Casek0627's Blog

Environment in PNG

casek0627 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:01:49 +0000

http://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/press/kokusai/091109.html

Recently

http://books.google.com/books?id=P_1mrjk0IY8C&lpg=PA3194&dq=papua%20new%20guinea&as_brr=3&hl=ja&pg=PA3194#v=onepage&q=papua%20new%20guinea&f=false

Nature of PNG

casek0627 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:45:39 +0000

Papua New Guinea is a tropical country where west side of the southern Pacific Ocean, the landmass is covered in rainforest with flat grasslands, mangrove, swamps and many volcanic islands. There are also numerous rivers and tributaries. The two largest rivers called Sepik (north side) and Fly (south side) are navigable to several hundred kilometers.
In PNG, there are over 9000 species of plant, 250 species of mammals and 700 species of birds, including 38 of the world 43 species of the spectacular Bird of Paradise plus more orchid species than any other countries in the world. But there are only a few species of large mammals.

Introduction population and people

casek0627 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:47:26 +0000

There are about six million people in Papua New Guinea (PNG homepage, 2009). The people of PNG can be divided into two main groups, Paupan and Melanesian, but tehre are a number of other groups who live there. (Encyclopedia of World Geography, 2009)

People in PNG started to live there at least 60000 or 40000 years and they lived their life with hunting or picking wild plants more than cultivating. And people who lived highlands where the most populated place in New Guinea couldn’t have protein from food enough so some of tribes practiced of cannibal. But now they raise livestock like pigs, chickens or dogs. They cultivate sweet potato, taro, yam, sugar cane, edible stem and some kinds of green vegetables.

http://books.google.com/books?id=P_1mrjk0IY8C&lpg=PA3194&dq=papua%20new%20guinea&as_brr=3&hl=ja&pg=PA3194#v=onepage&q=papua%20new%20guinea&f=false

Introduction languages

casek0627 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:46:05 +0000

About languages in PNG, there are over 800 languages and English is an official language in PNG which is used for education, government or business. And there are 2 more official languages in PNG. Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin are those. They are widely spoken throughout the country. And in this thesis, I’m interested in about languages in PNG. In this thesis, I want to try to research about Tok Pisin that is a creolized language in PNG.

Creolized means to form a Creole which is a mother tongue formed from the contact of a European language (especially English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese) with local languages (especially African languages spoken by slaves in the West Indies). And I explain about Tok Pisin with 4 aspects that history vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.

Introduction History

casek0627 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:45:36 +0000

According to the archaeological evidence the first human reached PNG is at least 60,000 years ago. And first contact with European people was in 1512, they are Portuguese explorers. After that it was named New Guinea by the Dutch because of similarities to Africa.

Towards the end of last century, the country was divided between three nations. The Dutch took the Western half (Irian Jaya), the Germans took the northern half (New Guinea) and the British took the southern part (Papua). In 1905, Australia took over the British sector and they captured the German sector during WWI. And PNG gained full independence from Australia in 1975 finally.

References

casek0627 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:07:56 +0000

Diamond, Jared.(1997).GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL The Fates of Human Societies.W.W.Norton & Company: New York

Lal, Brij V. and Fortune, Kate. (2000) The Pacific Islands.

McKinnon, Rowan; Carillet, Jean-Bernard: and Starnes, Dean. (2008). Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Lonely Planet: London. 　http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

PNG Embassy Home page　　http://www.png.or.jp/

Tanaka, Sachiko. (1998). Varieties and Universals of Language. Chubu Nippon kyouiku bunka kai: Nagoya.

Out line 1. Introduction About PNG (ge…

casek0627 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:05:06 +0000

2-1 History
At first I explain about the history of Tok Pisin. Tok Pisin has its origins in the pacific labor trade. 1880 and 1914, thousands of New Guineans work for periods of three years or more on the German plantations of Samoa, where Pidgin English had developed as the working language of a multicultural and multilingual workforce. On returning to New Guinea, they took them knowledge of this language. Pidgin English is also became a language of the plantations the German’s established in coastal New Guinea and the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. Tok Pisin is now learned as a second language in many villages. And in the big towns, it has become creolized. Tok Pisin the simple plantation language in 1920s-1930s was changed into a national language of the Independent Papua New Guinea. (McKinnon, et al., 2008)
So why did Tok Pisin become a national language of PNG? Tanaka (1985) notes that in the 1910’s, Tok Pisin was a simple Pidgin English but it has become a more complicated language and she gives several possible explanations for this.
First, she points out that there no longer intertribal wars so there is a greater need to communicate among tribes in PNG and Tok Pisin is the easiest option to use to communicate to each other. Originally, it was used to communicate in the vertical relationship between white dominator and native people in PNG. But now, it is used in the relationship of equal status.
Secondary, Christian missionary workers translated the New Testament. It made Tok Pisin become a standard language in PNG.
Tanaka’s third reason is that the US armed forces, in order to communicate with the various tribes in PNG, used Tok Pisin for broadcasting announcements. By using Tok Pisin, the various tribes became more accustomed to using Tok Pisin and after the war, the language was used for local government and so became viewed as an official language. One example Tanaka presents is that in discussions of the House of Assembly, from 1964 to1968 Tok Pisin was used 40% of the time, but by 1972~1973, Tok Pisin was used almost exclusively (95%). (Tanaka, 1985)
When the Second Reich formally annexed the Bismarck Archipelago, parts of the Solomon Islands and the north-east New Guinea mainland in 1884, the developing Tok pisin was cut off from English and other varieties of Pidgin English. As a result it acquired much of its present-day distinctive vocabulary, from local languages such as Tolai(or Kuanua) of the Gazalle Peninsula(about 15%) and German(about 5%)

Introduction geography

casek0627 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:28:41 +0000

The total size of PNG is 462,840 square kilometers (it is 1.25 times as large as Japan) and it is quite mountainous country and there are 6.25 million people who live there. In PNG nature, it is a tropical island. There are rainforest, flat grass, mangroves, swamps and volcanoes.

