Last Updated: 2019-11-15
Background
Language Family: Trans-New Guinea / Main Section / Central and Western / East New Guinea Highlands / Eastern / Gadsup-Auyana-Awa
- Usarufa is spoken in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea.
Phonology
Consonants
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Place of Articulation
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Manner of Articulation
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Labial
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Alveolar
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Palatal
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Velar
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Glottal
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Stops
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p
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t
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k
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ʔ
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Nasals
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m
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n
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Trills
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r
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Approximants
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w
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j
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Vowels
- There are three phonemic tones superimposed on vowels (Bee 1965, 59):
- High: marked by an acute accent (´)
- Low: unmarked
- Falling: marked by a circumflex (ˆ)
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Front
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Central
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Back
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High
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i
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u
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Mid
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e
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o
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Low
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a
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Alphabet
- /ʔ/ is left unwritten when occurring before /p/, /t/ and /k/ because these sounds occur word medially only after the glottal stop (Chenoveth 2004, 3). Disagreement exists around these series as clusters (i.e., /ˀp/, /ˀt/, /ˀk/) or as independent phonemes. I have chosen to see them as independent, allowing the syllable structure to be left unaffected (Bee 1965, 42–44).
- Similarly, there is disagreement about nasal clusters being long (/mː/, /nː/) or separate. Again, I have chosen to see them as separate (Bee 1965, 42–44).
- /p/ is written ⟨p⟩ word-initially and after a glottal stop; /p/ is written ⟨b⟩ when it occurs intervocalically (Chenoveth 2004, 3).
- /k/ is written ⟨k⟩ word initially and after a glottal stop; /k/ is written ⟨g⟩ when it occurs intervocalically (Chenoveth 2004, 3).
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Grapheme
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Phoneme
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Comment
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a
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/a/
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b
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/p/
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intervocalically
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p
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/p/
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word-initially; following glottal stops
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e
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/e/
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g
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/k/
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intervocalically
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k
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/k/
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word-initially; following glottal stops
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i
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/i/
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m
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/m/
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n
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/n/
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o
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/o/
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q
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/ʔ/
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r
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/r/
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t
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/t/
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u
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/u/
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w
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/w/
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y
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/j/
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Syllable Structure
- Syllables in Usarufa include the following structures (Chenoveth 2004, 3):
- Vowel sequences occur as separate syllables (Chenoveth 2004, 2).
- Consonants do not occur word-finally (Chenoveth 2004, 3).
Lenition Rules
- /p/ and /k/ spirantizes to [β] and [ɣ], respectively, intervocalically (Chenoveth 2004, 3).
- In some words /t/ varies freely with [s] (ibid.).
Misc. Rules
- /r/ is realized as [l] following /i/ and /a/ (Chenoveth 2004, 3).
References
Bee, Darlene. 1965. “Usarufa Distinctive Features and Phonemes.” Linguistic Circle of Canberra Publications, Pacific linguistics a, 6 (January): 39–68.
Chenoveth, Vida. 2004. “Usarufa Organised Phonology Data.” SIL Langauge and Culture Archives, September, 1–4.