Bunu language


Bunu is a Hmongic language of southern China. Bunu speakers are classified ethnically as Yao by the People's Republic of China.

Varieties

Meng lists the following language varieties for Bunu.
The Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer reports that the Miao of Xinning County, Hunan, speak a Bunu-branch language.
The Yunnan Province Gazetteer reports that a Bunu dialect known as is spoken by about 7,000 people in Guichao and Dongbo townships of Funing County, Yunnan.

Others

The following may be alternative names for speakers of Bunu languages.

Phonology

This section presents the phonology of the Dongnu variety of Qibainong Township, Dahua Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi as representative.

Consonants

Sounds /tɬ, tɬʰ, ⁿtɬ, ⁿtɬʰ/ may be pronounced as in some areas.

Vowels

VowelExample word
pi43 'fruit'
tɯ13 'speak'
ɬu41 'iron'
he33 'open '
shə43 'on top'
no13 'person'
hɛ33 'fast'
tɔ41 'kill'
ka33 'chicken'

Diphthongs and Other Rimes

Qibainong Dongnu has seven diphthongs: /ei/, /ai/, /au/, /ou/, /ɔi/, /iu/, and /eu/. Of these, /ɔi/, /iu/, and /eu/ only appear in recent loans from Chinese and Zhuang. Examples of words with diphthongs appear in the table below; yellow background is for those diphthongs that appear only in recent borrowings.
DiphthongExample word
/ei/tei35 'team'
/ai/mpai41 'pig'
/au/sau41 'satiated'
/ou/
/ɔi/sɔi221 'crime'
/iu/ʐiu221 'cotton tree'
/eu/

Several vowels in Qibainong Dongnu permit a nasal consonant following, either /n/ or /ŋ/; most vowels permit one or the other, but not both. Qibainong also permits the rime /iaŋ/, despite not having a diphthong /ia/; /iaŋ/ is used only in recent loans. The possible combinations of vowel with final nasal, organized by the position of the vowel, appear in the table below.
RimeExample
iŋ33 'bitter'
muŋ33 'sick'
pen13 'flower'
nəŋ33 'snake'
nɔŋ13 'eat'
man43 'village'
aŋ33 'water'

Tone

Qibainong Dongnu has eight tones, with four having an alternate realization, giving a total of 12 tone values.
Tone numberTone classTone valueExample word
1A133tɔ33 'deep'
1′A1′55ven55 'winnowing basket'
2A213tɔ13 'come'
2′A2′35ven35 'garden'
3B143tɔ43 'hit'
3′B1′54pe54 'bowl'
4B2232tɔ232 'read'
4′B2′454pe454 'handle'
5C141tɔ41 'kill'
6C2221tɔ221 'die'
7D132tɔ32 'affix '
8D221tɔ21 'bite'

Alphabet

Bunu is written in a Latin script similar to other minority languages of China, such as Hmong-Mien languages, like Hmong or Tai-Kadai languages, like Kam or Sui. It uses Digraphs or combinations of letters instead of diacritics to represent additional sounds. The Bunu alphabet is:

Tones

Tones are marked with a consonant letter written at the end of a syllable.

Grammar

Word Classes

According to Meng, Bunu has 12 parts of speech, namely, nouns, pronouns, numerals, classifiers, adjectives, verbs, intensifiers, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliaries, and interjections.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Bunu exhibit a three-way distinction in both person and number, yielding nine contrasting terms:
SingularDualPlural
First Persontɕuŋ43a33pe33
Second Personkau13me33me13
Third Personni232mo33mo13

Bunu also has pronouns for 'oneself' and 'everyone', as well as a set of interrogative expressions:
PronounMeaning
po33si54'what'
ɦau221tau221'how'
po43tau221'who, which'
ɦa232tau221'where'
pan33tau221'when'
Demonstratives
According to Meng, demonstratives fall within the word class of pronouns. Five demonstratives are attested in Qibainong: nɔŋ43/54 'this ', kau13/35 'that ', uŋ33/55 'that ', no43 'that ', and i43 'that '.

Numerals

Cardinal numerals include the following:
NumeralMeaningNote
len13'zero'
tɕau221'one'used only in combination with classifiers
i55'one'general use
au33'two'
pe33'three'
tɬa33'four'
pjo33'five'
ʈu41'six'
sɔŋ221'seven'
ʑo21'eight'
tɕu13'nine'
tɕu21'ten'
pai41'hundred'
sen33'thousand'
van221'ten thousand'