Riandana

Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute

[under construction]

Riandana (Riantana) is spoken by 1,000 people (1949) living in six villages in the northernmost portion of Kolopom (Frederick-Hendrik) island. Drabbe names these villages as Ambébé (Iramoro,) Roàmbu (Soam,) Awïra (Kundjubandjung,) Kāmba, Kòmöka and Jarà. The term /rja-ndana/ [ria-nˈtana rian̪d̪ana] means “real people,” in contrast to outsiders who are called Kwökö /kwʏkʏ/ (Drabbe 1949: 1-2, 3., Choi 2015: …)

Drabbe (1949) brief description of and (pp. 14-24) 469 comparative terms for Riantana

Drabbe (1950) comparative vocabulary of Riantana

Drabbe (1954: 231-255) 100 comparative terms for Riantana

Voorhoeve (1975: 365-366) phonological inventory and pronouns for Riantana following Drabbe (1949)

Voorhoeve (1975: 96) 40 comparative terms for Riantana following Drabbe (1949)

Menanti and Susanto (2001) survey of Kimaam (unobtained)

Choi (2015) grammar of and (pp. 55-507) 203 terms for Riantana

In addition to these, a vocabulary of Riantana was provided in digitalized form by Paul Whitehouse via the Summer Institute of Linguistics; however it is undated and unattributed.

[under construction]

Drabbe (1949: 3-4) gives 19 consonants and 7 vowels for Riantana as follows:

It is clear from comparison to Choi's materials that Drabbe's /tr dr/ are merely clusters which Drabbe considered to be phonemic because they are the only recurring unambiguous clusters in the language.

Unlike Choi (2015) (below) who explicitly states that the laminal stops are not affricates, Drabbe isn't clear about the precise qualities of the stops written as <tj ndj>. Usually in Drabbe's work these graphemes would denote affricates [tʃ ndʒ], but his general comment about Kolopom <dj> (“De medeklinker dj echter heeft een duidelijke d -klank, juist als bv. in het Maleise djambu ”) can be read as supporting Choi's interpretation; accordingly these sounds are shown as <tʲ ndʲ> herein.

Drabbe's <ö> is specified as phonetic [ʏ] (Dutch <stuk>) in Riantana. We show it as such here rather than as <ə> because it sometimes corresponds to [u] …

Choi (2015: 16-26) gives a somewhat different inventory with 22 or 23 consonants and 7 vowels:

Choi's retroflexed voiceless stop /ʈ/ is found in only a few words (2015: 18-19) where she alleges it to be contrastive with apical /t/. but seems uncertain of its phonemic validity.

Choi's velar non-stop /ɣ/, which Drabbe did not recognize at all, is evidently uncommon, being found medially in only six words in her grammar and termlist ….

….

Based upon a review of the available materials, we propose 14 to 18 consonants and 6 vowels for Riandana, with marginal or debatable components given in brackets:

Final consonants are not found in free forms, a few examples in Drabbe's (1949: 14-24) termlist probably being attributable to devoicing of final vowels as described in Choi (2015: 24-25.) However, underlying final consonants /m n r/ and possibly /t/ which continue those of Proto-Kolopom are discernible when the root is followed by a suffix (below):

Somewhat unsuually for New Guinean languages, clusters involving non-stops /w r j/ as their second member are common both initially and mdially. This analysis is favored over one which treats /CwV CjV/ as sequential vowels /CuV CiV/ because clusters /trV drV/ are also found and because there are otherwise no sequential vowels. The following combinations have been observed in Drabbe's and Choi's data:

Thus Riandana roots are of the structure /(C(C₂))V(C₃)/, /(C(C₂))VC(C₂)V(C₃)/, etc., where /C₂ C₃/ are members of restricted sets as outlined above.

While Choi's Riantana probably represents the same dialect as Drabbe's, Choi's transcription sometimes differs from Drabbe's in its details. As Choi drew from Drabbe to supplement her own fieldwork, it is not always clear which elements of agreement are genuinely confirmational and which are mere repetitions. Final consonants are indicated in parentheses on Choi's attestations where the final is known (q.v. 2015: 31-33, see below for our reanalysis of Choi's proposed noun classes.) The comparisons which follow include only those terms which are found in both sources or have known outcomparisons to other Kolopom languages.

Bilabial nasal /m/ occurs initially and medially:

Apical nasal /n/ occurs initially and medially:

Choi (2015: 19, 55) recognizes a phonemic velar nasal upon the basis of one word she gives as [ŋaβa] “in-law.” As this does not appear in Drabbe and has no currently known etymology, there is little we can say about this form besides noting that Kolopom had no phonemic /ŋ/, nor does one exist in neighboring Marianne Straia and Marind families, although there is an /ŋ/ in Yelmek which could conceivably be the source of a loan.

