| Busa | |
| Nativename: | Odiai |
| States: | Papua New Guinea |
| Region: | Sandaun Province, Amanab District, north of Upper Sepik River, west of Namia. 3 villages. Yare is north and east, Abau is south and west, Biaka is northwest. |
| Coordinates: | -3.8167°N 161°W |
| Speakers: | 370 |
| Date: | 2011 census |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Senu River or Language isolate |
| Iso3: | bhf |
| Glotto: | odia1239 |
| Glottorefname: | Odiai |
The Busa language, also known as Odiai (Uriai), is spoken in three hamlets of northwestern Papua New Guinea. There were 244 speakers at the time of the 2000 census. One of the hamlets where Busa is spoken is Busa (-3.8371°N 141.4402°W) in Rawei ward, Green River Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.[1]
Busa speakers are in extensive trade and cultural contact with Yadë, a distantly related language spoken in six villages to the north of the Busa area.
Busa may be one of the Kwomtari languages. Foley (2018) classifies Busa as a language isolate (meaning unclassified), but does not exclude the possibility that it may have a distant relationship with the Torricelli languages.
Pronouns are:[2]
| 1 | mu | mi |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | am | |
| 3m | a ~ ari | ti |
| 3f | tu | |
Busa basic vocabulary listed in Foley (2018):[2]
| ‘bad’ | buriambu | |
| ‘bird’ | wana | |
| ‘black’ | baro | |
| ‘breast’ | nã | |
| ‘ear’ | dina | |
| ‘eye’ | dena | |
| ‘fire’ | eβa | |
| ‘leaf’ | iri | |
| ‘liver’ | munã | |
| ‘louse’ | amo | |
| ‘man’ | nutu | |
| ‘mother’ | mẽ | |
| ‘nape’ | onaiba | |
| ‘older brother’ | aba | |
| ‘road’ | ti | |
| ‘stone’ | bito | |
| ‘tooth’ | wuti | |
| ‘tree’ | nda | |
| ‘water’ | ani | |
| ‘woman’ | ele | |
| ‘one’ | otutu | |
| ‘two’ | tinana | |
| ‘three’ | wunana | |
| ‘four’ | aite | |
| ‘five’ | yumnadi |
The following basic vocabulary words are from Conrad and Dye (1975),[3] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[4]
| gloss | Busa | |
|---|---|---|
| head | owuna | |
| hair | etete | |
| ear | dinʌ | |
| eye | dena | |
| nose | wʌti | |
| tooth | wuti | |
| tongue | dʌgʌrʌ | |
| louse | amo | |
| dog | inʌri | |
| pig | waru | |
| bird | wʌnʌ | |
| egg | mʌiyʌ | |
| blood | aɔ̨ | |
| bone | ab̶uwibʌ | |
| skin | tati | |
| breast | ną | |
| tree | nda | |
| man | nutu | |
| woman | tɔ | |
| water | ani | |
| stone | bitɔ | |
| road, path | ti | |
| eat | muniʌren | |
| one | otutu | |
| two | tinʌnʌ |
Busa subject agreement affixes are:[2]
| 1 | ma- | ma- | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | a- | a- | |
| 3 | m _r_- | m- | |
| 3 | f | _w_- |
The Busa possessive suffix -ni is also found in proto-Sepik as the dative suffix *ni, as well as in Ama, a Left May language.[2]