Burmeso language
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The Burmeso language – also known as Taurap – is spoken by some 300 people in Burmeso village along the mid Mamberamo River in Mamberamo Tengah subdistrict, Mamberamo Raya Regency, Papua province, Indonesia. It is surrounded by the Kwerba languages to the north, the Lakes Plain languages to the south, and the East Cenderawasih Bay languages to the west.
Burmeso forms a branch of Malcolm Ross's family of East Bird's Head – Sentani languages, but had been considered a language isolate by Stephen Wurm and William A. Foley.[1] The language has very distinct grammatical structure.[2] It has SOV word order.[1]
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | ||||
| Plosive | voicelessScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | |||
| voicedScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | ||
| Fricative | plainScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | ||
| labialScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Template:IPA link | |||||
| Liquid | Template:IPA link | |||||
| Semivowel | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | ||||
Probable sound changes proposed by Foley (2018):
- *p > /ɸ/
- *tʃ > /s/
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Mid | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Open | Template:IPA link | |
Pronouns
Burmeso independent pronouns are:[1]
sg du pl 1 da day boro 2 ba bito
Nouns
Burmeso has six noun classes, which are:[1]
class semantic category 1 male humans and associated things (contains half of all nouns) 2 female humans and associated things 3 body parts, insects, and lizards; material culture like axes and canoes, some foods; many natural phenomena 4 mass nouns 5 the two staple foods: sago tree and banana 6 arrows, coconuts, and rice (traded items)
Burmeso nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.[3] Singular concordial suffixes are:
- -ab ‘masculine’
- -an ‘feminine’
- -ora ‘neuter’
Examples of nominal concordial suffixes in usage:
Basic vocabulary
Basic vocabulary of Burmeso (singular and plural nominal forms) listed in Foley (2018):[1]
Burmeso basic vocabulary gloss singular plural ‘bird’ tahabo tohwodo ‘blood’ sar sarido ‘bone’ hiwraf himaruro ‘breast’ mom momut ‘ear’ ara ‘eat’ bomo ‘egg’ kahup kohuro ‘eye’ anar anuro ‘fire’ hor horemir ‘give’ i ~ o ‘hair’ ihna ihiro ‘leg’ ago agoro ‘louse’ hati ‘man’ tamo dit ‘name’ ahau ‘one’ neisano ‘see’ ihi ‘stone’ ako hiruro ‘sun’ misiabo misiado ‘tooth’ arawar araruro ‘tree’ haman hememido ‘water’ baw bagaruro ‘woman’ nawak nudo
Many Burmeso nouns display irregular and suppletive plural forms.[1]
gloss singular plural ‘man’ tamo dit ‘banana’ mibo mirar ‘dog’ jamo juwdo ‘pig’ sibo sirudo ‘white cockatoo’ ayab ayot ‘house’ konor konodo ‘mat’ wira wirasamir
The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1975),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[5]
gloss Burmeso head agum hair ihiro eye jenar tooth araruro leg jago louse hati dog jamo pig sibo bird tohodo egg kohũp blood sar bone hiurap skin asi memiro tree haman man tamo sun misiavo water bau fire hor stone ako name ahau eat bomo one neisano two sor
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. Script error: No such module "doi".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Further reading
- Donohue, Mark. 2001. Animacy, class and gender in Burmeso. In: Pawley et al. (eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: Studies in Melanesian Linguistics in Honour of Tom Dutton. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.97–117.
- Tasti, Markus and Mark Donohue. 1998. A Small Dictionary of Burmeso. Unpublished ms, University of Sydney.
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