Is Burunking

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Is Burunking
Is
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|is]]
Created byNeil Whalley
Native toBurung
Native speakers? ()
Official status
Official language in
Burung

Is Burunking (/is buɾˈunkiŋ/, literally 'Burungian language') is the language of Burung, an island in the north Atlantic Ocean.

Background

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Post-alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal      m      n      ŋ
Plosive p    b t    d k    g
Fricative ɸ      s      ʃ           ʐ ç      h     
Affricate t͡ʃ    d͡ʒ
Flap or tap      ɾ
Approximant      w      j
Lateral app.      l

Consonants generally do not occur in clusters, with some exceptions (see Phonotactics below). Any consonant except a fricative may occur as a geminate word-internally.

Vowels

Front Back
Close i u
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Vowels are considered to be short in all environments but may occur consecutively as in eekez 'left' /ɛːkɛz/.

Note: word-initial sequences of i + i and u + uu are written yi-, wu-.

Diphthongs

There are six diphthongs proper: ai /ai/, ei /ei/, oi /oi/, au /au/, eu /eu/ and ou /ou/, which may be considered sequences of vowels in measuring syllables. In addition, any vowel is permitted to occur following the 'glides' /w/ or /j/.

Phonotactics

Is Burunking has a relatively restrictive syllabic structure, with a maximal form CGVVC, in which C represents a consonant, G a glide and V a vowel or part of a diphthong. Of these, only the central vowel is essential but there are also restrictions on the other elements. The table below shows the rules governing each position in the syllable:

C1 G V1 V2 C2
  • optional
  • only b, g, d, z, f, j, h, x, l, n, ng or m word-initially
  • any consonant word-medially
  • optional
  • only y or w/u
  • mandatory
  • any vowel
  • optional
  • only i, u or the preceding vowel repeated
  • optional
  • only s, sh, ng or z word-finally
  • only n or m before a consonant, except in the case of geminates

The word-final consonants s, sh, ng and z are not permitted to occur before another consonant, so undergo changes in compounds or when consonant-initial endings are added:

  • -s is lost, the preceding vowel is doubled and a following voiced plosive is devoiced:
is 'language, speech' + -do (pejorative) = yito 'curse'
os 'cold' + -pung (abstract) = oopung 'coldness'
  • -sh becomes -i-, forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel, and a following voiced plosive is devoiced:
banash 'fruit' + -to (diminutive) = banaito 'berry'
ush 'empty' + gyong 'person' = wikyong 'vain person'
  • -ng becomes -m before p, b, f and n before any other consonant:
gyong 'person' + -zoi (collective) = gyonzoi 'team, band'
yong 'smooth' + -pung (abstract) = yompung 'smoothness'
  • -z is lost and causes a following consonant to double (except s, z, f, x, h):
az 'man' + -chi (adjectival) = acchi 'masculine'
haaz 'old' + -ki (nominal) = haakki 'antique, relic'

Word-final vowels may also be altered or lost when they come into contact with initial vowels in compounds or endings:

  • In words of three or more syllables, the vowel is always lost, e.g. arato 'food' + -oi (adjectival) = aratoi 'gluttonous', eshayo 'sea' + ugi 'bread' = eshayugi 'seaweed'.
  • Words of two syllables usually lose their final vowel, e.g. binji 'mountain' + arate 'gap' = binjarate 'mountain pass', but when the second word is only one syllable the final vowel sometimes remains, forming a glide in the case of i or u e.g. bigi 'eye' + uz 'water' = bigyuz 'tear'.
  • In reduplication, the final vowel usually remains in disyllables, but an epenthetic k (occasionally y) is inserted between the elements: azekaze 'very dark'.

Stress

Primary stress is generally on the penultimate syllable of polysyllables, e.g. berósu 'nine', esháyo 'sea', ázeng 'fish'.

Orthography

Is Burunking was originally written in a syllabary called hookozoi, mainly carved into wood or, occasionally, stone.

When the language was initially discovered by Europeans the Greek alphabet was used in its transcription, but later studies preferred to use the Latin script, which is still used today.

