Linguistic Fieldwork in Sanduan Province, Papua New Guinea

Matthew Dryer, University at Buffalo

Project Details:

Major Documentation Project. Duration: 2003-2006. £76,152

Project Summary:

This project involves the continuation of field research that has already begun on two languages in Sandaun Province in Papua New Guinea. The primary goals of the project are twofold: to complete a detailed grammatical description and dictionary of Walman, a language of the Torricelli phylum; and to complete a short dictionary and a publishable grammatical sketch of Poko-Rawo, a language in the Sko phylum.

Ongoing project description:

In the process of documenting these two languages, an attempt will be made to document the cultural knowledge in danger of being lost by not being handed down to younger people in these communities; provide basic literacy materials for use in teaching children in these communities; and train members of these communities in data collection, dictionary making, recording of texts by elders, documentation of cultural activities and transcription of texts from recorded audio tapes.