Papuan Descriptive Linguistics of the West Sepik Region. The New Guinea area has an exceptional, but very poorly understood linguistic diversity, over 1000 languages belonging to many unrelated families. This project will fill in gaps through on site fieldwork in Sandaun (West Sepik) Province, linguistically the most genetically diverse and least known province in all of Papua New Guinea. The grammatical descriptions resulting will enrich our understanding of linguistic variation, not only in ....Papuan Descriptive Linguistics of the West Sepik Region. The New Guinea area has an exceptional, but very poorly understood linguistic diversity, over 1000 languages belonging to many unrelated families. This project will fill in gaps through on site fieldwork in Sandaun (West Sepik) Province, linguistically the most genetically diverse and least known province in all of Papua New Guinea. The grammatical descriptions resulting will enrich our understanding of linguistic variation, not only in New Guinea, but in the world as a whole.Read moreRead less
Grammars in contact. The project plans a significant contribution to the study of relationships between languages. It will advance our understanding of our region and the world, fostering cross-cultural communication, to overcome potential miscommunication resulting from different language backgrounds in multicultural and multilingual Australia. This project will enhance study of endangered languages, contributing to the preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity and fortifying the reputa ....Grammars in contact. The project plans a significant contribution to the study of relationships between languages. It will advance our understanding of our region and the world, fostering cross-cultural communication, to overcome potential miscommunication resulting from different language backgrounds in multicultural and multilingual Australia. This project will enhance study of endangered languages, contributing to the preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity and fortifying the reputation of Australia as a 'knowledge nation'. It will strengthen the training of young scholars, future leaders of the Australian linguistic scene, and offer technological and methodological advances for recording and managing data on language relationships.Read moreRead less
The world through the prism of language: a cross-linguistic view of genders, noun classes, and classifiers. Australia is one of the most multilingual and multicultural countries in the world, with several hundred indigenous and immigrant languages. Noun classification devices - ranging from gender systems in familiar Indo-European languages to numeral classifiers in Southeast Asian languages - offer a unique insight into people's categorisation of the world around them. In-depth knowledge of how ....The world through the prism of language: a cross-linguistic view of genders, noun classes, and classifiers. Australia is one of the most multilingual and multicultural countries in the world, with several hundred indigenous and immigrant languages. Noun classification devices - ranging from gender systems in familiar Indo-European languages to numeral classifiers in Southeast Asian languages - offer a unique insight into people's categorisation of the world around them. In-depth knowledge of how speakers of different languages classify objects around them will promote intercultural understanding within Australia and world-wide, allowing us to overcome potential miscommunications due to different language backgrounds, and advancing our understanding of the region and the world (within the National Priority 'Safeguarding Australia'). Read moreRead less