Is Burunking

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

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

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 that 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 diphthong. Of these, only the central vowel is essential but there are restrictions on the other elements also:

C1	G	V1	V2	C2
optional only b, g, d, 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

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:

• Final -s is lost, the preceding vowel lengthens and a following voiced plosive is devoiced: is 'language, speech' + -do (pejorative) = yito 'curse', os 'cold' + -pung (abstract) = oopung 'coldness'.
• Final -sh is replaced by -i-, forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel (ush > oi, ish > ei, ii), and a following voiced plosive is devoiced: banash 'fruit' + -to (diminutive) = banaito 'berry', ush 'empty' + gyong 'person' = oikyong 'vain person'.
• Final -ng becomes -n- (or -m before p, b, f): gyong 'person' + -zoi (collective) = gyonzoi 'team, band', yong 'smooth' + -pung (abstract) = yompung 'smoothness'.
• Final -z is lost entirely: az 'man' + -chi (adjectival) = achi 'masculine'.

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. In reduplication, the final vowel often remains in disyllables, e.g. aze-aze '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

Nouns are classified as either animate (bixi) or inanimate (ee bixi) and animate nouns belong to one of three genders: masculine (achi), feminine (buyachi) or common (iriji). Inclusion within a class is based to a large extent on natural gender.

Animate Bixi	Masculine Achi	adult male humans some male animals male deities fu 'fire', oi 'sun'
	Feminine Buyachi	adult female humans some female animals female deities luz 'earth'
	Common Iriji	human children most animals edible plants uz 'water', yozi 'rain'
Inanimate Ee Bixi		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).

Pronouns

Personal

		Singular	Plural
1	inclusive	ni	bua
	exclusive		bu
2		yi	fu
3	masculine	ngane	xinxing
	feminine	nepa
	common	xing

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

Possessives may be formed with the postposition go, e.g. ni go yata 'my father', xing go eshe 'its house'. The phrase go buru is used with the pronouns to create reflexive pronouns, e.g. yi go buru 'yourself',

Demonstrative

this	waz
that (non-distal)	uri
that (distal)	az

The demonstratives may be used attributively following the noun, e.g. az waz 'this man', xagaz uri 'that apple', binji az 'that mountain'. With uki they form the equivalent adverbs of place: uki waz 'here', uki uri 'there', uki az 'there (distal)'.

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

Verbs are marked for aspect and variations in tense, mood and valency are indicated by means of particles that follow the verb. Person, gender and number are not marked on verbs.

One of the defining features of Is Burunking is a relatively small class of true verbs (less than 50), which carry a range of rather generic senses. A large proportion of these verbs are associated with movement along a specific path, and beside the simple ibii "move, travel" there are verbs meaning "go (away from speaker), go (away from 3rd person), go up, go down, go in, go out, come (to speaker), come (to 3rd person)". Others are associated with basic human functions ("consume, expel, perceive"), actions ("do, collect, hit") or existence ("be, have"). These 'true' verbs may take a limited number of prefixes to extend their meaning, e.g. erakash "teach" < ekash "learn". To create a much wider variety of senses the true verbs, whether simple or prefixed, are compounded with other elements, primarily nouns, other verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

The True Verbs

True verbs consist of a prefix and a root. In the base form of the verb (i.e. when it stands alone), the prefix is e-, i- or y- and bears no particular meaning.

The following prefixes may be used with the true verbs, replacing the e-, i- or y- of the base:

• era- (causative), e.g. erakash "teach" < ekash "learn", erayeki "build, erect" < eyeki "stand".
• ena- (pejorative), e.g. enaro "molest" < ero "touch", enaus "flee, escape" < yus "move away". The prefix specifically indicates perversity, ill intent or action resulting in unfortunate circumstances and does not suggest that the action of the verb was performed badly.

The root of a true verb may also be reduplicated to form a verb with intensive or frequentative meaning, e.g. ewaawas "stomp, trample", inuanua "shout, roar", eralulu "destroy".

