Skou language

Skou (Sekol, Sekou, Sko, Skouw, Skow, Sukou), or Tumawo (Te Mawo), is a Papuan language of Indonesia.

Distribution

Skou is spoken in three villages of , Jayapura City. The villages are:

• (Skou name: Te Tángpe), the westernmost and most populous Skou village
• (Skou name: Te Máwo), located between Skou Yambe and Skou Sae villages
• (Skou name: Te Bapúbi), the easternmost and least populous Skou village

Phonology

Consonants

The Skou consonants are:

Vowels

Vowels can be nasalized, except for /ɨ/ and /u/.

Tone

Skou contrasts three different tones in monosyllables: high, low and falling, which can be combined with nasality for a six-way contrast.

Tone in Skou is affiliated with each word, rather than with each syllable.

In addition to lexical differences in tone, tone has grammatical functions.

For instance, tense in Skou is differentiated by tone.

Pronouns

Skou differentiates three types of pronouns: free pronouns, genitive pronouns and dative pronouns.

References

• Donohue, Mark. 2004. A Grammar of the Skou language of New Guinea. Singapore: National University of Singapore. Available at https://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:402710:4/component/escidoc:402709/skou_donohue2004_s.pdf.