Linguists unite to document islanders' language

October 2004

Languages all over the world are dying as the 'linguistic bulldozers' of widely spoken languages such as English and Spanish crush smaller ones. So fast is the mortality rate, UNESCO now identifies language survival as a high priority. Monash linguist Dr Anna Margetts is helping document the endangered Papua New Guinean language of Saliba-Logea. Michele Martin reports.

As English encroaches on many aspects of daily life in the small Papua New Guinean islands of Saliba and Logea in Milne Bay Province, the traditional language of the islanders is beginning to fade away.

Documenting a threatened language: Dr Anna Margetts. Photo: Melissa Di Ciero

Saliba-Logea, composed of two closely related dialects spoken on the neighbouring islands by an estimated 2500 people, is considered highly endangered as the number of speakers is so small.

And while the degree of endangerment is serious, with English the language taught in schools and a prerequisite for jobs on the mainland, the capacity for documenting the traditional language -- which may be a first step in saving it -- is good.

Dr Anna Margetts, a linguistics lecturer in Monash's School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, is leading a multi-faceted project to document the traditional language and culture of the Saliba and Logea peoples. The project is funded by a grant of almost $500,000 from the German Volkswagen Foundation.

Her team includes Professor Ulrike Mosel, from the University of Kiel in Germany; Associate Professor John Hajek from the University of Melbourne, who is working on phonetics and phonology (representing and studying language sounds); Dr Rhys Gardner from the Auckland Museum, who is responsible for ethno-botany (studying the traditional classification and use of plants); and Mr Andrew Margetts, who is documenting the building and use of sailing canoes.

Over a three-year period, the team will record the language, cultural stories and cultural practices of the islanders, combining audio, video and photo materials. Community members will be involved as transcribers and editors of the captured 'texts', some of which will be turned into books for the local communities.

"The islanders are leading a traditional life of fishing and subsistence farming, and it's still possible to work with the last generation of old speakers who have little or no knowledge of English, as well as with children who speak only Saliba or Logea, at least in the first years of their lives," Dr Margetts says.

"We'll be collecting a wide spectrum of different text types including natural conversations; traditional, personal and historical narratives; public speeches; procedural texts; and interviews; complemented by photo and video documentation of the mentioned activities, places and artefacts."

The project covers six broad areas:

• gathering personal and community histories via interviews with community elders
• recording cultural practices such as parties, feasts, games, dances, fishing, hunting, gardening and house building
• documenting the construction and use of sailing canoes
• collecting mythical accounts about local landmarks such as islands, mountains and stone formations
• collecting texts of ethno-botanical relevance, including descriptions of plants and their uses, and
• researching the speakers' development of a written style for a language with an exclusively oral tradition.

Dr Margetts says it is hoped the project will help strengthen local pride in the traditional language and ensure parents continue teaching it to their children, thus keeping the language alive.

Action

For further information, contact Dr Anna Margetts on +61 3 9905 2290 or email anna.margetts@arts.monash.edu.au.