Oroha Language and Culture

The particle huni indicates plural (non-singular?). It is placed before the noun. The noun itself carries no extra marking.

huni poo -- some pigs
huni poo na -- the pigs
huni poo Johne na -- John's pigs

huni ru'aru'a -- some baskets
huni ru'aru'a na -- the baskets
huni ru'aru'a Johne na -- John's baskets

huni o'o -- some drums
huni o'o na -- the drums
huni o'o Johne na -- John's drums

Another way to signal a plural definite is with the sequence -ni na.

pooni na -- the pigs
ru'aru'ani na -- the baskets
o'oni na -- the drums
pasoni na -- the bracelets

Sentence examples with huni N na:

Sentence examples with N-ni na:

The combination -ni na seems to be a unit which cannot be broken apart. For instance, in a possessive noun phrase, it is not possible to use -ni na because the possessor noun would intervene.

huni poo Johne na -- John's pigs
* pooni Johne na -- John's pigs

We might expect the same to be true if an adjective follows the noun.

The plural particle huni is not used with a preceding numeral.

rua poo -- two pigs
rua poo na -- the two pigs