A Sketch Grammar of Pondi

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

A Sketch Grammar of Pondi A SKETCH GRAMMAR OF PONDI A SKETCH GRAMMAR OF PONDI RUSSELL BARLOW ASIA-PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au ISBN (print): 9781760463830 ISBN (online): 9781760463847 WorldCat (print): 1175268620 WorldCat (online): 1175268668 DOI: 10.22459/SGP.2020 This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The full licence terms are available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Cover photograph by Russell Barlow. This edition © 2020 ANU Press CONTENTS Acknowledgements . ix List of abbreviations . xi List of maps, figures, and tables . xiii 1 . Introduction . 1 1 .1 Organisation . 1 1.2 Previous research on the language . 2 1.3 Methodology . 2 1.4 Orthography and presentation . 3 1.5 Pondi: The language and its speakers . 3 1.5.1 The name of the language . 4 1.5.2 The environment . 4 1 .5 .3 Langam village . 5 1.5.4 The people . 6 1.5.5 Relationships with neighbouring villages and borrowing . 8 1 .5 .6 Variation . 11 1.6 Language vitality . .11 1 .6 .1 UNESCO’s nine factors . 12 1 .6 .2 EGIDS . 12 1 .6 .3 LEI . 13 1.7 Classification . 14 1.8 Typological overview . 18 2 . Phonetics and phonology . 21 2 .1 Consonants . 21 2 .1 .1 Voiceless stops . 22 2 .1 .2 Prenasalised voiced stops . 23 2.1.3 Prenasalised voiced affricate . 24 2 .1 .4 Nasals . 25 2.1.5 Liquid . 26 2 .1 .6 Fricative . 27 2 .1 .7 Glides . 28 2 .2 Vowels . 29 2.2.1 The high front unrounded vowel /i/ . 29 2.2.2 The mid front unrounded vowel /e/ . 30 2.2.3 The low central unrounded vowel /a/ . 30 2.2.4 The mid back rounded vowel /o/ . 31 2.2.5 The high back rounded vowel /u/ . 31 2.2.6 The high central unrounded vowel /ɨ/ . 31 2.2.7 Diphthongs . 32 2.3 Syllable structure . 33 2 .4 Stress . 35 2.5 Morphophonemic processes . 36 2 .5 .1 Vowel coalescence . 36 2 .5 .2 Glide formation . 36 2.5.3 Vowel degemination (or shortening) . .. 37 2.5.4 High central vowel deletion . 37 2.5.5 High vowel gliding . 37 2 .5 .6 Glide insertion . 38 2.5.7 Monophthongisation . 39 2.5.8 Degemination and quasi-degemination . 40 2 .5 .9 Sibilant voicing . 41 2.6 Metathesis . 41 2.7 Lexically determined alternations . 42 3 . Nominal morphology (number) . 43 3.1 Plurals ending in -al . 44 3.2 Plurals ending in -ïl . 46 3.3 Plurals ending in -e . 47 3.4 Plurals ending in -se . 49 3.5 Plurals ending in -ate . 51 3.6 Plurals ending in -ange . 51 3.7 Plurals ending in -une . .. 52 3.8 Non-plural -mo, plural -me . 52 3.9 Plural ending in -mbe . 53 3.10 Non-plurals ending in -m (singulative suffix) . 54 3.11 Suppletive forms . 55 3.12 Additional remarks on nominal number . 55 4 . Verbal morphology . 59 4.1 Basic verbal morphology . 59 4.2 The imperfective aspect . 63 4.3 The perfective aspect . .. 64 4.4 The irrealis mood . 65 4.5 The imperative mood . 66 4.6 The perfect prefix a- . 67 4.7 The detransitiviser prefix l- . 68 4.8 Nonfinite verb forms . 71 4.9 The simultaneous suffix -e . 71 4.10 The conditional suffix -se . 72 4.11 The locative verb p- ‘be (at)’ . 73 4.12 The motion verbs i- ‘come’ and mal- ‘go’ . 74 5 . Other word classes . 75 5 .1 Adjectives . 75 5.1.1 Adjectival number morphology . 77 5.1.2 The derivational suffix -wï ‘-like’ . 78 5.2 Pronouns . 79 5.2.1 Personal pronouns . 79 5.2.2 Reflexive/reciprocal pronouns . 80 5.2.3 Possessive pronouns . 81 5.2.4 Intensive pronouns . 83 5.2.5 Indefinite/interrogative pronouns . 84 5 .3 Determiners . 85 5 .3 .1 Deictic demonstratives . 85 5.3.2 Subject markers and object markers . 87 5.3.3 Quantifiers . 88 5 .4 Postpositions . 90 5 .5 Adverbs . 94 5 .5 .1 Temporal adverbs . 95 5 .5 .2 Locative adverbs . 