Buna language

Buna is a Torricelli language of Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

There are two divergent dialects. One dialect is spoken in Kasmin (-4.01897°N, 144.06024°W), Boig (-3.84861°N, 144.05492°W), Waskurin (-3.87009°N, 144.06811°W), and Arapang (-3.88039°N, 144.07322°W) villages, and another in Masan, Mangan (-3.95368°N, 144.23946°W), and Garien villages.

Morphology
Buna has four noun classes. Noun class concord affixes in Buna are shown in the following examples.


 * Class 1



! singular (masculine) !! plural (masculine)
 * uri gaba-re do-ko-n
 * uri gaba-re do-ko-n

person.CL1.SG big-CL1.SG CL1.SG.SBJ-go-CL1.SG

‘The big man went.’
 * oret gaba-bwe bo-ko-m

person.CL1.PL big-CL1.PL CL1.PL.SBJ-go-CL1.PL

‘The big men went.’
 * }


 * Class 2



! singular (feminine) !! plural (feminine)
 * uri gaba-gwe go-ko-ŋ
 * uri gaba-gwe go-ko-ŋ

person.CL2.SG big-CL2.SG CL2.SG.SBJ-go-CL2.SG

‘The big woman went.’
 * oret gaba-ʔe e-ko

person.CL2.PL big-CL2.PL CL2.PL.SBJ-go

‘The big women went.’
 * }


 * Class 3



! singular (class III) !! plural (class III)
 * wan gaba-re na-ti-n
 * wan gaba-re na-ti-n

banana.CL3.SG big-CL3.SG CL3.SG.SBJ-fall-CL3.SG

‘A big banana fell down.’
 * wan gaba-we u-ti-u

banana.CL3.PL big-CL3.PL CL3.PL.SBJ-fall-CL3.PL

‘Big bananas fell down.’
 * }


 * Class 4



! singular (class IV) !! plural (class IV)
 * kwala gaba-le li-ti-l
 * kwala gaba-le li-ti-l

netbag.CL4.SG big-CL4.SG CL4.SG.SBJ-fall-CL4.SG

‘A big netbag fell down.’
 * kwala gaba-be bə-t-əm

netbag.CL4.PL big-CL4.PL CL4.PL.SBJ-fall-CL4.PL

‘Some big netbags fell down.’
 * }