Doromu language
Doromu, or Doromu-Koki, is a Manubaran language spoken in the "Bird's Tail" of Papua New Guinea. Doromu has about 1,500 native speakers with half of them living in the capital, Port Moresby. It has three varieties: Koki, Kokila and Koriko.[2]
| Doromu | |
|---|---|
| Doromu-Koki | |
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Central Province |
Native speakers | 2000 (2018)[1] |
Trans–New Guinea
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kqc |
| Glottolog | doro1266 |
Phonology
Doromu has 17 phonemes: 12 are consonants and 5 are vowels.[3]
Orthography
From March 18 to March 25 of 2002 in Kasonomu village the current orthography was developed during the Doromu Alphabet Design Workshop. The orthography developed from this workshop were discussed with various areas in the language group and were agreed upon. One problem was how borrowed words with letters not contained in the Doromu orthography would be dealt with. The proposed solution from the native speakers was to spell the loan words as they are spelled in their original language.
| Uppercase letters | A | B | D | E | F | G | I | K | M | N | O | R | S | T | U | V | Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase letters | a | b | d | e | f | g | i | k | m | n | o | r | s | t | u | v | y |
| IPA | /a/ | /b/ | /d/ | /ɛ/ | /f/ | /ɡ/ | /i/ | /k/ | /m/ | /n/ | /o/ | /ɾ/ | /s/ | /t/ | /u/ | /ʋ/ | /j/ |
Verbs
In Doromu verbs may have suffixes, which affect tense, aspect, mood, or switch reference.
Tense affixes
Past Tense
- First person singular is indicated by -(y)aka
- Second and Third person singular are indicated by -(y)o
- First person plural is indicated by -(y)afa
- Second and Third person plural are indicated by -(y)adi
Present Tense
- First person singular is indicated by -da
- Second person singular is indicated by -sa
- Third person singular is indicated by -do
- First person plural is indicated by -sifa
- Second and Third person plural are indicated by -dedi
Past Tense
- First person singular is indicated by -gida
- Second person singular is indicated by -giya
- Third person singular is indicated by -go
- First person plural is indicated by -gifa
- Second and Third person plural are indicated by -gedi
Colors
Below is a table of the names of different colors in Doromu.
| Doromu | English |
|---|---|
| blu | blue |
| bora | yellow, orange |
| braun | brown |
| feo | white |
| gabu | black, blue, brown |
| kaka | red, purple |
| vegu | green |
The words 'blu' and 'braun' are borrowed from another language. The word 'kaka' can also mean ripe. While 'vegu' is also a noun which means 'life'. 'Kamaidaforo' is the word meaning 'colorful, attractive, glittery, sparkling'.
Numbers
| English | Doromu | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| one | yokoi | |
| two | remanu | |
| three | regode | |
| four | vana raro | hand line |
| five | vana berou autu | hand side empty |
| six | vana berou autu yokoi maka | hand side empty one only |
| seven | vana berou autu remanu | hand side empty two |
| eight | vana berou autu regode | hand side empty three |
| nine | vana berou autu vana raro | hand side empty hand line |
| ten | vana ufo | hand clap (two hands together) |
References
- Doromu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Doromu-Koki". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Bradshaw, Robert (2012). Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages Doromu-Koki Grammar Sketch. SIL-PNG Academic Publications Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea.
- Bradshaw, Robert (25 June 2002). "Orthography and Phonology Description" (PDF). SIL International.
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Further reading
- Bradshaw, Robert L. (2012). Doromu-Koki Grammar Sketch. Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages 58. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Lingusitics.