Out line 1. Introduction About PNG…

casek0627 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:16:35 +0000

Out line

1. Introduction
About PNG (geography, population, history, languages)

2. Body – about Tok Pisin
2-1 history
2-2vocabulary
2-3 pronunciation
2-4 grammar

3. Conclusion

1. Introduction

Papua New Guinea is located at latitude 0-14 degrees South and 141-160 degrees East. So it is on north of Queensland in Australia, west of Solomon Islands, east of Indonesia and south of Micronesia. It is occupying eastern part of New Guinea and many small islands.
The total size of PNG is 462,840 square kilometers (it is 1.25 times as large as Japan) and it is quite mountainous country and there are 6.25 million people who live there. In PNG nature, it is a tropical island. There are rainforest, flat grass, mangroves, swamps and volcanoes.
According to the archaeological evidence the first human reached PNG is at least 60,000 years ago. And first　contact with European people was in 1512, they are Portuguese explorers. After that it was named New Guinea by the Dutch because of similarities to Africa.
Towards the end of last century, the country was divided between three nations. The Dutch took the Western half (Irian Jaya), the Germans took the northern half (New Guinea) and the British took the southern part (Papua). In 1905, Australia took over the British sector and they captured the German sector during WWI. And PNG gained full independence from Australia in 1975 finally.
About languages in PNG, there are over 800 languages and English is an official language in PNG which is used for education, government or business. And there are 2 more official languages in PNG. Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin are those. They are widely spoken throughout the country. And in this thesis, I’m interested in about languages in PNG. In this thesis, I want to try to research about Tok Pisin that is a creolized language in PNG.
Creolized means to form a Creole which is a mother tongue formed from the contact of a European language (especially English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese) with local languages (especially African languages spoken by slaves in the West Indies). And I explain about Tok Pisin with 4 aspects that history vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.

2. About Tok Pisin

2-1 History
At first I explain about the history of Tok Pisin. Tok Pisin has its origins in the pacific labor trade. 1880 and 1914, thousands of New Guineans work for periods of three years or more on the German plantations of Samoa, where Pidgin English had developed as the working language of a multicultural and multilingual workforce. On returning to New Guinea, they took them knowledge of this language. Pidgin English is also became a language of the plantations the German’s established in coastal New Guinea and the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. Tok Pisin is now learned as a second language in many villages. And in the big towns, it has become creolized. Tok Pisin the simple plantation language in 1920s-1930s was changed into a national language of the Independent Papua New Guinea. (McKinnon, et al., 2008)
　 WWII
1950s-60s
Late 20th century
today
So why did Tok Pisin become a national language of PNG? Tanaka (1985) notes that in the 1910’s, Tok Pisin was a simple Pidgin English but it has become a more complicated language and she gives several possible explanations for this.
First, she points out that there no longer intertribal wars so there is a greater need to communicate among tribes in PNG and Tok Pisin is the easiest option to use to communicate to each other. Originally, it was used to communicate in the vertical relationship between white dominator and native people in PNG. But now, it is used in the relationship of equal status.
Secondary, Christian missionary workers translated the New Testament. It made Tok Pisin become a standard language in PNG.
Tanaka’s third reason is that the US armed forces, in order to communicate with the various tribes in PNG, used Tok Pisin for broadcasting announcements. By using Tok Pisin, the various tribes became more accustomed to using Tok Pisin and after the war, the language was used for local government and so became viewed as an official language. One example Tanaka presents is that in discussions of the House of Assembly, from 1964 to1968 Tok Pisin was used 40% of the time, but by 1972~1973, Tok Pisin was used almost exclusively (95%). (Tanaka, 1985)
When the Second Reich formally annexed the Bismarck Archipelago, parts of the Solomon Islands and the north-east New Guinea mainland in 1884, the developing Tok pisin was cut off from English and other varieties of Pidgin English. As a result it acquired much of its present-day distinctive vocabulary, from local languages such as Tolai(or Kuanua) of the Gazalle Peninsula(about 15%) and German(about 5%)

References
PNG Embassy Home pagehttp://www.png.or.jp/
Lonely planet http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

http://books.google.co.jp/books?q=tok+pisin

McKinnon, Rowan; Carillet, Jean-Bernard: and Starnes, Dean. (2008). Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Lonely Planet: London.
Tanaka, Sachiko. (1998). Varieties and Universals of Language. Chubu Nippon kyouiku bunka kai: Nagoya.
Lal, Brij V. and Fortune, Kate. (200?) The Pacific Islands.