Bahinemo

Language name and location: Bahinemo, Papua New Guinea [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 巴希内莫语, 巴布亚新几内亚东锡皮克河省山区

1. dəbátʰà	21. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ yemú dəbátʰà
2. husí	22. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ yemú husí
3. huməlí	23. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ yemú huməlí
4. ɡə́dà	24. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ yemú ɡə́dà
5. həl baɸú	25. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ yemú həl baɸú
6. həl baɸú həl ɸənbí dəbátʰà (5+1)	26.
7. həl baɸú həl ɸənbí husí (5+2)	27.
8. həl baɸú həl ɸənbí huməlí (5+3)	28.
9. həl baɸú həl ɸənbí ɡə́dà (5+4)	29.
10. həl baɸú həl baɸú	30. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ yemú həl baɸú həl baɸú
11. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá ɸənbí dəbátʰà	40. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ husí
12. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá ɸənbí husí	50. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ husí həl baɸú həl baɸú
13. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá ɸənbí huməlí	60. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ huməlí
14. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá ɸənbí ɡə́dà́	70. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ huməlí h. baɸú həl baɸú
15. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá baɸú	80. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ ɡə́dà
16. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá baɸú wá ɸ. d.	90. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ ɡə́dà həl baɸú həl baɸú
17. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá baɸú wá ɸ. h.	100. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ həl baɸú
18. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá baɸú wá ɸ. h.	200. ímà tʰú hwəsə́ həl baɸú həl baɸú
19. həl baɸú həl baɸú wá baɸú wá ɸ. g.
20. ímà tʰú hwəsə́

Linguist providing data and dateː Mr. & Mrs. Wayne & Sally Dye. SIL International, Papua New Guinea. June 30, 2010. Mr. Jason Stuart, New Tribes Mission, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 2, 2011

提供资料的语言学家: Mr. & Mrs. Wayne & Sally Dye, 2010 年 6 月 30 日.

Other comments: Bahinemo is spoken by approximately 700 speakers in Ambunti district, Hunstein range, south of Sepik river, East Sepik province, Papua New Guinea. The above data are provided by Wayne Dye (formerly SIL PNG) on 6/29/2010 based on studies made 1964-1985 and 2007-2008. In order to more clearly show the logic pattern, this table includes more numerals than were requested. From this it is evident that the numeral system has bases of five and twenty. Bahinemo speakers count on hands (actually fingers, including thumb) and toes, starting with one finger closed as one. A hand closed (bafu ‘gone’) is five. Then on the other hand one counts with the same four numbers, 1,2,3, and 4. When both hands are “gone” they start counting on “feet” i.e. toes. Twenty is a “man head entire”. Numbers above that include that phrase, then start over on “another man” (ima yemu). Large numbers quickly become unwieldy. Bahinemo speaking people rarely used numbers for quantities larger than about twenty, and seldom for quantities larger than ten. Numbers above forty were confusing to some Bahinemo speakers. Forty (ima tuwese husi) is the same as the shortened form of twenty-two, which in correct Bahinemo is ima tuwese ima yemu husi. Numbers above one hundred could in theory be correctly spoken, but the resulting phrase is so long and convoluted that hearers in the 1970s puzzled over them. By 2007 no one could make any sense of such phrases; all were using Tok Pisin numerals. This was not a problem for them before the 1970s, since there were virtually no uses for such high numbers in traditional life. Some of our friends with several children, for instance, did not know exactly how many children they had, though they knew each by name very well and cared for them deeply. People did not buy and sell goods; they gave them, expecting only an approximately equal return gift later.

Bahinemo is tonal, note on tone patterns on accented words.
Unaccented syllables are indicated by mid [v̄] tone phonetically when preceding the stressed syllable or high tone mark [v́]. These syllables preceding the high tone are nearly as high as the stressed syllable and sound nearly the same. Normally these are in the first or second syllables of two and three syllable words when the high tone is on the last syllable of the word. In three syllable words where the accented syllable is on the first syllable the unaccented syllable following that accented first syllable is also mid [v̄]. Unaccented syllables that occur at the end of the word and follow the high

[v́] or mid tone [v̄] are low [v̀] indicated with a low tone, the lowest tone in the word.

Comments by Jason Stuart, New Tribes Mission, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 2, 2011.

Regarding the data you have for the Bahinemo language, it all looks quite accurate.

My phonetics my vary slightly from the Dyes, but nothing significant. As Wayne wrote, larger numerals are not used in the vernacular. My experience is that number up to 5 are spoken in Bahinemo; for numbers 6 and above, the Tok Pisin numbers are used--6-pela, 7-pela, etc. In theory, they can construct larger numbers in the vernacular, but this has not been the practice for a few decades.

The exception to this is in counting money. The Bahinemo people often use different words to describe different amounts of money to keep the amount secret from outsiders. Most of these descriptions are fairly recent innovations (in the last 5-10 years) since the Bahinemo people have started selling gold, sandalwood, and mossoia bark and have had to deal with larger amounts of cash. While these are newer developments in the language and are not part of the traditional counting, they nonetheless represent where the language is at today. If these would help in your research, I can provide examples. If you are just working with counting systems, then the data you have about Bahinemo seems to be complete.

Bahinemo Phonemic Chartː

Consonantsː

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	b	t, d		k, ɡ	ʔ
Fricative	ɸ (f)	s			h
Nasal	m	n
Approximant	w		j(y)
Lateral Approx.		l

Vowelsː

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Low		a

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