97 5.5.3 Other adverbs . .. 98 5 .6 Negators . 100 5 .7 Interrogative words . 100 5.8 Conjunctions . 101 5.9 Numerals . 103 6 . Phrase-level syntax . 109 6.1 Noun phrases . .109 6.1.1 Nominal number . 110 6 .1 .2 Possession . 112 6.2 Verb phrases . 113 6.2.1 Auxiliary verbs . 113 6.2.2 Compound verbs . 118 6.2.3 Equational constructions . 121 6.3 Adpositional phrases . 122 7 . Clause-level syntax . 125 7.1 Basic constituent order . 125 7.2 Core argument alignment . .. 127 7.3 Obliques . 128 7 .4 Ditransitive alignment? . 131 7.5 Monoclausal (or simple) sentences . 134 8 . The syntax of sentences . 135 8 .1 Complex sentences . 135 8 .1 .1 Coordination . 135 8.1.2 The functional equivalent of relative clauses . 136 8.1.3 Permissive constructions . .137 8.1.4 Subordination . 138 8.1.5 Simultaneous action . 139 8 .1 .6 Parataxis . 140 8.2 Questions . 141 8.3 Commands and requests . .. 145 8 .4 Negation . 149 8.5 Reported speech . 151 8 .6 Conditional sentences . 154 9 . Lexicon . 157 9.1 Pondi-to-English word list . 157 9.2 English-to-Pondi finder list . 170 Swadesh 100-word list . .. 181 Swadesh 200-word list . .. 185 Standard SIL–PNG word list (190 items) . 191 References . 197 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Above all, I have to thank the Pondi speakers who patiently and enthusiastically shared their language with me—in particular, Clement Katram, Bonny Koiama, and Robert Kupoa. I must also thank Mr Thomas Ambata and Mrs Betty Ambata of the Manu Primary School for accommodating us while we worked on documenting the language. Some of the research that led to this sketch grammar was conducted while I was a PhD student at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Thanks to my amazing dissertation committee for teaching me how to write a reference grammar, and above all to Lyle Campbell. My field research in Papua New Guinea in 2016 was supported in part by a Firebird Foundation fellowship, for which I am also grateful. The remainder of the research leading to this grammar I undertook as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany. I would especially like to thank Russell Gray for his continued support and encouragement. Thanks also to Bill Foley for coaxing me to the Sepik in the first place, and to Timothy Usher for our lively discussions about the linguistic prehistory of the region and for his helpful comments on an earlier draft. The present work has been greatly improved by the comments of Bruno Olsson as well as an anonymous reviewer. ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS The following abbreviations have been used in the glosses of Pondi. Wherever possible, the conventions of the Leipzig Glossing Rules (Comrie et al. 2008) have been followed. 1 1st person obj object (or ‘non-subject’) 2 2nd person obl oblique 3 3rd person pfv perfective cond conditional pl plural (or ‘more than two’) detr detransitiviser poss possessive du dual prf perfect fut (immediate) future proh prohibitive imp imperative q question indf indefinite refl reflexive int intensive sg singular ipfv imperfective sim simultaneous irr irrealis subj subject neg negative/negator vol volitive npl non-plural (‘less than three’) The following is a list of other abbreviations used in this book. EGIDS Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale excl exclusive f feminine incl inclusive IPA International Phonetic Alphabet ISO International Organization for Standardization LEI Language Endangerment Index m masculine NP noun phrase PARADISEC Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures PNG Papua New Guinea PP postpositional phrase xi A SKETCH GRAMMAR OF PONDI