Tehit language

Tehit
Tehit
Kaibus
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Papua
Native speakers	10,000 (2000); 500 monolinguals (2000)
Language family	West Papuan? Bird's Head West Bird's Head Tehit; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kps
Glottolog	tehi1237
	Tehit Tehit
	Coordinates: 1°31′S 131°59′E / 1.51°S 131.99°E

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]

Tehit Mlafle
Tehit Mlakya
Tehit Konda
Tehit Nakna
Tehit Imian
Tehit Nasfa
Tehit Ogit / Yaben
Tehit Srer
Tehit Imian Slaya
Tehit Imian Salmit Klawsa
Tehit Salmi Klawsa
Tehit Mla Flassi
Tehit Mla Srit
Tehit Wakya
Tehit Gemna
Tehit Sfa

Locations of some Tehit subgroups:^[2]

Tehit Mlafle and Tehit Mlakya, in Teminabuan District: Kaibus, Werisar, Keyen, Boldon, Seribau, Srer, and Sria villages.
Tehit Konda, in Konda District: Konda, Mnaelek, and Mbariat villages.
Tehit Nakya, in Saifi District: Malaswat, Manggroholo, Sira, Kwowok, Komanggaret, Sayal, Kayabo, Botaen, Sisir, and Knaya villages.
Tehit Imian, in Seremuk District: Gamaro, Tofot, Haha, Woloin, and Kakas villages.
Tehit Nasfa, in Sawiyat District: Wenslolo, Wensnahan, Wensi villages.

Clans

Tehit clans:^[2]

Anggiluli
Ajamsaru
Aru
Anny
Antoh
Asmuruf
Adiolo
Aflili
Anny Snahan
Athabu
Bauk
Blesmargi
Bolhok
Bosawer
Blesia
Bleskadit
Boltal
Bless
Bri
Dimofle
Duwit
Esfat
Fna
Flassy
Flasisao
Firisa
Fafottolo
Fle
Flesa
Gemnase
Gimnafle
Ginuni
Gomor
Homer
Howay
Jarfi
Kasminya
Kalithin
Kabelwa
Kehek
Kaisala
Kareth
Kamesrar
Kaliele
Kedemes
Kwani
Kelelago
Kalilago
Konjol
Kondologit
Kondororik
Krenak
Kemesfle
Klesei
Krimadi
Kladit
Kolin
Kombado
Klafle
Karsao Kadit
Karsauw
Kami
Kambu
Kalkomik
Kolenggea Flesa
Kolinggea Totyi
Kolingge Amak
Kolin
Komendi
Keya
Kamesok
Klofat
Kowani
Lemauk
Lohok
Lokden
Majefat
Maga
Majesfa
Majebrofat
Mbol Foyo
Mere
Meles
Melesogo
Mlik
Momot
Mondar
Mrokendi
Mtrar Mian Neman
Ngomor
Naa
Onim
Oniminya
Ogon
Refe
Ririk
Roni
Sabri
Sabrigis
Salosa
Sawen
Sakamak
Sa Marfat
Sadalmat
Saswen
Saru
Safkaur
Salamuk
Sagaret
Sables
Sadrafle
Sdun
Srefle
Serefat
Sreklefat
Sremere
Saranik
Seramik
Sesa
Smori
Snahan
Sarefe
Snanfi
Sadiwan
Sagisolo
Sregia
Srekadifat
Sakardifat
Salambauw
Slambau Karfat
Srer
Simat
Segeitmena
Seryo
Satfle
Safle
Singgir
Smur
Saman
Susim
Sagrim
Sreifi
Srekya
Srekdifat
Saflafo
Siger
Saflesa
Sre Klefat
Syasefa
Seketeles
Saflembolo
Selaya
Saledrar
Snanbion
Sigi
Sekalas
Saflessa
Sefle
Thesia
Tidiel
T’ryo
Trogea
Tigori
Tritrigoin Wato
Wasfle
Wamban
Way
Watak
Wafatolo
Wamblessa
Wodiok
Woloin
Wagarefe
Widik
Woloble
Wororik
Yatam
Yajan
Yajar
Yable
Yafle
Yadafat
Yadanfi
Yarollo
Yelmolo

Phonology

Consonants

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

Glide sounds [w, j] mainly occur as a result of vowels /o, i/ in different syllable positions.^[3]
/q/ can be heard as a fricative [ʁ] when in intervocalic positions, and as a velar [k] when in coda position within the onset of /i/.
/d/ can also be heard as an affricate [dʒ] when preceding /i/ in word segments.
Sounds /t, q/ are mainly unreleased [t̚, q̚] in when in word-final positions.
Fricatives /ɸ, s/ can optionally be voiced as [β, z] when within the environment of /i/, among speech.^[4]

Vowels

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

A schwa [ə] vowel sound is said to occur only in pretonic positions, which means in syllables preceding the stressed syllable. It is always heard as unstressed, and always in between consonant sounds.^[5]^[3]
/i/ can be heard as [ɪ] when preceding a word-final /ɾ/, and as [ɨ] when preceding vowel sounds /a, o/ within the onset of a labial consonant.
/e/ can be heard as [ɛ] when in closed syllables.
/o/ may also have an allophone of [u] when in closed syllables within a labial consonantal onset with a back coda consonant.

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

^ ^a ^b Tehit at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ ^a ^b ^c Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0.
^ ^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.
^ Hesse, Ronald (1993). Imyan Tehit Phonology. Grand Forks: Univ. of North Dakota.
^ 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)
^ 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.