Doromu language

Doromu, or Doromu-Koki, is a Manubaran language spoken in the Papuan Peninsula in 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.

Phonology

Doromu has 17 phonemes: 12 are consonants and 5 are vowels.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Doromu consonants.

Vowels

Below is a chart of Doromu vowels.

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.

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.

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'.