Graph IPA
Consonants
b /b/
ch /t͡ʃ/
d /d/
f /ɸ/
g /g/
h /h/
j /d͡ʒ/
k /k/
l /l/
m /m/
n /n/
ng /ŋ/
p /p/
r /r/
s /s/
sh /ʃ/
t /t/
w /w/
x /ç/
y /j/
Vowels
a /a/
e /ɛ/
i /i/
o /ɔ/
u /u/
Diphthongs
ai /ai/
au /au/
ei /ei/
eu /eu/
oi /oi/
ou /ou/

In word or syllable initial position the sequences ii, uu are written yi, wu. The glide /j/ is always written y but /w/ is written u following a consonant and w syllable initially.

Grammar

Nouns

Gender

Strictly speaking, Is Burunking, like English, does not have grammatical gender affecting the morphology of words. Their concept of natural gender, however, is substantially different from many other cultures and does influence language to certain extent. It is rooted in a more fundamental understanding of how things in the world are related and categorised.

At its most basic, all things (and the names that describe them) are considered either animate (bixi) or inanimate (es bixi). The primary distinction between these two groups is that animate nouns are capable of movement under their own power, but inanimate ones are not. Humans, animals and deities are therefore considered animate (as are some celestial bodies), whereas plants, rocks and abstract concepts are inanimate.

Within the class of animate nouns, a further distinction is made between three genders: masculine (acchi), feminine (buyachi) or middle (iriji). Inclusion within one of these three groups is based to some extent on biological sex, but also takes into account personality, strengths and a chosen role within society.

At birth, all human children are considered to be iriji and remain so throughout childhood until the onset of puberty. At some point during puberty, depending on the development of the individual, the child will be undergo an initiation into adulthood as either acchi, buyachi or iriji, taking a gendered form of their name and a byname to symbolise this important rite of passage. The choice of appropriate gender is made by the community elders, with input from the parents and/or foster parents, based on an understanding of the individual.

There are no hard and fast rules regarding gender, rather each has a series of complex associations. The table below shows some of the basic characteristics for each group:

Bixi Eipixi
Buyachi Iriji Achi
Element Earth Fire Water Air
Direction East South West North
Season Spring Summer Autumn Winter
Celestial Body Moon Sun Moon Sun
Lunar Phase Waxing Full Waning New
Solar Phase Dawn Day Evening Night
Temperature Warm/Wet Hot/Dry Cool/Wet Cold/Dry
Family Mother Child Father House
Aspect Emotional Intellectual Physical Material
Noun class adult female humans
some female animals
female deities
human children
adult iriji humans
most animals
iriji deities
adult male humans
some male animals
male deities
unmoving objects
most materials
abstracts

These gender distinctions have a limited effect on the morphology of nouns themselves but affect the way other words behave.

Case

Relationships between nouns in a sentence are marked by particles following the noun.

Case Particle Uses
Topicaliser ba marks a subject or object as the focus of the utterance
Nominative az marks the subject of a verb (where it is not the topic)
Accusative ke marks the direct object of a verb
Genitive eng marks the possessor of an object, 'of'
Dative ni marks the indirect object of a verb, 'to'
Allative a marks movement towards, 'to'
Ablative chi marks movement away from, 'from, of, through'
Locative gang marks location 'in, on, at'
Instrumental ha marks use of, 'with, by'

Number

Nouns are generally not marked for number and context is usually sufficient to show whether heuji means 'horse' or 'horses'. Numerals or adjectives can be used to qualify the noun for number, e.g. bade oz 'one dog, a dog'.

There are two collective suffixes, which may sometimes translate the English plural: -zoi is used to refer to a group of things, usually within a single place, e.g. gyonzoi 'band, group, team of people', heujizoi 'a herd of horses'; -bua is more abstract, referring to all things within a class collectively and also to the state of being an object within that class, similar in some ways to the English suffix '-hood' in a word like 'priesthood', e.g. gyombua 'everybody, humanity, humankind, population', binjibua 'mountains'. Both of these suffixes are productive, though in some cases the noun with the suffix has taken on a specialised meaning as in azoi 'council, assembly' from az 'man'. Reduplication may also be used to express a large group of something, often with an intensive meaning, e.g. gyongyong 'crowd, mass of people', yaiyai 'storm' (from yai 'wind').

Adjectives

Adjectives precede the noun they modify and are not altered for gender, number or case.

