Dom language

Dom is a Trans–New Guinea language of the Eastern Group of the Chimbu family, spoken in the Gumine and Sinasina Districts of Chimbu Province and in some other isolated settlements in the western highlands of Papua New Guinea.[2]

Not to be confused with Domu language or Domari language.
Dom
Dom [ndom˩˥]
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionGumine District and Sinasina District of the Simbu Province
Native speakers
(12,000 cited 1994)
16,000 (2006)
Trans–New Guinea
Dialects
  • Era
  • Non Ku
  • Ilai Ku
Language codes
ISO 639-3doa
Glottologdomm1246[1]

Sociolinguistic Background

[3]

The Dom people live in an agricultural society, which has a tribal, patrilocal and patrilineal organization. There is only small dialectal differentiation among the clans. The predominant religion is Christianity.

Language Contact Situation

[4]

There are three different languages spoken by Dom speakers alongside Dom: Tok Pisin, Kuman and English. Tok Pisin serves as the Papuan lingua franca. Kuman, which is a closely related eastern Chimbu language of high social and cultural prestige, functions as the prestige language used in ceremonies and official situations. School lessons are mostly hold in English.

Grammar

[5]

Phonology

Vowels

[6]

i u

e o
a a:

Minimal pairs
e~i ˦de 'faeces'~˦di 'axe'
o~u ˦kol 'part~˦kul 'grass'
e~o~a ˥˩pel 'to dig'~˥˩pol 'to pull out'~˥˩pal 'to skin'
a~a: ˥˩bna 'brother'~˥˩bna: 'frame over the fireplace'

Allophones

Vowel lengthening in a contour pitched syllable has allophonic character.

Vowels default realisation contour pitched syllable word final special context
e [e]~[ɛ] [e:] [ə],Ø [o] in [+labial](C)_#

[i]|#C_#

i [i] [i:] [i] [i]
o [o]~[ɔ] [o:]~[oɔ] [o] [o]
u [u] [u:] [u] [u]
a [a] [a:] [a] [a]

Vowel Sequences

iu,io,ia uo

eu,ei,ea o
au,ai,ae a:

Consonants[7]

The Dom consonant system consists of 13 indigenous and 3 loan consonants.

bilabial alveolar alveopalatal velar
[-voice][+stop] p t k
[+prenas][+voice][+stop] b d g
[+nas] m n
[-voice][+affr] (c)
[+prenas][+voice][+affr] (j)
[+fric] s
[+lat] l (ʟ)
[+flap] r
[+approx] w y

The phonemes /c/[ts], /j/[ndʒ]and /ʟ/[ʟ] are loan phonemes and unstable in use.

Minimal pairs

˩˥su 'two' ~ ˩˥tu 'thick'

~ ˩˥du 'squeeze'
~ ˩˥nu 'aim at'
~ ˩˥ku 'hold in the mouth'
~ ˩˥gu 'shave'
~ ˩˥pu 'blow'
~ ˩˥mu 'his/her back'
~ ˩˥yu 'harvest taro'

Allophones
/p/ /t/ /k/ /b/ /<d/ /g/ /m/ /n/ (/c/) (/j/) /s/ /l/ /(ʟ)/ /r/ /w/ /y/
default realization [p] [t] [k] [nb] [nd] [ŋg] [m] [n] ([tʃ]) ([ndʒ]) [s] [l] ([ʟ]) [ɾ] [w] [j]
free alternation ([d(i)]) [ts],[tʃ] ([k][ʟ̥][k͡ʟ̥]) [r],[n],[l]
#_ [pp] [t],[tt] [kk] [b],[bb] [d],[dd] [g],[gg] [m] [n] [tʃ] [j],[jj] [s],[ʃ] Ø Ø ([ɾ]) Ø Ø
V_V [β] ([t]) [ɣ] [ŋ],[ŋg] [s],[ʃ] ([l])
other contexts [ɖ] [ɳ] [ʃ] [ʟ] [t^]/[d^] Ø

Variants can be determined by the factors of dialect or age. Certain exceptions show archaic variants, for example the existence of intervocal [b] in the word ˥˩iba 'but' or the otherwise non-existent sequence [lk], which is used only by elderly people or in official situations. Brackets "()" show, that the allophone is used only in loanwords.