sp. species (not necessarily used in a scientific sense) SVC serial verb construction TAM tense-aspect-mood TP Tok Pisin VP verb phrase xii LIST OF MAPS, FIGURES, AND TABLES Maps Map 1.1. Papua New Guinea ................................5 Map 1.2. Langam village and its neighbours .....................6 Figures Figure 1.1. The Keram family ...............................17 Tables Table 1.1. Pondi’s endangerment according to UNESCO’s nine factors ........................................12 Table 1.2. Pondi’s endangerment according to the LEI ............13 Table 1.3. Keram pronouns ................................15 Table 1.4. Proto-Keram pronouns compared with non-cognate forms. 16 Table 1.5. Keram deictics ..................................16 Table 1.6. Keram suppletive alternation for the word ‘thing’ ........16 Table 1.7. Keram TAM suffixes .............................17 Table 2.1. Pondi consonants (in practical orthography) ...........22 Table 2.2. Pondi vowels (in practical orthography) ...............29 Table 3.1. Final segments in Pondi nominal plurals ..............56 xiii A SKETCH GRAMMAR OF PONDI Table 3.2. Final segments in Pondi nominal plurals (grouped allomorphically) .............................56 Table 4.1. Basic TAM suffixes in Pondi ........................60 Table 4.2. Paradigms for verbs with nasal-final stems .............61 Table 4.3. Paradigms for verbs with stems ending in (covert) -m .....61 Table 4.4. Verbal prefixes ..................................62 Table 4.5. Paradigms for i- ‘come’ and mal- ‘go’ .................74 Table 5.1. Adjectives ......................................76 Table 5.2. Irregular adjectives ...............................78 Table 5.3. The derivational suffix-wï ‘-like’ ....................78 Table 5.4. Personal pronouns ...............................80 Table 5.5. Reflexive/reciprocal pronouns ......................80 Table 5.6. Possessive pronouns for non-plural possessum ..........81 Table 5.7.
Recommended publications
  • Names a Person, Place, Thing, Or an Idea. A. Common Noun – Names Any One of a Group of Persons, Places, Things, Or Ideas
    Name: __________________________________________ Block: ______ English II: Price 1. Noun – names a person, place, thing, or an idea. a. Common noun – names any one of a group of persons, places, things, or ideas. b. Proper noun – names a particular person, place, thing, or idea. c. Compound noun – consists of two or more words that together name a person, place, thing, or idea. d. Concrete noun – names a person, place, thing that can be perceived by one or more of the senses. e. Abstract noun – names an idea, a feeling, a quality, or a characteristic. f. Collective noun – names a group of people, animals, or things. 2. Pronoun – takes the place of one or more nouns or pronouns. a. Antecedent – the word or word group that a pronoun stands for. b. Personal pronouns – refers to the one(s) speaking (first person), the one(s) spoken to (second person), or the one(s) spoken about (third person). Singular Plural First person I, me, my, mine We, us, our, ours Second person You, your, yours You, your, yours Third person He, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its They, them, their, theirs c. Case Forms of Personal Pronouns – form that a pronoun takes to show its relationship to other words in a sentence. Case Forms of Personal Pronouns Nominative Case Objective Case Possessive Case Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural First Person I We Me Us My, mine Our, ours Second Person You You You You Your, yours Your, yours Third Person He, she, it they Him her it them His, her, hers, its Their, theirs d.
