Usarufa language
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Usarufa is a Kainantu language spoken by the people of the same name in Papua New Guinea. It belongs to the Gauwa branch of the Kainantu family of the Kainantu–Goroka languages. The language area consists of six villages: Moife, Imikori, Irafo, Kagu, Agura 1, and Agura 2. Its ISO 639 code is usa.
As of 2009, the language was reported to have had about 1200 speakers and no fluent speakers below the age of 25, which makes it an endangered language.
Phonology
This section is derived from the analyses presented in Bee 1965 in which an inventory of eighteen consonants is favoured.[1]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | plain | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |
| glottalised | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |||
| Nasal | plain | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |||
| glottalised | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | ||||
| geminate | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | ||||
| Approximant | plain | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | ||
| glottalised | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | ||||
The distribution of these consonants is determined by their position within a stress group, a segment which has one primary stress, the placement of which is determined by a pitch contour. This stress group may consist of two or more syllables. Only Script error: No such module "IPA". can occur as the onset of a stress group, and only Script error: No such module "IPA". can occur finally. In stress-medial position all consonant phonemes can occur, and Script error: No such module "IPA". are realised as Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink, respectively. Script error: No such module "IPA". may be realised as Template:IPAblink.
An alternative analysis treats all glottalised and geminate consonants as secondary, in which case there are only nine consonant phonemes:
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |
| Nasal | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |||
| Approximant | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink |
Usarufa has an unremarkable five-vowel system.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |
| Mid | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |
| Open | Template:IPAlink |
Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA"., and Script error: No such module "IPA". have the allophones Template:IPAblink, Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink, respectively. Script error: No such module "IPA". may be realised as Template:IPAblink following coronal or palatal phonemes.
See also
- Vida Chenoweth, who studied the Usarufa music
- Aikuma, mobile software for language recording, first used to record Usarufa
References
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
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- OLAC Resources in and about the Usarufa Language
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- Paradisec has a collection of Stephen A Wurm's materials (SAW3) that include Usarufa materials.