Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Berik language

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Native to
  
Indonesia

Writing system
  
Latin

Native speakers
  
1,200 (1994)

ISO 639-3
  
bkl

Region
  
Tor Atas district, Sarmi Regency

Language family
  
Tor–Kwerba Orya–Tor Tor Berik

Berik is a Papuan language spoken in eastern Papua. Speakers are located in four village groups on the Tor river towards the northern coast of Indonesian-controlled Irian Jaya. US linguist John McWhorter cited Berik as an example of a language which puts concepts "together in ways more fascinatingly different from English than most of us are aware". Illustrating this, in the phrase Kitobana (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.

Contents

Vowels

Berik has the common six vowel system (/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/ plus /ə/).

Sample

  • 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 the sago acreages. Whenever he finished cutting down a sago tree, he pounded it"

    • References

    Berik language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA