[Anthropgrad] Pre-Field Seminar by Darja Hoenigman this Friday (17 Oct 08)

[Sin Wen Lau]

Anthropology Friday Seminar Series, Semester 2, 2008
Milgate Room, AD Hope
17 October 2008, 3 pm

'Language Variation and Social Identity in Kanjimei, East Sepik 
Province, Papua New Guinea'
Pre-Field Seminar by DARJA HOENIGMAN, PhD Candidate, Anthropology, RSPAS

Kanjimei is a small, largely endogamous community in the East Sepik 
Province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of 270 people speaking Awiakay, 
a Papuan language belonging to the Arafundi group. While Tok Pisin, 
which is one of the national languages and a /lingua franca/ in Papua 
New Guinea, has achieved a significant position in two neighbouring 
communities, it does not have a considerable impact in Kanjimei.

In my project I will investigate the socio-cultural continuity and 
change in Kanjimei and its relatedness to the patterns of linguistic 
differentiation that I will find there. I will examine the current 
functional situation of the local language in comparison with Tok Pisin. 
Within that, I will investigate the forces which encourage the spread of 
Tok Pisin, as well as those that appear to promote continued use of 
local language within the community. I will also study speech varieties, 
such as 'mountain talk', 'avoidance register' etc., and their relation 
to the overall social scene.

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Lau Sin Wen
Department of Anthropology
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT0200
Australia

Telephone : +61-2-6125-3271
Fax	 : +61-2-6125-4896
Email	 : sinwen.lau at anu.edu.au
Website	 : http://rspas.anu.edu.au/anthropology
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