Why and how do languages expand, coalesce or die? Lisu in China, Burma, Thailand and India. This project extends Australian leadership of international co-operation in language contact research. Practical outcomes include a pandialectal dictionary of Lisu and literary materials which provide in-depth background on the languages, cultures, religions and history of East, Southeast and South Asia. Like most nations, Australia has many indigenous and migrant languages which are under threat, many wi ....Why and how do languages expand, coalesce or die? Lisu in China, Burma, Thailand and India. This project extends Australian leadership of international co-operation in language contact research. Practical outcomes include a pandialectal dictionary of Lisu and literary materials which provide in-depth background on the languages, cultures, religions and history of East, Southeast and South Asia. Like most nations, Australia has many indigenous and migrant languages which are under threat, many with dialect issues that further complicate the situation. The findings of this project may be directly applied for the maintenance and revitalisation of our indigenous languages, nearly all of which are now struggling for survival, and in similar efforts for migrant languages.Read moreRead less
Community languages in early 21st Century Australia. Drawing on the 2001 and earlier censuses, three in-depth studies and a survey of community institutions, this project will provide an up-to-date assessment of the use and maintenance levels of a range of community languages and of Australia's changing language demography. It will test models of language maintenance/shift and the impact of census question changes on the calculation of language shift. It will contribute to the international lite ....Community languages in early 21st Century Australia. Drawing on the 2001 and earlier censuses, three in-depth studies and a survey of community institutions, this project will provide an up-to-date assessment of the use and maintenance levels of a range of community languages and of Australia's changing language demography. It will test models of language maintenance/shift and the impact of census question changes on the calculation of language shift. It will contribute to the international literature in the field as well as to a greater understanding of our own community. The latter will allow an informed approach to Australian language policy issues in the early twenty-first century.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
Dialect variation in Javanese: an integrated historical-linguistic and typological analysis. Australia has the highest concentration outside Indonesia of researchers engaged in the study of Java and this project will strengthen Australia's position as the premier Anglophone centre of Javanese Studies world wide. This project will also enhance Australia's position as a leader of academic research in Australasia by highlighting Australia's positive contribution to the study of Indonesia's cultural ....Dialect variation in Javanese: an integrated historical-linguistic and typological analysis. Australia has the highest concentration outside Indonesia of researchers engaged in the study of Java and this project will strengthen Australia's position as the premier Anglophone centre of Javanese Studies world wide. This project will also enhance Australia's position as a leader of academic research in Australasia by highlighting Australia's positive contribution to the study of Indonesia's cultural history. International links will be strengthened through cooperation between scholars in Australia and Indonesia. Research results will feed into the teaching programs in Indonesian Studies at the University of Melbourne and will strengthen Indonesian Studies across Australia.Read moreRead less
Interpreting spoken Aboriginal English: the communicative role of intonation. This project will produce new knowledge about the ways Aboriginal English speakers use intonation (speech melody) to communicate meanings. This knowledge will improve our understanding of potential linguistic sources of miscommunication between speakers of Aboriginal English varieties and speakers of mainstream English. It will also contribute to an increased appreciation in Australia and abroad of the unique linguisti ....Interpreting spoken Aboriginal English: the communicative role of intonation. This project will produce new knowledge about the ways Aboriginal English speakers use intonation (speech melody) to communicate meanings. This knowledge will improve our understanding of potential linguistic sources of miscommunication between speakers of Aboriginal English varieties and speakers of mainstream English. It will also contribute to an increased appreciation in Australia and abroad of the unique linguistic structures of Aboriginal English, which are reflective of the continuity and maintenance of the distinct cultural perspectives of Aboriginal Australians. Read moreRead less
The South East Barito languages of Indonesia and Madagascar: safeguarding their past and future. This project strengthens Australia's position as the pre-eminent Anglophone centre of Indonesian Studies worldwide and enhances its position as a research leader in Indian Ocean studies. It will build links between scholars in Australia, Indonesia, Europe and Madagascar, and its results will feed into Indonesian studies teaching programs.
