Documentation of Moor, an Austronesian language of Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia

David Kamholz, University of California, Berkeley

Project Details:

Individual Graduate Studentship. Duration: 2010-2013. £25,456

Project Summary:

Moor (ISO-639 mhz) is a virtually undescribed Austronesian language spoken by about 1000 people in southeast Cenderawasih Bay. It is under heavy influence from Indonesian and the youngest generation no longer speaks the language, so it is quite endangered. Moor is unique among Cenderawasih Bay languages in possessing lexical tone. This project aims to document most aspects of Moor. Products will include a corpus of traditional stories, oral histories, and conversation; a trilingual dictionary, including vocabulary for flora, fauna, and cultural items; a sketch grammar; and a description of the tonal system.