DOCSLIB.ORG

Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 2

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 2 LINGUISTIC CIRCLE OF CANBERRA PUBLICATIONS EDITORS: S.A. WURi, J. B. HARRIS, N. O. MALMQVIST, D. C. LAYCOCK SERIES A OCCASIONAL PAPERS NO. 4 PAPERS IN NEW GUINEA LINGUISTICS No.2 by S. A. JURI CANBERRA 1964 THE AU STRALIAN NATIONAL UNlVER SITT Wurm, S.A. editor. Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 2. A-4, iv + 45 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1964. DOI:10.15144/PL-A4.cover ©1964 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. The publications of the Linguistic Circle of Canberra are issued in three series: SERIES A - OCCASIONAL PAPERS SERIES B - MONOGRAPHS SERIES C - BOOKS. All correspondence concerning the Linguistic Circle of Canberra and its publications, including orders and subscriptions, should be addressed to: THE SECRETARY, LINGUISTIC CIRCLE OF CANBERRA, FACULTY OF ORIENTAL STUDIES, THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, CANBERRA, A.C.T. AUSTRALIA. The copyright in the material of this publication is vested in the author or co-authors. The Circle is indebted to the Australian National University tor help in the production of this series. This publication was made possible by a grant from the Hunter Douglas FUnd. TA BLE OF CONTENTS Pa�e RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LINGUISTIC STUDIES ON THE AUSTRALIAN NEW GUINEA MAINLAND, by S. A. WUrm 1 O. INTRODUCTION 1 1. WORK BY LINGUISTS OF THE AU STRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 3 1.1. Work by S. A. WUrm in Languages of the Highlands Di stri cts 3 1. 2. Work by D. C. Laycock in Languages of the Sepik District 6 1.3. Work by A. Healey and P. M. Heal ey in Languages in and ,around 7 the Telefomin Area 1.4. Work by C. Criper in the Chimbu Language 8 1.5. Work by J. Harri s in Northern Kiwai Dialects 8 1. 6 . Research into Methods and Techniques of Linguistic Fi eldwo rk 8 1. 7. Work in Trade Languages of Au stralian New Guinea 8 2. WORK BY MEMBERS OF THE SUMMER INSTITUTE OF LINGUIST­ ICS, AND WORK UN DER THE MICRO-EVOLUTION PROJECT, UNIVERSITY OF WA SHINGTON 9 2.1. General Remarks, and Languages under Study 9 2. 2. Studies by S. I.L. Members, and by K. McKaughan of the Micro-Evolution Studies Project in Co-operation wi th the S. I.L. 9 2.3. Linguistic SUrveys, and Language Courses 10 2.4. Literacy Materials and Translations 10 2.5. Work by W. and L. Oates in the Kapau Language 10 3. WORK BY OTHER LINGUISTS AND BY MISSIONARIES 11 4. WORK FOR THE FUTURE 11 No tes 13 MOTU AND POLICE MOTU, A STUDY IN TYPOLOGICAL CONTRASTS, by S. A. Wurm 19 O. INTRODUCTION 19 ill iv Page 1. MOTU AND POLICE MOTU - CLO SELY RELATED DIALECTS? 19 2. FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR MU TUAL UNINTELLIGIBILITY OF MOTU AND POLI CE MOTU 20 3. DIFFERENCES IN THE STRU CTURE OF MOTU AND POLICE MOTU 21 3. 1. Re ference to the Category of Person 21 3. 2. Tenses, Moods, Aspects and Vo ices of the Verb 23 3. 3. Illustrative Examples to 3.2. 25 3.4. Motu Irregular Verbs 28 3. 5. FUrther Features of the Motu Ve rb 28 3.6 . Motu Verbal Forms with no Police Motu Equivalents 30 3. 7. Cases of Unilateral and Bilateral Intelligibility between Motu and Police Motu on the Verb Level 30 3. S. Indication of Possession 31 3. 9. Poli ce Motu dekena 32 4. CONCLUSIONS 33 No tes 35 Refe rences and Source s 36 GLOS SARY: Ho tu - English 37 Po lice Ho tu - Engl ish 39 Wurm, S.A. editor. Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 2. A-4, iv + 45 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1964. DOI:10.15144/PL-A4.cover ©1964 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LINGUISTIC STUDIES ON THE AUSTRALIAN NEW GUINEA MAINLAND1 S. A. WURM O. INTRODUCTION The first exp eri ences whi ch, towards the end of the nineteenth century, explorers and missionari es had wi th the linguisti c si tuation of what today is Au stral ian New Guinea, created the impression that this comparatively small area was occupied by an enormous multiplici ty of diverse, an d, in many cases, unb elievably intricate and complex languages most of whi ch we re spoken by only a few hundred, or perhap s one or two thousand, speakers. SUb sequent 11nguistic work showed that at least in some instances, it was possible to establish the exi s tence of small groups of interrelated languages and thu s simplify the lin­ guistic picture somewhat, but thi s simplifi cation was more than offset by th e di scovery of more an d more languages spoken by very small sp eech communi ties and apparently not related to each other or to any other known language. Only the large numb er of Melanesian languages spoken along considerable portions of the south- eastern, north-eastern and northern coasts of present-day Au stral ian New Guinea were already at the turn of the century recogni sed as consti tuting a large 11n­ gu isti cally coherent group , 2 which in turn was closely related to the 3 languages of the island wo rl d adj oining New Gu1nea in the east. The numerous an d complex non-MelaneSian, or Papuan, languages of the interior of New Guinea and of some coastal areas, could not be linked with any other known outside languages - a statement which has re­ ma1ned val id to the presen t day. Thi s picture di d not encourage language study, and for a long ti�e, lingui sti c work in the area was largely con fined to attemp ts, mainly by missionar1es, towards the mastery of indivi dual languages. Only a few very ske tchy su rveys of the distribution of language s in some limi ted areas were undertaken, 4 as well as fo�r more systemati c and detai led studi es aimed at the group ing and classi f1cation of vari ed numb ers of languages. 5 Characteri sti cally, the most detai led of the se earl ier studies deals wi th Melanesian Languages of the coast. The systematic and thorough study of the general 11nguistic si tua­ tion in, an d of individual lan guages of, Au stral ian New Guinea was initiated towards the latter part of the last decade by the establish­ ment of two centres of New Guinea linguistics, one at the Au stralian National Un iversi ty in Canb erra, and one at the Summer Insti tute of 1 Wurm, S.A. "Recent Developments in Linguistic Studies on the Australian New Guinea Mainland". In Wurm, S.A. editor, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 2. A-4:1-18. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1964. DOI:10.15144/PL-A4.1 ©1964 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. NEW GUINEA MAINLAND RECENT LINGUISTIC WORK MILES ITIIID 1 ]0 [AsT NEW IiUINEA HIG HLANDS srOCK T "IROAA WASHKUK (KWOM.) 1: 31 � rORE waSERA �����:�t� �����[D TO EAST NEW GUINEA l 32 KA.NITE BIG SEPIK (IATMUl) E3 33 NOU FAMilY (.5 C;UHU-S.MANE lol MANAMBU "UYANA � 6 35 VESAN-MAVO OK FAMilY SEN"-8ENA 16 WArrA � WANT OAT SIANGAI o DISTANTLY RELATED TO OK FAMilY 31 USARUF'A KARAM � 9 38 NORHI EASTERN IOWAI KEWA MANAGAlASI 10 39 � WIRU MAV RIVER OWAM) KAPAU 11 40 GADSUP CiAIKUNTI 12 41 LINGUISTICALLY UNKNOWN OR VERY LITTLE: !CAMANO MIKARU KNOWN AREAS 13 42 14 AGARABI 43 WAHGI EASTERN FAMilY HUANG GANDJA (kANDAWOJ 15 U EC KUHIHAIPA ERAP EAST-CENTRAL FAMILY 16 45 GAHUKU SALT-lUI 17 46 CENTRAL FAMilY 18 BINUHARIA 47 UPPER MANAGAlASI we AWA UNGUNA WEST-CENTRAL FAMILY 19 48 TELEFOMIN MANGGA BUANG 2tI 49 W CNUAVE MUSAtVAREBA) WESTERN FAMilY 21 50 Wtll DACiA KA 22 51 KARAM-KOaOH-GANTS SlANE MARING 21 DUN A KUTUBU (fOI) U PAW"IA M 25 MIKARU 26 GOllN 'GUMIHEl P ANGATAI PAWAI" 27 BARUA 28 OKS TIF'ALMIN OKSAPMIN fAMilY 2t ,-"su DUMUT UH UNINHABITED 3 Linguistics, now at Ukarumpa in the Eastern Highlands Distri ct of New Gu inea. Th e results of the work carri ed out under the au spices of these two centres has demonstrated that the linguisti c picture of Australian New Gu inea is, in essence, considerably