Native to Papua New Guinea Native speakers 10,000 (2010) ISO 639-3 kbx | Region East Sepik Province Dialects Kambaramba | |
Language family Ramu–Lower Sepik
(unclassified)
Kambot | ||
Kambot AKA Ap Ma (Ap Ma Botin, Botin, also Karaube), is a Ramu–Lower Sepik language of Papua New Guinea of unclear affiliation.
Kambot was assigned to the Grass family within Ramu by Laycock and Z'graggen (1975). However, Foley (2005) finds the data does not support this assignment. Foley and Ross (2005) agree that the language belongs to the Ramu – Lower Sepik family; however, its position in the family remains uncertain.
Foley (1986) proposed that Kambot had borrowed its pronouns from the Iatmul language of the Sepik family (Ndu languages). His suggestion was that nyɨ 'I' (1sg), wɨn 'thou' (2sg), and nun 'ye' (2pl) are taken from Iatmul nyɨn 'thou', wɨn 'I', and nɨn 'we', with a crossover of person. That is, the Iatmul may have called the Kambot nyɨn "you", and they then used that pronoun for themselves, resulting in it meaning "I". However, Ross (2005) and Pawley (2005) show that the pronoun set has not been borrowed. The Kambot pronouns are indigenous, as they have apparent cognates in Ramu languages. Similarly, the Iatmul pronouns have not been borrowed from Kambot, as they have cognates in other Ndu languages.