Kire

Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute

Situation

Kire (Giri,) or Kire-Puir, is spoken by 1,900 people (1987) living in ten villages just east of the Ramu River, 19 to 37 miles inland from Hansa Bay, in in the Bogia subdistrict of Papua New Guinea's Madang province. Kire territory ranges from riverine sago swamps to low hills covered with grassland and rainforest. Sago is the staple food of the Kire region (Höltker 1961: 81-85, Stanhope 1972: 49-51, 63, Pryor and Clifton 1987.)

Sources

[under construction]

Höltker (1961: 93-95) vocabulary and (pp. 96-97) counting system for Kire-Puir

Z'graggen (1969, 1971: …) …

Z'graggen (1972) comparative vocabulary of Giri

Stanhope (1972) grammar of Kire including (pp. 53-57) 68 number-inflected nominals and (pp. 64-71) 396-term vocabulary and 119 tense-infected verb stems

Pryor (1981) phonology of Kire (unobtained)

Pryor and Clifton (1987) Kire nasalization

Foley (2005: 119-121) 61 comparative terms for Kire drawn from Stanhope (1972)

Phonology

Stanhope (1972: 51-54) gives 21 consonants and 6 vowels for Kire as follows:

m n ŋ
p t k ʔ
b d g
ɸ s h
β r z
[w] [j]
ɪ ʊ
ɛ œ ɔ
a

Labial fricatives /ɸ β/ may be realized as labiodental [f v], especially word-medially. Apicals /s z/ may be palatalized, especially when followed by front vowels [i e]. Stanhope's /h/ is “roughly aspirated.”

Phonetic semivowels [w j] are uncommon, the former occuring almost solely following another consonant in a cluster, the latter found only in /fjaŋ/ “dog” and in proper names. Historically, the reflexes of glides /*w *j/ have been occluded to /β z/.

Of the vowels, only high front /ɪ/ and low central /a/ occur initially.

Pryor and Clifton (1981: 31) give a significantly expanded inventory, with 28 consonants and 6 vowels for Kire as follows:

m n ŋ
p f t s k
b d g
mp nt ŋk
mb nd nz ŋg
β v r z h
i ɨ u
e o
a

Pryor and Clifton's vowels differ from Stanhope's only in their representation, but their consonantal inventory diverges very significantly. They do not posit phonetic semivowels [w j], which are marginal even in Stanhope's description (above.) Prenasalized stops, both voiced and voiceless, are distinguished from plain stops and aspirated /fʰ sʰ/ distinguished from /f s/. Finally, instead of bilabials /ɸ β/ [f v], Pryor and Clifton give /β v]. This result is an unusually complicated and counterintuitive system.

Vowel length is contrastive.

Nasaslized vowels also occur, and contrast with both short and long oral vowels word-finally, but these are analyzed by both Stanhope and by Pryor and Clifton as reflecting underlying final velar nasal /ŋ/.

Pronouns

Stanhope (1972: 57-58) gives pronouns for Kire in three case forms as follows:

nominativeaccusativegenitive
1 sg.na na-n
2 sg.ndʊ ndʊ nʊ-n
3 sg.a, ana a, ana ana-n
1 pl.za za za-n
2 pl.ndɛ ndɛ nɛ-n
3 pl.mbɛ mbɛ, ta mɛ-n
1 dl.ga ga-n
2 dl.gɔ-n
3 dl.manɪ manɪ-n

Nominal morphology

[under construction]

Stanhope (1972: 55-57) …

Verbal morphology

[under construction]

Stanhope (1972: 68-70) gives up to five inflected forms for Kire 119 verb stems, the best understood of which we arrange in paradigms as follows.

Tense, mood and aspect are indicated by suffixes:

present
past -gɪ
future -rga
imperative
participle-ap

The final syllables of verb roots vary according to … The form of the future in turn varies according to ….

