These slides describe the complexity of Kui verbal morphology. It structures the basic composition of Kui verb phrases together with a number of morphosyntactic features of Kui verbs. It was presented at the 6th International Conference on Austronesian and Non-Austronesian languages in Udayana University, August 2015.

1. Verbal Morphology in Kui ; a Non-
Austronesian Spoken in the Southwestern
Parts of Alor, NTT
BY.
MARCELINUS Y.F AKOLI
akolimarcel@yahoo.com.au
UNIVERSITAS NUSA CENDANA - KUPANG

3. Trans New Guinean Language Phylum
(Aikhenvald & Stebbins, 2007)
• 22 Other Language
Families
• 9 – 13 Isolate
West-Papuan Language Family
(Reesink,2005:186-187)
5 Other Language
Subfamilies
Timor-Alor – Pantar
(TAP) Language
Subfamily
KUI

4. Kui Speaking Population
Wurm and Hattori : 5,000 speakers
(1981 in Grimes et al, 1997: 63)
Shiohara (2010) : ± 4,000 speakers
Ethnologue (Lewis et al,2013) : 1,900 speakers
Katubi (2013) : 833 speakers

5. Map of Trans-New Guinea Languages
SYNTHETIC
LANGUAGES
POLYSYNTHETIC
LANGUAGES
Folley in Aikhenvald & Stebbins, 2007 : 252

6. Morphological Situations of Kui’s Neighbouring
Languages
Language
names
Sources Morphological Situations of Verb
Phrases
Abui Kratochvil
(2007)
1. Aspectual suffix
2. Pronominal suffix
3. Variation in Verbal Phrase
Sawila Kratochvil
(2014)
Its verbal phrases are numerously
modified by applicative prefixes.
Klon Baird (2008:198) It only has two applicative prefixes,
partial and full reduplication, reflexive,
reciprocal and intensifier markers.

7. Kui as a Morphologically Synthetic Language
Basic Structure of Kui Verbal Phrases
Applicative Prefix + Pronominal infix + Root +
Perfective/Imperfective (4 Morphemes)
e.g : u-ga-bur-i (to fix something)
OR
Applicative Prefix + Reciprocal + Root +
Perfective/Imperfective (4 Morphemes)
e.g : u-ta-taiʤ (to guess each other)

8. 1. Aspectual Marking
Imperfective Perfective
Verb Verb + -i
mənam ‘to eat’ mənami ‘already ate’

9. Examples of imperfective and perfective markers
in Kui
Imperfective forms Perfective Forms
Roots Meanings Bases Meanings
akaaɭ To eat akaaɭi already fed
akaɭ To jump akaɭi already jumped
bag To paddle bagi already paddled
bareg To bear baregi already born
dagar To fry dagari already fried
gadul To open gaduli already opened
salaak To hang salaaki already hanged

10. Some of these perfective forms are characterized by
alveolarization (Akoli, 2013)
Imperfective Forms Perfective Forms
Roots Meanings Bases Meanings
gataɲ To release gatani already released
garoʤ To cut garoti already cut
galakaɲ To tie galakani already tied
ateʤ To slice ateti already sliced
gabaraɲ To kill gabarani already killed
aloɲ To write aloni already wrote

11. Yal pa to tag to baŋaɲ ?
yal pa to tag to baŋaɲ
Adv. 1Pl.(incl) Recipr. V.Imperf Recipr
.
V.Imperf
Now We To greet To ask
Let us greet and ask each other.
Galel nabui naməsiɲ baŋani.
galel na.bui na.məsiɲ baŋan-i
Adv. 1sg.Poss.N 1sg.Poss.N V-Perf
Then my betel my areca nut already asked
Then, (he) asked for my betel and areca nut.
1.
2.

12. 2. Applicative Marking
In applicative construction, the number of
object arguments selected by the predicate is
increased by one with respect to the basic
construction (Polinsky, 2015).
There are two morphemes functioning as
applicative markers in Kui : u- and go-

13. Na gale anin gei umənami.
na gale anin gei u-mənam-i
1sg.pron Adv. N Postp. Appl-V-Perf
I already people for Appl-eat-Perf
I already fed the people.
Pai mənami.
Pai mənam-i
1pl.Pron (Incl) V-Perf
We Eat-already
We already ate.
1.
2.

