Huli language
{{Short description|Engan language spoken in Papua New Guinea}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Huli
| image = Huli wigman.jpg
| imagealt = Huli Wigman from Hela Province of Papua New Guinea
| imagecaption = Huli Wigman from Hela Province of Papua New Guinea
|region=Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
|ethnicity=Huli people
|speakers=150,000
|date=2011
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Papuan
|fam1=Trans-New Guinea?
|fam2=Engan
|fam3=South Engan
|script=Latin script (Huli alphabet)
Huli Braille
|iso3=hui
|glotto=huli1244
|glottorefname=Huli
}}
Huli is a Tari language spoken by the Huli people of the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea. It has a pentadecimal (base-15) numeral system: {{Lang|hui|ngui}} means 15, {{Lang|hui|ngui ki}} means 15×2 = 30, and {{Lang|hui|ngui ngui}} means 15×15 = 225.
Huli has a pandanus language called {{lang|hui|tayenda tu ha illili}} (bush divide taboo) used for collecting karuka nuts ({{lang|hui|anga}}) as well as hunting or traveling.{{cite book |last1=Goldman |first1=Laurence |title=Talk Never Dies: The Language of Huli Disputes |date=1983 |publisher=Tavistock Publications |location=London and New York |isbn=978-0422782104 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/talkneverdieslan0000gold/page/254 254–257] |language=English |chapter=Talking about talk |oclc=993340993 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/talkneverdieslan0000gold/page/254 }} {{lang|hui|Tayenda}} is used to evade malevolent bush spirits. The grammar for {{lang|hui|Tayenda}} is nearly identical to normal Huli, but the vocabulary is changed, often borrowing words from Duna but with changed meanings.
Phonology
Huli has a syllable structure of (C)V.
= Vowels =
| class="wikitable"
! !Back |
| align="center"
|i ĩ |u ũ |
| align="center"
!Mid |e ẽ |o õ |
| align="center"
!Open | colspan="2" | ɑ ɑ̃ |
/ɑ/ is pronounced more fronted as [æ] before /r/ and /ʝ/.{{Cite book|url=http://www-01.sil.org/pacific/png/pubs/928474542276/Huli.pdf|title=Organised Phonology Data: Huli Language [HUI] Southern Highlands Province|year=1992|access-date=2017-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001653/http://www-01.sil.org/pacific/png/pubs/928474542276/Huli.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}
Vowel nasality is phonemic in the language.
Vowels can also carry three phonemic tones; high-falling, mid-level, and low-rising.
= Consonants =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" | |
| colspan="2" |Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | | {{IPA link|ŋ}} | |
|---|
| rowspan="3" |Stop
!voiceless | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | | | {{IPA link|k}} | |
| voiced
| {{IPA link|b}} | {{IPA link|d}} | | | {{IPA link|g}} | |
| prenasal
| {{IPA link|ᵐb}} | {{IPA link|ⁿd}} | | | {{IPA link|ᵑɡ}} | |
| colspan="2" |Fricative
| | | | {{IPA link|ʝ}} | | {{IPA link|h}} |
| colspan="2" |Approximant
| {{IPA link|w}} | | {{IPA link|ɭ}} | | | |
| colspan="2" |Trill
| | {{IPA link|r}} | | | | |
Stops /p t k/ can become aspirated as [pʰ tʰ kʰ].
Many speakers pronounce /t/ as [s] before /i/.
/d/ is realized as voiceless as [d̥] when occurring word-initially, and is palatalized as [dʲ] between /i/ and a word-final /ɑ/.
/r/ only occurs word-medially.
/b ɡ/ can be phonetically realized as fricatives intervocalically as [β ɣ].
References
{{reflist}}
- {{cite book |last=Lomas |first=Gabe |year=1988 |title=The Huli language of Papua New Guinea |others=PhD Thesis, Macquarie University}}
External links
- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, [https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/central-new-guinea-highlands/enga-southern-highlands/huli-southern-highlands/huli Huli on New Guinea World]
- [http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/huli.html Huli counting system] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070424190312/http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/huli.html |date=2007-04-24 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001653/http://www-01.sil.org/pacific/png/pubs/928474542276/Huli.pdf Huli phonology]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928061238/http://www.uog.ac.pg/PUB08-Oct-03/cheetham.htm "Counting and number in Huli"], Brian Cheetam. Papua New Guinea Journal of Education{{dead link|date=November 2014}}
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}
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