Kalam is a Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Kobon, and shares many of the features of that language. Kalam is spoken in Middle Ramu District of Madang Province and in Mount Hagen District of Western Highlands Province.
Following decades of studies by linguist Andrew Pawley and anthropologist Ralph Bulmer, Kalam is one of the best-studied Trans-New Guinea languages to date.
Dialects There are two distinct dialects of Kalam that are highly distinguishable from each other. , with 20,000 speakers, is centered in the Upper Kaironk and Upper Simbai Valleys. , with 5,000 speakers is centered in the Asai Valley. It includes the Tai variety.
Kobon is closely related.
Kalam has an elaborate pandanus avoidance register used during karuka harvest that has been extensively documented. The Kalam pandanus language, called (pandanus language) or (avoidance language), is also used when eating or cooking cassowary.
Phonology
Consonants + Bilabial Dental-alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-velar Voiceless stops Voiced prenasalized stops Nasals stops Voiceless fricative Lateral Semivowels
Vowels + Front Central Back High () () Mid Low
Evolution
Below are some Kalam reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Pawley (2012, 2018).Note: Data in Pawley (2012) is drawn from Pawley and Bulmer (2011). Data is from the dialect unless otherwise noted. Data from , the other major dialect, is also given when noted.
proto-Trans-New Guinea Kalam (?)*su- 'bite' *(mb,m)elak 'light, lightning, brightness' [melɨk] 'light' *[w]ani 'who?' *am(a,i) 'mother' *ambi 'man' [mbə] *apus[i] 'grandparent' [aβɨs] 'grandmother' *aya 'sister' *-i(t,l) ' verbal suffix' *iman 'louse' *imbi 'name' [yimp] *-it '2/3 dual verbal suffix' *k(aw,o)nan 'shadow/spirit' 'spirit of the dead' *k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] 'neck, nape' (metathesis) (cf. Kobon uŋam, loss of *k) *kakV- 'carry on shoulder' *kamb(a,u)u[na] 'stone' [kamp] *kanim 'cuscus' 'game mammal (generic)' *kin(i,u)[m]- 'sleep' [kɨn] *kindil 'root' [kɨndɨl] *kinV- 'sleep' *kumut, *tumuk 'thunder' *kumV- 'die' *m(o,u)k 'milk, sap, breast' (Ti dialect ) *ma- 'not' *ma(n,k,L)[a] 'ground' *maŋgat[a] 'teeth' [meŋk] *maŋgV 'compact round object, egg' *mapVn 'liver' *mbalaŋ 'flame' , *mbapa 'father' *mo[k,ŋg]Vm 'joint' *muk 'brain' *muk 'milk' (Ti dialect ) *mund-maŋgV 'heart' *mV 'taro' *mVkVm 'jaw, cheek' 'cheek' *mVn[a]-'be, live, stay' *n(o,u)man 'mind, soul' 'soul' *na '' , ' subj. agreement' *niman 'louse' *nok 'water' *nu ' independent' , '1PL subj. agreement' *nV 'child' 'son' *nVŋg- 'know, hear, see' (Ti dialect), 'see, perceive, etc.' *ŋaŋ[a] 'baby' 'baby' *panV 'female' 'daughter' *sambV 'cloud' [semp] *saŋ 'story, song' 'women's song' *saŋgil 'hand, finger' (?) 'little finger' *si(m,mb)(i,u) 'guts' [sɨmp] *sisi [sɨs] 'urine' *sVkVm 'smoke' , *takVn[V] 'moon' [taɣɨn] *tu 'axe' *tuk- 'cut' 'sever' *tumuk, *kumut 'thunder' *tVk- 'cut, cut off' 'sever, cut off' *-un '1st plural subject' *-Vn ' subj. agreement' , *walaka 'testicles' *wani 'who?' *wati 'fence' *yaka 'bird'
Verbs Kalam has eight tense-aspect categories. There are four past tenses, two present tenses, and two future tenses, which are all marked using suffixes: past habitual remote past (yesterday or earlier) today's past immediate past present habitual present progressive immediate future future
Intransitive verbs in Kalam can be classified as either active or stative. Some active intransitive verbs are: - 'go' - 'sleep' - 'stand, dance' - 'die, cease to function'
Some stative verbs are: - '(of things) break, be broken' - '(of a fire) go out' - 'burn, be burnt, fully cooked' - '(of solid objects and surfaces) crack, burst, shatter'
Serial verb constructions Transitivity is derived using resultative or cause-effect serial verb constructions.