simpl er and clearer than it has been believed to be the case, and that very large groups of more or less closely in terrelated non-Melanesian (or Papuan ) lan­ guages exist in the area. Already before work had started at these centres, it had become kn own that there were some languages in Australian New Gu inea wh ich were spoken by many thousand speake rs each, bu t the results arrived at by studies under the au spi ces of these centres made it clear that such languages were by no means un­ common th ere. The purpose of this paper is to high light some of the results achieved under the auspices Of the two ab ovem en tioned centres of linguistic study in recent years on the Au stralian New Gu inea Main­ land, and it wi ll al so mention recent lingui stic work undertaken in Australi an' New Guinea by people outside the two centres.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Permissive Residents: West Papuan Refugees Living in Papua New Guinea
    Permissive residents West PaPuan refugees living in PaPua neW guinea Permissive residents West PaPuan refugees living in PaPua neW guinea Diana glazebrook MonograPhs in anthroPology series Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/permissive_citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Glazebrook, Diana. Title: Permissive residents : West Papuan refugees living in Papua New Guinea / Diana Glazebrook. ISBN: 9781921536229 (pbk.) 9781921536236 (online) Subjects: Ethnology--Papua New Guinea--East Awin. Refugees--Papua New Guinea--East Awin. Refugees--Papua (Indonesia) Dewey Number: 305.8009953 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by Teresa Prowse. Printed by University Printing Services, ANU This edition © 2008 ANU E Press Dedicated to the memory of Arnold Ap (1 July 1945 – 26 April 1984) and Marthen Rumabar (d. 2006). Table of Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgements xi Glossary xiii Prologue 1 Intoxicating flag Chapter 1. Speaking historically about West Papua 13 Chapter 2. Culture as the conscious object of performance 31 Chapter 3. A flight path 51 Chapter 4. Sensing displacement 63 Chapter 5. Refugee settlements as social spaces 77 Chapter 6. Inscribing the empty rainforest with our history 85 Chapter 7. Unsated sago appetites 95 Chapter 8. Becoming translokal 107 Chapter 9. Permissive residents 117 Chapter 10. Relocation to connected places 131 Chapter 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Mian Grammar
    A Grammar of Mian, a Papuan Language of New Guinea Olcher Sebastian Fedden Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2007 Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics The University of Melbourne Produced on archival quality paper 2 To my parents 3 Abstract This thesis is a descriptive grammar of the Mian language of Papua New Guinea. The corpus data on the basis of which I analyzed the structures of the language and their functions was obtained during nine months of field work in Yapsiei and Mianmin, Telefomin District, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. The areas of grammar I cover in this thesis are phonology (ch. 2), word classes (ch. 3), nominal classification (ch. 4 and 5), noun phrase structure (ch. 6), verb morphology (ch. 7), argument structure and syntax of the clause (ch. 8), serial verb constructions and clause chaining (ch. 9), operator scope (ch. 10), and embedding (ch. 11). Mian has a relatively small segmental phoneme inventory. The tonal phonology is complex. Mian is a word tone language, i.e. the domain for assignment of one of five tonemes is the phonological word and not the syllable. There is hardly any nominal morphology. If a noun is used referentially, it is followed by a cliticized article. Mian has four genders. Agreement targets are the article, determiners, such as demonstratives, and the pronominal affixes on the verb. The structure of the NP is relatively simple and constituent order is fixed. The rightmost position in the NP is reserved for a determiner; e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Library of Congress Subject Headings for the Pacific Islands
    Library of Congress Subject Headings for the Pacific Islands First compiled by Nancy Sack and Gwen Sinclair Updated by Nancy Sack Current to January 2020 Library of Congress Subject Headings for the Pacific Islands Background An inquiry from a librarian in Micronesia about how to identify subject headings for the Pacific islands highlighted the need for a list of authorized Library of Congress subject headings that are uniquely relevant to the Pacific islands or that are important to the social, economic, or cultural life of the islands. We reasoned that compiling all of the existing subject headings would reveal the extent to which additional subjects may need to be established or updated and we wish to encourage librarians in the Pacific area to contribute new and changed subject headings through the Hawai‘i/Pacific subject headings funnel, coordinated at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.. We captured headings developed for the Pacific, including those for ethnic groups, World War II battles, languages, literatures, place names, traditional religions, etc. Headings for subjects important to the politics, economy, social life, and culture of the Pacific region, such as agricultural products and cultural sites, were also included. Scope Topics related to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawai‘i would predominate in our compilation had they been included. Accordingly, we focused on the Pacific islands in Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia (excluding Hawai‘i and New Zealand). Island groups in other parts of the Pacific were also excluded. References to broader or related terms having no connection with the Pacific were not included. Overview This compilation is modeled on similar publications such as Music Subject Headings: Compiled from Library of Congress Subject Headings and Library of Congress Subject Headings in Jewish Studies.
    [Show full text]
  • LCSH Section Y
    Y-Bj dialects Yabakei (Japan) Yacatas Site (Mexico) USE Yugambeh-Bundjalung dialects BT Valleys—Japan BT Mexico—Antiquities Y-cars Yabakei (Japan) Yaccas USE General Motors Y-cars USE Yaba Valley (Japan) USE Xanthorrhoea Y chromosome Yabarana Indians (May Subd Geog) Yachats River (Or.) UF Chromosome Y UF Yaurana Indians BT Rivers—Oregon BT Sex chromosomes BT Indians of South America—Venezuela Yachats River Valley (Or.) — Abnormalities (May Subd Geog) Yabbie culture UF Yachats Valley (Or.) BT Sex chromosome abnormalities USE Yabby culture BT Valleys—Oregon Y Fenai (Wales) Yabbies (May Subd Geog) Yachats Valley (Or.) USE Menai Strait (Wales) [QL444.M33 (Zoology)] USE Yachats River Valley (Or.) Y-G personality test BT Cherax Yachikadai Iseki (Haga-machi, Tochigi-ken, Japan) USE Yatabe-Guilford personality test Yabby culture (May Subd Geog) USE Yachikadai Site (Haga-machi, Tochigi-ken, Y.M.C.A. libraries [SH380.94.Y32] Japan) USE Young Men's Christian Association libraries UF Yabbie culture Yachikadai Site (Haga-machi, Tochigi-ken, Japan) Y maze Yabby farming This heading is not valid for use as a geographic BT Maze tests BT Crayfish culture subdivision. Y Mountain (Utah) Yabby farming UF Yachikadai Iseki (Haga-machi, Tochigi-ken, BT Mountains—Utah USE Yabby culture Japan) Wasatch Range (Utah and Idaho) YABC (Behavioral assessment) BT Japan—Antiquities Y-particles USE Young Adult Behavior Checklist Yachinaka Tate Iseki (Hinai-machi, Japan) USE Hyperons Yabe family (Not Subd Geog) USE Yachinaka Tate Site (Hinai-machi, Japan) Y-platform cars Yabem (Papua New Guinean people) Yachinaka Tate Site (Hinai-machi, Japan) USE General Motors Y-cars USE Yabim (Papua New Guinean people) This heading is not valid for use as a geographic subdivision.
