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.

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 (Laycock 1975)

The Skou family was first proposed by G. Frederici in 1912. Laycock posited two branches, Vanimo and Krisa,

Vanimo branch
Krisa branch

Skou (Ross 2005)

However, Krisa is poorly supported and Malcom Ross abandoned it,

I’saka (Krisa)
Barupu (Warapu)
Puari
Rawo
Womo
Vanimo branch: Skou (Tumawo), Leitre, Sangke (Nyao), Wutung, Vanimo (Dumo), Dusur

Macro-Skou linkage (Donohue 2002)

Mark Donohue proposed a subclassification based on areal diffusion he called Macro-Skou. Despite the change in name, the languages involved are the same,

I’saka
Skou-Serra-Piore linkage
- Piore River: Nori (strongly influenced by Womo), Barupu
- Serra Hills
  - Puare
  - Rawo-Main Serra: Rawo, Womo
- Skou (Vanimo) family
  - Skou
  - Eastern Skou/Vanimo
    - Leitre
    - West Coast
      - Border: Nyao, Wutung
      - Vanimo proper: Dumo, Dusur

Pronouns

The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-Skou 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.

External links

Donohue's Skou language page

Reference

Malcom Ross (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages." In: Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide and Jack Golson, eds, Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples, 15-66. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.