Buna language

Not to be confused with Mbum language.

Buna
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province
Native speakers	750 (2003) [1]
Language family	Torricelli Marienberg Buna
Dialects	North Buna South Buna
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bvn
Glottolog	buna1277
ELP	Buna

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″S144°03′37″E / 4.018975°S 144.060235°E / -4.018975; 144.060235 (Kasmin 1) ), Boig ( 3°50′55″S144°03′18″E / 3.84861°S 144.054923°E / -3.84861; 144.054923 (Boik) ), Waskurin ( 3°52′12″S144°04′05″E / 3.870089°S 144.068112°E / -3.870089; 144.068112 (Waskurin) ), and Arapang ( 3°52′49″S144°04′24″E / 3.88039°S 144.073217°E / -3.88039; 144.073217 (Ariapan) ) villages, and another in Masan, Mangan ( 3°57′13″S144°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-redo-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-bwebo-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-gwego-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-ʔee-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-rena-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-weu-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-leli-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 bə-t-əm CL4.PL.SBJ-fall-CL4.PL kwala gaba-bebə-t-əm netbag.CL4.PL big-CL4.PL CL4.PL.SBJ-fall-CL4.PL ‘Some big netbags fell down.’

References

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