The Markham Languages of Papua New Guinea

Book excerpt: The main aims of this work are to establish the status of the Austronesian languages of the Markham Valley and its hinterland and of the upper Ramu Valley in Papua New Guinea, in relation to other languages of the Oceanic group, and to delineate their sub-groupings. Descriptions of the phonologies and morphosyntactic systems are provided as the basis for the comparative analysis. A reconstruction of the history of these languages is attempted, using the available linguistic, historical, social and geographical information. The comparative method is used to investigate the relationships between these languages. The material for the study consists of phonological, rnorphosyntactic and lexico-semantic data collected by the writer in the field. Sociolinguistic, cultural and oral historical information was also collected and used as supplementary evidence. Chapter 1 introduces the topics for investigation and outlines the conventions used in the thesis. In Chapter 2 are presented some theoretical considerations, a review of previous work on Markham languages, and an outllne of the methodology used fn data collection and analysis. Chapter 3 presents the Markham language communities in their geographical and social context. The social background of the societies is given in some detail because the languages and their history cannot be considered apart from this social context. The main linguistic data upon which this work is based is presented in Chapter 4 Phonology, and Chapter 5 Morphosyntax. In Chapter 4 are brief phonological sketches of each of the Markham languages. After a discussion of previous reconstructions of Proto Oceanic and Proto Huon Gulf, a reconstruction of the phonology of Proto Markham is outlined, and supporting evidence for the reconstructions is given. Chapter 5 consists of analyses, comparisons and reconstructions of aspects of the Markham languages' morphosyntax. In Chapter 6 the comparisons and contrasts presented in the previous two chapters are drawn together, and the evidence for the internal unity and genetic relationship of the Markham languages is given in detail. Hypotheses about the sub-grouping of the languages are outlined, and evidence supporting these hypotheses is presented. Chapter 7 concludes the study with a summary of the findings. The evidence supports the proposition that the Markham languages form an internally consistent, genetically related unit which is descended from Proto Oceanic, through Proto Huon Gulf. It consists of three groups - Upper Markham, Watut and Lower Markham, of which the Upper Markham and Lower Markham groups are further divided into several sub-groupings. The history of the Markham languages is outlined, and evidence supporting this scenario is provided from linguistics, from oral histories, cultural data and geographical sources.