- Labu language
Infobox Language
name=Labu
states=Papua New Guinea
region=Morobe Province
speakers=1,600 (1989 SIL)
familycolor=Austronesian
fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
fam3=Central-Eastern
fam4=Eastern
fam5=Oceanic
fam6=Western
fam7=North New Guinea
fam8=Huon Gulf
fam9=Markham
fam10=Lower Markham
script=
iso2=
iso3=lbuLabu (called Hapa by its speakers) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 1,600 people (1989) in three older villages and one new one across the
Markham River fromLae inMorobe Province ,Papua New Guinea .Although it belongs to the
Lower Markham languages , Labu appears to have been strongly influenced by the coastal languages of the Huon Gulf, Bukawa in particular. For instance, Labu shows tonal contrasts, like Bukawa but unlike any of the Markham languages; and Labu numerals show separate forms for '3', '4', and '5', like Bukawa, even though "salu" '2', "sidi" '3', and "sôha" '4' contain the Lower Markham numeral classifier *sV-. (The pattern for numerals in the other Markham languages is '1', '2', '2+1', '2+2', then 'hand' or '2+2+1', and so on.)Phonology
Labu distinguishes 7 vowels and 17 consonants. The vowels also exhibit contrasts between high and low pitch (or "tone"), just as in Yabêm, the Lutheran mission lingua franca for the coastal languages of Morobe Province during much of the 20th century. The orthography of Labu is based on that of Yabêm (= Jabêm), except that "y" replaces Yabêm "j".
Vowels (orthographic)
Morphology
Pronouns and person markers
Free pronouns
Names
Like most of the coastal languages around the Huon Gulf, Labu has a system of birth-order names.
External links
*ethnologue|code=lbu
References
* Anon. (2004). Labu organized phonology data. Summer Institute of Linguistics. [http://www.sil.org/pacific/png/pubs/0000199/Labu.pdf]
* Siegel, Jeff (1984). "Introduction to the Labu language." In Malcolm Ross, Jeff Siegel,Robert Blust , Michael A. Colburn, W. Seiler, "Papers in New Guinea Linguistics, No. 23," 83-159. Series A-69. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
* Ross, Malcolm (1988). "Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian languages of western Melanesia." Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
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