Porome
Kibiri
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionGulf Province, Kikori District, near Aird Hills, on several tributaries of Kikori River, villages of Tipeowo, Doibo, Paile, Babaguina, Ero, and Wowa in southern Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
1,200 (2011)[1]
Dialects
  • Porome
  • Kibiri
Language codes
ISO 639-3prm
Glottologkibi1239
ELPKibiri-Porome
Map: The Porome language of New Guinea
  The Porome language (large bay, southern PNG)
  Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited
Coordinates: 7°27′S 144°17′E / 7.450°S 144.283°E / -7.450; 144.283
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Porome, also known as Kibiri, is a Papuan language of southern Papua New Guinea.

Classification

Porome was classified as a language isolate by Stephen Wurm. Although Malcolm Ross linked it to the Kiwaian languages, there is no evidence for a connection apart from the pronouns 1sg amo and 2sg do (cf. proto-Kiwaian *mo and *oro).

Distribution

There are over a thousand speakers in Babaguina (7°28′52″S 144°15′14″E / 7.480977°S 144.254009°E / -7.480977; 144.254009 (Babaguina)), Doibo (7°27′28″S 144°16′18″E / 7.45766°S 144.271731°E / -7.45766; 144.271731 (Doibo/Babeio/Veiru)), Ero (7°26′46″S 144°21′53″E / 7.446131°S 144.364831°E / -7.446131; 144.364831 (Ero)), Paile, Tipeowo, and Wowa (7°24′51″S 144°18′56″E / 7.414287°S 144.315579°E / -7.414287; 144.315579 (Wowou)) villages in West Kikori Rural LLG and East Kikori Rural LLG of Gulf Province, near the Aird Hills and Kikori River tributaries.[2][3]

Phonology

Porome has 9 native consonants. /s/ occurs in loanwords. There are no glottal consonants.[4]

p t k~g~ɣ
b d
v
m n
r
(s)

There are five vowels, which are /a, e, i, o, u/.[4]

Like the surrounding languages, Porome is a tonal language. It has 5 tones.[4]

Pronouns

The independent pronouns and subject suffixes to the verb are as follows:

sg du pl
1 amo, -me amó-kai amó, -ke/-ki
2 do, -ke aia-kai a, -ka
3 da, -a/-bV abo-kai abo, -abo

Vocabulary

Selected Porome vocabulary from Petterson (2010):[5]

Body parts

Porome Gloss
kikimi head
kikimikuro hair
pakai forehead
ipiri kukuro eyebrow, eyelashes
ipiri eye
obokera ear
urubi nose
koropi tooth
beri tongue
kakimoro cheek
iri hand
kaka thumb
iri uraka palm
upuruburowara back
itari back of neck (nape)
eimuro breast
bamakai chest
bakuri belly
koupuri shoulder
kunei thigh
murikara knee
warakero leg
kakapu foot

Numerals

Porome Gloss
tauri 0
wakua 1
kabirai 2
wauteri 3
kaka etekaro 4
irikia wakua 5
irikia wakua, muro wakua 6
irikia wakua, muro kabirai 7
irikia wakua, muro wauteri 8
irikia wakua, muro kaka etekaro 9
irikia kabirai 10

Village and society

Porome Gloss
kuri village
mapi house
erei fire
kumapi stone
wawari creek
meri path
penoni bridge
moia men
eria women
kari boys
mibu girls

Nature and environment

Porome Gloss
bari naka sky
eri ipiro sun
omeri tero moon
okoiri star
keibu waves
momoi clouds
bari epu rain clouds
kakaikapo, neii rain
meremeri lightning
marari, konobori wind
ero land
eii earth, soil
ubi water
kaku river
eimuro bush
erouri island
moki passage
pari sand
oteri cliff
akaburi mountain

Plants

Porome Gloss
kubi tree
aveiri branch
kuri roots
orei leaf
kopo flower
enenei grass
avui cutty grass
makai betelnut
dii coconut
mei sugarcane

Animals

Porome Gloss
bobi pig
kumi dog
bari mei kumo chicken
kaburi frog
barami wallaby
pusi cat
kuiou tree kangaroo
kaiani, keipari rat
imai snake
boribi cuscus
tumaru bandicoot
kana bird-of-paradise
koropeiri cassowary
wamo bush fowl
kubeiri flying fox
kapasikori black cockatoo
marubo hornbill
koribi fish
einakerei centipede
eiamu millipede
morokabi spider
ubatu grasshopper
nepu, mati mosquito
nokoiri fly
enene cicada
bebeiri butterfly
aii sago grub
buburumi sago beetle
mirimabi scorpion
mi crab
timuri prawn
vi cockle, clam
keimu crocodile
akouri river snake
dabeouri sea turtle
ketoko creek turtle
watemu river turtle

Comparison

Lexical comparison of Porome with neighboring languages:[4]

gloss Porome
(isolate)		 Urama
(Kiwaian)		 Rumu
(Turama–Kikorian)		 Ipiko
(Anim)		 Folopa
(Teberan)		 Baimuru
(isolate)
head kikimi / kikima epu wotu abe topo uku
eye ipiri / ipiro idomai ihi uhino kele inamu
house mapi / mapiro moto mi / ve aho be marea
village kuri / kuro vati yɔ / ve vati be paʔiri
place dabu / dabo vati tei vati tiki paʔiri
tree kubi / kubo nuʔa i de ni iri
fire erei / eria era i tae si iʔau
dog kumi / kumo umu ka gaha haɔ oroko
bird kumi / kumo kikio ka tipemu ba nako
water ubi / uburo obo u ogo węi ere
earth ei / ero hepu pɛkɛ / hapu goʔeto hae kae
base makiri / makiro mabu mate kama baale ʔaia
sago i / iro du kɛi du o pu
1s pronoun ámò mo i / na no e̜ na
2s pronoun do ro iki / ka vo (< ɣo) ya̜ ni
3s pronoun da nu a ete / itu / eto a̜ u
1p pronoun àmò nimo name ni da̜ ene
2p pronoun a rio kame ho dia̜ noro
3p pronoun abo ni ame iti atima oro

Comparison of Porome's phonological inventory with those of neighboring languages:[4]

language no. of
consonants		 no. of
vowels		 /h/ /ʔ/
Porome 9 5
Baimuru 7 5 checkY
Rumu 8 7 checkY
Kope 10 5 checkY checkY
Urama 12 5 checkY checkY
Kerewo 13 5 checkY checkY

References

  1. ^ Porome at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
  3. ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  4. ^ a b c d e Petterson, Robert. 2019. Interesting Features of Porome: An Isolate Language of PNG. Paper presented at the LSPNG 2019 Conference. 30pp.
  5. ^ Petterson, Robert. 2010. Porome Daporo Avea Buka = Porome Language Picture Dictionary. Ukarumpa: SIL-PNG.
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