14. The presence of u- prefix in some Kui verbs
Verb Verb Phrases
Roots Meanings Bases Meanings
məna
m
To eat uməna
m
To feed sbd/sth
gataɲ release ugataɲ To release something at
garoiʤ To cut ugaroiʤ To cut something at
salaak To hang usalaak To hang something at
bales To wind ubales To wind something at
pənaa
r
To touch upənaar To touch something at

15. Na gəlel anin gei goakaaɭi.
na gəlel anin gei go-akaaɭ-i
1sg.Pron Linking
word
n Posp. Appl.V.Perf
I then people for 3sg.Obj-eat-already
Then, I already fed the people.
Og lol-lol si pi naŋal akaaɭ naŋate ?
Og lol-lol si pi naŋal akaaɭ naŋate
Dem. Redup. Posp. 1Pl.Subj Quest. V Quest.
This stay-stay like we what eat how
If we just stay like this, what do we eat ?
1
2

16. 3. Causative Marking
The causative construction is a linguistic expression
which denotes a complex situation consisting of two
component events (Comrie 1989: 165-166; Song
2001: 256-259): (i) the causing event, in which
the causer does or initiates something; and (ii)
the caused event, in which the causee carries out an
action, or undergoes a change of condition or state
as a result of the causer’s action (Song, 2015).
Example :
The story made me sad.
the causer the causee

17. u- prefix as a causative marker
Roots Bases
sanam hot u-sanam To make something hot
sabay new u-sabay To make something new
nabaan long u-nabaan To lengthen something
kədin small u-kədin To make something small
bata large u-bat To enlarge something
Na er usanami.
na er u.sanam.i
1sg.Pro.Subj N Caus.Adj.Perf
I water Make.Hot.already
I already heated the water.

18. ga- prefix as a causative marker
Roots Bases
bur flat ga-bur To make something flat
men worried ga-men To make worried
daŋan far ga-daŋan To make something far
kuɭ little ga-kuɭ To make less
baka bad, ugly ga-baka To make something bad
noka good ga-noka To make something good

19. O ogo mi sol tanei o anin gamen.
o ogo mi sol tanei o anin ga.men
N Dem. Posp. V V N N Caus.Adj
house this in enter add house people Become.
worried
People become worried to enter to the house.

20. 4. Imperative Marking
Kabii balo gatani.
kabii balo gatan-i
N Dem. V-Imperative
goat that Let go
Let the goat go !

21. Nawol te mənami !
nawol te mənam-i
N Part. V-Imperative
banana Please Eat !
Please eat the banana !

22. 5. Derivative Marking
Mekalet nun beei namaani, gateki.
mekalet nun beei namaan-i ga-teki.
N Pl. V N-Deriv. 3Sg.pron.Obj-V.past
woman go shellfish-Deriv. him-saw
(When) the women went looking for shellfish, they saw
him.

23. Conclusion
Morphemes Morphological
aspects
Examples Meanings
u- applicative u-mənam To feed somebody
causative u-sanam To make something
hot
go- applicative go-akaaɭi To feed somebody
ga- causative ga-bur To make something
flat
-i perfective garot-i already cut
imperative sanami heat something
derivative namaani look for shellfish

24. References
Aikhenvald, A. Y & Stebbins, T. 2007. 'Languages of New Guinea'. dalam
Vanishing Languages of the Pacific, O. Miyaoka, O. Sakiyama and M.
Krauss (eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.239-266.
Akoli, Marcelinus.Y.F.2014. Semivowelization and Alveolarization in Kui
Language. Sebuah Paper yang dipresentasikan pada Kongres Internasional
Masyarakat Linguistik Indonesia (KIMLI) di Bandar Lampung, 19-22
Februari 2014.
Baird, Louise. 2008. A Grammar of Klon : A Non-Austronesian Language of
Alor, Indonesia. Canberra, A.C.T.: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of
Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
Grimes,C.E.,Therik, T., Grimes,B.D.& Jacob,M. 1997. A Guide to the People
and Languages of Nusa Tenggara. Kupang, Artha Wacana Press.

25. Kratochvil, Frantisek.2007. Grammar of Abui : A Papuan Language of Alor. a Ph.D
thesis. LOT Publisher, Leiden University.
Kratochvil, Frantisek. 2014. Sawila ; Bab 7. Dalam The Papuan Languages of Timor,
Alor and Pantar Volume 1: Sketch Grammars (ed. A.Schapper). Mouton de Gruyter.
Hal. 352-436.
Polinsky, Maria. 2015. Applicative Constructions. Online Version. It was accessed on
July 4th 2015.
Reesink, Ger. 2005. West Papuan languages: Roots and development. Papuan Pasts,
Studies in the cultural, linguistic and biological history of the Papuan-speaking
peoples, ed. by Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Jack Golson and Robin Hide,
185-218. Canberra, Pacific Linguistics.
Siohara, Asako. 2010. Penutur Bahasa Minoritas di Indonesia Timur : Mempertanyakan
Keuniversalan Konsep Multibahasa. In M. Moriyama and M. Budiman,(eds). Geliat
Bahasa Selaras Zaman: Perubahan Bahasa-Bahasa di Indonesia Pasca-Orde Baru.
Jakarta : Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. p.168-206.
Song, Jung Jae. 2015. Periphrastic Causative Constructions. Online Source.
http://wals.info/chapter/110. It was accessed on July 3rd 2015.