Initial nasals /m n/ are occluded to [mb nd] in most inflected forms, but not originally in the imperative, although some of these imperative forms have been are in the process of being regularized by analogy with the indicatives.

stem presentpast future imperativeparticiple
ɪ ø-ɪɪ-gɪ ɪ-rga ɪ-ø ɪ-ap
bring/take nd-ɪ ndɪ-gɪ ndɪ-rga nɪ ≈ ndɪ ndɪ-ap
bore hole βɪ β-ɪ βɪ-gɪ βɪ-rga
ʊɪ ʊ-ɪʊɪ-gɪ ʊ-rga
sleep kʊɪ kw-ɪ kwɪ-gɪ kʊ-rga
ɪ: ɪ-ɪɪ:-gɪ ɪ-rga ɪ-ø ɪ-ap
swim dɪ: dɪ-ɪ dɪ:-gɪ dɪ-rga dɪ-ap
defacate βɪ: βɪ-ɪ βɪ:-gɪ βɪ-rga
cry zɪ: zɪ-ɪ zɪ:-gɪ zɪ-rga zɪ-ap
ɪ:2ɪ-ɪɪ:-gɪ ɪ:-rga
sneeze sʊɪ: swɪ-ɪ swɪ:-gɪ swɪ:-rga
ɛ ø-ɪɛ-gɪ ɛ-rga ɛ-ø
dish out tʰʊɛ tʰw-ɪ tʰwɛ-gɪ tʰʊ-rga tʰwɛ ≈ tʰʊ
scratch/drawkʰɛrɛ kʰɛr-ɪ kʰɛrɪ-gɪ kʰɛrɛ-rga kʰɛrɛ
œ1 ø-ɪɛ-gɪ œ-rga œ-ø ø-ap
be ɪkœ ɪk-ɪ ɪkɛ-gɪ ɪkœ-rga ɪkœ ɪk-ap
eat/drink₂ mbɛ-gɪ mbœ-rga mbœ
œ2 ø-ɪɪ-gɪ œ-rga œ-ø ø-ap
break acrosspœrœ pœr-ɪ pœrɪ-gɪ pœrœ-rga pœrœ
run kʰœβœ kʰœβ-ɪ kʰœβɪ-gɪ kʰœβœ-rga
teach/show kœβœ kœβ-ɪ kœβɪ-gɪ kœβœ kœβ-ap
œ/ʊø-ɪɛ-gɪ ʊ-rga œ-ø
laugh kœ/kʊ k-ɪ kɛ-gɪ kʊ-rga
a a-ɪa-gɪ a-anga a-ø ø-ap
go up na nda-ɪ nda-gɪ na-anga na nd-ap
ʊ1 ʊ-ɪʊ-gɪ ʊ-rga ʊ-ø
go₂ ŋʊ ŋgʊ-rga ŋgʊ
go₁ βʊ βw-ɪ βʊ-gɪ
ʊ2 ø-ɪɪ-gɪ ʊ-rga ʊ-ø
gather ɸʊgʊ ɸʊg-ɪ ɸʊgʊ-rga ɸʊgʊ
plant ɸʊzʊ ɸʊz-ɪ ɸʊzɪ-gɪ
≈ ɸwœz-gɪ
ɸʊzʊ-rga
≈ ɸwœzœ-rga
ɸʊzʊ
ʊ3 ø-ɪɛ-gɪ ʊ-ø
tell/recountnɛngʊ nɛng-ɪ nɛngɛ-gɪ nɛngʊ

stem presentpast future imperativeparticiple
mø-ɪm-gɪm-œŋgam-ø ø-ap
boil sam sa-ɪ sam-gɪ sam-œŋga sam
call kam ka-ɪ kam-gɪ kam-œŋga kam ka-ap
be sickrœm rœ-ɪ rœ-ap

stem presentpast future imperativeparticiple
nr-ɪn-ɪgɪn-œŋgan-œ

stem presentpast future imperativeparticiple
ɪŋɪ-ɪɪ(:)ŋ-gɪɪ:-ngaɪŋ-ø ɪ-ap
stir pot ɸɪŋ ɸɪ-ɪ ɸɪŋ-gɪ ɸɪ:-nga ɸɪŋ
scratch selfnɪŋ ndɪ-ɪ nɪŋ-gɪ nɪ:-nga
cough kʰɪŋ kʰɪ-ɪ kʰɪ:-ŋgɪ kʰɪ:-nga kʰɪŋ kʰɪ-ap
climb over kɪŋ kɪ-ɪ kɪ:-ŋgɪ kɪ:-nga
wash sago βɪŋ βɪ-ɪ βɪ-ŋgɪ βɪ:-nga
œŋœ-ɪœŋ-gɪ œ-œŋgaœŋ-ø
give nœŋ nœ-ɪ nœŋ-gɪ nœ-œŋga nœ-ŋ
a-ɪaŋ-gɪ a-ŋga aŋ-ø ø-ap
speak sʊaŋ swa-ɪ swaŋ-gɪ swa-ŋga swaŋ sw-ap
ɔŋɔ-ɪɔŋ-gɪ ɔ:-ŋga
circumcize ɸɔŋ ɸɔ-ɪ ɸɔŋ-gɪ
sprout tʰɔŋ tʰɔ-ɪ tʰɔŋ-gɪ tʰɔ-ɔnga
ʊŋʊ-ɪʊŋ-gɪ ʊ-ŋga ʊŋ-ø
make mʊŋ mbw-ɪ mʊŋ-gɪ mʊ-ŋka (?)mʊŋ
howl rʊŋ rʊ-ɪ rʊŋ-gɪ