Bilabial voiceless stop /p/ is realized as unlenited [p] only root-initially:

Medial /p/ is lenited to voiced fricative [β] as it is in Kimaghama corresponding to Ndom /f/ just as does initial /p/:

One apparent exception is also an exception in Kimaghama from the same rule, indicating a compound or a loan:

Apical voiceless stop /t/ occurs initially and medially:

In one example, medial /t/ in a root meaning “sit down/lie down” is given as [d] when following /n/ in the preceding root:

Palatal voiceless stop /c/ occurs initially and medially:

In addition palatal voiceless, plain voiced and prenasalized voiced stops, Drabbe (1949: 4) aasserts the existence of a fricative /s/' however only three examples, all medial, appear in his termlist and Choi's (2015) materials show Indonesian /s/ to be interpreted by Riandana spreakers as voiceless stop [tʲ c] (below.) Kolopom /*s/ is likewise regularly reflected as [tʲ c] in Riandana, suggesting [s] to be most likely an allophone of the palatal voiceless stop.

Velar voiceless stop /k/ occurs initially and medially:

Plain voiced stops and prenasalized voiced stops are dealt with together in the following section because the distinctions between them are marginal and of recent origin. The original rule looks to have been that prenasalized bilabial and apical /mb nd/ were realized as plain voiced [b d] in initial position, the situation for palatal and velar /ɲɟ ŋg/ being less clear. Such allophony is very common in New Guinean languages, sometimes leading to contrasts in compounds or where a destressed initial vowels have been lost. This is illustrated directly by Drabbe's [bˈjɛtʏ-mbˈjɛt] “pagaai (paddle),” whichi s plainly a reduplication, and by 3 sg poss. [ntʏ n̪d̪ə] where both internal and external comparision shows the former presence of an initial vowel [e ɛ]. Distributionally, prenasalized [mb nd] are far more common medially than are plain [b d] while initially the converse is true. Moreover, at least some examples of medial [b] are lenited reflexes of voiceless /p/ (above,) while several examples of medial [d] look to result from reduplication of initial [d] (below.)

Bilabial plain voiced stop /b/ …

Bilabial prenasalized voiced stop /mb/ …

Choi asserts a phonemic distinction between apical voiced stops /d nd/ and dental voiced stops /d̪ n̪d̪/, but even the examples she chooses to illustrate this contrast (p. 19) are represented inconsistently in her data (pp. 19. 21 [d̪rə] “fire”, p. 57 term #190 [d̪rə-wa] “warm”, but p. 55, term #28 [drawarə] “burn”, term #62 [drə-nanakwɔ] “flames”, pp. 19, 22 [drə] “ship” but p. 44 [d̪rə] “ship”) as are a number of other words. As this distinction is unusual, is not recognized by Drabbe and would have no known origin, we tentatively conclude it to be non-phonemic. Choi adds that [d̪] has a “tense, near voiceless quality,” which suggests a connection to Drabbe's sporadic representation of /nd/ (?) as [nt]; however if so the correspondence is not consistent and in any event would apply only to /nd/ as Choi's [d] is never given as [t] in Drabbe.

Initial apical plain voiced stop /d/ is far more common than are initial /nd/ (below) or medial /d/ (below):

One example of variation between initials [d] and [nd] is explained by Choi (pp. 37-38) as resulting from the prefixation of a possessive element /n-/ which is not distinguished by person:

Medial /d/ is less common that medial /nd/ (below) and at least two examples (“smoke” and “bad”, see also “breathe” above) look to be reduplications, while the word for “garden” is found as /ma/ in Kimaghama and as /mar/ in Ndom, suggesting the Riandana root to be merely /ma/. “Penis” may also be a compound as Choi gives “vagina” as [kwəra(m)]:

Initial apical prenasalized voiced stop /nd/ is uncommon but appears to be irreducible. The third person singular possessive has lost an initial vowel, suggesting an origin for the contrast with /d/:

Medial /nd/ is more common that are initial /nd/ or medial /d/ (above):

One word is given with medial [d] in Drabbe but with medial [nd] in Choi. Comparison to Drabbe's (!949: 15) Kimaghama and Geurtjens' (1933: 400-401) Kaladdarsch and Teri Kalwasch forms suggests it to be a compound with the root /tu(n)/:

Palatal plain voiced stop [ɟ] is atttested in only three words, Drabbe's [dʲadʲʏ-kwakʏ] “larynx (ademsappel)” and [dʲaː] “boeren (belch)”, though Drabbe does not include it in his phonemic inventory, and Choi's (p. 19) [ɟa] “to farm” and [ɟaɟə kwakə] “adam's apple”. Choi's gloss “to farm” is probably a mistranslation of Drabbe's “boeren” which also means “farmer (pl.)”, suggesting that her versions are not the result of fieldwork but repetitions drawn from Drabbe's termlist. The word for “larynx” is prefixed to “neck” and is probably a reduplication of “belch”. As these words have no known etymologies we can say little about the origin of [ɟ]:

