Mundugumor language explained

Mundugumor
Nativename:	Biwat
Coordinates:	-4.4152°N 143.86°W
Date:	2003
Ref:	e25
Familycolor:	Papuan
Iso3:	bwm
Glotto:	biwa1243
Glottorefname:	Biwat

Mundugumor (Munduguma, Mundukomo) Biwat is a Yuat language of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in Biwat village (-4.4152°N 143.86°W) of Yuat Rural LLG, East Sepik Province.^[1]

Phonology

Mundukumo consonants are:

p	t		k
ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮʤ	ᵑg
m	n	ɲ	ŋ
f	s
ᵐv
	r
w		j

Mundukumo vowels are:

i		u
e	ə	o
	a

Nouns

Some examples showing Mundukomo nouns and their irregular plural forms:^[2]

gloss	singular	plural
‘snake’	mas	mase
‘tooth’	adusuva	adusuvavi
‘bone’	avu	avuvavi
‘nose’	ŋlək	ŋlu
‘thigh’	guak	go
‘hand’	klik	klia
‘dog’	ken	kidu
‘betelnut’	siman	simadu
‘ear’	tuan	tuadu
‘fire’	mən	məda
‘basket’	ban	bada
‘mouth’	balaŋ	balaji
‘house’	klaŋ	klagi
‘star’	susuaŋ	susuagi
‘water’	mam	mabi
‘neck’	volam	volabi
‘ball’	muŋmam	muŋmabi
‘cassowary’	kalim	kalimu
‘girl’	analom	analomu
‘paddle’	dum	dumu

Similar patterns of complex nominal plural allomorphy are also found in the Lower Sepik-Ramu languages.^[2]

External links

• Paradisec has a collection of recordings of Biwat language. They also have a collection of recordings from Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Pacific from Don Laycock that includes Biwat materials.

Further reading

• McDowell, Nancy. 1991. The Mundugumor: From the Fieldnotes of Margaret Mead and Reo Fortune. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
• McElvenny, James. 2007. Notes on Mundukumo. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup . United Nations in Papua New Guinea . Humanitarian Data Exchange . 1.31.9 . 2018.
2. Book: Foley, William A. . William A. Foley

   . William A. Foley . Palmer . Bill . 2018 . The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide . The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs . The World of Linguistics . 4 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 197-432 . 978-3-11-028642-7.