Huli language
| Huli | |
|---|---|
| Region | Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea |
| Ethnicity | Huli people |
Native speakers | 150,000 (2011) |
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. 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.