Initial palatal prenasalized voiced stop /ɲɟ/ is found only in second person plural pronouns, where historically it reflects a palatalized version of velar /ŋg/ (below.) It seems possible that this should really be analyzed as a cluster /ŋgj/ as such clusters /Cj/ are known to exist in initial position (below):

Medial palatal prenasalized voiced stop /ɲɟ/ is uncommon. Unlike initial /ɲɟ/, outcomarisons of “lightning”, which is also found in the Marianne Strait languages (where palatalization of apical /nd/ is automatic when folowed by /i/,) provide no indication of an origin as velar /ŋg/. However, it likewise seems possible that these should really be analyzed as clusters /ndj/ as this sound is far less common than voiceless /c/ (above) and besides “lightning” is not established medially in proto-Kolopom:

Velar plain voiced stop [g] is atttested in only three words, Drabbe's [aˈga] “zoete bataat (sweet potato)”, though Drabbe does not include it in his phonemic inventory, and Choi's [gamɔ] “(pig) tusk” and [pagə] “torso”. As neither have known etymologies, it's not possible to draw any firm conclusions besides noting that both Drabbe and Choi assert that a phoneme /g/ exists. It is interesting to note though that Indonesian /guru/ “teacher” was borrowed as [ŋgurə] (2015: 43, 53.)

Velar prenasalized voiced stop /ŋg/ has been found only initially in second person singular pronouns. As nominative and oblique (but not possessive) forms are found with preceding initial vowels in closely-related Kimaghama but not in Ndom or Moraori, it's difficult to say whether they were originally root-initial:

Choi's velar voiced fricative [ɣ] is given in six words where it occurs only medially. One of these has a counterart in Drabbe where the sound is not recognized at all:

It seems possible though somewhat counterintuitive that this was originally the medial reflex of /ŋg/ which is otherwise not attested, and would not be inconsistent with Drabbe's [aˈga] “zoete bataat (sweet ptoato)” as noted above though would seem to contradict Choi's (p. 19) assertion of a contrast between [paɣə] “crocodile cave” and [pagə] “torso”. Alternatively, they are loans from neighboring Ndom in which [ɣ] is the regular reflex of both [*k *ŋg] (there is a /*ɣ / in both Bulaka River and in Marind but it has become /ŋ/ in Yelmek and /h/ both in Maklew and in the western dialects of Marind ).

Bilabial non-stop /w/ occurs initially and medially, sometimes being interpreted as voiced fricative [β] in Drabbe's vocabulary:

Apical non-stop /r/ occurs initially and medially:

Palatal non-stop [j] has been clearly found only initially:

Consonant clusters consist of a consonant followed by one of three non-stops /w r j/ and occur initially and medially.

In the examples which follow, Drabbe's phonetic vowels [o u] followed by another vowel are in free variation, as may be seen in “woman/wife” and the root for “thought/feelings” /rwa/ which is the base of “hear”, “ear”, “intestines” (glossed also as “like” in Choi 2015: 43, cf. also Drabbe's 1949: 16 [rʏ moˈra roak] “dorstig (thirsty)”, i.e. “water eat desire”) and “think”, and correspond to Choi's [w]. We follow Choi in interpreting this sound as medial bilabial non-stop /w/ rather than as a vowel sequence /uV oV/. In addition to the fact that clusters involving other non-stops as second members /*Cr *Cj/ exist (below,) one point in favor of an interpretation as a cluster is that Drabbe hears the second vowel as stressed:

Clusters with bilabial initials /mw pw/ have been identified before high front vowel /i/, where the existence of /w/ is not recognized by Drabbe:

… /pw/ …:

Outcomparison to both Kimaghama and Ndom of one example in which both Drabbe and Choi give initial /mb/ shows this to represent cluster /bw/:

Medial clusters with bilabials /pw mbw/ have also been found:

Drabbe (1949: 3-4) posits phonemes /tr dr/, Initial /tr/ is found in at least one root (p. 220 [amba- ˈtraβʏ] “gaan halen (fetch)”, [awarʏ- ˈtraβʏ] “meenemen (pick up)”, cf. [amba-nʏna] “vastpakken (grab)”, [awarʏ-treda] “meebringen (bring)”) in which it corresponds to Kimaghama /tr/:

Another example of initial [tr] is given elsewhere as [tʏr]:

Somewhat better established is initial /dr/, which we follow Choi in analyzing as a cluster:

