New publication from PNG: Mbula-English dictionary

[Rene van den Berg]

New publication: Mbula-English dictionary by Salme and Robert Bugenhagen.

SIL Papua New Guinea would like to announce the publication of the Mbula-English dictionary. Mbula (also known as Mangap or Mangaaba-Mbula) is an Oceanic Austronesian language currently spoken on Umboi Island in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea by some 4500 people. The 742-page dictionary is based on 25 years of fieldwork by Salme and Robert Bugenhagen. The volume contains a vernacular introduction, an English introduction that briefly describes the phonology, morpho-syntax, and major dialectal variations of the language, a Mbula-English section (= the major section), an English-Mbula finderlist, and some semantic field listings: body and plant parts and products, colour terms, environment and geography, houses and buildings, kinship terminology, biblical key terms, quantity classifiers, fauna and flora.

The Mbula-English section of the dictionary is mainly root-based, so most entries contain a number of sub-entries. Meanings are abundantly illustrated with full example sentences, and much cultural information is included. The Mbula language heavily utilizes body-part idioms, and these are well illustrated in the dictionary. For example, the entry for mata 'eye' extends over 12 pages. And like many other languages of Papua New Guinea, the Mbula lexicon contains many very specific verbs of hitting, cutting, and breaking. The dictionary will be of interest to linguists interested in Oceanic Austronesian languages, semanticists, anthropologists, and others interested in the peoples and cultures of Papua New Guinea.

The dictionary is a hardbound volume, and will sell for $30 USA plus cost of shipping, and should be available for purchase by mid-April or the beginning of May. To order, please contact the Book Distribution section of the Language Resources Department of SIL Papua New Guinea, email address: LR-bookdist at sil.org.pg

The dictionary is also available online at http://www.sil.org/pacific/png/abstract.asp?id=49817
For pictures of the authors during a recent celebration, see http://www.sil.org/sil/news/2008/mbula-english-dictionary.htm

Other dictionaries and wordlists of Austronesian languages in PNG that have recently become available include Mapos Buang by Bruce Hooley (over 400 pages), Bunama, Dobu, Iamalele, Maisin, Muyuw, Nehan, Sinaugoro and Sudest. Some of these are scanned copies of existing publications, others represent work in progress. Check the full list of all online documents from SIL PNG at http://www.sil.org/pacific/png/show_subject.asp?pubs=online&code=Linguistics

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

René van den Berg
r.vandenberg at sil.org.pg
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