    [Show full text]
  • RAPID ASSESSMENT of AVOIDABLE BLINDNESS and DIABETIC RETINOPATHY REPORT Papua New Guinea 2017
    RAPID ASSESSMENT OF AVOIDABLE BLINDNESS AND DIABETIC RETINOPATHY REPORT Papua New Guinea 2017 RAPID ASSESSMENT OF AVOIDABLE BLINDNESS AND DIABETIC RETINOPATHY PAPUA NEW GUINEA, 2017 1 Acknowledgements The Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) + Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) was a Brien Holden Vision Institute (the Institute) project, conducted in cooperation with the Institute’s partner in Papua New Guinea (PNG) – PNG Eye Care. We would like to sincerely thank the Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia for providing project funding, PNG Eye Care for managing the field work logistics, Fred Hollows New Zealand for providing expertise to the steering committee, Dr Hans Limburg and Dr Ana Cama for providing the RAAB training. We also wish to acknowledge the National Prevention of Blindness Committee in PNG and the following individuals for their tremendous contributions: Dr Jambi Garap – President of National Prevention of Blindness Committee PNG, Board President of PNG Eye Care Dr Simon Melengas – Chief Ophthalmologist PNG Dr Geoffrey Wabulembo - Paediatric ophthalmologist, University of PNG and CBM Mr Samuel Koim – General Manager, PNG Eye Care Dr Georgia Guldan – Professor of Public Health, Acting Head of Division of Public Health, School of Medical and Health Services, University of PNG Dr Apisai Kerek – Ophthalmologist, Port Moresby General Hospital Dr Robert Ko – Ophthalmologist, Port Moresby General Hospital Dr David Pahau – Ophthalmologist, Boram General Hospital Dr Waimbe Wahamu – Ophthalmologist, Mt Hagen Hospital Ms Theresa Gende
    [Show full text]
  • Hurrian Language
    Ilse Wegner Introduction to the Hurrian Language Forward: Among the numerous languages of ancient near east, Hurrian is an important one, but in contrast to Akkadian or Hittite there are few investigations of this language, and summary works documenting present knowledge are non-existent. The present “Introduction” shall then be interested in providing access to the grammar as reflected in present research. Many grammatical phenomena that are introduced here may however in the future be modified or even completely reevaluated by others, especially since the study of the Hurrian language is strongly contested. A scientific grammar in the strict sense is not included in this introduction. The previous aids to the learning of Hurrian are however all out-of-date (?) and derive from three grammars and one glossary as well as from numerous scattered published articles. Works that introduce grammar to the student by means of largely coherent text fragments do not exist. These details shall here be taken into account. As reading pieces artificially formed sample sentences are not used. The sample texts originate primarily from the Mittani letters and a few examples of the Bo!azköy texts. Following after a strictly grammatical portion comes a series of transcriptions, with a translation and a commentary provided as lessons. Lessons 1-10 are text passages from the Mittani letters, Lesions 11-13 originate from the Hurrian-Hittite bilinguals of Bo!azköy, and lesson 14 treats the Ti"atal-Inscription. The text passages that are taken from the Mittani letters are not arranged by content criteria, but instead suitable text fragments are chosen so that the grammatical material progresses from introductory to difficult.
    [Show full text]
  • The Languages of Melanesia: Quantifying the Level of Coverage
    Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication No. 5 (December 2012) Melanesian Languages on the Edge of Asia: Challenges for the 21st Century, ed. by Nicholas Evans and Marian Klamer, pp. 13–33 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/sp05/ 2 http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4559 The languages of Melanesia: Quantifying the level of coverage Harald Hammarström Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthopology Sebastian Nordhoff Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthopology The present paper assesses the state of grammatical description of the languages of the Melanesian region based on database of semi- automatically annotated aggregated bibliographical references. 150 years of language description in Melanesia has produced at least some grammatical information for almost half of the languages of Melanesia, almost evenly spread among coastal/non-coastal, Austronesian/non- Austronesian and isolates/large families. Nevertheless, only 15.4% of these languages have a grammar and another 18.7% have a grammar sketch. Compared to Eurasia, Africa and the Americas, the Papua- Austronesian region is the region with the largest number of poorly documented languages and the largest proportion of poorly documented languages. We conclude with some dicussion and remarks on the documentational challenge and its future prospects. 1. INTRODUCTION. We will take Melanesia to be the sub-region of Oceania extending from the Arafura Sea and Western Pacific in the west to Fiji in the east – see the map in figure 1.1 This region is home to no fewer than 1347 (1315 living + 32 recently extinct) attested indigenous languages as per the language/dialect divisions of Lewis (2009), with small adjustments and adding attested extinct languages given in table 1.
    [Show full text]
  • New Latin Grammar
    NEW LATIN GRAMMAR BY CHARLES E. BENNETT Goldwin Smith Professor of Latin in Cornell University Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis, ut cito dicta Percipiant animi dociles teneantque fideles: Omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat. —HORACE, Ars Poetica. COPYRIGHT, 1895; 1908; 1918 BY CHARLES E. BENNETT PREFACE. The present work is a revision of that published in 1908. No radical alterations have been introduced, although a number of minor changes will be noted. I have added an Introduction on the origin and development of the Latin language, which it is hoped will prove interesting and instructive to the more ambitious pupil. At the end of the book will be found an Index to the Sources of the Illustrative Examples cited in the Syntax. C.E.B. ITHACA, NEW YORK, May 4, 1918 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The present book is a revision of my Latin Grammar originally published in 1895. Wherever greater accuracy or precision of statement seemed possible, I have endeavored to secure this. The rules for syllable division have been changed and made to conform to the prevailing practice of the Romans themselves. In the Perfect Subjunctive Active, the endings -īs, -īmus, -ītis are now marked long. The theory of vowel length before the suffixes -gnus, -gna, -gnum, and also before j, has been discarded. In the Syntax I have recognized a special category of Ablative of Association, and have abandoned the original doctrine as to the force of tenses in the Prohibitive. Apart from the foregoing, only minor and unessential modifications have been introduced. In its main lines the work remains unchanged.
