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Usarufa language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Usarufa
RegionOkapa District, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
(1,300 cited 1996)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3usa
Glottologusar1243
Imikori Village
Imikori Village, from Moife Hill

Usarufa is a Kainantu language spoken by the people of the same name in Papua New Guinea. It belongs to the Gauwa branch of the Kainantu family of the Kainantu–Goroka languages. The language area consists of six villages: Moife, Imikori, Irafo, Kagu, Agura 1, and Agura 2. Its ISO 639 code is usa.

As of 2009, the language was reported to have had about 1200 speakers and no fluent speakers below the age of 25, which makes it an endangered language.

Phonology

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This section is derived from the analyses presented in Bee 1965 in which an inventory of eighteen consonants is favoured.[2]

Usarufa consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive plain p t k ʔ
glottalised ˀp ˀt ˀk
Nasal plain m n
glottalised ˀm ˀn
geminate
Approximant plain w ɾ j
glottalised ˀw ˀj

The distribution of these consonants is determined by their position within a stress group, a segment which has one primary stress, the placement of which is determined by a pitch contour. This stress group may consist of two or more syllables. Only /p t k m n w j/ can occur as the onset of a stress group, and only /ʔ/ can occur finally. In stress-medial position all consonant phonemes can occur, and /p k/ are realised as [β] and [ɣ], respectively. /ɾ/ may be realised as [ɺ].

An alternative analysis treats all glottalised and geminate consonants as secondary, in which case there are only nine consonant phonemes:

Usarufa consonant phonemes, alternative analysis
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p t k ʔ
Nasal m n
Approximant w r j

Usarufa has an unremarkable five-vowel system.

Usarufa vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

/i/, /e/, and /a/ have the allophones [ɪ], [ɛ] and [ʌ], respectively. /e/ may be realised as [ɪ] following coronal or palatal phonemes.

See also

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  • Vida Chenoweth, who studied the Usarufa music
  • Aikuma, mobile software for language recording, first used to record Usarufa

References

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  1. ^ Usarufa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Bee, Darlene (1965). "Usarufa Distinctive Features and Phonemes" (PDF). In Bee, Darlene (ed.). Papers in New Guinea Linguistics 4. Pacific Linguistics Series A. Vol. 6. Australian National University. pp. 39–68. doi:10.15144/PL-A6.39.
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