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Tombonuo
Lobu · Mutangar Tombonuo
Native to Malaysia
Region Sabah
Ethnicity Tambanuo
Native speakers
10,000 (2000) [1]
3,000 Lingkabau (2003) [1]
Dialects
  • Lingkabau
Language codes
ISO 639-3 txa
Glottolog tomb1244

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

Phonology [4]

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive p b t d g k ʔ
Fricative s
Affricate
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. ^ a b Tombonuo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ King, Julie (1984). The Paitanic language family. Canberra: Australian National University. 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. Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Museum. pp. 97–106. ISBN  9789839638059. {{ cite book}}: |work= ignored ( help)
  5. ^ Boutin, Michael (1988). Problems in analyzing focus in the languages of Sabah. Dallas: SIL. p. 54. ISBN  0883122146. {{ cite book}}: |work= ignored ( help)
  6. ^ a b c King, John Wayne; Levinsohn, Stephen (1991). Participant reference in Tombonuo. Canberra: Australian National University. p. 76. ISBN  0-85883-406-5. {{ cite book}}: |work= ignored ( help)