Tombonuwo language
Tombonuwo is a Paitanic language spoken in the Pitas and Labuk-Sugut Districts of northwest Sabah, Malaysia.
Phonology
Source:Consonants
The phonemes are voiceless. All other expressions are voiced.Vowels
is often pronounced as unrounded.is neutralized to 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.Tombonuwo has four focus categories, conventionally labelled "actor", "patient", "referent" and "theme". Focus is marked by affixation on the verb.
- Actor: -um- / m-
- Patient: -on / -∅
- Referent: -an
- Theme: ''i-''
Tense and aspect
Source:The only marked tense in Tombonuwo is past tense.
- Past tense: n-
- Stative: o-
- Perfective: ko-
- Non-volitional past tense: n-o-
- Accomplishment: ''n-o-ko-''