Tones[8]

Dom is a tonal language. Each word carries one of three tones as shown in the examples below:

  • high:
    • ka˥ 'word'
    • mu˥kal˥ 'a kind of bamboo'
    • no˥ma˥ne˥ 'to think'
  • falling:
    • ŋgal˥˩ 'string back'
    • jo˥pa˩ ' yopa tree', jo˥pal˥˩ 'people'
    • a˥ra˥wa˩ 'pumpkin'
  • rising:
    • kal˩˥ 'thing'
    • a˩pal˧ 'woman'
    • au˩pa˩le˧ 'sister.3Sg.POSS'

Minimal pairs

wam˥˩ (personal name) ~ wam˩ 'to hitch.3SG' ~ wam˥ 'son3SG.POSS'

Non-phonemic Elements
  • [ɨ] is optionally inserted between consonants:
˥˩komna 'vegetable' kom˥ na˩ or kom˥ ɨ na˩

Morphology

Dom is a suffixing language. Morpheme boundaries between person-number and mood morphemes can be combined.

Syntax[9]

Phrase Structure

Noun Phrase

attributive noun phrases

possessor marker

relative clause

noun classifier

 head noun numerals

adjektives

appositions

 demonstratives
  • elements preceding the head:
  • attributive NP
yal i kal
man DEM thing
'the thing of the man'
  • possessive marker
na bola-n
you pig-2SG.POSS
'your pig'
  • relative clause
o pal bin-gwa kal
hand.3SG.POSS by produce-3SG.SRD thing
'thing produced by hand'
  • noun classifier
bola sipsip
pig sheep
'sheep'
  • elements following the head:
  • numerals
yal su
man two
'two men'
  • adjectives
gal bl
child big
'big child'
  • appositions
ge apal gal
girl woman child
'girl, female child'
  • demonstratives
yal i
man DEM
'this man'

If a noun phrase includes a demonstrative element, it has always the last position of the phrase:

yal su i
man two DEM
'the two men'

Adjective Phrase

head adjective intensifier
er wai won ta
tree good truly a
'a very good tree'

Postpositional Phrase

noun head postposition
m-na bol
mother-1SG.POSS with
'with my mother'

Verbal Phrase

subject

(object)

 object

(subject)

 adverbials

conditional adverbial clauses

final adverbial clauses

 head verb AUX

mutual knowledge marker

enclitics

 demonstratives
  • elements preceding the head verb:
  • subject:
yal su al-ipke
man two stand up-2/3DL.IND
'two men stand up'
  • subject-object:
na keepa ne-ke
1EXC sweet.potato eat-1SG.IND
'I eat a sweet potato'
  • adverbial
orpl-d u-o
quickly come-2SG.IMP
'come quickly'
  • final clause
er ila na-l d u-ke
to inside go-1SG.FUT Q come-1SG.IND
'I came to go inside'
  • elements following the head verb:
  • auxiliars:
bl-n de bla d-na-wdae
head-2SG.POSS burn.INF burst (say)-FUT-3SG.MUT
'Your head will be burnt and explode (as a matter of course)'
  • mutual knowledge marker
mol-me =krae
stay-1SG.IND=MUT
'he/she stay as we know'
  • demonstratives
yo-gwa ime
be-3SG.IND down.there
'There it is down over there'

There are no zero-place predicates in Dom. As a subject ˩˥kamn 'world' is used:

˩˥kamn ˥˩su-gwe
rain hit-3Sg.IND
'It rains'

Constituent Order[10]

The predominant constituent order is ‘’’S-O-V’’’. Only the predicate has to be expressed overtly. An exception are absolute-topic type clauses, which consist only of one noun phrase.[11]

Characteristics of the constituent order
  • Three Place Predicate Order[12]

In the case of a three place predicate the recipient noun always follows the gift noun:

˥Ella ˩˥Naur ˥˩moni ˥na ˥˩ te-na-m=˥˩ua
tribe.name tribe.name money 1EXC give-FUT-3SG=ENC.WA
Noun-adjunct-Gift-Recipient-V
'The Naur subtribe of the Ella tribe shall give me money.'

The only position which can be optionally filled is the sentence topic. Possible constituents can be the subject of an equational sentence(default), an extrasentential or a topicalized constituent:

  • subject in an equational sentence (default)
subject object verb
˩˥apal ˩˥su ˥˩i ˥na ˥˩ep-na
woman two DEM 1EXC wife
'These two women are my wives'
  • extrasentential:
extrasentential subject verb
˩˥ apal ˩˥su ˥˩i ˥na ˥˩ep-na ˩˥mo-ip-ke
woman two DEM 1EXC wife-1SG.POSS stay-2/3DL-IND
'As for these two women, they are my wives'
  • topicalized constituent:
object (topicalzied) subject verb
˩˥ apal ˩˥su ˥˩i ˥na ˥i ˩˥war-ke
woman two DEM 1EXC take.INF move.around-1SG.IND
'As for these two women, I have them as spouses'

Marking of Syntactical Relations

Person and Number[13]

Dom has three different person-number-systems: for pronouns, possessive suffixes on nouns and cross reference markers on verbs.