Tai, Sino-Tai and Sino-Tibetan: the Nature of Historical Relationship. What is the relationship between Chinese and Tai? Where did they originate? What is the position of Tai in Sino-Tibetan? The project will advance our present knowledge by conducting empirical investigations of these issues. Using a heuristic approach combining several methods, it will shed light on how Chinese and Tai have interacted and developed diachronically over 2,000 years. The model developed will open a window on th ....Tai, Sino-Tai and Sino-Tibetan: the Nature of Historical Relationship. What is the relationship between Chinese and Tai? Where did they originate? What is the position of Tai in Sino-Tibetan? The project will advance our present knowledge by conducting empirical investigations of these issues. Using a heuristic approach combining several methods, it will shed light on how Chinese and Tai have interacted and developed diachronically over 2,000 years. The model developed will open a window on the early history of Chinese and Tai languages and cultures, and will facilitate cross-linguistic comparison and explain linguistic complexities underpinning linguistic affiliation and language development.Read moreRead less
Semantic categories: Exploring the history of the Baining languages of Island Melanesia. The project adds to our knowledge of the historical, linguistic and ethnic relationships within Island Melanesia, thus contributing directly to our understanding of the complexities of this region. This regional focus expands Australia's expertise in Melanesian research, and reaffirms Australia's leading position in this area. Such expertise attracts outstanding international students and researchers to Aust ....Semantic categories: Exploring the history of the Baining languages of Island Melanesia. The project adds to our knowledge of the historical, linguistic and ethnic relationships within Island Melanesia, thus contributing directly to our understanding of the complexities of this region. This regional focus expands Australia's expertise in Melanesian research, and reaffirms Australia's leading position in this area. Such expertise attracts outstanding international students and researchers to Australia, strengthens the Australian research community, and increases the international visibility of Australian-based research. Furthermore, studying semantic categories provides a unique insight into how speakers of different languages categorise the world around and within them, thereby facilitating intercultural understanding.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354738
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Digital Endangered Cultural Materials Network: Working group on digital research methodologies for endangered ethnographic material of the Asia-Pacific region. The initiative aims to develop new synergies and improved methods to record, archive and give access to endangered cultural material by bringing together practitioners in information technology, field research and regional stakeholders. Through e-publication of our workshop results, the compilation of an online resource guide and provisio ....Digital Endangered Cultural Materials Network: Working group on digital research methodologies for endangered ethnographic material of the Asia-Pacific region. The initiative aims to develop new synergies and improved methods to record, archive and give access to endangered cultural material by bringing together practitioners in information technology, field research and regional stakeholders. Through e-publication of our workshop results, the compilation of an online resource guide and provision of working metadata model for networked digital media archives, we will promote the best existing tools and approaches for analysis of media content and develop new tools and approaches as required for practical outcomes.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453247
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$205,800.00
Summary
Digital archiving equipment for PARADISEC research archive of Asia-Pacific region audio recordings. The project develops equipment, systems and procedures for cross-institutional digital preservation and sharing of Australian researchers' field recordings of endangered languages and musics of the Asia-Pacific area. Despite diversity of content, common needs exist for future management of our primary research data, not only in migration from analogue to digital recording formats but also in devel ....Digital archiving equipment for PARADISEC research archive of Asia-Pacific region audio recordings. The project develops equipment, systems and procedures for cross-institutional digital preservation and sharing of Australian researchers' field recordings of endangered languages and musics of the Asia-Pacific area. Despite diversity of content, common needs exist for future management of our primary research data, not only in migration from analogue to digital recording formats but also in developing research applications of emerging technologies for digital media indexing, transcription and analysis, as well as content management and remote access protocols. The results will lay the groundwork for a future national facility for regional research recordings and pioneer methodologies for non-bibliographic research information infrastructure.Read moreRead less