II. STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE
A. Phonetic structure
i) Segmental sounds:
Kom has 22 consonantal sounds, 11 vocalic (monopththong) sounds, and 7 diphthongs. The description of the sounds is as follows. Consonants: As already mentioned, Kom has 22 consonantal sounds. Kom lacks voiced aspirated stops. In the velar series, Kom doesn’t have the voiced velar stop. Stops:
[p] It is a voiceless unaspirated bilabial stop. [p] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: po:nlek ‘flag’ Medial: uipui ‘bitch’ Final: arup ‘batch’
[b] It is a voiced unaspirated bilabial stop. [b] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: bat ‘due/credit’ Medial: akabom ‘accessory’ Final: majob ‘to absorb’
[t] It is a voiceless unaspirated dental stop. [t] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: tu:r ‘poison’ Medial: atui ‘juice’ Final: wangset ‘adversity’
[d] It is a voiced unaspirated dental stop. [d] occurs all three positions.
Initial: doipa ‘June’ Medial: nimandon ‘to consider’ Final: anted ‘birth’
[ṭ] It is a voiceless unaspirated retroflex stop. [ṭ] occurs only in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: ṭontlo ‘act/deed’ Medial: akaṭit ‘frightened’ Final: _____
[k] It is a voiceless unaspirated velar stop. It occurs in all three positions.
Initial: ko:r ‘ear’ Medial: lukom ‘towel/turban’ Final: wo:k ‘to hit’
[?] It is a voiced unaspirated glottal stop. [?] occurs in medial and final positions only. It doesn’t occur initially.
Initial: _____ Medial: ka?om ‘there’ Final: inru? ‘thief’
[ph] It is a voiceless aspirated bilabial stop. [ph] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: phat ‘time’ Medial: anphut ‘to begin’ Final: _____
[th] It is a voiceless aspirated dental stop. [th] occurs in medial and initial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: thli ‘air’ Medial: samthi ‘comb’ Final: _____
[ṭh] It is a voiceless aspirated retroflex stop. [ṭh] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: ṭhan ‘grave’ Medial: inṭhuipui ‘to accompany’ Final: _____
[kh] It is a voiceless aspirated velar stop. [kh] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: khin ‘to aim’ Medial: akheŋa ‘all’ Final: _____
Fricatives:
[s] It is a voiceless alveolar fricative. [s] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: so:n ‘to cook’ Medial: thisen ‘blood’ Final: _____
[h] It is a voiceless glottal fricative. [h] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: hla ‘song’ Medial: kahoŋ ‘to come’ Final: _____
Affricates:
[c] It is a voiceless palatal affricate sound. [c] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: caicot ‘beetle’ Medial: mancun ‘to add’ Final: _____
[j] It is a voiced palatal affricate sound. [j] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: jok ‘to adopt’ Medial: akaje ‘asleep’ Final: _____
Nasals:
[m] It is a voiced bilabial nasal sound. [m] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: mankop ‘to affix’ Medial: mikamo ‘a stupid person’ Final: anthim ‘dark’
[n] It is a voiced alveolar nasal sound. [n] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: nu ‘mother’ Medial: sanu ‘daughter’ Final: su:n ‘day’
[ŋ] It is a voiced velar nasal sound. [ŋ] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: ŋa ‘fish’ Medial: raŋa: ‘five’ Final: ṭoŋ ‘language’
Lateral:
[l] It is a voiced lateral alveolar sound. Although [l] occurs in all three positions, it occurs finally only in borrowed words.
Initial: lak ‘neck’ Medial: likli ‘bottle’ Final: kampol ‘blanket’
Trill:
[r] It is a voiced alveolar trill. [r] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: rako:ŋ ‘boat’ Medial: kori ‘copper’ Final: khonkir ‘belt’
Semi-vowels:
[w] It is a voiced bilabial semi-vowel. [w] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: wa ‘bird’ Medial: kho:iwa ‘bee’ Final: _____
[y] It is a voiced palatal semi-vowel. [y] occurs in initial and medial positions. It doesn’t occur in final position.
