Berik language
| Berik | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Tor Atas district,Sarmi Regency |
Native speakers | (1,200 cited 1994)[1] |
Foja Range(Tor–Kwerba)
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bkl |
| Glottolog | beri1254 |
Berikis aPapuan languagespoken in easternPapua.Speakers are located in four village groups on theTor Rivertowards the northern coast ofIndonesian-controlledIrian Jaya.[2]
US linguistJohn McWhortercited Berik as an example of a language which puts concepts "together in ways more fascinatingly different from English than most of us are aware".[3]Illustrating this, in the phraseKitobana(meaning "[he] gives three large objects to a male in the sunlight" ), affixes indicating time of day, object number, object size, and gender of recipient are added to the verb.[3][4][5]
Locations
[edit]In Tor Atas District, Berik is spoken in Beu, Bora Bora, Dangken, Doronta, Kondirjan, Safrontani, Sewan, Somanente, Taminambor, Tenwer, Togonfo, and Waf villages.[1]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Alveolar | (Alveolo-) palatal |
Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m[m] | n[n] | ng[ŋ] | ||
| Plosive& affricate |
voiceless | p[p] | t[t] | k[k] | |
| voiced | b[b] | d[d] | j[d͡ʑ] | g[ɡ] | |
| Fricative | f[f] | s[s] | |||
| Approximant | l[l] | y[j] | w[w] | ||
| Tap | r[ɾ] | ||||
Vowels
[edit]Berik has the common six vowel system (/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/ plus /ə/).[6]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i[i] | u[u] | |
| Mid | e[e] | ə[ə] | o[o] |
| Open | a[a] |
Sample
[edit]- Angtaneʻ bosna Usafe je gatas tarnap ge nuin. Tesa ga belim taban, ga jes talebowel.
- "There was once a person named Usafe who lived near thesagoacreages. Whenever he finished cutting down a sago tree, he pounded it "[7]
Notes
[edit]- ^abBerikatEthnologue(25th ed., 2022)
- ^Matthews, "Berik Literacy Program", p. 109
- ^abMcWhorter, "No Tears for Dead Tongues"
- ^"Difficult languages--Tongue twisters--In search of the world’s hardest language"[1],Economist,New York,Dec 17th 2009.
- ^John McWhorter, "No Tears For Dead Tongues"[2],Forbes,2/21/2008 @ 6:00PM.
- ^Westrum, "A Grammatical Sketch of Berik," p. 137
- ^Taken from Jones, "In Pursuit of Discourse Particles", p. 130
References
[edit]- Jones, Linda K. (1992), "In Pursuit of Discourse Particles", in Hwang, Shin Ja J.; Merrifield, William R. (eds.),Language in context: Essays for Robert E. Longacre(PDF),Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 107, Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington, pp. 127–36, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2012-10-16
- Matthews, Delle P. (1990), "The Berik Literacy Program: From Illiteracy to National Language Proficiency",Irian: Bulletin of Irian Jaya,18:109–24
- McWhorter, John(21 March 2008),"No Tears for Dead Tongues",Forbes,retrieved2011-05-09
- Westrum, Peter N. (1988), "A Grammatical Sketch of Berik",Irian: Bulletin of Irian Jaya,16:137
