Binumarien language
{{Short description|Kainantu language of Papua New Guinea}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Binumarien
|nativename=Afaqinna ufa
|pronunciation={{IPA|[ɐɸɐʔinːɐ]}}
|region=Eastern Highlands Province
|states=Papua New Guinea
|speakers=1,200
|date=2019
|ref = e25
|familycolor=Papuan
|fam1=Trans–New Guinea
|fam2=Kainantu–Goroka
|fam3=Kainantu
|fam4=Tairora
|iso3=bjr
|glotto=binu1245
|glottorefname=Binumarien
}}
Binumarien, or Afaqinna ufa as it is known to its speakers, is a Kainantu language of Papua New Guinea. The name used in the literature was used under Australian administration and is still used by Binumarien people when they speak Tok Pisin. It comes from the now-abandoned village of Pinumareena. Pinumareena is also one of the four Binumarien clans.{{cite book |last1=Oatridge |first1=Jenny |last2=Oatridge |first2=Des |editor-last=McKaughan |editor-first=Howard |title=The Languages of the Eastern Family of the East New Guinea Highland Stock |publisher=University of Washington Press |date=1973 |pages=517–522 |chapter=Phonemes of Binumarien}}
Binumarien is spoken by an ethnic group of the same name in Kainantu District, near the easternmost corner of the Eastern Highlands Province. The Austronesian language Adzera borders Binumarien in the north and east and the Papuan language Gadsup is spoken to the south and west.
Current use
Binumarien has around 1,200 speakers, as members of the community reported in 2018. The number of speakers has increased enormously over the last decades. The language had 117 speakers in 1973, living in three small villages. According the memory of older people, the Binumarien used to be more numerous, but tribal fighting and malaria greatly had reduced their numbers.{{cite book |last1=Foley |first1=William A. |title=The Papuan languages of New Guinea |date=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] |isbn=9780521286213 |page=28}} Since then, the Binumarien established more stable relations with the surrounding tribes, and moved to a higher altitude, making them less susceptible to malaria. Binumarien is the dominant language in most households, and is used in community gatherings and in church services; children grow up with Binumarien as their first language. In addition, they often know other languages spoken by family members from outside the village. People who marry into the community are expected to learn the language, and many Binumarien are fluent in one of the neighbouring languages, especially Tairora, Gadsup, and Adzera, and also in Tok Pisin, the lingua franca of the area.
Phonology
=Consonants=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Consonants of Binumarien{{cite web |first=Steven |last=Moran |first2=Daniel |last2=McCloy |first3=Richard |last3=Wright |year=2019 |title=Binumarien sound inventory (PH) |editor-last1=Moran |editor-first1=Steven |editor-last2=McCloy |editor-first2=Daniel |website=PHOIBLE 2.0 |location=Jena |publisher=Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History |url=https://phoible.org/inventories/view/872 |access-date=31 May 2022}}, citing {{harvnb|Oatridge|Oatridge|1973}} ! ! Bilabial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal |
| Plosive
| {{IPAlink|p}} | {{IPAlink|t}} | | {{IPAlink|k}} | | {{IPAlink|ʔ}} |
|---|
| Nasal
| {{IPAlink|m}} | {{IPAlink|n}} | | | | |
| Fricative
| {{IPAlink|ɸ}} | {{IPAlink|s}} | | | | |
| Approximant
| | | {{IPAlink|j}} | | {{IPAlink|w}} | |
| Trill
| | {{IPAlink|r}} | | | | |
=Vowels=
=Tones=
Binumarien has two tones: high and low, which associate to the mora. Rising and falling contours occur on long vowels and diphthongs, as the result of a low mora followed by a high mora (rising), or a high mora followed by a low mora (falling).
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Kainantu–Goroka languages}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Kainantu–Goroka languages
Category:Languages of Eastern Highlands Province
{{TNG-lang-stub}}