Languages of Papua New Guinea

A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Wagi [fad] Language

Statement of Responsibility:
Spencer, Juliann, Sara Van Cott, Bonnie MacKenzie and Guillermo Muñoz
Series Issue:
2011-041
Issue Date:
2011
Date Created:
2009
Extent:
48 pages
Abstract:
The SIL-PNG survey team, along with Guillermo Muñoz, undertook a sociolinguistic survey of the Wagi [fad] language area in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea from 4–9 March 2009. The goals of this survey were to evaluate current language vitality, confirm language and dialect boundaries, and evaluate the level of potential community support for a language-development project. These goals were accomplished by conducting individual and group interviews with Wagi speakers, eliciting wordlists in the Wagi language, and observing language use within Wagi communities. Results indicate that the vitality of the Wagi language has been decreasing and is likely to continue to decrease in the coming years. There are two dialects within the Wagi language area, but there is a high degree of lexical similarity and good comprehension between speakers of the two dialects. The Wagi people appear to have the leadership structure and motivation necessary to support a language-development project.
Publication Status:
Published
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Content Language:
Work Type:
Nature of Work:
Part of Series:
SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2011-041
Entry Number:
43057