Abstract
![CDATA[Austronesian languages of the Markham River valley and neighbouring Papuan languages feature birth--‐order term systems with up to sixteen members. All Papuan languages on the opposite side of the Saruwaged Mountains from the Markham River valley lack birth--‐order term systems, except the dialect of Nungon spoken in a single village, Kotet, in the Uruwa River valley. The birth--‐order terms of Kotet village are clearly cognate with those of Papuan and Austronesian languages on the other side of the mountain range; no other Nungon dialects contain birth--‐ order term systems. Besides the birth--‐order terms, the Kotet lexicon shows little evidence of borrowing from southern languages. Every Papuan language in the region shows different forms, repetitions within systems, and ordering of the birth--‐ order terms, making their trajectory to Kotet village hard to track. Birth--‐order term systems are a uniquely diffusable, and mutable, lexical category in this part of the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea.]]
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 2012 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, 5-7 December 2012, University of Western Australia, Perth |
Publisher | Australian Linguistic Society |
Number of pages | 19 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780980281552 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Event | Australian Linguistic Society. Conference - Duration: 1 Oct 2013 → … |
Conference
Conference | Australian Linguistic Society. Conference |
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Period | 1/10/13 → … |
Keywords
- Papuan languages
- birth order