Korafe language
Korafe is a Papuan language spoken in Oro Province, in the "tail" of Papua New Guinea. It is part of the Binanderean family of the Trans–New Guinea phylum of languages. Korafe or could also be called Kailikaili, Kaire, Korafe, Korafi, Korape, and Kwarafe is a language spoken in the Oro Province more specifically in the Tufi District, and Cape Nelson Headlands.
Korafe has been heavily influenced by Oceanic languages.
Speakers
For the people that lived of the Korafe language lived with three main principles:- Self-sustaining economy
- Responsibilities and such go beyond one generation and can be passed down to one's children and so on and so forth
- Belief in magic powers as well as a spirit world that are involved in a good well being for the community
Phonology
Consonants
The orthography is written in angular brackets where it differs from the IPA.| front | central | back | |
| Open | a | ||
| Mid | e̞ | o̞ | |
| Close | i | u |
Stress
- Stress on syllables comes on different syllables depending on the amount of syllables
- The accent mark also helps to show the location of said syllable that is being stressed
- * The first syllable is stressed when the word itself has 2 syllables
- ** Example: gháka ‘canoe’ jáinjain ‘chirp of a cricket’
- * The second syllable is stressed when the word itself has more than 2 syllables
- ** Example: genémbo ‘man’, gegénembo ‘men’, tatárigho ‘echo’, ufóngufongu ‘iguana’
- * Also the first syllable is stressed when it uses the syllable pattern
Orthography
| Uppercase letters | A | B | D | E | F | G | Gh | I | J | K | M | N | O | R | S | T | U | V | Y |
| Lowercase letters | a | b | d | e | f | g | gh | I | j | k | m | n | o | r | s | t | u | v | y |
| IPA |
Grammar
The Korafe language has primarily SOV or Subject-Object-Verb word order. An example of the use of Subject-Object-Verb word order is shown below:Pronouns
Interrogatives
Stems and Verbs
For stem verbs I the structure of that verb would be said root word followed by -e, -i, or -u.Stem II verbs are normally somewhat close to Stem I verbs but with a few changes whether it be a vowel shift, reduplication etc. Normally, removes one of the vowels which are most likely -u, or -i
Verbs follow serial verb construction, or basically using more than 1 verb next to each other in a clause.
Non-Finite Verb">Nonfinite verb">Non-Finite Verb Forms
Positive Deverbals
When creating a positive deverbal it is a root word followed by the suffix -ari.Negative Deverbals
Negative versions of Positive Deverbals are the same structurally but just has a different suffix which for negatives is -aeVerb Formation
In Korafe only one heavy syllable is allowedAlmost all imperfective verbs will use the -ere rules
-ere replacement rules
- When the verb is a stem II verb and also follows any of the following order V, CV, VCV, CVCV, VNCV, CVNCV, then the -ere will be put right before the stem word
Nominal and Verb Combinations
Some phrases and expressions can be made with the use nominals and verbs together.| Korafe N+V: | Literal rendering | Free translation |
| isoro e | war make | 'wage war on enemies' |
| saramana e | work do | 'work' |
| dubo mema e | neck pain do | 'feel sad, grieve' |
| Baiboro se | Bible say | 'promise on the Bible' |
| kori se | shout say | 'shout' |
| tirotaroghe | ripples do again | ' slosh, ripple, lap' |
| bainghe | nod do again | 'nod off, bow head' |