Comparison is expressed by means of particles. The comparative uses the particle byang, somewhat equivalent to Eng. "than", with a noun (standard) of comparison and the positive adjective. Where English uses the pattern [Noun 1] is [Comparative] + than + [Noun 2] (e.g. Eric is bigger than Tom), Is Burunking uses the pattern [Noun 1] + [Noun 2] + byang + [Adjective] + da (e.g. Eric ba Tom byang enji da). There is no equivalent to the English attributive comparative adjective and phrases such as "Eric is the taller brother" would be translated best with the positive adjective, e.g. Eric ba enji angane da lit. "Eric is the tall sibling".

Superlatives are formed from the positive adjective with the suffix -na and precede the noun they modify, e.g. enjina az "biggest man", lashana ebaz "quietest river". The usual sentence structure follows the pattern [Topic] + ba (+ [Location] + gang) + [Superlative] + [Noun] + da, e.g. Eric ba (Burung gang) enjina az da "Eric is the tallest man (in Burung).

Numerals

Cardinal Ordinal
1 zu leneng
2 hai uzeng
3 gi gichi
4 baka bakachi
5 utu utuchi
6 xa xachi
7 gyeng gyenchi
8 eileng eilenchi
9 zuneng zunenchi
10 haz hachi
11 zu-haz zu-hachi
20 hatorung hatorunchi
21 zu-hatorung zu-hatorunchi
30 gyauka gyaukachi
40 bakauka bakaukachi
50 utauka utaukachi
60 xauka xaukachi
70 gyengauka gyengaukachi
80 eilengauka eilengaukachi
90 zunengauka zunengaukachi
100 inung inunchi
101 zu-inung zu-inunchi
121 zu-hatorung-inung zu-hatorung-inunchi

Pronouns

Personal

Singular Plural
1 inclusive ni bua
exclusive bu
2 yi fu
3 masculine az azoi
feminine buya buyazoi
common xini xinizoi


There are no inanimate forms, the demonstrative pronoun ong being used instead.

Possessives may be formed with the particle eng, e.g. ni eng yata "my father", xini eng eshe "its house".

Reflexive

The reflexive pronoun bera is used as the direct or indirect object of a verb, referring the action back to the subject. The pronoun doesn't change for person or number and simply fills the relevant object slot of the sentence, e.g. az ba bera ke bigiipush fong "he saw himself", ni eng asho ba bera ni inua da "my grandma talks to herself". It is usually only used with animate subjects.

Demonstratives

There are three series of demonstratives expressing three degrees of proximity:

  • ong "this" denotes objects close to the speaker
  • uri "that" (proximal) denotes objects close to the hearer
  • ang "that" (distal) denotes objects at a distance or abstract
this
ong
that (prox.)
uri
that (dist.)
ang
Object (inan.) ong
this
uri
that
ang
that yonder
person m azong
that man
azuri
that man
azang
that man yonder
f. buyong
this woman
buyuri
that woman
buyang
that woman yonder
c. xinyong
this xini
xinyuri
that xini
xinyang
that xini yonder
Place ukyong
here
ukyuri
there
ukyang
yonder
Way bideung
this way
bideuri
that way
bideeng
that way yonder
Time eujong
now
eujuri
then (recent)
eujang
then (distant)

These forms are all really pronouns, but they may perform adjectival or adverbial functions. The simple forms ong, uri, ang are used as adjectives following a noun, e.g. eshe uri "that house". As pronouns, these are used with inanimate objects and the 'person' forms are used with animates, agreeing in gender with the (natural) gender of the object, e.g. ang ba ni eng eshe da "that is my house", azong ba buya eng yata da "this (man) is her father".

The 'place', 'way' and 'time' forms function as adverbs when they take the appropriate case particle, e.g. andosh ba ukyong a etozi heng "the king came here", eujong gang ni ba yus zu "I am leaving now".

Interrogative

Interrogative pronouns and adverbs are formed with the prefix n(o)- and a nominal element:

what nohez
who nogyong
where nuki
how nobide
why nonaze
when neuji

These interrogatives may take postpositions such as nogyong go 'whose'

Indefinite

Indefinite pronouns are formed using the same nominal elements as the interrogative pronouns, but with different affixes.

some-
(-do)
any-
(eno-)
every-
(-bua)
-thing hedo enohez hebua
-one, -body gyondo enogyong gyombua
-where ukido enuki ukibua
-how bidedo enobide bidebua
(reason) nazedo enonaze nazebua
-time eujido eneuji eujibua


The 'any-' forms are also used as the equivalent of English pronouns with '-ever', e.g. enobide 'however', enogyong 'whoever'. They are also employed in negative sentences to mean 'no-one', 'nowhere' etc.

