Understanding Indonesian: developing a machine-usable grammar, dictionary and corpus. Australia's relationship with Indonesia is of great significance. The need for good relationships founded on appreciation of the range of societies and views in modern Indonesia is widely acknowledged. A better knowledge of the languages is essential for this, and so are fast, efficient information gathering systems for processing multilingual sources (including Indonesian text), that can analyse large volumes ....Understanding Indonesian: developing a machine-usable grammar, dictionary and corpus. Australia's relationship with Indonesia is of great significance. The need for good relationships founded on appreciation of the range of societies and views in modern Indonesia is widely acknowledged. A better knowledge of the languages is essential for this, and so are fast, efficient information gathering systems for processing multilingual sources (including Indonesian text), that can analyse large volumes of text. The skills to build such systems exist internationally. Through collaboration with established international teams, we plan to transfer cutting-edge skills in the development of machine-useable grammars to Australian researchers, and to create the language resources essential for understanding Indonesian.Read moreRead less
A Typological Study of the Sound Systems of the New Guinea-Melanesia Area. This project aims to complete the first detailed cross-linguistic study of the sound systems of the New Guinea Melanesia area. More than one quarter of the world's languages are spoken in this region which remains very little known from a linguistics perspective. Results of this study should have important ramifications for our understanding of: (1) the nature of languages in the region, and of language in general (2) ph ....A Typological Study of the Sound Systems of the New Guinea-Melanesia Area. This project aims to complete the first detailed cross-linguistic study of the sound systems of the New Guinea Melanesia area. More than one quarter of the world's languages are spoken in this region which remains very little known from a linguistics perspective. Results of this study should have important ramifications for our understanding of: (1) the nature of languages in the region, and of language in general (2) phonological description and theory (3) phonological description and theory (4) linguistic diffusion and influence in an area that extends from Eastern Timor to Vanuatu and New Caledonia.Read moreRead less
The Baining languages: a window on the history of Island Melanesia. Papua New Guinea is Australia's nearest neighbour. The province of East New Britain is one of Papua New Guinea's most economically important regions due to its significant natural resources. However, it is also home to long-standing ethnic tensions over the distribution of land and resources. This project will increase Australia's understanding of the languages, cultures, history and politics of the province, and strengthen Aust ....The Baining languages: a window on the history of Island Melanesia. Papua New Guinea is Australia's nearest neighbour. The province of East New Britain is one of Papua New Guinea's most economically important regions due to its significant natural resources. However, it is also home to long-standing ethnic tensions over the distribution of land and resources. This project will increase Australia's understanding of the languages, cultures, history and politics of the province, and strengthen Australia's ability to make informed economic and political decisions in the area. The project will reinforce Australia's leadership in the field of Melanesian Studies, train postgraduate students, and strengthen strategic ties in the region.Read moreRead less
New Guinea's place in Southeast Asia: a study integrating archaeology, linguistics and genetics. The multi-disciplinary research will develop an historical context for understanding present-day processes of cultural interaction in eastern Indonesia. Understanding Australia's past, and that of its neighbours, is a clear need for our country. The Onin Peninsula of western New Guinea (within Indonesia's Papua Barat Province) is the focus of multi-disciplinary research, involving archaeology and lin ....New Guinea's place in Southeast Asia: a study integrating archaeology, linguistics and genetics. The multi-disciplinary research will develop an historical context for understanding present-day processes of cultural interaction in eastern Indonesia. Understanding Australia's past, and that of its neighbours, is a clear need for our country. The Onin Peninsula of western New Guinea (within Indonesia's Papua Barat Province) is the focus of multi-disciplinary research, involving archaeology and linguistics, and incorporating human genetics to better understand the historical construction of identity within this region westward to Island Southeast Asia over the last 10,000 years and to develop closer ties with researchers in our neighbouring country.Read moreRead less