Initial: yekhum ‘bed’ Medial: kutsyem ‘art’ Final: _____
Vowels:
Kom has 11 vowels. There are no nasalized vowels. Length is phonemic in Kom. Thus,
/tur/ ‘to push’ /tu:r/ ‘poison’ /thiŋ/ ‘wood/tree’ /thїŋ/ ‘ginger’
[a] It is a central low unrounded vowel. It occurs in all three positions.
Initial: acuŋ ‘above’ Medial: akathi ‘to die’ Final: ŋa ‘fish’
[a:] It is a low central unrounded vowel. It occurs in all three positions.
Initial: a:rtui ‘egg’ Medial: na:r ‘nose’ Final: jukha: ‘alcohol’
[i] It is a high front unrounded vowel. [i] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: thli ‘air’ Medial: hiŋja ‘plenty’ Final: akathi ‘dead’/’death’
[i:] It is a high front unrounded long vowel. [i:] occurs in medial and final positions. It doesn’t occur in initial position.
Initial: _____ Medial: ci:ŋ ‘mountain’ Final: inni: ‘two’
[e] It is a mid front unrounded vowel. [e] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: eak ‘shit’ Medial: taksen ‘trust’ Final: manse ‘advice’
[e:] It is a mid front unrounded long vowel. [e:] occurs in medial and final positions. It doesn’t occur in initial position.
Initial: _____ Medial: se:mso:t ‘to belch’ Final: aka:ke: ‘to climb’
[o] It is a mid back rounded vowel. [o] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: omcan ‘manner’ Medial: khon ‘back’ Final: pho ‘shield’
[o:] It is a mid back rounded vowel. [o:] occurs in medial and final positions. It doesn’t occur in initial position.
Initial: _____ Medial: bukso:t ‘to deposit’ Final: ro: ‘bamboo’
[u] It is a high back rounded vowel. [u] occurs in all three positions.
Initial: upu ‘box’ Medial: atuna ‘now’ Final: ansűtu ‘impact’
[u:] It is a high back long rounded vowel. [u:] occurs in medial and final positions. It doesn’t occur initially.
Initial: _____ Medial: khu:r ‘cave’ Final: luphu: ‘dandruff’
[ű] It is a high central rounded vowel. [ű]occurs in all three positions.
Initial: ű t ‘to oppress’ Medial: khűŋ ‘drum’ Final: lu:ibű ‘tobacco’
Phonetic charts:
(a) Consonants:
Manner of articulation Point of articulation
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
vl vd vl vd vl vd vl vd vl vd vl vd vl vd
Unasp p b t d ṭ k ?
Stop
Asp
Fricatives ph th ṭh kh
Affricates s h
Nasal c j
Lateral m n ŋ
Trill l
г
Approximant w y
(b)Vowels :
Front Central Back
UR R UR R UR R
High i ű u
Mid e o
Low a
Diphthongs
/ei/ /bei/ ‘mouth’ /mei/ ‘fire’ /ui/ /muite/ ‘doll’ /tui/ ‘water’ /u:i/ /u:i/ ‘dog’ /manu:i/ ‘to laugh’ /ai/ /thai/ ‘fat’ /dailim/ ‘shade’ /oi/ /doi/ ‘magic’ /akatoi/ ‘brevity’ /o:i/ /hmo:i-tho:i/ ‘wedding’ /a:i/ /sa:i/ ‘bow’
B. Phonology (organization of speech)
Consonant clusters:
Kom has 22 consonant phonemes, and all except /?/ occur in initial positions. They are: /p/ /t/ /ṭ/ /c/ /k/ /ph/ /th/ /ṭh/ /j/ /kh/ /b/ /d/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /s/ /h/ /?/ /l/ /r/ /w/ /y/
Kom allows upto three consonants medially. Word initially, a maximum number of two consonants is allowed, while word finally no consonant clusters occur.
