Mufian (Muhian, Muhiang), or Southern Arapesh, is an Arapesh language (Torricelli) of Papua New Guinea. Dialects are ; Filifita speakers are half the population, at 6,000 in 1999. It is spoken in 36 villages, most of which are located within Bumbita-Muhian Rural LLG, East Sepik Province. It is also spoken in Supari ward of Albiges-Mablep Rural LLG.

Phonology +Consonant Phonemes of Mufian Labial Alveolar Velar Glottalplain labializedplain labialized Nasal Stop Fricative Approximant

is a coarticulated glottal stop with lip rounding that occurs only in final word positions.

+Vowel Phonemes of Mufian Front Central Back High Mid Low

Pronouns Southern Arapesh pronouns are:

! !! sg !! pl |- ! 1incl

! 1excl

! 2

! 3m

! 3f

Noun classes There are 17 classes for count nouns in Mufian, plus two extra classes, i.e. proper names and place names. Noun classes are expressed in noun suffixes, adjective suffixes, and verb prefixes.

Although Southern Arapesh has more than a dozen noun classes, only four noun classes are determined by semantics, while the other noun classes are determined phonologically using the final root segment (a feature typical of the Lower Sepik languages). The four semantically determined noun classes are:

class 16: male human referents class 8: female human referents class 5: human referents of unspecified sex (likely diminutive, since children are also included) class 6: human referents of unspecified sex

The membership of the other twelve classes is determined phonologically, by the final segment of the root, as in the Lower Sepik languages.

Some examples of Mufian noun classes from Alungum (1978):

Class Form (sg.) Form (pl.) Gloss Sg. Noun Suffix Sg. Adjective Suffix Sg. Verb Prefix Pl. Noun Suffix Pl. Adjective Suffix Pl. Verb Prefix Class 1 pig Class 2 name Class 3 tooth Class 4 clothes Class 5 child Class 6 friend Class 7 dog Class 8 woman Class 9 eye Class 10 tree Class 11 betel nut Class 12 knife Class 13 village Class 14 pigeon Class 15 crested pigeon Class 16 man Class 17 course

There are a few irregularities in these noun classes.

External links Paradisec has a collection of materials with Don Laycock (DL1) that includes Mufian materials

References