Bauni is a language spoken in Barupu (Warapu) village (3°04′18″S 142°03′27″E / 3.071595°S 142.057463°E / -3.071595; 142.057463 (Barupu)) of West Aitape Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.^[2][3]

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.^[4]

Consonants may undergo lenition, fortition, palatalization, or assimilation to produce a larger number of surface phonemes.

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.^[4]

Lexicon

Bauni free pronouns are distinguished on the basis of person, gender, and number.^[4]

Syntax

Clauses in Bauni employ Agent-Patient-Verb word order. Recipients, instruments, and other oblique noun phrases typically follow the verb.^[4]

References

• Miller, Steve A. (2017). "Skou Languages Near Sissano Lagoon, Papua New Guinea" (PDF). Language and Linguistics in Melanesia. 35: 1–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-12. Retrieved 2019-12-24.

External links

Bauni language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator