Bauni language

Not to be confused with the Bouni language.

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

Bauni
Warapu
Barupu
Region	Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers	(300 cited 2000)[1]
Language family	Skou Piore River Warapu Bauni
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bpe
Glottolog	wara1302
ELP	Warapu (shared)
Coordinates: 3.071595°S 142.057463°E / -3.071595; 142.057463 (Barupu)

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]

Bauni consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-velar
Plosive	p b	t		k
Nasal	m	n
Trill		r
Approximant			j		w

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

Bauni vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid			ɔ
Open		a

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]

k-opu-jara-ni

REAL-2PL.M-see-1SG.F

k-opu-jara-ni

REAL-2PL.M-see-1SG.F

You see me.

Lexicon

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

		singular	dual	plural
1st	M	něná	měpí	měmí
	F	nění
2nd	M	měmá	mǒpú / běvé
	F	mǒmú
3rd	M	yá	yéi / rěré
	F	bó

Syntax

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

Intransitive verb

Kuáni

mother

k-o-kôe

REAL-3SG.F-go.up

Kuáni k-o-kôe

mother REAL-3SG.F-go.up

Mother went up.

Transitive verb

Kuáni

mother

aka

father

k-o-yarâ-ká

REAL-3SG.F-see-3SG.M

Kuáni aka k-o-yarâ-ká

mother father REAL-3SG.F-see-3SG.M

Mother saw father.

Ditransitive verb

Cha

Cha

Meniri

Meniri

bá=va

fish=PRM

k-a-r-o-a

REAL-3SG.M-3SG.M-give-3SG.M

nâkí

dog

Cha Meniri bá=va k-a-r-o-a nâkí

Cha Meniri fish=PRM REAL-3SG.M-3SG.M-give-3SG.M dog

Cha Meniri gave the dog-spirit a fish.