Initial clusters:
Kom clusters do not allow more than two consonants initially in a word. The second member of the cluster is always a liquid or a nasal. For these reason these themselves cannot be the first member of the consonant cluster. Other consonants which can be the first member of an initial cluster are /t, th, h/. Consider the following examples.
tl- tlek ‘brick’ thl- thli ‘air’ hm- hmercikna ‘alarm’ hn- hnumpek ‘to permit’ hr- hrei ‘axe’
Medial clusters:
Unlike initial consonant clusters, there are a wide variety of medial consonant clusters in Kom. Geminates are also possible word medially. The first member of the medial cluster is mostly a nasal. Besides nasals, only voiceless stops like /t, k, p, kh, th/ and the liquid /r/ can occur as the first members in a medial two consonant clusters. The phonemes / j, t, b, s, c, m, h, r, p, ṭh, d, k, l, th, n, kh/ can occur as the second members of the medial consonant clusters. Consider the following examples.
-np- manpak ‘to acclaim’ -nj- anjijoh ‘to acclimatize’ -nṭh- inṭhoipui ‘to accompany’ -ŋd- seraŋda:r ‘accordian’ -nd- nimandon ‘to consider’ -ks- ibuksot ‘to accumulate’ -kt- akadiktak ‘accuracy’ -nth- amanthur ‘to make sour’ -hl- rahla:ŋ ‘to acknowledge’ -nc- mancun ‘to add’ -ŋc- cuŋca:ŋa: ‘about’ -ŋm- akahoŋmak ‘absent’ -ŋh- niŋhei ‘to abstain’ -ŋj- hiŋja ‘’abundace’ -nkh- vo:k mankhe ‘to adjourn’ -ps- nihapsa ‘adjunct’ -hn- akahno:m ‘to admit’ -ns- manse ‘to admonish’ -khl- akhla taka ‘far off’ -rn- athernoka ‘afresh’ -nk- nimankop ‘gum’ -kd- adekdek ‘actual’ -hr- kahrataka ‘afar’ -nt- mantoi ‘to abbreviate’ -nb- manboŋ ‘abbreviation’ -mt- akatamtak ‘to abound’ -nr- nimanraŋ ‘to accelerate’ -hl- rahla: ŋ ‘to accept’ -rr- asirra: ‘aside’ -kl- likli ‘bottle’ -rph- serphala ‘balance’ etc.
Kom allows a limited number of three consonant clusters word medially. The first member of such a cluster is almost always a nasal or a liquid consonant, the second member is either /h/,/th/ or /t/, and the third member is either a liquid (i.e., /l,r/), or a /n/. Consider the following examples.
-nhr- manhret ‘abrupt’ -nṭl- ṭo:ntlo ‘deed/act’ -ŋhr- ṭoŋhri ‘to address’ -nhn- inhno:mna ‘agreement’ -rthl- jarthla ‘autumn’ etc. Sequence of vowels: Kom also allows some sequences of vowels. Consider the following examples. a+e aka-em ‘bean’ a+o aka-om ‘existence’ e+a e-arthla ‘October’ etc.
14. Syllables:
Kom roots are generally monosyllabic. Root patterns are of the following types.
