Skou languages
The Sko or Skou languages are a small language family spoken by about 7000 people, mainly along the coast of Sandaun Province in Papua New Guinea, with a few being inland from this area and at least one just across the border in the Indonesian province of Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya). Skou languages are unusual in New Guinea for being tonal. Vanimo, for example, has three tones, high, mid, low.
The Skou family was first proposed by G. Frederici in 1912. Laycock posited two branches, Vanimo and Krisa, but Krisa was poorly supported and Ross abandoned it.
Currently there are linguists working on most of these languages, writing grammars, compiling dictionaries, and assisting the speakers to develop vernacular materials for use in schools.
Classification
Sko family (Ross 2005)
- Vanimo branch: Skou (Tumawo), Sangke, Wutung, Vanimo (Dumo), Dusoe, Leitre
- I’saka (Krisa)
- Rawo
- Puari
- Barupu (Warapu)
- Womo
Pronouns
The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-X are,
I *na we *ne thou *me you ? he *ka they (M) *ke she *bo they (F) *de
The Skou languages also have a dual, with a distinction between inclusive and exclusive we, but the forms are not reconstructable for the proto-language.