Busa, also known as Odiai or Uriai, is a Papuan language spoken in three hamlets of Sandaun Province's Amanab District in northwestern Papua New Guinea, north of the upper Sepik River and west of Namia, with 370 native speakers recorded in the 2011 census. Its speakers maintain extensive trade and cultural contact with the distantly related Yade language spoken to the north. William Foley's 2018 classification treats Busa as a language isolate, though he does not exclude the possibility of a distant relationship to the Torricelli languages.
Facts
RegionRawei ward, Green River Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea 1 Speaker Count Proto-Language StatusNo proto-language has been reconstructed for Busa. Foley (2018) classifies it as a language isolate (unclassified), not excluding a distant relationship with the Torricelli languages; other proposals place it among the Kwomtari languages. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Busa Language (Papuan)
Wikimedia Foundationlead paragraphQuote, lead paragraph
The Busa language, also known as Odiai (Uriai), is spoken in three hamlets of northwestern Papua New Guinea. There were 244 speakers at the time of the 2000 census.
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