Bis Burunko

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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/
Sibilant s /s/ sh /ɕ/
z /ʑ/
Fricative f /ɸ/ x /ç/ h /h/
Affricate ch /t͡ɕ/
j /d͡ʑ/
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
  • 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

Grammar

Vocabulary