Binumarien language

Binumarien
Binumarien
Afaqinna ufa
Pronunciation	[ɐɸɐʔinːɐ]
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Eastern Highlands Province
Native speakers	1,200 (2019)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Kainantu–Goroka Kainantu Tairora Binumarien; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bjr
Glottolog	binu1245

Binumarien, or Afaqinna ufa as it is known to its speakers, is a Kainantu language of Papua New Guinea. The name used in the literature was used under Australian administration and is still used by Binumarien people when they speak Tok Pisin. It comes from the now-abandoned village of Pinumareena. Pinumareena is also one of the four Binumarien clans.^[2]

Binumarien is spoken by an ethnic group of the same name in Kainantu District, near the easternmost corner of the Eastern Highlands Province. The Austronesian language Adzera borders Binumarien in the north and east and the Papuan language Gadsup is spoken to the south and west.

Current Use

Binumarien has around 1,200 speakers, as members of the community reported in 2018. The number of speakers has increased enormously over the last decades. The language had 117 speakers in 1973, living in three small villages. According the memory of older people, the Binumarien used to be more numerous, but tribal fighting and malaria greatly had reduced their numbers.^[3] Since then, the Binumarien established more stable relations with the surrounding tribes, and moved to a higher altitude, making them less susceptible to malaria. Binumarien is the dominant language in most households, and is used in community gatherings and in church services; children grow up with Binumarien as their first language. In addition, they often know other languages spoken by family members from outside the village. People who marry into the community are expected to learn the language, and many Binumarien are fluent in one of the neighbouring languages, especially Tairora, Gadsup, and Adzera, and also in Tok Pisin, the lingua franca of the area.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants of Binumarien^[4]
	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial– velar	Glottal
Plosive	p	t		k		ʔ
Nasal	m	n
Fricative	ɸ	s
Approximant			j		w
Trill		r

Vowels

Vowels of Binumarien^[4]
	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Close-mid	eː	oː
Open		ɑ

References

^ Binumarien at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ Oatridge, Jenny; Oatridge, Des (1973). "Phonemes of Binumarien". In McKaughan, Howard (ed.). The Languages of the Eastern Family of the East New Guinea Highland Stock. University of Washington Press. pp. 517–522.
^ Foley, William A. (1986). The Papuan languages of New Guinea. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780521286213.
^ ^a ^b Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel; Wright, Richard (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Binumarien sound inventory (PH)". PHOIBLE 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 31 May 2022., citing Oatridge & Oatridge 1973

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[e25-1] Binumarien at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[OatridgeOatridge_1973-2] Oatridge, Jenny; Oatridge, Des (1973). "Phonemes of Binumarien". In McKaughan, Howard (ed.). The Languages of the Eastern Family of the East New Guinea Highland Stock. University of Washington Press. pp. 517–522.

[Foley-3] Foley, William A. (1986). The Papuan languages of New Guinea. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780521286213.

[phoible-4] Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel; Wright, Richard (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Binumarien sound inventory (PH)". PHOIBLE 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 31 May 2022., citing Oatridge & Oatridge 1973

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