Buna language
Buna is a Torricelli language of Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.
| Buna | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province |
Native speakers | 750 (2003)[1] |
Torricelli
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bvn |
| Glottolog | buna1277 |
| ELP | Buna |
There are two dialects. One dialect is spoken in Kasmin (4.018975°S 144.060235°E), Boig (3.84861°S 144.054923°E), Waskurin (3.870089°S 144.068112°E), and Arapang (3.88039°S 144.073217°E) villages, and another in Masan, Mangan (3.953676°S 144.239463°E), 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
‘The big man went.’
oret
person.CL1.PL
gaba-bwe
big-CL1.PL
bo-ko-m
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
‘The big woman went.’
oret
person.CL2.PL
gaba-ʔe
big-CL2.PL
e-ko
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
‘A big banana fell down.’
wan
banana.CL3.PL
gaba-we
big-CL3.PL
u-ti-u
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
‘A big netbag fell down.’
kwala
netbag.CL4.PL
gaba-be
big-CL4.PL
bə-t-əm
CL4.PL.SBJ-fall-CL4.PL
‘Some big netbags fell down.’
References
- Buna at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
- Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
External links
- Paradisec houses a collection of Arthur Capell's materials that include Boiken (AC2) as well as recordings by Bill Foley (WF3) and notebooks from Don Laycock's work (DL2). All of these collections are open access.