Kembra language
Kembra is a South Pauwasi language spoken in Western New Guinea by some twenty persons in Kiambra village, Kaisenar District, Keerom Regency. It is used by between 20% and 60% of the ethnic population and is no longer passed down to children.
| Kembra | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Western New Guinea |
| Region | Kiambra village, Kaisenar District, Keerom Regency |
| Ethnicity | 50[1] |
Native speakers | 20 (2000)[1] |
Pauwasi
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xkw |
| Glottolog | kemb1250 |
| ELP | Kembra |
 Kembra is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Classification
Initial documentation was carried out by Barnabas Konel and Roger Doriot. Kembra data remains unpublished in Konel's and Doriot's field notes.[2][3]
Foley (2018) notes that Kembra has some lexical forms resembling Lepki, but not Murkim, hinting at lexical borrowing between Kembra and Lepki, but not Murkim. He allows the possibility of Kembra being related to Lepki–Murkim, pending further evidence.[4] With more data, Usher (2020) was able to verify the connection.
Phonology
Kembra is a tonal language, as shown by the following minimal pair.[4]: 464
- yá ‘pig’
- yà ‘fire, tree’
Basic vocabulary
Basic vocabulary of Kembra listed in Foley (2018):[5]
Kembra basic vocabulary gloss Kembra ‘bird’ tra ‘blood’ nili ‘bone’ ka ‘eat’ ɲəm ‘egg’ traləl ‘eye’ yi ‘fire’ ya ‘give’ lokwes ‘ground’ to ‘hair’ iyet ‘I’ mu ‘leg’ kla ‘louse’ nim ‘man’ ratera ‘name’ kia ‘one’ kutina ‘see’ iyam ‘stone’ isi ‘sun’ ota ‘tooth’ pa ‘tree’ ya ‘two’ kais ‘water’ er ‘we’ utuas ‘you (sg)’ amagrei ‘you (pl)’ robkei
Sentences
Kembra has SOV word order, and also appears to have bipartite negation as in Abun and French. Only several sentences have been elicited by Konel (n.d.), which are quoted below from Foley (2018).[4]
pei
dog
yá
pig
por
black
ɲəm
eat
‘The dog ate the black pig.’
mu
1SG
pei
dog
te-iya-mo
?-see-TNS
‘I see the dog.’
mu
1SG
ipei
betelnut
abi-ɲi
NEG-eat
koto
NEG
‘I didn’t eat betelnut.’
mu
1SG
pei
dog
abi-(i)ya
NEG-see
koto
NEG
‘I didn’t see the dog.’
References
- Kembra at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- Konel, Barnabas. n.d. Wordlist of Kembra. Photocopy of handwritten ms.
- Doriot, Roger E. 1991. 6-2-3-4 Trek, April-May, 1991. Ms.
- Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.