Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 22, 2026

Skou language

Skou, or Tumawo, is a Papuan language of Indonesia.

Last revised
Jul 22, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
402 w
Citations
7
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Skou
Tumawo
Native toIndonesia
RegionMuara Tami District, Jayapura City
Native speakers
(700 cited 1999)1
Language codes
ISO 639-3skv
Glottolognucl1634
ELPSkou

Skou (Sekol, Sekou, Sko, Skouw, Skow, Sukou), or Tumawo (Te Mawo), is a Papuan language of Indonesia.

Distribution

Skou is spoken in three villages of Muara Tami District, Jayapura City. The villages are:2

  • Skou Yambe (Skou name: Te Tángpe), the westernmost and most populous Skou village
  • Skou Mabo (Skou name: Te Máwo), located between Skou Yambe and Skou Sae villages
  • Skou Sae (Skou name: Te Bapúbi), the easternmost and least populous Skou village

Phonology

Consonants

The Skou consonants are:3

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b ɟ~ɡʲ
Fricative f h
Liquid lateral l
rhotic r
Semivowel w j

Vowels

Vowels can be nasalized, except for /ɨ/ and /u/.3

Front Central Back
oral nasal oral nasal oral nasal
Close i ĩ ɨ u
Mid e ẽ ə ə̃ o õ
Open a ã

Tone

Skou contrasts three different tones in monosyllables: high, low and falling, which can be combined with nasality for a six-way contrast.2

Pitch Oral Nasal
high [˥] ta

'grass'

tã

'bird'

low [˨] ta

'hair'

tã

'canoe'

falling [˥˩] ta

'arrow'

tã

'machete'

Tone in Skou is affiliated with each word, rather than with each syllable.

In addition to lexical differences in tone, tone has grammatical functions.2

For instance, tense in Skou is differentiated by tone.

non-past tense forms
[ni hu]

falling-falling 'I sew'

[ni ha]

falling-high 'I stand'

[ni hũ]

falling-low 'I drink'

past tense forms
[ni hu]

falling-low 'I sewed'

[ni ha]

falling-low 'I stood'

[ni hũ]

falling-low

'I drank'

Pronouns

Skou differentiates three types of pronouns: free pronouns, genitive pronouns and dative pronouns.2

Pronouns
Free Genitive Dative
1SG [ni˥˩] [ni˥˩] [nɛ˨]
1PL [nɛ˨] [nɛ˥˩] [nɛ˨]
2SG [mɛ˥˩] [mɛ˥˩] [mɛ˨]
2PL [ɛ˨] [ɛ˥˩] [ɛ˨]
3SG.NF [kɛ˨] [kɛ˥] [kɛ˨]
3SG.F [pɛ˨] [pɛ˥˩] [pɛ˨]
3PL [tɛ˨] [tɛ˥˩] [tɛ˨]
References

References

  1. Skou at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Donohue, Mark. 2004. A Grammar of the Skou language of New Guinea. Singapore: National University of Singapore. Available at [1].
  3. Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". 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. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.