Buang
Mapos Buang
Austronesian
Mapos Buang is an Oceanic language of the Buang language cluster in Papua New Guinea's Morobe Province, spoken in the Snake River valley by ~10,000 people across the Mapos and Manga community areas. Buang varieties (Mapos, Manga, Mumeng) form a dialect continuum with mutual intelligibility decreasing with distance. As a Western Oceanic language, Buang preserves typical Oceanic features (3-degree distance demonstratives, pre-verbal subject markers, verb-final clauses) while exhibiting some New Guinea Highland substratum influence. The Mapos Buang community has a strong oral tradition and the New Testament was translated into Mapos Buang in 1989 (revised 2005).
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Mapos Buang
Water
vuur
/vuːr/
Fire
ehe
/ehe/
Sun
gum
/ɡum/
Moon
mha
/mha/
Mother
ne
/ne/
Father
ma
/ma/
Eat
gen
/ɡen/
Drink
nung
/nuŋ/
Love
vong
/voŋ/
Heart
minga
/miŋa/
Tree
leng
/leŋ/
House
ya
/ja/
Dog
nyam
/ɲam/
Cat
pus
/pus/
Hand
mok
/mok/
Eye
mata
/mata/
Hello
miig
/miːɡ/
Thank you
vog ehog
/voɡ ehoɡ/
One
lon
/lon/
Good
vovo
/vovo/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Austronesian languages
| Meaning | Mapos Buang | Hote | Tetum | Amis | Sakizaya | Hiri Motu | Old Tagalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | vuur /vuːr/ | lua /lua/ | bee /beː/ | nanom /nanom/ | nanum /nanum/ | ranu /ɾanu/ | ᜆᜓᜊᜒᜄ᜔ /tubiɡ/ |
| Fire | ehe /ehe/ | eve /eve/ | ahi /ahi/ | namal /namal/ | lamal /lamal/ | lahi /lahi/ | ᜀᜉᜓᜌ᜔ /apuj/ |
| Sun | gum /ɡum/ | ari /aɾi/ | loron /loɾon/ | cidal /tsiðal/ | cidal /tʃidal/ | dina /dina/ | ᜀᜇᜏ᜔ /araw/ |
| Moon | mha /mha/ | kalam /kalam/ | fulan /fulan/ | folad /folað/ | ʔulalalalal /ʔulalal/ | hua /hua/ | ᜊᜓᜏᜈ᜔ /buwan/ |
| Mother | ne /ne/ | ne /ne/ | inan /inan/ | ina /ina/ | ina /ina/ | sina /sina/ | ᜁᜈ /ina/ |
| Father | ma /ma/ | ma /ma/ | aman /aman/ | ama /ama/ | ama /ama/ | tama /tama/ | ᜀᜋ /ama/ |
| Eat | gen /ɡen/ | gen /ɡen/ | han /han/ | komaen /komaen/ | hekal /hekal/ | ania /ania/ | ᜃᜁᜈ᜔ /kain/ |
| Drink | nung /nuŋ/ | nun /nun/ | hemu /hemu/ | minom /minom/ | mihecak /mihetʃak/ | inua /inua/ | ᜁᜈᜓᜋ᜔ /inom/ |
| Love | vong /voŋ/ | voŋ /voŋ/ | domin /domin/ | maolah /maolah/ | kapah /kapah/ | lalokau /lalokau/ | ᜁᜊᜒᜄ᜔ /ibiɡ/ |
| Heart | minga /miŋa/ | mun /mun/ | fuan /fuan/ | faloko' /falokoʔ/ | gawang /ɡawaŋ/ | kudouna /kudouna/ | ᜉᜓᜐᜓ /puso/ |
| Tree | leng /leŋ/ | len /len/ | ai /ai/ | kilang /kilaŋ/ | kilang /kilaŋ/ | au /au/ | ᜃᜑᜓᜌ᜔ /kahoj/ |
| House | ya /ja/ | ya /ja/ | uma /uma/ | loma' /lomaʔ/ | luma /luma/ | ruma /ɾuma/ | ᜊᜑᜌ᜔ /bahaj/ |
| Dog | nyam /ɲam/ | nyam /ɲam/ | asu /asu/ | wacu /watsu/ | waco /watʃo/ | sisia /sisia/ | ᜀᜐᜓ /aso/ |
| Cat | pus /pus/ | pus /pus/ | busa /busa/ | posi /posi/ | posi /posi/ | pusi /pusi/ | ᜉᜓᜐ /pusa/ |
| Hand | mok /mok/ | mok /mok/ | liman /liman/ | kamay /kamaj/ | kamay /kamai/ | imana /imana/ | ᜃᜋᜌ᜔ /kamaj/ |
| Eye | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | matan /matan/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | matana /matana/ | ᜋᜆ /mata/ |
| Hello | miig /miːɡ/ | kaye /kaje/ | bondia /bondia/ | nga'ay ho /ŋaʔaj ho/ | marayas /maɾajas/ | namona /namona/ | ᜋᜊᜓᜑᜌ᜔ /mabuhaj/ |
| Thank you | vog ehog /voɡ ehoɡ/ | fau /fau/ | obrigadu /obɾiɡadu/ | aray /araj/ | lalumahan /lalumahan/ | tanikiu /tanikiu/ | ᜐᜎᜋᜆ᜔ /salamat/ |
| One | lon /lon/ | lon /lon/ | ida /ida/ | cecay /tsetsaj/ | cacay /tʃatʃai/ | ta /ta/ | ᜁᜐ /isa/ |
| Good | vovo /vovo/ | vovo /vovo/ | di'ak /diʔak/ | kapah /kapah/ | kapah /kapah/ | namo /namo/ | ᜋᜊᜓᜆᜒ /mabuti/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.