Approximant | w | j | ||||
Trill | r |
Allophonicvariation of [t], [d] and [r] is common.[5]
The vowel/y/was mentioned as a consonant by Franklin, suggesting that the research was phonetically noted inAmericanist phonetic notation.[5]The table above has been amended according to the standards ofInternational Phonetic Alphabet.
Body-part counting system[edit]
Foi adopts thebody-part counting system.This feature can also be found in approximately 60Trans-New Guinea Languagessuch asFasuandOksapmin.[5]
Counting typically begins by touching (and usually bending) the fingers of one hand, moves up the arm to the shoulders and neck, and in some systems, to other parts of the upper body or the head. A central point serves as the half-way point. Once this is reached, the counter continues, touching and bending the corresponding points on the other side until the fingers are reached.[6]
Number | Gloss | Translation | Number | Gloss | Translation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 'little finger' | mena-gi | 20 | 'side of nose' | to | |
2 | 'ring finger' | ha-gi | 21 | 'eye' | i | |
3 | 'middle finger' | i-gi | 22 | 'cheekbone' | bobo | |
4 | 'index finger' | tugu-bu | 23 | 'ear' | kia | |
5 | 'thumb' | kaba | 24 | 'upper neck' | fufu | |
6 | 'palm' | tama | 25 | 'lower neck' | heno-go | |
7 | 'wrist' | bona-gi | 26 | 'collarbone area', | keno | |
8 | forearm' | kwebo | 27 | 'shoulder' | ki | |
9 | 'inside elbow' | karo-habo | 28 | 'upper middle arm' | ame-ni | |
10 | 'upper middle arm' | ame-ni | 29 | 'inside elbow' | karo-habo | |
11 | 'shoulder' | ki | 30 | forearm' | kwebo | |
12 | 'collarbone area', | keno | 31 | 'wrist' | bona-gi | |
13 | 'lower neck' | heno-go | 32 | 'palm' | tama | |
14 | 'upper neck' | fufu | 33 | 'thumb' | kaba | |
15 | 'ear' | kia | 34 | 'index finger' | tugu-bu | |
16 | 'cheekbone' | bobo | 35 | 'middle finger' | i-gi | |
17 | 'eye' | i | 36 | 'ring finger' | ha-gi | |
18 | 'side of nose' | to | 37 | 'little finger' | mena-gi | |
19 | 'ridge of nose' | kisi |
Language status[edit]
According toEthnologue,the language status of is '5*', referring to the situation whereby the language is anticipated to be in vigorous use by all, based on the informed guess made by editorial team due to the lack of information. This status is based on Lewis and Smino's (2010)Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS).[1]
Further reading[edit]
- Rule, Murray. 1993.The Culture and Language of the Foe: The People of Lake Kutubu, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.Merewether, New South Wales: Chevron Niugini.
References[edit]
- ^abcFoiatEthnologue(25th ed., 2022)
- ^International encyclopedia of linguistics.Frawley, William, 1953- (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003.ISBN0-19-513977-1.OCLC51478240.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: others (link) - ^Foi Swadesh List.The Rosetta Project.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: others (link) - ^Niles, Don; Weiner, James F. (2015), "Introduction:: Foi Songs and the Performance, Publication, and Poetry of Papua New Guinea Sung Traditions",Songs of the Empty Place,The Memorial Poetry of the Foi of the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, ANU Press, pp. xv–l,ISBN978-1-925022-22-3,JSTORj.ctt16wd0gx.6
- ^abcdefghFranklin, Karl J. (2001). "Kutubuan (Foe and Fasu) and Proto Engan". In Andrew, Pawley; Malcolm, Ross; Darrell, Tryon (eds.).The boy from Bundaberg: Studies in Melanesian linguistics in honour of Tom Dutton(PDF).Pacific Linguistics. Vol. 514. The Australian National University. pp. 143–154.doi:10.15144/PL-514.
- ^The languages and linguistics of the New Guinea area: a comprehensive guide.Palmer, Bill (Linguist). Berlin. 4 December 2017.ISBN978-3-11-029525-2.OCLC1041880153.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
External links[edit]
- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World,Foe