Bukiyip language

Bukiyip
Mountain Arapesh
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	East Sepik Province
Native speakers	16,000 (2003)[1]
Language family	Torricelli Arapesh Bukiyip
Dialects	Coastal Mountain (Bukiyip)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ape
Glottolog	buki1249
ELP	Bukiyip
Bukiyip is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Bukiyip (Bukiyúp), or Mountain Arapesh, is an Arapesh language (Torricelli)^[1] spoken by around 16,000 people between Yangoru and Maprik^[2] in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea.^[3] Bukiyip follows the SVO typology.^[1] The Arapesh languages are known for their complex noun-phrase agreement system (Bukiyip has 18 of these noun classes).^[4]

Classification

There are two primary dialects of Bukiyip Chamaun-Yabonuh and Ilipeim-Yamil (western)^[3] and two minor dialects Buki and Lohuhwim.^[4] Given significant variation among dialects, linguist Robert Conrad suggests that Bukiyip is likely part of dialect chain that also involves other Arapesh languages.^[2] The dialects may be further generalized as Coastal Arapesh and Mountain Bukiyip.^[4][5]

Phonology

Syllable structure

Syllabic stress is usually placed on the penultimate syllable, which has a higher pitch.

There are four contrastive intonation contours.

1. Final Intonation - falling pitch on the last syllable, followed by a pause
2. Non-final Intonation - level mid pitch on the last syllable, followed by a pause
3. Interrogative Intonation - level mid/high pitch on the last word
4. Imperative Intonation - high pitch and heavy stress throughout clause with a rapid pitch drop on the last syllable^[4]

Consonants

written as: p, t, k, b, d, g, s, ch, j, h, m, n, ny, l, r, w, y^[4]

Vowels

Initial vowels clusters: ou, au, ai, ia

Medial vowel clusters: e (a,o,i,u), a (u,e,i), i (é,a,e), o (u,i), uu, úo

Final vowel clusters: eo, ou, uu

written as: i, e, a, o, u, æ, é, ú^[4]

Morphophonemics

Bukiyip has 18 basic rules for morphophonemic shifts (rules 8-18 primarily apply to the Chamaun-Yabonuh and Buki dialects).^[4]

1. V_cC_alv → V_fC_alv (e.g. p-a-chuh → pechuh)
2. w + ú → u, ú + w → uw, i + ú → i (e.g. i-ú-nak → inak)
3. ny + u → nyú (e.g. bolany+umu → bolanyumu)
4. ú + C_rV_r → uC_rV_r, eC_rV_r → oC_rV_r (e.g. p-ú-hok → puhok)
5. a + CVc → éCV_c (e.g. n-a-bah →nébah)
6. V_c + C + w → V_rCw, where V_c is not a, (e.g. ny-ú-hwech → nyuhwech)
7. Cw + V_r → CV_r (e.g. éhwahw →ohohw)
8. i# + i → i (e.g. i-ú-tak → itak)
9. #w + é → #wo (e.g. kw-é-nak → konak)
10. m# + ú → mu (e.g. m-ú-bo → mubo)
11. #V_c +tV_r → otV_r (e.g. atúwe → otuwe)
12. e# + úk → eik (e.g. napewe+-úk → napweik)
13. C# + CV_c → CV_cCV_c (e.g. chagas + búk → chagasúbúk)
14. ú + C# + u → uCu (e.g. u-túl-úgún+-u → utulugunu)
15. ú# + C + u# → oCu# (e.g. natalú → natalogu)
16. V_rC_r# + ú → V_rC_ru (e.g. chaklipom+-úk →chaklipomuk)
17. u# + ú → uwu (e.g. natu + -uk → natuwuk)
18. ú# + u → o (e.g. yekinú+umu → yekinomu)

The above rules use the following abbreviations:

V_r - rounded vowels

V_c - central unrounded vowels

V_u - unrounded vowels

V_f - front vowels

C - consonant

C_alv - alveopalatal consonants

C_r - rounded consonants

# - morpheme boundary in phonological word

Words

Nouns

There are 18 noun classes with a closed set of suffixes of the form: noun nucleus + number (-unú).^[4]

V₁ is the first vowel in a medial vowel cluster, V₂ is the second vowel in a medial vowel cluster.

Pronouns and demonstratives

Pronouns and demonstratives must agree with the noun class and have singular and plural forms, pronouns also encode proximal and distal information.^[4]

Possessive pronouns have the form: pronoun + -i + unú (noun number class)

Verbs

Verb structure

Verbs have a complex structure of affixes encoding mood, object, benefactive, and direction which either have their own classes or must agree with the noun class. The structure is:^[4]

Subject (n-) + Mood (u- 'irrealis', a- 'realis') + Object (unú-) + Verb Nucleus (verb root 1–6, verb stem 1-2)+ Object 2 (-unú) + Benefactive (-m 'benefactive' + -unú or -ag 'here') + Directional (-u 'displaced', -i 'toward speaker', '-uk' permanent).

Object 2 and Benefactive may not occur in all verbs.