Verbs

Burungian verbs are conjugated for aspect, tense, mood and valency primarily by suffixes added to the verb stem. Person, gender and number are not marked on verbs. The table below shows the maximal structure of the verb.

Prefix 0 I II III IV V
Verbal noun
Causative
Pejorative
Root Applicative Aspect Modal Conditional Tense/Mood

Verbs may be conjugated according to the following criteria:

  • Tense: present or non-present
  • Mood: indicative, hypothetical, hortative, imperative
  • Aspect: imperfective or perfective
  • Valency: transitive, intransitive, applicative or causative.

Only a handful of verbs (called the true verbs) actually allow conjugation in this way and the majority of these are used to describe basic actions or states, including a wide range of verbs associated with motion along a specific path, a number associated with basic human functions and a handful of others. These true verbs are a closed class and there is no recorded instance of a new true verb coming into existence. The majority of verbs exist only in non-finite forms and form compound verbs with the true verbs as auxiliary; each auxiliary offering a different meaning. Other parts of speech, including nouns, adjectives and adverbs, can also be compounded with auxiliaries, offering relatively free reign for creating new verbs.

Verb Stems

The basic part of a verb, which conveys its primary meaning, is the root, e.g. -ang- "eat", -toz- "move up to". Burungian verbal roots cannot occur independently; they must be accompanied by at least one prefix or be the second element in a compound. The most common prefix, which effectively makes a verbal noun from the root, occurs as e-, i- or y-, e.g. yang "eat", etoz "move up to". This prefix occurs in both true verbs and in non-conjugable verbal nouns, e.g. yosh "sew", enoros "bury, plant".

The root of a true verb may be reduplicated to show intensive or frequentative meaning, e.g. ewaiwash "collapse, drop" < ewash "go down", inuanua "babble, chatter" < inua "speak".

The verbal noun prefix (e-, i-, y-) may be replaced by ena- to form a pejorative verb indicating perversity, ill intent or action resulting in unfortunate circumstances, e.g. enaro "molest" < ero "touch", enaus "flee, escape" < yus "move away".

Verbal Aspect

There are only two aspects within Burungian verbs, the imperfect and the perfect. The imperfective indicates that the action of the verb is ongoing, either in a continuous sense or in a more general, gnomic sense and it is shown by the simple form of the verb stem, e.g. yang "eating, eats".

The perfective indicates that the action of a verb has been completed and is shown with the addition of the suffix -i to the imperfect verb, e.g. yangi "eaten", erayekii "built".

Valency

Suffixes added to the imperfect or perfect stem indicate a mixture of tense, mood and valency. Separate endings exist for transitive and intransitive verbs. Depending on the semantics of the verbal stem, verbs may take one or other set of endings, or both according to meaning.

The causative is created with the prefix era-, replacing verbal noun e-, i-, y-, e.g. erakash "teach" < ekash "learn", erayeki "build, erect" < eyeki "stand". The causative verb must take the transitive endings in conjugation.

Note: When a verb is made causative, the agent of the original verb is marked by the dative (whether the original is intransitive or transitive). The direct object of an original transitive verb remains in the accusative. E.g. ni ba (Faransekyo ke) ekaita "I am learning (French)" → Kitzu ba (Faransekyo ke) ni ni erakaita Christophe is teaching me (French).

An applicative affix -ki- may be added to the verb stem to promote the indirect object (dative) of the verb to the direct object (accusative). The resulting direct object indicates the benefactor, malefactor, recipient, purpose or goal of the verb, depending on context and the meaning of the verb. The affix may be added to an intransitive verb, creating a transitive, or to a transitive verb creating a either ditransitive, in which both objects take the accusative, or another transitive verb in which the original direct object is incorporated or unexpressed. E.g. erakaiki "teach (someone)", iniirakaiki "teach (someone) hunting", aratobanki "feed (someone)".