    [Show full text]
  • And Topic Markers Indicate Gender and Number by Means of the Pronominal Article They Follow (Ho-Kwe M.TOP, Ko-Kwe F.TOP and Mo-Kwe PL-TOP)
    The elusive topic: Towards a typology of topic markers (with special reference to cumulation with number in Bolinao and gender in Nalca) Bernhard Wälchli (Stockholm University) [email protected] Helsinki; January 22, 2020 1 The elusive topic: Towards a typology of topic markers (with special reference to cumulation with number in Bolinao and gender in Nalca) Bernhard Wälchli (Stockholm University) Abstract At least since the 1970s, topic has been widely recognized to reflect an important category in most different approaches to linguistics. However, researchers have never agreed about what exactly a topic is (researchers disagree, for instance, about whether topics express backgrounding or foregrounding) and to what extent topics are elements of syntax or discourse or both. Topics are notoriously difficult to distinguish from a range of related phenomena. Some definitions of topic are suspiciously similar to definitions of definiteness, subject, noun and contrast, so the question arises as to what extent topic is a phenomenon of its own. However, topics are also internally diverse. There is disagreement, for instance, as to whether contrastive and non-contrastive topics should be subsumed under the same notion. This talk tries to approach the category type topic bottom-up by considering cross-linguistic functional diversity in marked topics, semasiologically defined as instances of topics with explicit segmental topic markers. The first part of the talk considers the question as to whether topic markers can be defined as a gram type with one or several prototypical functions that can be studied on the basis of material from parallel texts and from descriptive sources.
    [Show full text]
  • Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary Classification, Language Maps, Wordlists
    PACIFIC LINGUISTICS S elLA..e.� B - No. 3 1 LANGUAGES OF IRIAN JAYA CHECKLIST PRELIMINARY CLASSIFICATION, LANGUAGE MAPS, WORDLISTS by C.L. Voorhoeve Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. DOI:10.15144/PL-B31.cover ©1975 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. ------ ---------------------------- PACIFIC LINGUISTICS is published by the Lingui�tic Ci�cte 06 Canbe��a and consists of four series: SERIES A - OCCASIONAL PAPERS SERIES B - MONOGRAPHS SERIES C - BOOKS SERIES V - SPECIAL PU BLICATIONS. EDITOR: S.A. Wurm. ASSOCIATE EDITORS: D.C. Laycock, C.L. Voorhoeve, D.T. Tryon, T.E. Dutton. ALL CORRESPONDENCE concerning PACIF IC LINGUISTICS, including orders and subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Secretary, PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, Department of Linguistics, School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University, Box 4, P.O., Canberra, A.C.T. 2600 . Australia. Copyright � C.L. Voorhoeve. First published 1975. Reprinted 1980. The editors are indebted to the Australian National University for help in the production of this series. This publication was made possible by an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund. National Library of Australia Card Number and ISBN 0 85883 128 7 TAB LE OF CONTENTS
    [Show full text]
  • LCSH Section Y
    Y-Bj dialects UF Mogogodo (African people) Yaburara (Australian people) (May Subd Geog) USE Yugambeh-Bundjalung dialects Mukogodo (African people) [DU125.Y33] Y-cars Mukoquodo (African people) BT Aboriginal Australians USE General Motors Y-cars Siegu (African people) Ethnology—Australia Y chromosome Yaakua (African people) Yabuta Yakushi Iseki (Himi-shi, Japan) UF Chromosome Y BT Ethnology—Kenya USE Yabuta Yakushi Site (Himi-shi, Japan) BT Sex chromosomes Yaakua (African people) Yabuta Yakushi Site (Himi-shi, Japan) — Abnormalities (May Subd Geog) USE Yaaku (African people) This heading is not valid for use as a geographic BT Sex chromosome abnormalities Yaʻar Ḥanitah-Shelomi (Israel) subdivision. Y Fenai (Wales) USE Ḥanitah-Shelomi Forest (Israel) UF Yabuta Yakushi Iseki (Himi-shi, Japan) USE Menai Strait (Wales) Yaʻar