| Huli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Region | Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea |
| Ethnicity | Huli people |
Native speakers | 150,000 (2011)[1] |
Trans-New Guinea?
| |
| Latin script (Huli alphabet) Huli Braille | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hui |
| Glottolog | huli1244 |
Huli is a Tari language spoken by the Huli people of the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea. It has a pentadecimal (base-15) 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 (bush divide taboo) used for collecting karuka nuts (anga) as well as hunting or traveling.[2] Tayenda is used to evade malevolent bush spirits.[2] The grammar for Tayenda is nearly identical to normal Huli, but the vocabulary is changed, often borrowing words from Duna but with changed meanings.[2]
- ^ Huli at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c Goldman, Laurence (1983). "Talking about talk". Talk Never Dies: The Language of Huli Disputes. London and New York: Tavistock Publications. pp. 254–257. ISBN 978-0422782104. OCLC 993340993.