Tense and Mood

Tense and mood are interlinked through a series of suffixes, given below, which are added to either the imperfective or perfective stem:

Function Intransitive Transitive Usage with Imperfective or Perfective
Present da zu Impf: denotes an action ongoing at the time of speaking or a future, e.g. egoizu "cooks, is cooking, will cook".
Perf: denotes an action completed at the time of speaking, creating a near-past tense, e.g. egoshizu "has cooked".
Past heng fong Impf: denotes an action ongoing at some past time (past progressive), e.g. egoifong "was cooking"
Perf: denotes an action completed at some past time (remote-past), e.g. egoshifong "had cooked".
Hypothetical li lu Impf: denotes an ongoing hypothetical action, e.g. egoilu "may be cooking".
Perf: denotes a completed hypothetical action, e.g. egoshilu "may have cooked".
Hortative bii byo Used only with the Impf. or an entreaty, e.g. egoipyo "let's cook"
Imperative -- -- Used only with the Impf. to give a direct command, e.g. egosh! "cook!"

Modals

Modality is expressed by a series of infixes placed after the stem. Modal verbs are always conjugated with the -zu (transitive) series of endings, even when they are semantically intransitive, e.g. ni ba ekaineizu "I want to learn", fu ba logimbeezu "you need to sleep".

Particle Meaning Uses
-nau- can, may expresses ability, including cabability, knowledge how and ability according to circumstances
-bee- must, need expresses necessity
-nei- want expresses desire to do something

Conditional -ba-

The conditional infix -ba- is effectively the equivalent of the English 'if', inserted between the stem and the tense/mood suffix. It may be added to the imperfective or perfective stem and used with the present, past and hypothetical suffixes. E.g. esuambada "if (he) is lying down", egosibafong "if (he) had thrown", ilubali "if (he) were dying".

True Verbs

ibii
move
Perfective ibiyi
Intransitive travel, flow, run
Auxiliary
ebang
move up
Perfective ebangi
Intransitive move up, ascend, rise; grow; improve
Transitive ascend sth
Auxiliary
eroz
move down
Perfective erozi
Intransitive move down, descend; fall; worsen
Transitive descend sth
Auxiliary
isuru
move past
Perfective isurui
Transitive pass, traverse, move through, move across, move under, move beside
Auxiliary
ero
touch
Perfective eroi
Transitive touch, come into contact, rub
Auxiliary
etoz
move up to
Perfective etozi
Intransitive come, arrive
Transitive come to, arrive at, reach
Auxiliary
yus
move away from
Perfective yusi
Intransitive leave, go away
Transitive leave sth, move away from
Auxiliary
euging
come
Perfective eugingi
Intransitive come, approach
Transitive move towards, approach sth (from swh)
Auxiliary
ewang
go
Perfective ewangi
Intransitive go, move away
Transitive move away from, go from (towards)
Auxiliary
exaz
move in
Perfective exazi
Intransitive come in, go in, move in, enter
Transitive move into, penetrate, enter
Auxiliary
yuki
move out
Perfective yukii
Intransitive move out, leave, exit
Transitive move out of, leave sth, exit
Auxiliary
egong
remain
Perfective egongi
Intransitive remain, wait, stay, dwell; continue, persist
Transitive
Auxiliary noun + -gong be a
adj. + -gong be (in a state)
yaz
sit
Perfective yazi
Intransitive sit, be located, be situated
Transitive set, put, place
Auxiliary
esuang
lie
Perfective esuangi
Intransitive lie (down), be located horizontally
Transitive lay
Auxiliary
eyeki
stand
Perfective eyekii
Intransitive stand, be located vertically
Transitive stand sth
Auxiliary
yehang
be
Perfective yehangi
Intransitive be, exist
Transitive be sth
Auxiliary

Compound Verbs

By far the majority of Burungian verbs are formed by compounding one of the true verbs with another part of speech, a verb, noun, adjective or adverb. The true verb is always the last element in the compound and loses the verbal noun prefix e-, i-, y- or reduces the prefixes era- and ena- to ra-, na-. The initial element usually precedes the verb directly, undergoing any of the usual sound changes in compounds, e.g. ootoz "go cold" < os + etoz.

  • Verb + Verb, in which the first verb modifies the sense of the second

Negation

Final Particles

Particle Meaning Uses
au interrogative asks simple yes/no questions, e.g. yi ka ewang au-da? "are you going?"
ba assertive emphasises the point and expresses strongly
te uncertainty expresses uncertainty about the action of the verb, e.g. ngane ka loging te-da "perhaps he is sleeping"
meng hearsay indicates that the speaker does not know in person, e.g. ngange ka loging meng-da "I heard he is sleeping"



Verb Primary Secondary Key Derivatives
Verbs of Motion
ibii (vi.) move (without reference to path) travel; flow erabii (vt.) drive, goad, propel, impel
egang (vi.) go up rise, improve; grow eragang (vt.) improve; raise, lift
(vt.) go up ascend, climb
ewash (vi.) go down descend, fall; deteriorate enawash (vi.) fall
erawash (vt.) fell, drop
(vt.) go down sth descend
isuru (vt.) move past move beside/under/over/through
ero (vt.) come into contact with sth touch, rub eroro (vt.) hit, strike
enaro (vt.) molest, grope
ero (vt.) come into contact with sth touch, rub eroro (vt.) hit, strike
enaro (vt.) molest, grope
etoz (vi.) move (up to sth) come; approach, reach; arrive
yus (vt.) move away (from sth) go, leave enaus (vt.) abandon, flee from
euging (vt.) come (from-to)
ewang (vi.) go (to-from)
exaz (vt.) move into enter, penetrate enaxaz (vt.) infiltrate, violate
yuki (vt.) move out of exit, leave
Verbs of Location & State
egong (vi.) remain wait, stay; dwell; rest eragong keep, detain, maintain
ebeng (vi.) sit be located, be situated erabeng (vt.) put, place, establish, fix
(vt.) set put, place, set down
esuang (vi.) lie (down) be located horizontally; spread out, extend enasuang (vt.) block, obstruct
(vt.) lay
eyeki (vi.) stand be located vertically erakash (vt.) build, erect
(vt.) stand sth up
yehang (vi.) be exist, live
Change of State
egosh (vi.) heat cook, boil, warm
(vt.) heat cook, boil, warm enagosh burn, overcook
eresh (vi.) constrict narrow, shrink, tighten
(vt.) constrict sth press, squeeze ereiresh (vt.) crush
enaresh (vt.) restrain, constrain
exoz (vt.) begin sth beget, produce, create, conceive
iji (vi.) appear come into view; seem, look like
(vt.) show explain, illustrate
ilu (vi.) die break, stop, cease eralu (vt.) kill, break
ilulu (vi.) die
iluaz (vi.) spread scatter, disperse eraluaz (vt.) cause to scatter, dispel
(vt.) spread sth scatter, disperse, distribute
yata (vi.) happen eraata (vt.) cause sth to happen, instigate
enaata (vi.) befall
Verbs of Action
eba (vt.) incise cut, scratch, carve; mark ebaba (vt.) hack; enaba (vt.) slash, wound
ebang (vt.) give offer, pay; provide
ebei (vi.) come together assemble, congregate, swarm, herd enabei swarm, throng
(vt.) bring together collect, gather, assemble; herd ebeibei hoard, amass
egos (vt.) throw shoot, cast; release
elaz (vt.) divide sth split; separate
ewas (vi.) step pace, tread; measure ewaawas (vt.) trample, trod
enawas (vi.) misstep, stumble
iging (vt.) make, do
ilung (vt.) hold have, possess; use
inua (vi.) speak make a sound, resound eranua (vt.) ring, play
(vt.) say sth speak sth, make a sound
izung (vi. & vt.) expel defecate, emit; reject enazung (vi. & vt.) vomit, abort
yang (vt.) take in consume, eat, drink; receive, accept
yosh (vt.) puncture pierce enaush (vt.) stab
egas (vt.) get obtain, receive; understand eragas (vt.) explain, inform; give
Verbs of Perception
ekash (vi.) obtain knowledge learn, comprehend ekaikash (vi.) study
erakash (vt.) teach , educate, instruct s.o.
erakaiki (vt.) teach sth
(vt.) obtain knowledge of sth learn sth
ipush (vt.) perceive know; sense
ishi (vt.) regard consider, think; view

Compound Verbs

The range of meaning of each true verb is extended considerably by compounding with other forms, according to a few simple rules. In each case the other element precedes the main verb and the meaningless prefix of the base form is lost (era-, ena- are also reduced to -ra-, -na-).

  • Noun + Verb in which the noun denotes the direct object of the verb, e.g. burushigos "to throw a spear", bazenua "to laugh" (lit. "to say laughter" < baze "laughter").
    • In many cases the first element is effectively a verbal noun, which is usually followed by -ging "do", e.g. loging "to sleep" (lo "sleep, sleeping"), ezeging "to burn" (eze "burning").
    • Any action denoting the making of sound is created with -nua "speak", e.g. xennua "to name, to call" (xeng "name"), ozonua "to roar, bellow" (ozo "roaring").
    • -lung "have" is used to denote possession of characteristics or emotions, e.g. neilung "to desire" (nei "desire, want").
    • Where the noun is the true direct object, the resulting verb becomes intransitive (note the difference between burushi ke egos zu "throwing a spear" (trans.) and burushigos da (intrans.)). However, in many cases the incorporated noun is a generic object extending the sense of the verb. Where a more specific direct object is required, the verb remains transitive. Consider the following sentences
Ama ba arato ke omba ni ebang zu
mother-TOP food-ACC child-DAT give PRT.pres.trans
"A mother gives food to a child" (no incorporation)
Ama ba omba ni aratobang da
mother-TOP child-DAT food-give PRT.pres.intrans
"A mother gives food to (feeds) a child"
In the second example the verb is intransitive and the direct object slot remains empty. It may be filled by a specific type of food, and the verb must become transitive:
Ama ba heene ke omba ni aratobang zu
mother-TOP milk-ACC child-DAT food-give PRT.pres.trans
"A mother feeds milk to a child"
Where there is no specific direct object, the natural indirect object may be promoted to the grammatical object (taking ke) by the addition of the suffix -ki to the end of the verb. This has the effect of creating a more intimate relationship between the subject and object:
Ama ba ombe ke aratobanki zu
mother-TOP child-ACC food-give PRT.pres.trans
"A mother feeds a child"
  • Adjective + Verb to denote various senses of being or becoming the quality of the adjective, depending on the verb used:
    • -toz "come" means "become, turn", e.g. furitoz "turn white" (furi "white"), eregitoz "lighten" (eregi "light").
    • -ging "make" is a transitive verb meaning "to turn ...", e.g. beleeking "make dark" (beles "black").
    • -shi "consider, view" forms verbs referring to the subject's opinion of something, e.g. onshi "like, approve of" (ong "good), xinshi "believe" (xing "true").
  • Verb + Verb in which the first verb modifies the sense of the second.
  • Adverb + Verb in which the adverbs denotes the method, direction or means of doing the action.
    • An adverb derived from a noun plus the adverbial suffix -(e)s may precede a verb to show the instrument by which the action is achieved, e.g. wengeepii "walk" (weng "foot" + ibii "move"), aneetoopa "cut with knife" (aneeto "knife" + eba "cut, incise").
    • An adverb consisting of an adjective + -ki may precede a verb to denote manner, e.g. laitekibii "move quickly" (laitez "quick"), byukinua "to babble, speak in tongues" (byuz "twisted").

Postpositions

Spatial relations are largely expressed by means of the case particles, but additional senses can be expressed by nominal elements in combination with the gentive eng and the locative gang. A concise list of forms expressing spatial relations is given below.

Simple Particles
a to, towards, up to buya ba ibya a ewangi heng "the woman went to the river"
chi from, of, off, through ni eng asho binji chi ewashi heng "my grandmother came down from the mountain"
gang in, on, at arato ba jibang gang da "the food is on the floor"
ha with, by eba byo aneeto ha "cut it with a knife!"
heez across, over, beyond
ni to (recipient), for (purpose, intent)
ta with (comitative)
Compounds with eng ... gang
auda beside, by
bee under, below, beneath
beekaz behind, at the back of, after
bozu inside
geeng outside
gyang on top of, on
iriji in the middle of, inside
waz in front of, before

Derivation

Derivation is carried out using a number of suffixes and independent particles, and by compounding.

Suffix Use Example
Adjectives
-chi (nouns) 'of, like, pertaining to; full of, covered with' buyachi "feminine, female" (buya "woman"), busochi "shitty"
-dazi (noun) 'of a person/thing from, -ian, -ese' binjidazi 'of a mountain-dweller'
-i (nouns) 'having the characteristics of'
(verbs) perfective participle
eechii "sweet" (eechi "honey")
inuai "said" (inua "say")
-jing (nouns) 'resembling' (often pejorative) ajing "man-like" (az "man")
-king (nouns) 'of, relating to' Burunking "of Burung"
-oi (nouns) tending to, fond of aratoi "gluttonous" (arato "food")
-ri (nouns) forms colour adjectives odouri "red" (odoi "blood")
Nouns
-bua (nouns) collective, abstract gyombua "people, population; humanity" (gyong "person")
-daz (noun) person or thing from eshayodaz 'foreigner' (eshayo "sea")
-do (nouns) pejorative bazedo "mocking laughter" (baze "laughter")
-iri (nouns) thing connected with, found near yipuiri "glove" (yipu "hand")
-ki (adjectives) concrete noun bixiki "living thing" (bixi "alive")
-ko (nouns) instrument, person connected with
(verbs) agent, instrument, tool
goudeko "ploughman" (goude "plough")
exooko "creator"
-no (nouns) diminutive (often pejorative) ano "coward" (az "man")
-te (adjectives) abstracts, states bixite "life" (bixi "alive")
-to (nouns) diminutive hizito 'piglet' (hizi "pig")
-zoi (nouns) collective, group eshezoi "settlement" (eshe "house")
-zung (nouns) possessor of ombazung "parent" (omba "child")

Syntax

Summary of Particles

a allative "to, towards, up to"
Noun az az Example
au interrogative, precedes auxiliary verb
Aux. Vb. Example Example
az nominative
Noun Example Example
ba1 topicaliser
Noun Example Example
ba2 conditional "if"
Aux. Vb. Example Example
chi ablative, "from, off, of, through"
Noun Example Example
eng genitive, "of"
Noun Example Example
gang locative, "in, on, at"
Aux. Vb. Example Example
ha instrumental, "by, with", "in" (with languages)
Noun (language) Lating ha "in Latin"
heez "across, over, beyond, past"
Noun Example Example
ke accusative
Noun Example Example
meng hearsay, precedes auxiliary verb
Aux. Vb. Example Example
ni dative, "to" (recipient), "for" (purpose)
Aux. Vb. Example Example
ta comitative, "with", "and"
Noun ni az ni eng buya ta egong da "I live with my wife"
Noun
te uncertainty, precedes auxiliary verb
Aux. Vb. Example Example

Vocabulary

Kinship Terms

In Burungian society, each individual belongs to a broad group known as an yenu "tribe" and within that to a family group called an as "clan", the members of which claim matrilineal descent from a pair of common ancestors known as the heuji (male) and beus (female). A person belonging to the same clan is called a beraako, whilst anyone beyond the clan group is an ase.

Somewhat distinct from the clan group is an individual's close family group, known as osunka "kinsmen". While a person traces his clan group as a vertical line, descending through a series of individuals, his osunka is more like a network extending in every direction. Anyone who shares a common great-grandfather (araato) or great-grandmother (ashoto) with a person is considered his angade "relative, kinsman". Within this family group there are then three degrees of proximity, which restrict such things as marriage and are relevant in the inheritance of property:

  1. Exoolaing, the direct line (lit. 'line of begetting'), includes a person and his direct ancestors (parents, grandparents and great-grandparents) and descendants (children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren). Marriage and sexual relationships are strictly prohibited within the exoolaing.
  2. Yipugyong, the secondary line, includes a person's siblings and their children, their spouse and their spouse's parents and children, and their parent's siblings or spouses. Half-siblings are not distinguished from full siblings as they still contain one parent's blood. Step-parents are considered identical in relation to parents-in-law and step-children to children-in-law. Marriage within this line is prohibited (except in the case of spouses), but sexual relationships are not.
  3. Audagyong, the side line, includes anyone descended from a great-grandparent not included in the above, and anyone within a spouse's secondary line. There are no prohibitions regarding marriage or sexual relationships between these people.

Within these three groups, distinctions are then made by generation, and, in some instances, by gender.

1st Degree 2nd Degree 3rd Degree
Gen. -3 great-grandfather: araato
great-grandmother: ashoto
other older collateral relative:
asaba
Gen. -2 grandfather: aras
grandmother: asho
Gen -1 father: yata
mother: ama
parent's brother: xoba
parent's sister: xeba
parent's sibling (iriji): hanauba
father-in-law, step-father: neba
mother-in-law, step-mother: aneepa
Gen. 0 EGO: NI husband: az, xengaz
wife: buya, xengaz
older sibling: angane
younger sibling: azeba
other same-generation relative:
xingangade
Gen. +1 child: omba nephew/niece: yoba
step-child, son/daughter-in-law: ezang
other younger collateral relative:
xuni
Gen. +2 grandchild: xemba
Gen. +3 great-grandchild: xembato