Skou language


Skou, or Tumawo, is a Papuan language of Indonesia.

Distribution

Skou is spoken in three villages of, Jayapura City. The villages are:
  • , the westernmost and most populous Skou village
  • , located between Skou Yambe and Skou Sae villages
  • , the easternmost and least populous Skou village

    Phonology

Consonants

The Skou consonants are:

Vowels

Vowels can be nasalized, except for /ɨ/ and /u/.

Tone

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

Pronouns

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