TITLES & ABSTRACTS: Terry Crowley Memorial Workshop

A Report on Deacon’s materials on some Malakula languages

Julie Barbour, University of Waikato

Cape Cumberland and How It Got That Way

Ross Clark, University of Auckland

Cape Cumberland, the northwestern arm of Espiritu Santo, is home to either five closely related languages (Tryon 1976) or “a single dialectally diverse and geographically dispersed language” (Lynch & Crowley 2001). The language shows complex phonological and lexical divisions and connections within itself, to the island as a whole (especially its western half), and possibly beyond (to the Banks group). The speakers now live in coastal villages, though the interior was inhabited within living memory of the older generation. This movement of population may account for cross-peninsula linguistic connections where there is little or no direct contact today. A report based on existing material and recent fieldwork.

Nahavaq phonology

Laura Dimock, University of Wellington

I look at diphthong-like combinations in Nahavaq (Malakula, Vanutau) and their distribution. Using native-speakers’ judgements on syllable breaking and my analysis of general Nahavaq syllable structure (for non-borrowed words), I find that all the dipthong- like combinations can be interpreted as vowels with the approximants, /j/ and /w/, which given this analysis, have similar distribution to any other of the more canonical consonants. Then considering /j/ and /w/ as consonants, I take another look at Nahavaq syllable structure.

Aspects of Bieria,

Robert Early, University of the South Pacific,

The Bieria language is spoken in the south-west of Epi, Vanuatu. Since an early sketch grammar by Ray (1926), some missionary translations, and a wordlist in Tryon 1976, there has been no significant effort to document this language.

1 A recent survey through the language area indicated that the language is in a serious state of decline. Around 400 people live in the language area, but nearly half of them self- report that they can neither understand or speak the language at all. About 18% indicate that they can speak the language well, but hardly any of these are under the age of 20.

This paper presents further aspects of the current sociolinguistic status of this language, and some of its linguistic features, based on first steps at data collection and analysis.

Language trees and the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database

S. Greenhill, R.D. Gray & R. Blust 1 Department of Psychology, University of Auckland 2 Linguistics Department, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Much of the valuable linguistic data that has been collected over the years is languishing in filing cabinets and is not immediately available to linguists and interested members of the public. Over the last twenty years Blust has collected a large number of Swadesh word lists from . We (Gray & Greenhill) are using this data to construct phylogenetic trees with computational methods adopted from evolutionary biology. As part of this project we have taken this opportunity to “computerise” these word lists and construct a large scale comparative database of this vocabulary (http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz ). This database currently has word lists from 373 languages, for a total of 75,492 words. First, we shall describe some of the technologies required to build a repository such as this. Second, we will talk about the benefits of releasing data onto the internet for collaborative purposes. Finally, we will discuss our plans for expansion and consolidation of this database and make a special plea for more data on Vanuatu languages. A few results from our recent analyses will be presented along the way.

The Distribution of Terms Related to Turmeric (Curcuma domestica): Implications for Oceanic Culture History

Ritsuko Kikusawa and Michiko Intoh, National Museum of Ethnology, Japan

Crowley (1995) discusses the route by which the kava plant was introduced in Oceania, showing that it is necessary to integrate both linguistic and non-linguistic evidence to clarify how a certain plant was introduced and spread into the Pacific. The introduction of turmeric into Oceania provides an interesting case for a similar investigation.

Intoh (2005) describes the cultural significance and the variety of usages of turmeric that are widespread in the Pacific, and concludes that the plant must have been introduced from Southeast Asia. She mentions also the fact that forms indicating turmeric have been reconstructed for Proto-Oceanic. Although it is true that the existence of a reconstructed proto-name implies the existence of the plant and its recognition by the speakers, a

2 detailed examination of the reconstructed forms for turmeric and forms used in currently spoken languages raise some questions. First, as pointed out in Kikusawa and Reid (to appear), there is a disjunction between the forms reconstructed for Proto-Oceanic (POc *de˜(w)a [French- Wright 1983], POc *(y)a˜o [Clark 1986]) and those reconstructed for earlier proto-languages of Austronesian (e.g., PEF *kúnij, **temu for some languages in Indonesia). Second, forms related to turmeric found in Micronesian languages appear to have developed from at least five sources, however, how and when these forms developed are not clear.

In this paper, focusing on Micronesian languages, we will first examine terms related to turmeric (the names of the plant, its products, and processing methods) and try to identify possible historical sources for these forms. Second, we will try to identify possible introduction routes of the plant and trade-networks of processed turmeric reflected in languages.