The disposition of verb roots with final /*k/ is dependent upon the quality of the preceding vowel, with those ending in /ak/ showing a different pattern in the future and one example of /œk/ retaining final /k/ as such in the imperative:

stem present past future imperativeparticiple
k g-ɪ ʔ-Vgɪ g-rga ʔ-ø
fasten/bindnɔk ndɔg-ɪ ndɔʔ-ɔgɪ ndɔg-rga ndɔʔ
peel food tʰɔk tʰɔg-ɪ tʰɔʔ-ɔgɪ tʰɔg-rga tʰɔʔ
be able tʊtʊk tʊtʊg-ɪ tʊtʊg-rga
beat sɔk sɔg-ɪ sɔʔ-ɔgɪ sɔg-rga sɔʔ
be angry βɛk βɛg-ɪ βɛʔ-ɛgɪ βɛg-rga βɛʔ
œk œg-ɪ œk-ø
stand stilltʰœk tʰœg-ɪ tʰœk
ak1ag-ɪ aʔ-agɪ aʔ-arga aʔ-ø ø-ap
hear mararakmbararag-ɪmbararaʔ-agɪmbararaʔ-argambararaʔ
precede ɸarak ɸarag-ɪ ɸaraʔ-arga ɸaraʔ ɸar-ap
dislike tʰak tʰag-ɪ tʰaʔ-agɪ tʰaʔ-arga tʰaʔ
prod/stab dak dag-ɪ daʔ-agɪ daʔ-arga daʔ
ak2ɪg-ɪ aʔ-agɪ aʔ-arga aʔ-ø ø-ap
be silent mpœrak mpœrɪg-ɪ mpœraʔ-arga mpœraʔ
sit pɛrak pɛrɪg-ɪ pɛraʔ-arga pɛraʔ pɛr-ap
help kʊrak kʊrɪg-ɪ kʊraʔ-agɪ kʊraʔ-arga kʊraʔ
be healthy zɛrak zɛrɪg-ɪ zɛraʔ-arga

stempresentpastfutureimperativeparticiple

Some stems take augments /-kɪ/ in the future and /-ɪk/ in the imperative, which presumably originated as an auxilliary verb. Unlike final /k/ in most imperative forms, this augment is not realized as glottal stop /ʔ/:

stempresentpastfutureimperativeparticiple

Other stems take an augment /-rɪ/ in the imperative.

stempresentpastfutureimperativeparticiple

At least two verb stems are suppletive, with synchronically unrelated forms in the present and participle on the one hand and the future and imperative on the other:

stem presentpast future imperativeparticiple
eat/drink₁pV p-ɪ p-ap
eat/drink₂ mbɛ-gɪmbœ-rgambœ
go₁ βʊ/βʊkβw-ɪ βʊ-gɪ βʊg-ap
go₂ ŋʊ ŋgʊ-rgaŋgʊ

Counting system

Kire has a body-part counting system of the type characteristic of New Guinea languages, in which the term for the number is the same as that for the body part which is touched during tallying. Counting begins from the left pinkie at one, proceeding to the thumb and then up the left side of the body until reaching the side of the head at thirteen, then proceeding downward on the right side of the body, with numbers to thirteen as follows (Stanhope 1972: 62):

pinkie 1 gɛrɛ
ring finger 2 gɛrɛ-han
middle finger3 βɪʔbarɛ
index finger 4 ɸɛ:
thumb 5 mɛ:
wrist 6 ɸar-mbɔr
forearm 7 har
elbow 8 sœgar
upper arm 9 ɸatʊtʰɪ
shoulder 10pʰœk
side of neck 11bʊr
ear 12kʷar
side of head 13pan