Oksap
Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
Situation
Oksap, or Oksapmin, is spoken by approximately 12,000 people (2005) living in the the Tekin valley in the Oksapmin subdistrict of Papua New Guinea's Sandaun Province. Speakers call their language Nuxule Meng /nuxule meŋ/ meaning “our (excl.) language”; Oksapmin is the name given to them by Telefol speakers to the west (Lawrence 2005: 4, Loughane 2009: 1.) The term Oksap /ok-sap/ means “Sap river” while Oksapmin /ok-sap-min/ means “people of the Sap river” (not “bush people of the water” per Lawrence 1993.)
The staple crops of the Oksapmin region are taro and the introduced sweet potato. Meat sources include pigs which are raised and cassowaries which are hunted. Additionally, pandanus nuts, fruits and wild greens are gathered (Loughnane 2009: 9-10.)
Sources
Healey (1964: 78-97) 118 comparative terms for Oksapmin
Lawrence (1969) phonology of Oksapmin (unobtained)
Lawrence (1970) Oksapmin paragraphs (unobtained)
Lawrence (1970) Oksampin noun phrases (unobtained)
Lawrence (1970) Oksapmin pronouns (unobtained)
Lawrence (1970) Oksapmin verbs (unobtained)
Lawrence (1970) Oksapmin discourse (unobtained)
Lawrence (1971) Oksapmin clause structures
Lawrence (1971) grammar of Oksapmin (unobtained)
Lawrence (1971) Oksapmin verb phrases (unobtained)
Lawrence (1972) Oksapmin sentence structure
Lawrence (1972) Oksapmin verbal morphology
Lawrence (1972) Oksapmin viewpoint and locations
Lawrence (1977) Oksapmin verbal morphology
Lawrence (1977) Oksapmin quotations
Lawrence (1977) Oksapmin pitch and tone (unobtained)
Lawrence (1980) Oksapmin dialects (unobtained)
Lawrence (1987) Oksapmin viewpoint and locations
Lawrence (1992) sketch phonology of Oksapmin
Lawrence (1993) dictionary of Oksapmin
Lawrence (2005) dictionary of Upper Oksap
Lawrence (2006) dictionary of Upper Oksap
Perey (1973) ethnography of Oksapmin (unobtained)
Perey (1975) Oksapmin body parts (unobtained)
Loughnane (2009) grammar of Lower Oksapmin of Kusanap, Waulap, and Ranimap.villages
Loughnane and Fedden (2011) comparisons between Oksapmin and Mountain Ok
Phonology
[under construction]
Loughnane (2009: 31-86) gives 16 consonants and 6 vowels for Lower Oksapmin as follows:
| m | n | |||
| t | k | kʷ | ||
| mb | nd | ŋg | ŋgʷ | |
| ɸ | s | x | xʷ | |
| w | l | j |
| i | u | |
| e | ə | o |
| a |
Velar nasal [ŋ] is treated as an allophone of …
Bilabial voiceless fricative [ɸ]…
Lawrence's (1992) description of Upper Oksapmin consonants differs from that of Loughnane in considering bilabial fricative [ɸ] an allophone of /p/ rather than vice-versa, treating velar nasal [ŋ] as an independent phoneme and in giving apical non-stop /r/, said to be a trill, rather than lateral /l/. Lawrence recognizes a seventh vowel high mid rounded /ʉ/ distinct from high back /u/, while vowels /eː oː ɑː/ are specified as inherently long
| m | n | ŋ | ||
| p | t | k | kʷ | |
| mb | nd | ŋg | ŋgʷ | |
| s | x | xʷ | ||
| w | r | j |
| i | ʉ | u |
| eː | ə | oː |
| ɑː |
In addition to the simple vowels, Lawrence recognizes three diphthongs as follows:
| eːⁱ | əⁱ |
| ɑːⁱ |
…
…
Pronouns
[under construction]
Loughnane (2009: 90-97) gives pronouns for Lower Oksapmin in five case forms as follows:
| regular | possessive | reflexive | refl. poss. | alone | |
| 1 sg. | nox | nox-e | no-nxo-l | no-nx-e | no-nx-ap |
| 2 sg. | ŋgo | ŋgʷ-e | ŋgo-lŋgo-l | ŋgo-loŋgʷ-e | ŋgo-lŋg-ap |
| 3 sg. m. | ox | ox-e | o-lxo-l | o-lx-e | o-lx-ap |
| 3 sg. f. | ux | ux-e | u-lxo-l | u-lx-e | u-lx-ap |
| 1 pl. excl. | nuxul | nuxul-e | nuxla-nul | nuxla-nuxl-e | nuxla-lxe |
| 1 pl. incl. | ndil | ndil-e | ndila-ndil | ndila-ndil-e | ndila-lxe |
| 2 pl. | ŋgul | ŋgul-e | ŋgula-ŋgul | ŋgula-ŋgul-e | ŋgula-lxe |
| 3 pl. | ixil | ixl-e | ixlail ~ ixlanil ~ ixlaxil | ixlail-e~ixlanil-e ~ ixlaxil-e | ixla-lxe |
| 1 dl. excl. | nuxut | nuxt-e | nuxta-nut | nuxta-nuxt-e | nuxta-lxe |
| 1 dl. incl. | ndit | ndit-e | ndita-nit | ndita-ndit-e | ndita-lxe |
| 2 dl. | ŋgut | ŋgut-e | ŋguta-ŋgut | ŋguta-ŋgut-e | ŋguta-lxe |
| 3 dl. | ixit | ixt-e | ixtait ~ ixtanit ~ ixtaxit | ixtait-e~ixtanit-e ~ ixtaxit-e | ixta-lxe |
…
Verbal morphology
[under construction]
Loughane (2009: 225-241)… prefixes …
…
…