Huli language


Huli is a Tari language spoken by the Huli people of the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea. It features a pentadecimal numeral system: ngui means 15, ngui ki means 15×2 = 30, and ngui ngui means 15×15 = 225.
Huli has a pandanus language called tayenda tu ha illili used for collecting karuka nuts as well as hunting or traveling. Tayenda is used to evade malevolent bush spirits. The grammar for Tayenda is nearly identical to normal Huli, but the vocabulary is changed, often borrowing words from Duna but with changed meanings.

Phonology

Huli has a syllable structure of V.

Vowels

/ɑ/ is pronounced more fronted as before /r/ and /ʝ/.
Vowel nasality is phonemic in the language.
Vowels can also carry three phonemic tones; high-falling, mid-level, and low-rising.

Consonants

Stops /p t k/ can become aspirated as .
Many speakers pronounce /t/ as before /i/.
/d/ is realized as voiceless as when occurring word-initially, and is palatalized as between /i/ and a word-final /ɑ/.
/r/ only occurs word-medially.
/b ɡ/ can be phonetically realized as fricatives intervocalically as .