Misplaced Pages

Bunama is an Austronesian language spoken in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua New Guinea.

Phonology

Consonants

• /p/ can fluctuate to aspirated in stressed syllables.
• /b d ɡ/ can also be heard as word-initially in stressed syllables.
• /b/ can be heard as a fricative intervocalically in word-medial position.
• /d/ can be heard as a tap intervocalically in word-medial position.
• /s/ can be heard as a more fronted in unstressed syllables following vowels /ɛ, a/.
• Prevoicing of the lateral flap may also occur in initial positions.
• /ɺ/ may also be heard as a retroflex flap depending on the dialect of the speaker. It can also be heard as when realized as prevoiced in word-initial positions.
• /w/ may fluctuate to a labio-dental among some speakers.
• /j/ may be realized as a dental approximant when before /a/.

Vowels

• /a/ is heard as before and after a labialized consonant, or with sounds /w/, /ʔ/. It is also heard as word-medially and word-finally in unstressed syllables.
• /ʊ/ is heard as word-medially and word-finally but never following labialized consonants, or semivowels /w, j/. It is heard as when following sounds /s t̪ʰ/.
• /o/ can be heard as when preceding a glottal stop /ʔ/.

References

1. Bunama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Hughes, Ngaire; Leckie, Isabel (1976). Bunama Phonemics.

This Papua New Guinea-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• v
• t
• e

• Nuclear Papuan Tip languages
• Languages of Milne Bay Province
• D'Entrecasteaux Islands
• Papua New Guinea stubs
• Western Oceanic language stubs