V ai ‘bite’ CV nu ‘mother’ VC o:t ‘obstacle’ CCV thli air CCVC thla:m ‘hut’
In addition to the basic syllabic patterns given above, other patterns also occur: Disyllabic words:
Open second syllable: VCV atui ‘juice’ CVCV sanu ‘daughter’ CVCCV samthi ‘comb’ Second syllable is closed: VCVC u:tok ‘frog’ VCCVC anthuk ‘depth’ CVCVC raho:n ‘garden’ CVCCVC so:ŋkot ‘gate’ Trisyllabic words: Third syllable is open: CVCVCV mikamo ‘a stupid person’ VCVCV akahu: ‘steam’ VCCCVCCV inhratna ‘ornament’ CVCVCCV sakorte ‘foal’ CVCCCVCCV manhretna ‘idea’ VCCVCV ancaina ‘last’ Third syllable is closed: CVCVCCVC puikatluk ‘to mature’ VCVCVC arakir ‘corner’ VCVCCVC akahlut ‘to immerse’ CVCCVCVC ṭoŋkatan ‘judgement’ CVCCCVCCVC mantlomcat ‘to lessen’ CVCCVCCVC saŋramcaŋ ‘to marry’ Tetrasyllabic: Fourth syllable is open: CVCVCCVCCV thumiŋyaihla ‘legend’ CVCCCVCCVCCV manscotmansei ‘to prolong’ Fourth syllable is closed: VCVCCVCVC akatlotar ‘powerful’ VCVCVCCVC akalumpor ‘lukewarm’
C. MORPHOLOGY
a) iii) Gender:
Gender in Kom is determined on the natural recognition of sex, i.e., gender is not grammatically marked in this language. The morpheme to mark feminine in the case of higher animals is /pui/. Consider the following examples.
u:i ‘dog’ u:i-pui ‘bitch’ sakor ‘horse’ sakor-pui ‘mare’
Number
The plural form of the nouns is derived from the root form by suffixing [-hei]. As in count noun
/mi/ ‘man’ /mi-hei/ ‘men’
/naipa:η/ ‘child’ /naipa:η-hei/ ‘children’
In mass noun such as
/bu/ ‘rice/food’ /bu-hei/ ‘volume of rice/food’
/tui/ ‘water’ /tui-hei/ ‘volume of water
Personal pronouns:
1st person /ka.kei/ ‘I’ 1. /k∂n, keini/ ‘we’
2. /eini/ (inclusive of the hearer)
2nd person 1. /naη/ ‘you’ 1. /naη-ni/ ‘you’
2. /naη-in/ 2. /naηni-in/ ‘you’
3rd person 1. /a/ ‘he, she, it’ 1. /an-/ ‘they’
2. /ama/ ‘he, she, it’ 2./anmani/ ‘they’
iv) Case of personal pronouns:
genitive case
/ka cycle/ ‘my cycle’
accusative case
kei/ka I,me, to me,mine
ei-,eini we,us
keini we,us
an- them,to them
instrumental is marked by {-in}
/kei-in/
/keini-in/
/nang-in/
/nangni-in/
c) Verb morphology:
TENSES AND ASPECTS
I. [jo] is the past marker in Kom but if the future marker ‘sik’ occurs along with it, then it may not have the past marker property.
1. Ka tei su jo
I read PAST MKR
I have read.
2. Na sak tor sik mo?
YOU eat able FUT &INTR MKR
Will you be able to eat?
3. Ka tei sik jo
I read FUT MKR
I will read.
II. [mo] is usually used for asking question or in interrogative sentences.
4. Na sak sik mo?
You eat FUTR INT MKR
Will you eat?
5. Ka to sik mo ?
I do FUTR INT MKR
Will I do ?
6. sak sik mo aching makle sak mak sik mo?
Eat FUTR INT MKR or eat NEG MKR FUTR INT MKR.
To eat or not to eat?
III. [mak] is negative marker. It is attached to the verb.
7. Kei (in) lekha hei kanei.
I book PLU MKR have
I have books.
8. Kei (in) Lekha nei mak eng
I book have NEG AGR Ist SING
I do not have books.
9. Se mak ro?
Go NEG MKR IMP MKR
IV. [sik] usually denotes the future action or activity in Kom.
1. Ka tlo sik ka-e I shall do
2. Kan tlo sik ka-e We shall do.
3. Ni tlo sik ka-e We shall do.
4. Na tlo sik ka-e You shall do.
