Huli is a
Tari language spoken by the
Huli people
The Huli are an indigenous Melanesian ethnic group who reside in Hela Province of Papua New Guinea. They speak mainly Huli and Tok Pisin; many also speak some of the surrounding languages, and some also speak English. They are one of the large ...
of the
Hela Province
Hela is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Tari. The province covers an area of 10,498 km², and there are 249,449 inhabitants (2011 census figures). Hela province officially came into being on 17 May 2012, comprising t ...
of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. It has a
pentadecimal (base-15) numeral system
A numeral system (or system of numeration) is a writing system for expressing numbers; that is, a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using Numerical digit, digits or other symbols in a consistent manner.
The same s ...
: means 15, means 15×2 = 30, and means 15×15 = 225.
Huli has a
pandanus language
A pandanus language is an elaborate avoidance language among several of the peoples of the eastern New Guinea Highlands, used when collecting ''Pandanus'' nuts.
Use
Annually, people camp in the forest to harvest and cook the nuts of karuka (both ...
called (bush divide taboo) used for collecting
karuka
The karuka (''Pandanus julianettii'', also called karuka nut and ''Pandanus'' nut) is a species of tree in the family Pandanaceae and an important regional food crop in New Guinea. The nuts are more nutritious than coconuts, and are so popular ...
nuts () as well as hunting or traveling.
is used to evade malevolent bush spirits.
The grammar for 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
/ɑ/ is pronounced more fronted as
before /r/ and /ʝ/.
Vowel nasality is
phonemic
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
in the language.
Vowels can also carry three phonemic tones; high-falling, mid-level, and low-rising.
Consonants
Stops /p t k/ can become aspirated as
ʰ tʰ kʰ
In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of breathing, breath that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the Stop consonant#articulation, closure of some obstruents. In English, aspirated consonants are allophones ...
Many speakers pronounce /t/ as
before /i/.
/d/ is realized as voiceless as
̥when occurring word-initially, and is palatalized as
ʲbetween /i/ and a word-final /ɑ/.
/r/ only occurs word-medially.
/b ɡ/ can be phonetically realized as fricatives intervocalically as
ɣ
References
*
External links
* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Huli on New Guinea WorldHuli phonology
Brian Cheetam. Papua New Guinea Journal of Education
{{authority control
Engan languages
Huli people
Languages of Southern Highlands Province
Pandanus avoidance registers