Buna language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Buna
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionMarienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province
Native speakers
750 (2003)[1]
Dialects
  • North Buna
  • South Buna
Language codes
ISO 639-3bvn
Glottologbuna1277
ELPBuna

Buna is a Torricelli language of Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

There are two divergent dialects. One dialect is spoken in Kasmin (4°01′08″S 144°03′37″E / 4.018975°S 144.060235°E / -4.018975; 144.060235 (Kasmin 1)), Boig (3°50′55″S 144°03′18″E / 3.84861°S 144.054923°E / -3.84861; 144.054923 (Boik)), Waskurin (3°52′12″S 144°04′05″E / 3.870089°S 144.068112°E / -3.870089; 144.068112 (Waskurin)), and Arapang (3°52′49″S 144°04′24″E / 3.88039°S 144.073217°E / -3.88039; 144.073217 (Ariapan)) villages, and another in Masan, Mangan (3°57′13″S 144°14′22″E / 3.953676°S 144.239463°E / -3.953676; 144.239463 (Mangan)), and Garien villages.[1][2]

Morphology

Buna has four noun classes. Noun class concord affixes in Buna are shown in the following examples.[3]

Class 1
singular (masculine) plural (masculine)

uri

person.CL1.SG

gaba-re

big-CL1.SG

do-ko-n

CL1.SG.SBJ-go-CL1.SG

uri gaba-re do-ko-n

person.CL1.SG big-CL1.SG CL1.SG.SBJ-go-CL1.SG

‘The big man went.’

oret

person.CL1.PL

gaba-bwe

big-CL1.PL

bo-ko-m

CL1.PL.SBJ-go-CL1.PL

oret gaba-bwe bo-ko-m

person.CL1.PL big-CL1.PL CL1.PL.SBJ-go-CL1.PL

‘The big men went.’

Class 2
singular (feminine) plural (feminine)

uri

person.CL2.SG

gaba-gwe

big-CL2.SG

go-ko-ŋ

CL2.SG.SBJ-go-CL2.SG

uri gaba-gwe go-ko-ŋ

person.CL2.SG big-CL2.SG CL2.SG.SBJ-go-CL2.SG

‘The big woman went.’

oret

person.CL2.PL

gaba-ʔe

big-CL2.PL

e-ko

CL2.PL.SBJ-go

oret gaba-ʔe e-ko

person.CL2.PL big-CL2.PL CL2.PL.SBJ-go

‘The big women went.’

Class 3
singular (class III) plural (class III)

wan

banana.CL3.SG

gaba-re

big-CL3.SG

na-ti-n

CL3.SG.SBJ-fall-CL3.SG

wan gaba-re na-ti-n

banana.CL3.SG big-CL3.SG CL3.SG.SBJ-fall-CL3.SG

‘A big banana fell down.’

wan

banana.CL3.PL

gaba-we

big-CL3.PL

u-ti-u

CL3.PL.SBJ-fall-CL3.PL

wan gaba-we u-ti-u

banana.CL3.PL big-CL3.PL CL3.PL.SBJ-fall-CL3.PL

‘Big bananas fell down.’

Class 4
singular (class IV) plural (class IV)

kwala

netbag.CL4.SG

gaba-le

big-CL4.SG

li-ti-l

CL4.SG.SBJ-fall-CL4.SG

kwala gaba-le li-ti-l

netbag.CL4.SG big-CL4.SG CL4.SG.SBJ-fall-CL4.SG

‘A big netbag fell down.’

kwala

netbag.CL4.PL

gaba-be

big-CL4.PL

-t-əm

CL4.PL.SBJ-fall-CL4.PL

kwala gaba-be -t-əm

netbag.CL4.PL big-CL4.PL CL4.PL.SBJ-fall-CL4.PL

‘Some big netbags fell down.’

References

  1. ^ a b Buna at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  3. .

External links