Dusner language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dusner
Native toWest Papua, Indonesia
RegionCenderawasih Bay
Native speakers
3 (2011)[1]
Language family
Austronesian
Language codes
ISO 639-3dsn
Glottologdusn1237
ELPDusner
Approximate location where Dusner is spoken
Approximate location where Dusner is spoken
Dusner
Coordinates: 2°44′S 134°23′E / 2.74°S 134.39°E / -2.74; 134.39

Dusner is a language spoken in the village of Dusner in the province of Papua, Indonesia. Dusner is highly endangered, and has been reported to have just three remaining speakers.[2][1][3]

Sociolinguistic situation[]

The language is highly endangered with only three speakers reported to be remaining.[2][1][3] In 2011, researchers from Oxford University's Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics began a project to document the vocabulary and grammar of the language, in collaboration with UNIPA (State University of Papua) and UNCEN (Cenderawasih University, Papua).[4][5] The project outputs were a vocabulary, a published grammar,[2] and a website documenting the language.

Phonology[]

The phoneme inventory of Dusner consists of five vowels and 19 consonants (five of which are only attested in loanwords from Indonesian/Papuan Malay).[2]

Vowels[2]
front back
high i u
mid e o
low a
Consonants[2]
labial alveolar postalveolar palatal velar pharyngeal
plosives p b t d k g
affricates ( t͡ʃ ) ( d͡ʒ )
fricatives β s ( h )
nasal stops m n ( ɲ ) ŋ
liquids r ( l )
glides w j

(Phonèmes in parenthèses in the table are only attested in loanwords from Papuan Malay)

There is no tone in the language. The phonology of the language has a high number of complex syllable onsets, some of them contravening the Sonority Sequencing Principle.

Morphology[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Malvern, Jack (21 April 2011). "Last few speakers of Indonesian language Dusner nearly wiped out by flood, volcano". The Australian. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Dalrymple, Mary; Mofu, Suriel (2012). Dusner. LINCOM Europa. ISBN 9783862882786.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "April 21, 2011: articles on the Dusner language, spoken by 3 last speakers". SOROSORO: So the languages of the world may live on!. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  4. ^ Alleyne, Richard (2011-04-21). "Oxford University mission to save a language spoken by three people". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2011-04-24. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  5. ^ "Multimodal language documentation for Dusner, an endangered language of Papua". University of Oxford, Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics. Retrieved 2013-02-08.

External links[]

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