Is Burunking

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Is Burunking (/is buɾˈuŋkiŋ/, 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

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

Pronouns

Personal

Singular Plural
1 inclusive ni boro
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 fall into two categories: primary verbs are those which are not derived from other parts of speech, and are relatively few in number and secondary verbs are compounds of a primary verb with another part of speech.

Primary Verbs

Primary verbs consist of a prefix and a root. In the base form of the verb, the prefix is e-, i- or y- and bears no particular meaning. The following are the main primary verbs:

eba cut, chop, hew exaz enter, penetrate, go in
ebang give, transfer, exchange, connect exoz beget, produce, create
ebei assemble, collect, gather eyeki stand
ebeng put, place, establish iji show; appear
egaa get, obtain, win; understand ibii move (without reference to path), travel
egang ascend, go up, climb; improve iging make, do
egong stay, wait, continue, remain, rest ilu die, break, stop, cease
egos shoot, throw, cast iluaz spread, scatter, distribute, disperse
egosh heat, cook, boil ilung have, hold, contain, use, enjoy
ekash learn inua (make) sound, speak
elaz divide, split, undo ipush perceive, know, see
ero hit, strike izung expel, defecate, throw out
esuang lie down yang consume, eat, take in
etoz come, move towards (speaker) yata happen, occur
ewang go, move away from (speaker) yehang be, exist, live
ewas step, pace, tread yosh pierce, stab, puncture
ewash descend yuki exit, leave, go out of
eresh squeeze, press yus move away, leave, go away
ewaging approach, reach, come near to; touch

The base prefix is lost in composition, e.g. yipupush "touch, feel" < yipu + ipush. It may be replaced by era- (ra- in composition) to indicate a causative, e.g. eralu "cause to die, kill". An intensive or frequentative sense is obtained by reduplicating all or part of the root, e.g. yangang "devour", etotoz "rush towards".

Secondary Verbs

Secondary forms make up the vast majority of verb forms in Is Burunking. They may be composed of a primary verb preceded by a noun, adjective, adverb or another primary verb.

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".

Postpositions

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'

Syntax

Vocabulary

Swadesh List



No. English Burungian
0BurungianYipua
1Ini
2you (singular)yi
3hengane
4webolo (incl.), bu (excl.)
5you (plural)fu
6theyxinxing
7thiswaz
8thaturi (non-distal), az (distal)
9hereuki waz
10thereuki uri
11whonogyong
12whatnohez
13wherenuki
14whenneuji
15hownobide
16notez
17allolo
18manyngeu
19somegoi
20fewgoito
21otherberes
22onebade
23twobega
24threeiruz
25fourluaz
26fivebolos
27bigenji
28longluhe
29widehabai
30thickluji
31heavyoitung
32smallbuchi
33shortlobuz
34narrowdaz
35thinbene
36womanbuya
37man (adult male)az
38human beinggyong
39childwaz
40wifebuya
41husbandaz
42motheraba
43fatheryata
44animalmala
45fishazeng
46birdhuri
47doghopuz
48lousehuzi
49snake(no word)
50wormanaz
51treeweyang
52forestweyanzoi
53stickxigoz
54fruitbanash
55seedaye
56leafuzi
57rootezo
58barkai
59flowerdomai
60grassberaz
61ropeleta
62skinai
63meat-
64bloododou
65bonenozuz
66fatgying
67egg-
68hornadaz
69tailbootang
70feather-
71hairye
72headburu
73earberezi
74eyebigi
75nosexuduz
76mouthwa
77toothoros (front), eging (back)
78tonguebingi
79fingernail-
80footweng
81leg-
82kneebeiwang
83handyipu
84wingegai
85bellyhabei
86gutserese
87necklepo
88backbeekaz
89breastogas
90heartbues
91livergibei
92drinkedang
93eatyang
94bite-
95suck-
96spit-
97vomit-
98blow-
99breathe-
100laugh-
101seeikoi
102hear-
103knoweking
104thinkoite
105smelloyang
106fearbeuzuz
107sleeplo
108livebiite
109dieeite
110killereite
111fight-
112hunt-
113hit-
114cutbye
115split-
116stab-
117scratch-
118dig-
119swimbii uz chi
120flybii egai chi
121walkbii weng chi
122comeetuz
123lieesang
124sityez
125stand-
126turniruai
127falleroz
128givebang
129hold-
130squeezeeresh
131rub-
132wash-
133wipe-
134pull-
135push-
136throwbushi
137tie-
138sewweshi
139count-
140sayeirang
141sing-
142play-
143float-
144flowyazong
145freeze-
146swell-
147sunoi
148mooniye
149stareiz
150wateruz
151rainyozi
152riveribya
153lake-
154seaehsayo
155saltgas
156stoneezi
157sandondaz
158dustwash
159earthluz
160cloudoje
161fog-
162skyurushi
163windyai
164snowiruz
165iceyos
166smokeeke
167firefu
168ashwash
169burneze
170roadbide
171mountainbinji
172redguzi
173greenurujing
174yellowuzi
175whitefuzi
176blackbei
177nightbua
178dayibu
179yearurute
180warm-
181coldos
182fullbete
183newbizi
184oldhaz
185goodong
186badgyas
187rotten-
188dirtyxiking
189straightfueng
190roundbei
191sharp-
192dull-
193smoothyong
194wet-
195dryyeyaz
196correct-
197near-
198faruzung
199right-
200lefteekez
201at-
202in-
203with-
204and-
205if-
206because-
207nameyeng