Documentation of Seke (Ske) - an undescribed and endangered language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Kay Johnson, SOAS

Project Details:

Individual Graduate Studentship. Duration: 2007-2009. £29,550

Project Summary:

Seke is an undescribed, Austronesian language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. It is spoken by approximately 600 people in an area surrounded by speakers of the dominant local language. The project aims are to assemble a corpus of archivable, annotated, audio and video data of different genres: oral histories, ceremonial speech and conversation, to be made in collaboration with local fieldworkers. Research products will include a description of spatial/temporal expressions in Seke, a tri-lingual dictionary, documentation of ethno-botanical information, a sketch grammar and a socio-linguistic survey. Pedagogical materials for language maintenance projects will be produced in consultation with the community.