There is no direct evidence for a medial /j/ as there is for medial /w/, which besides occuring between two non-high vowels is often heard as occluded in Drabbe (above.) The following examples are interpreted as /j/ as the second member of a cluster analogous to those involving /w r/ (above) or as sequential vowels. One point in favor of an interpretation as a cluster is that Drabbe hears the second vowel as stressed:

Generally, Kolopom final consonants are dropped in Riandana as they are in Kimaghama, but finals /m n r/ and possibly /t/ are still present in the underlying forms of the roots and can surface when the root is followed by one of several suffixes. Choi (2015: 31-33) analyzes these finals as prefixes to the following suffix, drawing an analogy to prefixed verbal objects (p. 39,) and states that they are governed by the class of the preciding nominal, even impuitng a semantic significance to these “noun classes.” Unlike object prefixed verbs, which can appear in a number of syntantic positions, these allegedly agreement-inflected forms invariably follow the nominals they modify; i.e. they are suffixes, not independent words as Choi presents them. Outcomparison to Ndom, which does not drop final consonants in free forms, show them to be phonological in origin:

The following examples illustrate contrasts between roots with final consonants and those followed by the suffixes [-ana] collective, for which Choi (2015: 32) gives the equivalent [-andwa], and [-(d)ʏmbo -(d)əmbo] of uncertain meaning:

Drabbe and Choi agree that Riandana has seven vowels, but disgree about precisely what these are, with Drabbe asserting a contrast between high and low mid front vowels [e ɛ] and Choi between high and low mid back vowels [o ɔ].

High front vowel /i/ …

High back rounded vowel …

Central vowel … <ö> … The same grapheme in Kimaghama is said to signify /œ/ … Drabbe's choice of a rounded symbol rather than e.g. <ĕ> to be well-considered …. Choi says mothing about the character of this sound besides that it is a mid central vowel, with the choice of <ə> suggesting an unrounded sound …

Occasionally it is given as <o>, possibly due to misprints, but the example of “water” when followed by the collective suffix /-ana/ …

Mid front vowel …

Mid back rounded vowel … /o ɔ/ … Choi's (2015: 21) [pɔta-βota] “lie down” is particuarly relavant as it is clearly a reduplication of the root meaning “ground/below”, yet the vowel is given differently in each iteration …

Low cental vowel /a/ …

[under construction]

Drabbe (1949: 5-6) gives Riantana pronouns in three case forms. Choi (2015: 37-38) reanalyzes some of these into four cases as follows:

…

[under construction]

Like Kimaghama and Ndom, Riandana stands out within Trans New Guinea in being an isolating language with almost no affixing verbal morphology, a type which Drabbe (1950: 548) labeled “Koppelwoord talen” because categories are distinguished by adposition. There is a purposive suffix /-tə/ but it is clearly the same as the allative suffix on nominals and is probably a clitic as it is sometimes given as an independent word (q.v. Choi 2015: 29-30. 48.)

Choi (2015: 47-49, 59-50) gives tense and mood auxilliaries for Riantana as follows:

Most of these auxilliaries are preposed not only to verbs but to predicates which typically consist of an absolutive nominal followed by a verb. …

Choi (2015: 29-30) gives examples of verbs the stems of which change vowels to indicate realis or irrealis mood; here it seems likely that realis forms were once prefixed with a vowel [o ɔ] which has metathsized into the stem, with [ɛ] in “sleep” induced by adjacent /j/:

As with many other Trans New Guinea languages, there are prefixes which indicate the object of the verb; however the Riandana prefixes bears no resmblance to those of any other known system. These prefixes surface only before vowel-initial auxilliaries Choi 2015: 39):

[under construction]

…

At least two roots look to have been borrowed from Marind to the east, though as these words have no known etymologies in Marind-Yakhai or in Fly River the direction of borrowing might be disputed:

Another word may be cognate but its phonology suggests the Riandana word to be original, as [β] is the medial allophone of /p/ (above) while Marind /*h/ descends from Fly River /*ɸ/ and this Marind word, which is found also in Moraori as [jɛna-du] (Drabbe 1954: 68) where the loss of Kolopom medial /*p/ woudl be regular, otherwise has no known etymology:

A number of loans from Indonesian are found especially in Choi's texts. The retention of [h] in “year” suggests that this may not even be a proper loan but multilingualism on the part of Choi's narrator. Otherwise Indonesian sounds are assimilated to the native phonology, as is especailly conspicuous in the interpretation of [s] as [tʲ c]:

Another loan is presumably from Indonesian via an unknown local source and is found in other Kolopom languages, Bulaka River, Marind and others in more or less identical form (q.v. Drabbe 1949: 18, 1950: 570, 1954: 134, etc.) Choi's medial [β] is unexpected and possibly in error: