Bis Burunko: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 19:49, 15 September 2021
Bis Burunko (/bɨs bʉˈɾʉnkɔ/, literally 'the Burungian language'), also known as Burunko or Burungian, is a language isolate spoken on the island of Burung in the north Atlantic.
Background
Phonology and Orthography
Bis Burunko has a relatively simple phonology with 21 consonants, 5 pure vowels and 6 true diphthongs. The orthography is almost entirely regular and predictable, based on a 1:1 spelling to pronunciation system.
Consonants
Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | ng /ŋ/ | ||
Plosive | p /p/ b /b/ |
t /t/ d /d/ |
k /k/ g /g/ |
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Sibilant | s /s/ | sh /ɕ/ z /ʑ/ |
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Fricative | f /ɸ/ | x /ç/ | h /h/ | ||
Affricate | ch /t͡ɕ/ j /d͡ʑ/ |
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Flap or tap | r /ɾ/ | ||||
Approximant | w, u /w/ | y /j/ | |||
Lateral app. | l /l/ |
Notes:
- n is realised as /ŋ/ before g, k, ng
- medial h is often simply hiatus between vowels
- /w/ is spelled u immediately after a consonant but w elsewhere
- all consonants except fricatives and glides (w, y) may be doubled word-internally; note the trigraphs ssh, cch, nng
For consonant clusters, see Phonotactics below.
Vowels
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | i /ɨ/ | u /ʉ/ |
Open-mid | e /ɛ/ | o /ɔ/ |
Open | a /a/ |
Vowels are considered to be short in all environments but may occur consecutively as in biitosh 'gender neutral person' /bɨ:'tɔɕ/.
Note: word-initial sequences of i + i and u + uu are written yi-, wu-.
Diphthongs
There are six diphthongs proper: ai /aɨ/, ei /ɛɨ/, oi /ɔɨ/, au /aʉ/, eu /ɛʉ/ and ou /ɔʉ/, 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
Bis Burunko 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 |
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