Tehit
Kaibus
Native toIndonesia
RegionPapua
Native speakers
10,000 (2000)[1]
500 monolinguals (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kps
Glottologtehi1237
Approximate location where Tehit is spoken
Approximate location where Tehit is spoken
Tehit
Approximate location where Tehit is spoken
Approximate location where Tehit is spoken
Tehit
Coordinates: 1°31′S 131°59′E / 1.51°S 131.99°E / -1.51; 131.99

Tehit is a Papuan language of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea. Other spellings are Tahit, Tehid, and other names Kaibus, Teminabuan. Dialects are Tehit Jit, Mbol Fle, Saifi, Imyan, Sfa Riere, Fkar, Sawiat Salmeit.

Subdivisions

Subgroups

Major Tehit ethnic subgroups:[2]

Locations of some Tehit subgroups:[2]

Clans

Tehit clans:[2]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive plain p b t d ɡ q
prenasal ᵐp ᵐb ⁿt ⁿd ᵑɡ ᶰq
Fricative ɸ s h
Nasal m n
Tap ɾ
Approximant (w) l (j)

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i
Mid e (ə) o
Low a

Morphology

Tehit has four grammatical genders, which are masculine, feminine, plural, and neuter. Examples:[6]

gender suffix examples
masculine -w ndla-w ‘husband’, sna-w ‘moon’, qliik-w ‘snake’
feminine -m -ene-m ‘mother’, tali-m ‘sun’, mbol-m ‘house’
plural -y sinas-y ‘small mosquito’, sinaq-y ‘gravel’, siray ‘salt’
neuter zero n/a

Gender prefixes in Tehit can not only be used to denote gender, but also size, wholeness, and the stability of appearances. Masculine gender is associated with small size, parts of wholes, and changing appearances, while feminine gender is associated with large size, wholeness, and stable appearances. Examples (from Flassy 1991: 10–12):

feminine masculine
wet ‘child’

wet-m

child-3F

wet-m

child-3F

‘girl’

wet-w

child-3M

wet-w

child-3M

‘boy’

e’ren ‘fish’

e’ren-m

fish-3F

e’ren-m

fish-3F

‘big fish’

e’ren-w

fish-3M

e’ren-w

fish-3M

‘small fish’

mbol ‘house’

mbol-y

house-3PL

mbol-y

house-3PL

‘houses’

mbol-w

house-3M

mbol-w

house-3M

‘small house’ / ‘houses’

sika ‘cat’

sika-w

cat-3M

sika-w

cat-3M

‘male cat’ / ‘cats’

References

  1. ^ a b Tehit at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b c Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0.
  3. ^ a b Hesse, Ronald (2000). Tehit. In Ger P. Reesink (ed.), Studies in Irian Languages: Part II: Jakarta, Indonesia: Jakarta: Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya. pp. 25–33.
  4. ^ Hesse, Ronald (1993). Imyan Tehit Phonology. Grand Forks: Univ. of North Dakota.
  5. ^ Hesse, Ronald (1995). Syllable structure in Imyan Tehit. Language and Linguistics in Melanesia 26. pp. 101–171.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Holton, Gary; Klamer, Marian (2018). "The Papuan languages of East Nusantara and the Bird's Head". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 569–640. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.

Further reading

  • Flassy, Don A. L.; Stokhof, W. A. L. (1979). "A Note on Tehit (Bird's Head – Irian Jaya)" (PDF). In Amran Halim (ed.). Miscellaneous Studies in Indonesian and Languages in Indonesia, Part VI. NUSA 7. Jakarta: Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya. pp. 35–83.
  • Flassy, Don A. L. (1991). Grammar Sketch of Tehit: A Toror language, the West Doberai Peninsula, New Guinea (Irian Jaya) (MA thesis). Leiden University.
  • Hesse, Ronald (1993). Imyan Tehit Phonology (MA thesis). University of North Dakota.
  • Hesse, Ronald (2000). "Tehit" (PDF). In Reesink, Ger P. (ed.). Studies in Irian Languages, Part II. NUSA 47. Jakarta: Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya. pp. 25–33.
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