Clark, R. 1986. "Proto-North-Central Vanuatu interim listing". Typescript and computer printout, University of Auckland. French- Wright, R. 1983. Proto-Oceanic horticultural practices. M.A. thesis, University of Auckland. Intoh, M. 2005. "Cultural significance of turmeric (Curcuma domestica Val.) in the traditional society of Micronesia". Paper presented at the Oceanic Explorations Conference, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, August 1-7,2005. Kikusawa, R. and L. A. Reid. To appear. "Pro to who utilised turmeric, and how?"

Some notes on the linguistic history of Malakula

John Lynch, University of the South Pacific, Port Vila

Until recently, Malakula was perhaps the last linguistic unknown in Vanuatu, with very little data available on most of the languages spoken there. As a result, there has been little written about the internal or external relationships of these languages, and nothing which relies on more than a very small amount of data.

This paper will examine some aspects of the linguistic history of Malakula – or at least of those languages for which I have some data. It will mainly involve comparative phonology and lexicon, since I have not been able to get sufficient data on, nor devote sufficient time to, elements of morphosyntax. Some attempts at internal subgrouping will be made, along with evaluations of previous subgrouping hypotheses; and questions for future descriptive and comparative research will be raised.

3 Issues in translating the Bible into Uripiv

Ross McKerras, SIL

This paper gives a sample of linguistic and cultural problems encountered in the process of translating the New Testament into the Uripiv language of NE Malekula. For me an interesting aspect of this occurred when the Uripiv (/Vanuatu/S Pacific) culture shared things with Bible culture that are not found in modern western culture, such as closeness of family and community ties, closeness to the land, and awareness of the supernatural. One surprising question we had to consider was, can two sisters have the same name? On the language side we had to determine whether to use dual or plural pronouns, and inclusive or exclusive, where our source language gave no indication. Mark Natunmal, the senior translator, was an expert in using serial verbs whose accuracy and elegance enhance the finished translation.

The Associative Construction in Abma

Cindy Schneider, University of New England ([email protected])

Abma is an Oceanic language spoken by about 7,800 people on Pentecost island in Vanuatu (Lynch and Crowley, 2001: 66). The system of possession in Abma is typical of Vanuatu languages in that it has both direct and indirect possession. The latter category has four possessive classifiers: food (ka-); drink (ma-); property (bila-); everything else (no-). There is also an associative classifier, na-, that bears similarities to the above possessive classifiers. It wedges between what are termed the “possessed” and “possessor” NPs:

(1) Watang na-n bwarus kalim. basket ASSOC-3SG.POSS pawpaw five “POSSESSED NP” “POSSESSOR NP” ‘Basket of five pawpaws.’

In Haudricourt’s (1960) study on possessive constructions in Abma, he claims that nan is used between non-persons. In Lolovoli, a similar particle expresses an associative relationship wherein the possessor is non-specific (Hyslop, 2001: 187), and in Fijian it forms part of an indefinite NP (Schütz, 1985: 451). But in Abma, the “possessor” can be both human and specific:

(2) Warubu na-m. heart ASSOC-2SG.POSS ‘Your heart.’

This beggars the question, then, what is the semantic basis for distinguishing na- constructions from those relationships expressed through direct or indirect possession?

4 For example, since warubu ‘heart’ in (2) is a body part, why is it not inalienably possessed?

A comprehensive analysis of na- reveals that, while typically expressing an affiliation between non-specific, non-human entities, it is also used when either the “possessor” or the “possessed” entity is in some way mysterious, unknown, or respected vis-à-vis the larger associative relationship. Hence true possession cannot occur. For example, (2) can be explained by the fact that speakers are unfamiliar with some internal organs (Walter, 1985). The construction is therefore a barometer of cultural attitudes towards human biology, spirituality and religion, social hierarchy, and interpersonal relationships.

HAUDRICOURT, ANDRÉ-G. 1960. Note grammaticale sur la langue de Melsisi, île de Pentecôte, Nouvelles-Hébrides. Journal de la Société des Océanistes, 16.113-16. HYSLOP, CATRIONA. 2001. The Lolovoli dialect of the North-East Ambae language, Vanuatu. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. LYNCH, JOHN and CROWLEY, TERRY. 2001. : A New Survey and Bibliography. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. SCHÜTZ, ALBERT J. 1985. The Fijian Language. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. WALTER, ANNIE. 1985. Images corporelles à travers le vocabulaire anatomique des Surimarani (Centre Pentecôte), ed. by Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer (Mission ORSTOM). 56pp.

PARADISEC and Vanuatu

Nick Thieberger, University of Melbourne

The Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) has built a means for longterm storage of linguistic research material. In this talk I will outline the current Vanuatu holdings in the collection and the way in which we have developed relationships with partner organisations in the Pacific, including the Vanuatu Cultural Centre. I will then discuss how we can modify our research methods to produce good archival data.

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