Other serial verb constructions in Kalam include: d ap (get come) 'bring' d am (get go) 'take' am d ap (go get come) 'fetch' d nŋ (touch perceive) 'feel' ñb nŋ (eat perceive) 'taste' tb tk (cut sever) 'cut off'
Nouns Compounds Some examples of nominal compounds in Kalam:
Animal names Fauna classification (folk taxonomy) in the Kalam language has been extensively studied by Ralph Bulmer and others. Kalam speakers classify wild mammals into three major categories: 'game mammals, larger wild mammals': tree kangaroos, wallabies, cuscuses, ringtail possums, giant rats, and bandicoots 'small wild mammals': most bush-rats, sugar gliders, and pygmy possums (including Pogonomys spp., Melomys spp., and Phascolosorex dorsalisBulmer, Ralph N.H. and Michael Tyler. 1968. Karam classification of frogs . Journal of the Polynesian Society 77(4): 621–639.) 'dirty rats' (Rattus spp.)
Other animal categories are: 'flying birds and bats' 'cassowaries' 'pigs' (formerly including cattle, horses, and goats when first encountered by the Kalam) 'dogs' 'certain snakes' 'skinks'
Rodent names include: House Rat (Rattus exulans, Rattus niobe, Rattus ruber) – ~ Garden Rat (Rattus ruber) – Long-snouted Rat (Rattus verecundus) – Small Mountain Rat (Rattus niobe) – Prehensile-tailed Rat (Bush-tailed Giant Rat) (Pogonomelomys sevia) – ~ , , Giant Bamboo Rat (Rothschild's Woolly Rat) (Mallomys rothschildi) – ; , , Giant Cane Rat (Hyomys goliath) – Grassland Melomys Rat (Melomys rufescens) – Lorentz's Rat (Melomys lorentzii, Melomys platyops) – ; (M. lorentzii spreads Pandanus julianettii () seeds, according to the Kalam) rat that feeds on pandanus nuts (Anisomys imitator) – ~ Highland Giant Tree Rat (Uromys anak) – Lowland Giant Tree Rat (Uromys caudimaculatus) – Mountain Water-rat (Hydromys shawmayeri) – Waterside Rat (Parahydromys asper) – , Earless Water Rat (Crossomys moncktoni) – small rat, found near homesteads –
Marsupial names include: Pseudochirops corinnae (Golden or Stationary Ringtail) – Pseudochirops cupreus (Copper Ringtail) – Pseudochirulus forbesi – (Painted Ringtail) – Cercartetus caudatus (Pygmy Possum) – Dactylopsila palpator (Mountain striped possum, Long-fingered Triok) – Echymipera sp. – ? Phalanger carmelitae (Black Mountain Cuscus) – Phalanger gymnotis (Ground Cuscus) – Phalanger maculatus – Phalanger orientalis – ? Phalanger vestitus permixtio – ? Phalanger sericeus (Silky Cuscus, Beech Cuscus) – Phalanger sp. – Spilocuscus maculatus – Microperoryctes longicauda (Long-tailed Bandicoot) – Peroryctes raffrayana (Hunting Bandicoot) – Phascolosorex dorsalis – ; may also refer to Antechinus melanurus (Marsupial Rat) Dasyurus albopunctatus (New Guinea Quoll, Marsupial Cat) – Dendrolagus goodfellowi (Tree Kangaroo) - Petaurus breviceps (Sugar Glider) – Thylogale brunii (Bush Wallaby) – Dorcopsulus vanheurni (Small Forest Wallaby, Common Mountain Forest Wallaby) -
