[Mihalic] Yet another TP site / what to do next

[John Burton]

Good points Don on the online sources you point out. 

 

Sorry, all, for so little progress with Mihalic in 2006-2007. What I HAVE
done is to locate the A$500 that I earned last year from (i) a handful of
captions for an exhibition at the NGA and (ii) some minor translation work
for Human Rights Watch. I have set aside the money for this project and the
Dept. of Linguistics is holding onto it. However, Andy Pawley, who was
helping us, has now retired and I am informed this money has to be
transferred elsewhere soon.

 

What we need is a volunteer to go to see the SVD principal in Hagen, Jan
Szweda, and again set out the proposal to register an association under the
PNG Associations Incorporation Act (putting my $500 towards this) called
'The Mihalic Tok Pisin Dictionary Association'. The SVD appears to assert
rights over Mihalic's literary estate and we need its blessing to proceed. I
have been going back a forth to Porgera via Hagen, but under such a pressure
of work I have been generally unable to get out at Hagen and do this myself.
I did go there in January, but Szweda was away for the week and Stephan
Gerdes answered the door. Stephan is a lay brother who does accounting etc
for the SVD. The draft 'objects of the association' could be these:

 

1.                   to revise, edit and update any or all materials
relating to the Tok Pisin language that are known to be the literary estate
of Frank Mihalic, formerly of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, with a view
to publication in the form of a scholarly dictionary of the Tok Pisin
language, and;

2.                   to conduct or cause to be conducted original research
on all forms of the Tok Pisin language, and;

3.                   to promote the study of the Tok Pisin language through
conferences, workshops, and publications in any media, and;

4.                   to apply the profits (if any) or any other income in
promoting its objects, and;

5.                   to prohibit the payment of any dividend or payment in
the nature of a dividend to its members, and;

6.                   to do all such things as are incidental or conducive to
the attainment of the objects or any of them.

 

It strikes me that once we could get in principle agreement for this from Fr
Szweda it could be taken to the Linguistic Society of PNG meeting in Madang
28-29 Sep 2007 and put up as a LSPNG project. He might even be persuaded to
put up Stephan Gerdes as the Association's interim Treasurer, methinks.

 

Any takers?

 

John Burton

 

From: mihalic-bounces at anu.edu.au [mailto:mihalic-bounces at anu.edu.au] On
Behalf Of Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies
Sent: Monday, 2 July 2007 10:01 PM
To: Tok Pisin list
Subject: [Mihalic] Yet another TP site

 

Or perhaps the 315 articles from the Tok Pisin wikipedia deserve inclusion:

 

http://tpi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

 

Of the 253 languages in which Wikipedia articles exist, Tok Pisin has the
158th largest number of articles.

 

Or the TP Wiktionary:

 

http://tpi.wiktionary.org/wiki/ai

 

Don

 

Don Niles

Acting Director & Senior Ethnomusicologist

Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies

Box 1432

Boroko 111

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

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