Ḳadimah (Israel) BT Japan—Antiquities Y-G personality test USE Ḳadimah Forest (Israel) Yacambú National Park (Venezuela) USE Yatabe-Guilford personality test Yaʻar Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) USE Parque Nacional Yacambú (Venezuela) Y.M.C.A. libraries USE Jerusalem Forest (Jerusalem) Yacan (Philippine people) USE Young Men's Christian Association libraries Yaayuwee dialect (May Subd Geog) USE Yakan (Philippine people) Y maze BT Cameroon—Languages Yacan language BT Maze tests Gbaya language (Ubangi) USE Yakan language Ý Mia (Asian people) Yaba-kei (Japan) Yacarana River (Brazil and Peru) USE Lati (Asian people) USE Yaba Valley (Japan) USE Javari River (Brazil and Peru) Y Mountain (Utah) Yaba Valley (Japan) Yacare caiman BT Mountains—Utah
    [Show full text]
  • 2 the Trans New Guinea Family Andrew Pawley and Harald Hammarström
    2 The Trans New Guinea family Andrew Pawley and Harald Hammarström 2.1 Introduction The island of New Guinea is a region of spectacular, deep linguistic diversity.1 It contains roughly 850 languages, which on present evidence fall into at least 18 language families that are not demonstrably related, along with several iso- lates.2 This immense diversity, far greater than that found in the much larger area of Europe, is no doubt mainly a consequence of the fact that New Guinea has been occupied for roughly 50,000 years by peoples organised into small kin-based social groups, lacking overarching political affiliations, and dispersed across a terrain largely dominated by rugged mountains and swampy lowlands, with quite frequent population movements. Among the non-Austronesian families of New Guinea one family stands out for its large membership and wide geographic spread: Trans New Guinea (TNG). With a probable membership of between 300 and 500 discrete languages, plus hundreds of highly divergent dialects, TNG is among the most numerous of the world’s language families.3 TNG languages are spoken from the Bomberai Pen- insula at the western end of mainland New Guinea (132 degrees E) almost to the eastern tip of the island (150 degrees E). Most of the cordillera that runs for more than 2000 kilometers along the centre of New Guinea is occupied exclusively by TNG languages. They are also prominent in much of the lowlands to the south of the cordillera and in patches to the north, especially from central Madang Province eastwards. There are possible outliers spoken on Timor, Alor and Pantar.
    [Show full text]
  • 2 the Trans New Guinea Family Andrew Pawley and Harald Hammarström
    2 The Trans New Guinea family Andrew Pawley and Harald Hammarström 2.1 Introduction The island of New Guinea is a region of spectacular, deep linguistic diversity.1 It contains roughly 850 languages, which on present evidence fall into at least 18 language families that are not demonstrably related, along with several iso- lates.2 This immense diversity, far greater than that found in the much larger area of Europe, is no doubt mainly a consequence of the fact that New Guinea has been occupied for roughly 50,000 years by peoples organised into small kin-based social groups, lacking overarching political affiliations, and dispersed across a terrain largely dominated by rugged mountains and swampy lowlands, with quite frequent population movements. Among the non-Austronesian families of New Guinea one family stands out for its large membership and wide geographic spread: Trans New Guinea (TNG). With a probable membership of between 300 and 500 discrete languages, plus hundreds of highly divergent dialects, TNG is among the most numerous of the world’s language families.3 TNG languages are spoken from the Bomberai Pen- insula at the western end of mainland New Guinea (132 degrees E) almost to the eastern tip of the island (150 degrees E). Most of the cordillera that runs for more than 2000 kilometers along the centre of New Guinea is occupied exclusively by TNG languages. They are also prominent in much of the lowlands to the south of the cordillera and in patches to the north, especially from central Madang Province eastwards. There are possible outliers spoken on Timor, Alor and Pantar.