Reptile names and folk taxonomy in Kalam:Bulmer, RNH (1975). Kalam Classification Of Reptiles And Fishes . Journal of the Polynesian Society 84(3): 267–308. yñ: reptiles yñ yb: familiar small lizards yñ ladk: gecko yñ yb: skink yñ yb: colonial skinks kls: Papuascincus stanleyanus, Common skink mabdagol: Papuascincus stanleyanus, Red-tailed skink mas: Emoia spp., Ant skinks (including E. baudini [most common], E. pallidiceps, and perhaps also E. kordoana) yñ ladk: non-colonial skinks sydn: Prasinohaema prehensicauda, Casuarina skink sydn km: Green casuarina skink sydn mlep: Brown casuarina skink mañmod: Prasinohaema flavipes, Tree skink pymakol: Lobulia elegans, Beech skink mamŋ: Sphenomorphus darlingtoni, Begonia skink komñ: Sphenomorphus sp.nr. jobiensis, Bush skink ñgñolom: Sphenomorphus leptofasciatus, Banded skink wowy: Lepidodactylus sp., Common gecko yñ ladk: reptiles other than familiar small lizards aypot: Hypsilurus nigrigularis, Dragon lizard wbl: Varanus spp. wbl km: Varanus prasinus, Emerald monitor wbl yb: Varanus indicus, Water monitor ñom: snakes soyŋ; ñom: relatively harmless snakes klŋan: Chondropython viridis, Green python soyŋ: ordinary snakes, Tropidonophis montanus, Toxicocalamus loriae, etc. soyŋ yb soyŋ pok: reddish snake soyŋ mosb: dark green snake sataw: terrifying serpents ymgwp: Python spp. nm: Python amethistinus, Giant python jjoj: snake sp. kodkl: Acanthophis laevis, Death adder (?) sataw: Micropechis ikaheca, Small-eyed snake (?) other terrifying reptiles
Frog names in Kalam are: Litoria angiana (various phenotypes): komnaŋat, jejeg, (jejeg) pkay, kawag komnaŋat: bright green polymorph; usually found in Saurauia spp. and Ficus dammaropsis kawag: dark green or black polymorph jejeg: four types: jejeg pkay: polymorph with reddish belly jejeg mj-kmab or jejeg km: bright green polymorph jejeg mlep: dull brown polymorph jejeg mosb: black polymorph Litoria arfakiana: daŋboŋ Litoria modica (or Litoria becki): wyt Litoria micromembrana: kosoj Litoria bulmeri: kogop Nyctimystes disruptus: kwyos, gepgep kiwos: red-bellied polymorphs Nyctimystes foricula: gojmay (also bin-pk) Nyctimystes kubori: kwelek Nyctimystes narinosus: mabas Nyctimystes sp.: kabanm Oxydactyla brevicrus: kabanm Cophixalus parkeri: kabanm [mature], lk (including bopnm) [immature] Cophixalus riparius: gwnm Cophixalus shellyi: gwnm sbmganpygak Choerophryne variegata: lk (including bopnm) Asterophrys sp.: gwnm Xenorhina rostrata: gwnm Barygenys sp.: gwnm sbmganpygak Papurana grisea: akpt, cebs
Note: Cophixalus shellyi, Choerophryne darlingtoni, and Oxydactyla brevicrus also tend to be identified by Kalam speakers as lk if calling from low vegetation, but as gwnm (usually applied to Cophixalus riparius and Xenorhina rostrata) if found in daytime hiding spots.
Plant categories include: mon 'trees and shrubs' (excluding palms and pandans); e.g., bljan ‘Macaranga spp.’ is a mon that has four named kinds mñ 'vines and robust creepers'
A comprehensive list of Kalam plant and animal names is given below.