<div dir="ltr">Just to clarify: my message refers specifically to *Papua province* (e.g. Jayapura, and the coast along to Sarmi), and not to other areas of western Papua.<div><br><div>Yes other areas of western Papua are very unsafe; but Papua province, or at least the areas I have been in contact with, are quite safe.</div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 10 Aug 2026 at 21:00, <<a href="mailto:lingtyp-request@listserv.linguistlist.org">lingtyp-request@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Send Lingtyp mailing list submissions to<br>
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Today's Topics:<br>
<br>
1. NW New Guinea: the least documented region in the world?<br>
(John Mansfield)<br>
2. Re: NW New Guinea: the least documented region in the world?<br>
(Jocelyn Aznar)<br>
<br>
<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
Message: 1<br>
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2026 05:50:25 +0900<br>
From: John Mansfield <<a href="mailto:jbmansfield@gmail.com" target="_blank">jbmansfield@gmail.com</a>><br>
To: <a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br>
Subject: [Lingtyp] NW New Guinea: the least documented region in the<br>
world?<br>
Message-ID:<br>
<CAJC=rUBY8g3gOgwFJM-RLAzL-XvS8=<a href="mailto:c1hS%2BHhKrBAzRAUqcXeA@mail.gmail.com" target="_blank">c1hS+HhKrBAzRAUqcXeA@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>
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<br>
Dear all,<br>
<br>
I would like to advertise the exceptional current potential for fieldwork<br>
PhDs in Papua province, Indonesia. William Foley (2018: 435) notes that<br>
this may be the least documented region in the world. There are dozens of<br>
undocumented languages, including whole families that are almost totally<br>
undocumented. Furthermore, the region is now quite easily accessible, safe,<br>
and I would say there are almost ideal conditions for fieldwork PhDs.<br>
<br>
>From the little we know about languages in this area (see Foley 2018, The<br>
languages of Northwest New Guinea), it is clear that they are typologically<br>
unusual and morphologically complex. For example in the Tor family, verbs<br>
inflect for time-of-day, proximity, elevation, and gender/number of<br>
multiple participants.<br>
<br>
There are still plenty of fluent speakers for most languages, and<br>
communities that are very keen to welcome anyone who can help them write<br>
their languages. However there is also rapid language shift in the younger<br>
generations, so now is really the time to act.<br>
<br>
To typologists who have potential PhD students looking for a fieldwork<br>
location: please consider the exceptional potential and need of this<br>
region. I would be happy to share more information, and local contacts,<br>
with anyone who might seriously consider fieldwork here. I myself do not<br>
have funding for any PhD positions at the moment.<br>
<br>
John Mansfield<br>
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Message: 2<br>
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:18:23 +0200<br>
From: Jocelyn Aznar <<a href="mailto:contact@jocelynaznar.eu" target="_blank">contact@jocelynaznar.eu</a>><br>
To: <a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br>
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] NW New Guinea: the least documented region in<br>
the world?<br>
Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:5615d678-83c5-4bf9-a135-9b064de7bd7c@jocelynaznar.eu" target="_blank">5615d678-83c5-4bf9-a135-9b064de7bd7c@jocelynaznar.eu</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed<br>
<br>
Dear John, dear everyone,<br>
<br>
While I totally agree with the importance of doing fieldwork in Papua, <br>
I'd be a bit more nuanced than John regarding the current situation.<br>
<br>
The region has been administered by Indonesia since 1963(? if I remember <br>
well), after Dutch colonial rule ended. Note that since 2022, there are <br>
actually six different provinces (Papua, Papua Barat, Papua Tengah, <br>
Papua Pegunungan, Papua Selatan, Papua Barat Daya), and the <br>
conflict/development situation between Papuan populations and the <br>
Indonesian government varies quite a lot from one region to another. As <br>
far as I'm aware, in particular in the central highlands, there is an <br>
active conflict. Coastal areas might be comparatively safe.<br>
<br>
So fieldwork is possible and very important to the documentation of <br>
languages around the world, still I'd recommend anyone interested to get <br>
in touch with researchers already working in the area, for safety <br>
reasons, and also to know the current access situation.<br>
<br>
Best regards,<br>
Jocelyn<br>
<br>
PS: I'm banned from Indonesia for having contributed to the organization <br>
of a colloquium that was discussing what's happening to the Papua <br>
population in the area (people are being displaced, concentrated into <br>
camps, disowned of their lands, killed when protested, if some people <br>
talk about a slow genocide, most people (except the Indonesian <br>
government) agree that there are crimes against humanity happening). And <br>
also, note that if you happen to take a public stance for the Papua <br>
population, not only you will have deal with the retaliations, but your <br>
institution as well, for instance if other researchers in your <br>
institution are working with/in Indonesia, they might get into trouble <br>
to get a VISA or something like that.<br>
<br>
Le 09/08/2026 ? 22:50, John Mansfield via Lingtyp a ?crit?:<br>
> Dear all,<br>
> <br>
> I would like to advertise the exceptional current potential for <br>
> fieldwork PhDs in Papua province, Indonesia. William Foley (2018: 435) <br>
> notes that this may be the least documented region in the world. There <br>
> are dozens of undocumented languages, including whole families that are <br>
> almost totally undocumented. Furthermore, the region?is now quite easily <br>
> accessible, safe, and I would say there are almost ideal conditions for <br>
> fieldwork PhDs.<br>
> <br>
> From the little we know about languages?in this area (see Foley 2018, <br>
> The languages of Northwest New Guinea), it is clear that they are <br>
> typologically unusual and morphologically complex. For example in the <br>
> Tor family, verbs inflect for time-of-day, proximity, elevation, and <br>
> gender/number of multiple participants.<br>
> <br>
> There are still plenty of fluent speakers for most languages, and <br>
> communities that are very?keen to welcome anyone who can help them write <br>
> their languages. However there is also rapid language shift in the <br>
> younger generations, so now is really the time to act.<br>
> <br>
> To typologists who have potential PhD students looking for a fieldwork <br>
> location: please consider the exceptional potential and need of this <br>
> region. I would be happy to share more information, and local contacts, <br>
> with anyone who might seriously consider fieldwork?here. I myself do not <br>
> have funding for any PhD positions at the moment.<br>
> <br>
> John Mansfield<br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
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</blockquote></div>