    [Show full text]
  • Supplementary Module 2.4 Language Ecology an Introduction to The
    Language Strand Unit 2: The Nature of Language Supplementary Module 2.4 Language Ecology An Introduction to the Ecology of PNG Community Languages Student Support Material LA 2.4 Language Ecology ii Acknowledgements Materials written and compiled by Dr Steve Pickford in consultation with Elizabeth Topa, Holy Trinity PTC, Ben Tamengit, Gaulim PTC and George Kinavai, Madang PTC. Layout and diagrams supported by Nick Lauer. Date: 4 August 2003 PASTEP Primary and Secondary Teacher Education Project Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) GRM International Papua New Guinea-Australia Development Cooperation Program Additional Student Support Material LA 2.4 Language Ecology iii Unit outline Unit # Modules 1 Language Families (Core) Unit 2 2 Spoken and Written Language (Core) The Nature of Language 3 Language Structure (Core) 4 Language Ecology (Optional) Icons Read or research Write or summarise Activity or discussion Additional Student Support Material LA 2.4 Language Ecology iv Contents Part A: An Introduction to the Ecology of PNG Community Languages Introduction: Language Ecology………………………………………………….….1 Reading 1: Vanishing voices – the ecology of language …………………………5 Languages as Memories…………………………………………………………....13 Language as Identities……………………………………………………………....14 Language Ecology and the impact of literacy………………………………….….16 Selecting and encoding a language ……………………………………………….17 Problems of standardisation……………………………………………………...…17 Language Shift……………………………………………………………………….18 Types of Languages……………………………………………………………...….19 Why is it important?………………………………………………………………….21 Appendix 1: Languages of Papua New Guinea List ……………………………..22 Additional Student Support Material LA 2.4 Language Ecology 1 Part A: An Introduction to the Ecology of PNG Community Languages Prerequisites An Introduction to the Ecology of PNG Community Languages (3.3a) is the first of two modules on the topic of Language at Home and at School, within Unit 3: Language as Social Practice.
    [Show full text]
  • Middle Fly and North Morehead Area Study
    MIDDLE FLY AND NORTH MOREHEAD AREA STUDY OK-FLY SOCIAL MONITORING PROJECT REPORT No. 10 for Ok Tedi Mining Limited Original publication details: Reprint publication details: John Burton John Burton Pacific Social Mapping Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Program 49 Wentworth Avenue Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies CANBERRA ACT 2604 Australian National University Australia ACT 0200 Australia Unisearch PNG Pty Ltd Box 320 UNIVERSITY NCD Papua New Guinea October 1995 reprinted October 2004 PREFACE Fieldwork for the Middle Fly and North Morehead area study was undertaken for OTML’s Environment Department over a period of six weeks in March/April 1994 and two weeks in August 1994. This volume is the tenth in a series of reports for the Ok-Fly Social Monitoring Project. Colin Filer’s Baseline documentation. OFSMP Report No. 1 and my own The Ningerum LGC area. OFSMP Report No. 2, appeared in 1991. My Advance report summary for Ningerum-Awin area study. OFSMP Report No. 3, David King’s Statistical geography of the Fly River Development Trust. OFSMP Report No. 4, and the two major studies from the 1992 fieldwork, Stuart Kirsch’s The Yonggom people of the Ok Tedi and Moian Census Divisions: an area study. OFSMP Report No. 5 and my Development in the North Fly and Ningerum-Awin area study. OFSMP Report No. 6, were completed in 1993. In 1993, I gave a precis of our findings to date in Social monitoring at the Ok Tedi project. Summary report to mid-1993. OFSMP Report No. 7. Some material from this and Report No.
    [Show full text]
  • 13Languages of New Guinea
    Languages of New Guinea 13 Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and Tonya N. Stebbins 13.1. Linguistic situation in New Guinea area 239 13.2. Genetic diversity in the New Guinea area 243 13.2.1. The Austronesian languages in New Guinea 243 13.2.2. The Papuan languages in New Guinea 246 13.3. Typological diversity among Papuan languages 250 13.3.1. Phonology 251 13.3.2. Morphology 252 13.3.3. Syntax 255 13.3.4. Documentation 256 13.4. Linguistic diversity and language endangerment in Papua New Guinea 256 13.1. Linguistic Situation in New Guinea Area The New Guinea region (as defi ned below) is one of the most linguistically diverse and complex areas in the world, with over 1,000 languages spoken in an area of about 900,000 square km. About three to four hundred languages spoken there belong to the Austronesian family. Other, non-Austronesian, languages are often referred to as “Papuan” (see Foley 1986: 1–3, 8; 1997a; Dixon 1991: 245). The term “Papuan” is a rough denomination subsuming over sixty language families, which are not demonstrably related, and a fair number of isolates in the area. This term is used for convenience (similarly, perhaps, to terms like “Paleo-Siberian” (§ 20.1, this volume) or “Amazonian” (§ 10.1, this volume)). The island of New Guinea includes the state of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya). The lan- guage area centred on New Guinea stretches from the Halmahera and Timor islands in the west to the Solomon Islands in the east.
    [Show full text]