// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Baruga language say to its friend? "You barug me

Baruga
Bareji
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Oro Province
Native speakers	(2,500 cited 2000–2003)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Binanderean Baruga
Dialects	Tafota Daghoro Bareji Mado
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: bjz – Baruga dgx – Doghoro
Glottolog	baru1268

Baruga, also known ambiguously as Bareji, is a Papuan language spoken in Oro Province, in the "tail" of Papua New Guinea. The four rather divergent dialects are Tafota, Daghoro, Bareji, Mado. They are part of the Binanderean family of the Trans–New Guinea phylum of languages.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless		t		k
	voiced	b	d	dʒ	ɡ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd	ⁿdʒ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	ɸ	s
	voiced	β			ɣ
Flap			ɾ
Approximant				j

• /t, k/ may also be frequently aspirated [tʰ, kʰ].
• /β, ɾ/ may also be heard as [w, l].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i, ĩ		u, ũ
Mid	e, ẽ		o, õ
Low		a, ã

Nasalized vowels are also present.

• Vowels /e, a, o/ may have allophones as [ɛ, ɑ, ɔ].