The Kol language is a language spoken in eastern
New Britain
New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...
island,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. There are about 4000 speakers in
Pomio District of
East New Britain Province, mostly on the southern side of New Britain island.
Kol appears to be a
language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...
, though it may be distantly related to the poorly attested
Sulka language or form part of the proposed
East Papuan languages
The East Papuan languages is a defunct proposal for a family of Papuan languages spoken on the islands to the east of New Guinea, including New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and the Santa Cruz Islands. There is no eviden ...
.
Phonology
Phonology of the Kol language:
/b, r/ can be realized as
², das intervocalic allophones. /r/ is pronounced as
when following a nasal consonant.
Kol displays vowel length contrast.
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary words are from SIL field notes (1962, 1981), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:
:
See also
*
East Papuan languages
The East Papuan languages is a defunct proposal for a family of Papuan languages spoken on the islands to the east of New Guinea, including New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and the Santa Cruz Islands. There is no eviden ...
References
External links
Kol language word list at TransNewGuinea.org
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea
East Papuan languages
Language isolates of New Guinea
Languages of East New Britain Province