Konorau

Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute

Situation

Konorau (Koneraw) is spoken in a single village on the south coast of Kolopom island (Voorhoeve 1975: 375,) surrounded on all sides by speakers of Kimaghama of the Kolopom family. Its nearest relative is the better-attested Mombum on Komolom island in the Muli Strait to the east.

Sources

Geurtjens (1933: 398-433) 455 comparative terms for Konerawsch

Susanto (2001) 238 comparative terms for Konorau (Waɣan)

Phonology

Comparative analysis allows us to propose 13 consonants and 5 vowels for Konorau as follows:

m	n
p	t	s	k
mb	nd	ndʒ	ŋg
	r	z	ɣ

i		u
e		o
	a

Pronouns

Geurtjens (1933: 430-431) gives pronouns for Konerawsch as follows:

1 sg.	no
2 sg.	ju
3 sg.	uŋgumi
1 pl.	ni
2 pl.	imu
3 pl.	[tonteː]

Geurtjens' third person plural really means “all” (q.v. pp. 426-427.) The separability of the plural suffix on the second person is based upon comparison to Mombum (q.v. Drabbe 1950: 562.) No case forms are given.

Verbal morphology

Nothing is known about Konorau verbal morphology.