Barai Organised Phonology Data

Barai Organised Phonology Data
Barai (Isama) Language [BCA]
Afore – Oro Province
Trans New Guinea Phyum; Central and Southeastern Stock; Koiarian Family
Population census: 2000 (1981)
Major villages: Itokama, Naokanane, Ubuvave, Tahama
Linguistic work done by: SIL (based on work since 1969)
Data checked by: Peter Evans (March 1992)
Phonemic and Orthographic Inventory

a
A
æ
ae
Ae
b
b
B
d
d
D

e
E

f
F
 i
g i
G I
dz k
j
k
J K
m n
m n
M N
o
o
O
r
r
R
s
s
S
dz
z
Z
t
t
T
u
u
U

v
V
Consonants
Bilab
LabDen Dental
Alveo
Postalv
Retro
Palatal
t
Plosive
m
Nasal
Velar
Uvular
k
n
r
Trill
Tap/Flap
Fricative

s
Lateral
Fricative
Approx
Lateral
Approx
Ejective
Stop
Implos
/dz/
voiced alveo-palatal affricate
/dz/
voiced prenasalized alveolar affricate
/b/
voiced prenasalized bilabial plosive
/d /
voiced prenasalized dental plosive
//
voiced prenasalized velar plosive

vare
suve
b bare
sube
'dry'
'mat'
m mako
ame
'hole'
'child'
'cool off'
'type of vine'

'catch'
'piece of mat'
fare
sufai
Pharyn
Glottal
Barai (Isama) OPD
t
Printed: August 17, 2004
Page 2
'forget'
'kiss'
k
d dode
kuduape
'grunt'
'rotten mat'
 gome
igo
'branch'
'honey'
n
ninae
fanu
'sleep'
'animal'
dz jone
vajia
'your'
'give'
r
rotire
siroi
'under'
'dog'
dz zuvi
kazine
'star'
'black'
s
sone
vasia
'slow'
'hungry'
tote
kuto
ke
iko
'yes'
'uncooked'
Vowels
i
u
e
o
æ

i
ise
sidove
ufi
ivia
'bad'
'village'
'twist'
'today'
o
ove
isove
mako
siroi
'mother'
'small valley'
'hole'
'dog'
e
eko
keke
ufe
'hey'
'leave'
'blow'

are
kaka
ifa
aemie
'stop'
'small rafter'
'question'
'tired'
æ
ae
kaema
vae
'place'
'sweet potato'
'went'
u
ugone
sume
uru
buruome
'clothes'
'hunt'
'dance'
'hawk'
Suprasegmentals (tone, stress, length)
Word pitch is contrastive but has low functional load.
áre 'house'
kári 'picking'
aré 'stop'
karí 'sit down'
Syllable Patterns
V
a.re 'stop'
ju.a.re 'first finger' u.ki.e 'shiver'
Barai (Isama) OPD
CV
ve 'rain'
Printed: August 17, 2004
ji.a 'fill'
Page 3
i.no.ko.be 'three' ju.a.re 'garden'
Conventions: Phonological
/k/ can be pronounced either [k] or [/].
// can be pronounced either [] or [h].
/r/ has two allophones [r] and [l] which fluctuate.
/dz/ has two allophones [dz] and [dy] which fluctuate.
// is centralized as a second member of a 'VV' cluster, and often also word finally.
Conventions: Orthographic
Phonemic tone is not written.
< ae > represents the phoneme /æ/.
Prenasalized /b/, /d/ and // are written simple < b >, < d > and < g > in all positions.
Tone has a low functional load and is marked on only few words.
Transcription of a recorded passage
/
no  dzur ami kk  iro rum rm manu budzm rm ikum buun nnu rim | r
m idzm no usin i /
< No va juare gamia keke. Iro ruma areme manua bujama areme ikuame buvuana manua riema, areme ipajema
no usiana i. >
We were going along and arrived at the garden. We dug yams and then we picked beans for awhile. Just then,
we cut some bamboo and stuffed it with beans for awhile and then cooked it for awhile. Then we picked the
food out and ate it.
Bibliography
Olson, Michael. 1973. 'Barai Sentence Structure and Embedding.' Language Data, Asian Pacific Series 3.
___. 1974. 'Barai Syntax.' Master's Thesis, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver.
___. 1975. 'Barai Grammar Highlights.' Pacific Linguistics C 29.
___. 1978. 'Switch-reference in Barai.' Berkeley Linguistic Society 4.
___. 1979. 'The Sociolinguistic Significance of Barai Possessive Markers.' In New Guinea and Neighbouring
Areas: A Sociolinguistic Laboratory, edited by Stephen Wurm.
___. 1980. 'Barai Clause Junctures: Toward a Functional Theory of Interclausal Relation.' Ph.D. Dissertation,
Australian National University, Canberra.
Olson, Michael, and Donna Olson. 1969-1979. Manuscripts. SIL, Ukarumpa.