The following are the main true verbs:

eba	(vt.) incise, cut	exaz	(vt.) enter, penetrate, go in
ebang	(vt.) give; provide	exoz	(vt.) beget, produce, create
ebei	(vt.) collect, gather; (vi.) assemble	eyeki	(vi. & vt.) stand
ebeng	(vi.) sit; (vt.) put, set	iji	(vi.) appear; (vt.) appear
egaa	(vt.) get, obtain; understand	ibii	(vi.) move (without reference to path), travel
egang	(vi.) ascend, rise, improve; (vt.) ascend	iging	(vt.) make, do
egong	(vi.) remain	ilu	(vi.) die, break, stop, cease
egos	(vt.) shoot, throw	iluaz	(vi. & vt.) disperse
egosh	(vi. & vt.) heat, cook	ilung	(vt.) have, hold; use
ekash	(vi. & vt.) learn	inua	(vi. & vt.) speak,(make) sound
elaz	(vi. & vt.) divide	ipush	(vt.) perceive, know, sense
ero	(vt.) touch, come into contact with	izung	(vt.) expel
esuang	(vi.) lie down; (vt.) lay	yang	(vt.) consume
etoz	(vi.) come, move towards (speaker)	yata	(vi.) happen, occur
ewang	(vi.) go, move away from (speaker)	yehang	(vi.) be, exist, live
ewas	(vi.) step, pace, tread	yosh	(vt.) pierce, stab, puncture
ewash	(vi. & vt.) descend	yuki	(vt.) exit, leave, go out of
eresh	(vi. & vt.) constrict, squeeze	yus	(vt.) leave, go away from
ewaging	(vt.) approach, come near to	ishi	(vt.) consider, regard

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").

Conjugation

Verbs are conjugated largely by means of particles that follow the main verb. Verbs may express the following:

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

The verb stem, whether primary or secondary, is considered imperfective in sense. A perfective sense is indicated by adding the suffix -i to the stem, e.g. yang "eats, eating" > yangi "ate", inuapush "asks, asking" > inuapushi "asked".

There are two main sets of particles to indicate tense, mood and valency: da particles are used with intransitive verbs and zu particles with transitive and causative verbs. Each set has a different particle for present and past indicative, hypothetical and imperative. These are placed directly after the main verb, e.g. yang zu "is eating", erayekii fong "was building".

Function	Intransitive	Transitive
Present	da	zu
Past	heng	fong
Hypothetical	li	lu
Imperative	bii	byo

Other particles may precede the main particle, giving further shades of meaning. These are usually joined with a hyphen, e.g. ngane ka etoz au-da? "will he come?"

Particle	Meaning	Uses
ee	negative	negates any verb, e.g. nepa ka ilui ee-heng "she did not die"
au	interrogative	asks simple yes/no questions, e.g. yi ka ewang au-da? "are you going?"
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"
ba	"if"	indicates the conditional, e.g. yi ewang ba-da "if you are going".

Derivation

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

Suffix	Use	Example
Adjectives
-chi	of, like, pertaining to	buyachi 'feminine, female'
-fu	full of, covered with, made of	uzefu 'golden'
-king	of, like, pertaining to	Burunking 'of Burung'
-oi	tending to, fond of	aratoi 'gluttonous'
Nouns
-bua	collective, abstract	bidebua 'route'
-daz	person or thing from	eshayodaz 'foreigner' (lit. sea-dweller)
-do	pejorative	izido 'mocking laughter'
-ko	instrument, person connected with	onuuko 'goatherder'
-le	agent	erole 'killer'
-no	diminutive (often pejorative)	ano 'coward'
-pung	abstracts states, conditions	buchipung 'smallness'
-te	continual or chronic states	izite 'sickness'
-to	diminutive	hizito 'piglet'
-zoi	collective, group	eshezoi 'settlement'

Vocabulary

Kinship Terms

Kinship terms are relatively straightforward in Is Burunking, showing fewer distinctions than in English. Within the family structure there are three degrees of proximity: the first is an individual's direct bloodline, both ancestors and direct descendants; the second includes closely related blood relatives (aunts, nephews etc.); and the third any more distantly related blood relatives or relatives by marriage. Within these three vertical groups, distinctions are then made by generation, and, in older generations only by gender.

	1st Degree	2nd Degree	3rd Degree
Gen. +2	grandfather: aras grandmother: asho		other older collateral relative: asaba
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: angade
Gen. -1	child: omba	nephew/niece: yoba step-child, son/daughter-in-law: ezang	other younger collateral relative: xuni
Gen. -2	grandchild: xemba

Older generations in the direct line (great-grandparents etc.) are called waraba regardless of sex or generation, a word roughly equivalent to "ancestor". The words araaxo and ashoxo can be used for "great-grandfather" and "great-grandmother" respectively, whilst araato and ashoto are "great-great-grandfather" and "great-great-grandmother". The primary male ancestor of one's kinship group is known as the heuji and the female one as beuz. Direct descendants below "grandchild" are xembaxo "great-grandchild" and xembato "great-great-grandchild". The word angade means "relative, kinsman".