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of the Implementation of the OLPG &
    ONSTITUTIONAL AND C LAW REFORM COMMISSION A Review of the Implementation of the OLPG & LLG: A Six Provinces Survey MONOGRAPH NO. 1 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LAW REFORM COMMISSION OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA MONOGRAPH 1 REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OLPG & LLG ON SERVICE DELIVERY ARRANGEMENTS: A SIX PROVINCES SURVEY Edited by DR LAWRENCE KALINOE ii Published in Port Moresby by: Constitutional and Law Reform Commission Level 1, Bank South Pacific Building, Boroko National Capital District Website: www.clrc.gov.pg Telephone: (675) 325 2862 (675) 325 2840 Fax: (675) 325 3375 Email: [email protected] [email protected] The Constitutional and Law Reform Commission is a successor to the Law Reform Commission and the Constitutional Development Commission. It was established in 2005 pursuant to provisions of the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission Act (No. 24 of 2004) that was enacted on 24 th November, 2004 and proclaimed into force in March 2005. ISBN: 9980-9900-7-4 © 2009 Government of Papua New Guinea The text in this document (excluding the coat of arms) may be reproduced free of charge in any medium to the extent allowed under Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000. The material must be acknowledged as State copyright and the title of the document acknowledged. iv Foreword _________________ There has been concerns raised about the state of affairs in the system of decentralization that we now have under the current Organic Law on Provincial and Local-level Governments – essentially that under this current system, delivery of basic government provided services such as in health, education, transportation, communication, etc., have deteriorated and that the current system is not functioning well.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to the Scranton Preparatory School English Entrance Exam
    A Guide to the Scranton Preparatory School English Entrance Exam Kathleen M. Mihailoff Parts of Speech ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Noun ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Proper Noun .................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Common Noun ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Abstract Noun ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Concrete Noun ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Collective Noun .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 Pronoun ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Personal Pronoun ........................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Writing Revolution
    9781405154062_1_pre.qxd 8/8/08 4:42 PM Page iii The Writing Revolution Cuneiform to the Internet Amalia E. Gnanadesikan A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication 9781405154062_1_pre.qxd 8/8/08 4:42 PM Page iv This edition first published 2009 © 2009 Amalia E. Gnanadesikan Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Amalia E. Gnanadesikan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 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, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks.