  • person-number system for pronouns:
1 2
general (exc) ˥na ˥en
non-singular (exc) ˥no
non-singular(inc) ˩˥none
non-singular ˥ne
  • person-number system for possessive suffixes:
1 2 3
singular -na -n -m
non-singular -ne
  • cross reference markers:
1 2 3
singular -i~-Ø -n -m
dual -pl -ipl
plural(three or more) -pn -im

The marking of dual and plural is not obligatory in all cases but depends on the sem ±human ±animate:

+human -human
+animate almost obligatory optional/uncommon
-animate Ø scarcely used

Tense[14]

Dom has an unmarked non-future tense and a marked future tense.

Non-Future

Non-future tense is used, if

  • the event follows immediately
  • the event is in the past
˥ere ˥˩e-ke
to go-1Sg.IND
'I go/I went'
Future tense

Future tense is marked by the suffix -na (-na~-ra~-a)[15] and is used, if

  • the event is part of the speaker's plan for the next day
  • the event is the speaker's intention and it is possible for the speaker to go through with it
  • the event describes a potentiality or a permanent quality
˥ere ˥˩na-ke
to go.FUT-1SG.IND
'I will go'
'I think I will go'
'I might go’
'I am the kind of person, who goes'

Negation

[16]

A predicate is negated by the suffix -kl. The preceding negation particle ˥ta is optional.

˥na ˥˩kurl ˥ta ˥go +˩˥k -pge
1EXC fear NEG die NEG 1PL.IND
'We (exc.) did not fear'

Lexic

Noun Classifiers[17]

Noun classifiers are lexical items preceding a noun with a more specified meaning. Phonetically and syntactically they form one unit with the following noun and thus differ from an apposition, which consists of two or more phonetic constituents. Noun classifiers can have the following functions:

  • no obvious lexical specification:
˥˩nl ˥nul
water river
'river'
  • specifying a polysemious word:
˥ere ˥˩aml
tree peanut/pandanus
'pandanus which bears the nut-like fruit'
˥kul ˥˩aml
grass peanut/pandanus
'peanut'
  • explaining loanwords:
˥˩nl ˥˩bia
water alcohol
'Alkohol'
˥˩bola ˥˩sipsip
pig sheep
'sheep'

Repetition

A noun can be repeated to express the following relations:[18]

  • reciprocity
˥˩birua ˥˩birua ˩˥me-ipka
enemy enemy stay-2/3.SRD
'The two are enemies for each other'
  • plurality
˥˩kal ˥˩kal
thing thing
'several things'

Loanwords

Tok Pisin is the main source for lexical borrowing, borrowings from English are often made indirectly via Tok Pisin. Borrowed lexemes mostly refer to new cultural objects and concepts as well as proper names and high numbers.,[19] which did not exist in the Dom language before:

  • kar ’car’
  • skul 'school, to study'
  • akn 'Mount Hagen'
  • andret 'hundred'

But recently some already existing Dom words have begun to be replaced by Tok Pisin lexical items:

  • wanpla for dom tenanta 'one'
  • blat for dom miam 'blood'
  • stori for dom kapore-el- 'to tell a story'

The Demonstrative System[20]
The demonstrative system: spatial alignment and visibility

Dom has a spatial referencing demonstrative system, i.e. there are certain demonstrative lexemes bearing information about the spatial relation of the referred object to the speaker alongside neutral demonstratives. A Dom speaker also uses different lexemes for visible and invisible objects. In the case of visible objects, the speaker locates it on a horizontal and vertical axis as to whether it is proximal, medium or distal from the speaker and on the same level, uphill or downhill.

Demonstratives with spatial alignment:[21]

proximal medium distal
without vertical alignment ˥ya ˥˩sipi
level ˥yale ˥˩ile ˩˥ile
uphill ˥yape ˥˩ipe ˩˥ipe
downhill ˥yame ˥˩ime ˩˥ime

For invisible objects one must be aware of the cause for its invisibility. If it is invisible because the object is behind the speaker, a proximal demonstrative is used. Objects obscured behind an obstacle are referred to with distal demonstratives and invisible objects by their nature with downhill demonstratives. Invisible objects, that are very far away, are referred to with the downhill distal demonstrative ˩˥ime.

References
  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Dom". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 1; 6; 8
  3. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 1f; 3
  4. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 2
  5. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 1
  6. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 9
  7. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 13
  8. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 24-42
  9. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 111-164
  10. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 111-114
  11. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 131
  12. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 111
  13. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 124f
  14. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 128f
  15. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 84
  16. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 160f
  17. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 115 f
  18. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 117
  19. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 2
  20. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 225
  21. Tida Syuntarô (2006): A Grammar of the Dom Language. A Papuan Language of Papua New Guinea. Page 125
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