Verb subject prefixes

Mood marker

All verbs (with the exception of class 6 have a mood marker). The realis mood (mood marker 'a-') concerns events that have happened in the past and present. The irrealis mood (mood marker 'u-') concerns future events and events that did not happen in the past (such as in the case of a mistaken memory). The imperative mood (used for commands) and interrogative mood (used for questions) are formed by clausal transformations.^{[citation needed]}

Verb object suffixes

Verb root classes

Class 8 has a second object while class 4 only has one.

Adjectives

Adjectives consist of a root word followed by the appropriate noun-class suffix (see the noun class table).^[4]

Adverbs

There are three adverb classes in Bukiyip: 'natimogúk' (all) in the irrealis mood and '-nubu' (completely) and '-gamu' (well) in the realis mood. All adverbs are inflected, and may have free or bound stems depending on which modifier slot they are placed in the clausal, phrase, or sentence syntax.^[4]

Counting system

There are two basic numeral roots 'atú-' (one) and 'bia-' (two). These numeral prefixes are added to noun root words and then undergo a morphological process (see the Morphophonemics section) that combines them.^[4] For example:

atú + -p + utom → atum → otum

or

bia + -ch + batowich → biech

The numeral root 'nobati-' (four) is an exception to this assimilation pattern. In addition to the atú- and bia- numeral roots, there is also a stem éné- meaning one, an, or some depending on context.

Phrases

There are 23 phrase formations in Bukiyip.^[4]

Verb phrases

1. Modified Verb Phrase: Modifier (class 1-2 adverb) + Head (verb class 1-7) + Modifier (class 3 adverb, adverb phrase)

2. Repeated Verb Phrase: Head (verb class 10, motion verb) + Modifier (class 3 adverb) + Head (verb class 10, '-lto') + Modifier

3. Coordinate Verb Phrase: Head (verb class 1–5, coordinate phrase) + Head (verb class 1–5, modified phrase) + Modifier

4. Motion Verb Phrase: Head (motion verb, motion verb phrase) + Head (verb class 3, coordinate verb phrase) + Modifier (adverb class 3)

Noun phrases

5. Modified Noun Phrase 1: Modifier (demonstrative, numeral phrase, quantitative stem) + Modifier (class 2 adjective, adjective phrase, nominalised clause, limiter phrase) + Possessive (possessive phrase, possessive pronoun) + Head (class 1-15 noun, coordinate noun phrase)

6. Modified Noun Phrase 2: Modifier (noun stem, class 17-18 noun, class 3 locative phrase) + Head (noun)

7. Apposition Noun Phrase: Head (apposition noun phrase, coordinate noun phrase, demonstrative, intensive phrase, class 18 noun, pronoun, temporal stem) + Apposition (clause, nominalised clause, coordinate noun phrase, modified noun phrase, class 17-18 noun, derived noun stem, pronoun, temporal stem) + Identification (pronoun)

8. Coordinate Noun Phrase: Head (apposition noun phrase, modified noun phrase, class 17 noun, pronoun) + Head (apposition noun phrase, modified noun phrase, class 17 noun, pronoun) + Coordinate ('o', 'úli', ⟨n-⟩ + a- + -nú, ⟨n-⟩ + ú- + -nú)

Modified noun phrases

9. Possessive Phrase: Head (apposition noun phrase, coordinate noun phrase, demonstrative, class 3 locative phrase, modified noun phrase, class 17-18 noun, noun stem) + Possessive (personal pronoun, '-i-')

10. Limiter Phrase: Head (adverb, demonstrative, modified noun phrase, noun stem, pronoun) + Limiter (at- + <únú>, ati)

11. Intensive Phrase: Head (pronoun) + Intensifier ('kénak', 'meho')

12. Instrumental-Benefactor Phrase: Benefactive (umu) + Head (intransitive clause, transitive clause, modified noun phrase)

13. Similarity Phrase: Similarity ('(ko)bwidou(k)') + Head (intransitive clause, transitive clause, demonstrative, pronoun, modified noun phrase) + Similarity ('-umu')

14. Accompaniment Phrase: Head (pronoun, modified noun phrase, apposition noun phrase) + Accompaniment ('nagún')

Locative phrase

15. Locative Phrase 1: Locative (locative) + Head (locative clause, locative word, class 2-3 locative phrase 2, modified noun phrase, class 18 noun) + Identifier (class 18 noun)

16. Locative Phrase 2: Head (intransitive clause, transitive clause, locative, noun, pronoun) + Locative ('-umu', '-ahah')

17. Locative Phrase 3: Head (class 2 locative) + Head (class 3 locative)

Temporal phrase

18. Temporal Phrase 1: Head (temporal stem) + Temporal ('-abali')

19. Temporal Phrase 2: Modifier ('húlúkati-mu) + Head (temporal word)

20. Serial Temporal Phrase: Head (temporal word) + Head (temporal word)

Numeral phrase

21. Numeral Phrase: Head (modified noun phrase, numeral stem) + Head (numeral stem) + Head (numeral stem)

Interrogative phrase

22. Interrogative Phrase: Modifier (interrogative word) + Head (class 1-14 noun)

Adjective/adverb phrase

23. Adjective Phrase: Head (adjective stem) + Head (adjective stem) 1-14 noun

References