# Bunu language

Bunu is a Hmongic language of southern China. Bunu speakers are classified ethnically as Yao by the People's Republic of China.

## Varieties

Meng (2001) lists the following language varieties for Bunu.
* Bunu (Chinese: 布努) (Pu Nu) - 359,474 speakers; representative dialect: Nongjing, Qibainong Township, Dahua County (大化七百弄乡弄京)
** Dongnu (Chinese: 东努) (Tung Nu, autonyms: no22, tuŋ11 no22) - 293,489 speakers in Funing County, Yunnan (in Longshao 龙绍, etc.) and northern Guangxi: Du'an (in Meizhu 梅珠, etc.), Dahua, Bama, Pingguo, Tiandong, Mashan, Debao, Long'an, Baise, Tianyang, Donglan, Hechi, Shanglin, Xincheng, Yishan, Laibin. In Funing County, they are known as Buzha (布咋) (their autonym) or the Mountain Yao (山瑶).
** Nunu (Chinese: 努努) (Nu Nu, autonyms: no22 no22, po33 no22) - 53,870 speakers in northwestern Guangxi: Lingyun (in Taohua 陶化, etc.), Fengshan, Donglan, Bama (in Xishan 西山, etc.), Tianlin, Leye
** Bunuo (Chinese: 布诺) (Pu No, autonym: pu33 no22) - 12,115 speakers in Du'an (in Sanzhiyang 三只羊; Longma (龙麻) of Xia'ao (下坳乡), etc.), Guangxi
The Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer (1997:533) reports that the Miao of Xinning County, Hunan, speak a Bunu-branch language.
The Yunnan Province Gazetteer (1989) reports that a Bunu dialect known as pu55 ʐa11 (布咋) is spoken by about 7,000 people in Guichao (归朝乡) and Dongbo (洞波瑶族乡) (including in Dadongzhai 大洞寨, Saxiangdong Village 三湘洞村) townships of Funing County, Yunnan.

### Others

The following may be alternative names for speakers of Bunu languages.
* Beidalao (北大老): 15,000 (1990) in Rong'an County and Rongshui County, Guangxi; probably Bunu, though divergent
* Changpao (长袍): 5,000 (1999) in southern Guizhou; undetermined linguistic affiliation, but could possibly be Bunu. Identified as Dongmeng by Bradley (2007).
* Youmai (优迈): 2,000 (1999) in southwestern Guizhou; possibly a Bunu variety; classified as Pingtang Miao by Li Yunbing (2000)

## Phonology

This section presents the phonology of the Dongnu variety of Qibainong (七百弄) Township, Dahua Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi as representative.

### Consonants

| | | Labial | Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Dental/Alveolar | Dental/Alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | Velar | Velar | Glottal |
| | | plain | pal. | plain | sib. | lat. | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) palatal | plain | lab. | pal. | Glottal |
| Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | m̥ʲ | n̥ | | | | ɲ̟̊ | ŋ̊ | ŋ̊ʷ | | |
| Nasal | voiced | m | mʲ | n | | | | ɲ̟ | ŋ | ŋʷ | | |
| Stop | voiceless | p | pʲ | t | | | ʈ | | k | kʷ | kʲ | |
| Stop | aspirated | pʰ | pʲʰ | tʰ | | | ʈʰ | | kʰ | kʷʰ | kʲʰ | |
| Stop | prenasal | ᵐp | ᵐpʲ | ⁿt | | | ᶯʈ | | ᵑk | ᵑkʷ | ᵑkʲ | |
| Stop | prenasal asp. | ᵐpʰ | ᵐpʲʰ | ⁿtʰ | | | ᶯʈʰ | | ᵑkʰ | ᵑkʷʰ | | |
| Affricate | voiceless | | | | | tɬ | | tɕ | | | | |
| Affricate | aspirated | | | | | tɬʰ | | tɕʰ | | | | |
| Affricate | prenasal | | | ⁿtθ | ⁿts | ⁿtɬ | | ᶮtɕ | | | | |
| Affricate | prenasal asp. | | | ⁿtθʰ | ⁿtsʰ | ⁿtɬʰ | | ᶮtɕʰ | | | | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | | θ | s | ɬ | ʂ | ɕ | | | | h |
| Fricative | aspirated | | | θʰ | sʰ | | | | | | | |
| Fricative | voiced | v | | | | | ʐ | ʑ | ɣ | | | ɦ |
| Approximant | Approximant | | | | | l | | | | | | |
Sounds /tɬ, tɬʰ, ⁿtɬ, ⁿtɬʰ/ may be pronounced as [pl, plʰ, ᵐpl, ᵐplʰ] in some areas.

