Bauni language explained

Bauni
Nativename:Barupu
Also Known As:Warapu
Region:Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea
Coordinates:-3.0716°N 142.0575°W
Speakers:300
Date:2000
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Papuan
Fam1:Skou
Fam2:Piore River
Fam3:Warapu
Iso3:bpe
Glotto:wara1302
Glottorefname:Bauni

Bauni is a language spoken in Barupu (Warapu) village (-3.0716°N 142.0575°W) of West Aitape Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.[1] [2]

The alternative name Barupu or Warapu, from the name of the Bauni village, has been applied to related languages as well, and 'Warapu' may be retained as a cover term.

Phonology

Bauni has 9 consonants and 6 vowels.[3]

Bauni consonants!!Bilabial!Alveolar!Palatal!Velar!Labial-velar
Plosivep btk
Nasalmn
Trillr
Approximantpronounced as /j/w
Consonants may undergo lenition, fortition, palatalization, or assimilation to produce a larger number of surface phonemes.
Bauni vowels!!Front!Central!Back
Closeiu
Close-mideo
Open-midpronounced as /ɔ/
Opena
Words belong to one of five tone classes: H, L, LH, HL, HLH.

Syllables have the following form: (C)(G)V(G)(N), where (G) represents a glide and (N) represents a nasal. There are no syllables that have the maximum possible form of CGVGN.

Morphology

Verbs belong to one of four classes that differ in terms of what morphology may be applied and how. Verbs are obligatorily marked for mood - either realis (/k-/) or irrealis (/n-/) - and for subject. Certain classes of verbs require objects to be marked as well.

Lexicon

Bauni free pronouns are distinguished on the basis of person, gender, and number.

!singular!dual!plural
1stMněnáměpíměmí
Fnění
2ndMměmámǒpú / běvé
Fmǒmú
3rdMyéi / rěré
F

Syntax

Clauses in Bauni employ Agent-Patient-Verb word order. Recipients, instruments, and other oblique noun phrases typically follow the verb.

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Papua New Guinea languages . Ethnologue

    Languages of the World

    . 22nd . Eberhard . David M. . Simons . Gary F. . Fennig . Charles D. . 2019 . Dallas . SIL International.
  2. Web site: Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup . United Nations in Papua New Guinea . Humanitarian Data Exchange . 1.31.9 . 2018.
  3. Corris . Miriam . A grammar of Barupu: a language of Papua New Guinea . 2005 . Ph.D. . University of Sydney . 2123/3655 . free.