Languages of Papua New Guinea

Documentation in Two Tonda Sub-group Languages

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Not Available Online
Date Created:
2012-05
Extent:
15
Abstract:
During a language documentation survey in the Tonda region (Morehead district) of Western Province, speakers of two languages were recorded in the border village of Wereavere. One language, Rema [bow], is currently listed as extinct in the Ethnologue. The second language, which most speakers called Ngar, was formerly thought to be spoken only in West Papua. Ngar speakers were eager to inform me that this language originated in Wereavere rather than Sota, the West Papua village to which it is normally attributed. Due to frequent mention of the Kanum people by Ngar speakers and similarity of wordlist data between Ngar and Sota Kanum, I tentatively identified the Ngar language as Sota Kanum [krz]. The people of Wereavere also stated that Rema is the language used for communication between Ngar speakers and their neighbouring language groups Arammba [stk] and Blafe [bfh]. This document is a compilation of the sociolinguistic and lexical data I was given (and briefly researched after the survey) regarding the classification, history, and current status of Ngar and Rema languages.
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Draft (posted 'as is' without peer review)
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IPA Unicode 5.1
Entry Number:
48775