### Vowels

| | Front | Central | Back | Back |
| Close | i | | ɯ | u |
| Close-mid | e | ə | o | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ | ɔ |
| Open | | a | | |
Examples of vowels :
| Vowel | Example word |
| i | pi$^{43}$ 'fruit' |
| ɯ | tɯ$^{13}$ 'speak' |
| u | ɬu$^{41}$ 'iron' |
| e | he$^{33}$ 'open (a door)' |
| ə | s$^h$ə$^{43}$ 'on top' |
| o | no$^{13}$ 'person' |
| ɛ | hɛ$^{33}$ 'fast' |
| ɔ | tɔ$^{41}$ 'kill' |
| a | ka$^{33}$ 'chicken' |

### Diphthongs and Other Rimes

Qibainong Dongnu has seven diphthongs: /ei/, /ai/, /au/, /ou/, /ɔi/, /iu/, and /eu/. Of these, /ɔi/, /iu/, and /eu/ only appear in recent loans from Chinese and Zhuang. Examples of words with diphthongs appear in the table below; yellow background is for those diphthongs that appear only in recent borrowings.
Several vowels in Qibainong Dongnu permit a nasal consonant following, either /n/ or /ŋ/; most vowels permit one or the other, but not both. Qibainong also permits the rime /iaŋ/, despite not having a diphthong /ia/; /iaŋ/ is used only in recent loans. The possible combinations of vowel with final nasal, organized by the position of the vowel, appear in the table below.
Examples of rimes with nasals :
| Rime | Example |
| iŋ | iŋ$^{33}$ 'bitter' |
| uŋ | muŋ$^{33}$ 'sick' |
| en | pen$^{13}$ 'flower' |
| ən | |
| əŋ | nəŋ$^{33}$ 'snake' |
| ɔn | |
| ɔŋ | nɔŋ$^{13}$ 'eat' |
| an | man$^{43}$ 'village' |
| aŋ | aŋ$^{33}$ 'water' |
| iaŋ | |

### Tone

Qibainong Dongnu has eight tones, with four having an alternate realization, giving a total of 12 tone values.

## Grammar
### Word Classes

According to Meng (2001), Bunu has 12 parts of speech, namely, nouns, pronouns, numerals, classifiers, adjectives, verbs, intensifiers (状词), adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliaries, and interjections.

#### Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Bunu exhibit a three-way distinction in both person and number, yielding nine contrasting terms:
Personal pronouns in Qibainong Dongnu :
| | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| First Person | tɕuŋ$^{43}$ | a$^{33}$ | pe$^{33}$ |
| Second Person | kau$^{13}$ | me$^{33}$ | me$^{13}$ |
| Third Person | ni$^{232}$ | mo$^{33}$ | mo$^{13}$ |
Bunu also has pronouns for 'oneself' and 'everyone', as well as a set of interrogative expressions:
Interrogative expressions in Qibainong Dongnu :
| Pronoun | Meaning |
| po$^{33}$si$^{54}$ | 'what' |
| ɦau$^{221}$tau$^{221}$ | 'how' |
| po$^{43}$tau$^{221}$ | 'who, which' |
| ɦa$^{232}$tau$^{221}$ | 'where' |
| pan$^{33}$tau$^{221}$ | 'when' |

##### Demonstratives

According to Meng (2001), demonstratives fall within the word class of pronouns. Five demonstratives are attested in Qibainong: nɔŋ$^{43/54}$ 'this (visible)', kau$^{13/35}$ 'that (medial, visible)', uŋ$^{33/55}$ 'that (distal, visible)', no$^{43}$ 'that (unknown)', and i$^{43}$ 'that (known, not visible)'.

#### Numerals

Cardinal numerals include the following:
Cardinal numerals in Qibainong Dongnu :
| Numeral | Meaning | Note |
| len$^{13}$ | 'zero' | |
| tɕau$^{221}$ | 'one' | used only in combination with classifiers |
| i$^{55}$ | 'one' | general use |
| au$^{33}$ | 'two' | |
| pe$^{33}$ | 'three' | |
| tɬa$^{33}$ | 'four' | |
| pjo$^{33}$ | 'five' | |
| ʈu$^{41}$ | 'six' | |
| sɔŋ$^{221}$ | 'seven' | |
| ʑo$^{21}$ | 'eight' | |
| tɕu$^{13}$ | 'nine' | |
| tɕu$^{21}$ | 'ten' | |
| pai$^{41}$ | 'hundred' | |
| sen$^{33}$ | 'thousand' | |
| van$^{221}$ | 'ten thousand' | |