    [Show full text]
  • Grammar & Mechanics Handbook
    Grammar and Mechanics Handbook Voyages in English 2018 Voyages All rights reserved. 631 © Grade 6 www.voyagesinenglish.com Grammar Grammar Adjectives An adjective points out or describes a noun. That building is tall. Adjective Phrases An adjective phrase is a prepositional phrase that describes a noun or pronoun. See PHRASES. Articles An article points out a noun. See ARTICLES. Common Adjectives A common adjective expresses an ordinary quality of a noun or pronoun: fast car, delicious hamburger. Comparison of Adjectives Most adjectives have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive degree of an adjective shows a quality of a noun or pronoun. Elephants are large animals. The actor is famous. Those rings are valuable. The comparative degree is used to compare two items or two sets of items. This form is often followed by than. Whales are larger than elephants. The dancer is more famous than the actor. The bracelets are less valuable than the rings. Voyages in English 2018 Voyages The superlative degree is used to compare three or more items or sets of items. Whales are the largest mammals. All rights reserved. The singer is the most famous performer in the show. The necklaces are the least valuable of all the jewelry. 632 • Grammar and Mechanics Handbook © Grade 6 www.voyagesinenglish.com Grammar The adjectives few, fewer, and fewest are used to compare nouns that can be counted. Note that these nouns are plural in form. Kara made a few cookies for the bake sale. Joel made fewer cookies than Kara did. Keesha made the fewest cookies of anyone in class.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of the Variations from Standard English Pronunciation In
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 064 751 24 CB 500 005 AUTHOR Williams, Frederick, Ed.; And Others TITLE An Analysis of the Variations fromStandard English Pronunciation in the Phonetic Performance of Two Groups of Nonstandard-English-SpeakingChildren. Final Report. INSTITUTION Texas Univ., Austin. Center forCommunication Research. SPONS, AGENCY Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. Bureau of Research. BUREAU NO BR-0-0336 PUB DATE Jul 71 GRANT OEG -32615-0050-5010(607) NOTE 206p. EDRS PRICE NF-$0.65 BC-$9.87 DESCRIPTORS *American English; *Articulation Ppemict4;*Dialect Studies; *Ninwity Group Children; Negro Dialects; *Nonstandard Dialects; Phonology; Sociolinguistics; Spanish Speaking; Speech Habits ABSTRACT In this second of two studiesconducted with portions of the National Speech and Hearing Survey data,the investigators analyzed the phonetic variants from standardAmerican English in the speech of two groups of nonstandard Englishspeaking children. The study used samples of free speech andperformance on the Gold-Fristoe Test of Articulation from a group of192 Black children Wades 1-6 from Niagara Falls, New York, and a group of192 Mexican-American children (grades 1-6) from San Antonio, Texas.The study reports the frequencies of omission, substitution, anddistortion. The present data is compared with the previously reportedresults obtained from standard American English speakers from Marshall, Iowa.The major conclusion is that all phonetic variationsfrom standard American English can be attributed to one of thefollowing sources of variation: (1) reduction in the complexity of segments,which usually decreases with age; (2) differing phonologicalrules between standard English and a dialect of English; and (3)phonetic interference between a foreign primary language and English.
    [Show full text]
  • Omase Region
    PAPUA NEW GUINEA NATIONAL DISASTER CENTRE MOMASE REGION REPORT ON RAPID ASSESSMENT OF DROUGHT & FROST IMPACTS, 30 AUGUST TO 11 SEPTEMBER, 2015 Woman washing clothes in stagnat water, Momase Region Dagua Dried vegetation on Long Island Processing sago on Koil Island Compiled by: Vini Talai- NDC Team Leader, Ray Kangu- Department of Health, Elick Guaf- NARI, Major Michael Marai- PNGDF, Gerard Ng- UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and Justine Nankinga, UNICEF 1.0 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Key Objective ........................................................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Assessment Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.0 STATISTICS OF AFFECTED PROVINCES......................................................................................................... 6 3.0 KEY FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................................ 7 3.1 GENERAL ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................................................. 7 3.2 FOOD SECURITY ......................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Languages of Melanesia: Quantifying the Level of Coverage
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication No. 5 (December 2012) Melanesian Languages on the Edge of Asia: Challenges for the 21st Century, ed. by Nicholas Evans and Marian Klamer, pp. 13–33 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/sp05/ 2 http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4559 The languages of Melanesia: Quantifying the level of coverage Harald Hammarström Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthopology Sebastian Nordhoff Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthopology The present paper assesses the state of grammatical description of the languages of the Melanesian region based on database of semi- automatically annotated aggregated bibliographical references. 150 years of language description in Melanesia has produced at least some grammatical information for almost half of the languages of Melanesia, almost evenly spread among coastal/non-coastal, Austronesian/non- Austronesian and isolates/large families. Nevertheless, only 15.4% of these languages have a grammar and another 18.7% have a grammar sketch. Compared to Eurasia, Africa and the Americas, the Papua- Austronesian region is the region with the largest number of poorly documented languages and the largest proportion of poorly documented languages. We conclude with some dicussion and remarks on the documentational challenge and its future prospects. 1. INTRODUCTION. We will take Melanesia to be the sub-region of Oceania extending from the Arafura Sea and Western Pacific in the west to Fiji in the east – see the map in figure 1.1 This region is home to no fewer than 1347 (1315 living + 32 recently extinct) attested indigenous languages as per the language/dialect divisions of Lewis (2009), with small adjustments and adding attested extinct languages given in table 1.
    [Show full text]