| Description:
Kobon (pronounced Kombon) is a language of Papua New Guinea. It has somewhere around 90-120 verbs.
Kobon is spoken in Papua New Guinea.
Kobon distinguishes an alveolar lateral /l/, an alveolopalatal lateral /ȴ/, and a retroflex lateral flap.
Kobon is an SOV language.
Like the other Kalam languages, Kobon is famous for having a very small number of verbs—perhaps less than 120 for the entire language. These verbs are combined with nouns into phrases with specific meanings, much as one says "have dinner" rather than "dine" in English.
This makes for an interesting window into semantics. One might expect that with a very limited set of verbs, their meanings would be quite general, as have, do, be and go are in English. To some extent this is born out. For example, there is only one verb of perception. That is, the same verb is used for see, hear, taste, smell, feel (both physically and emotionally), think, and understand (compare with "I see" for "I understand" in English). Another verb is used for making sound, whether it's speaking, singing, praying, crying, twigs breaking, rocks clattering, or water gurgling. However, some Kobon verbs are quite specific. There is one exception for..... full article at Wikipedia |
