Pacific Linguistics: recent publications

Tue Jan 25 08:05:37 UTC 2005

PACIFIC LINGUISTICS is happy to announce the publication of:

Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages
Gunter Senft, editor

Alive and kicking: Areyonga Teenage Pitjantjatjara
Annie Langois

Innamincka Words: Yandruwandha dictionary and stories
Compiled by Gavan Breen

Innamincka Talk: A grammar of the Innamincka dialect of Yandruwandha 
with notes on other dialects
Gavan Breen

A short grammar of Inanwatan, an endangered language of the Bird's Head 
of Papua, Indonesia
Lourens de Vries

These works are described below.

Prices are in Australian dollars (one Australian dollar is currently
equivalent to about US$ 0.77).
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Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages

Gunter Senft, editor

PL 562

When we communicate, we communicate in a certain context, and this 
context shapes our utterances.  Natural languages are context-bound  
and deixis ‘concerns the ways in which languages encode or 
grammaticalise features of the context of utterance or speech event, 
and thus also concerns ways in which the interpretation of utterances 
depends on the analysis of that context of utterance’ (Stephen 
Levinson).

The systems of deixis and demonstratives in the Oceanic languages 
represented in the contributions to this volume illustrate the 
fascinating complexity of spatial reference in these languages.  Some 
of the studies presented here highlight social aspects of deictic 
reference  illustrating de Leon’s point that ‘reference is a 
collaborative task’ .  It is hoped that this anthology will contribute 
to a better understanding of this area and provoke further studies in 
this extremely interesting, though still rather underdeveloped, 
research area.

2004ISBN 0 85883 551 7vii + 204 pp

Prices: Australia AUD$54.00 (incl. GST)

Overseas AUD$59.40
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Alive and kicking: Areyonga Teenage Pitjantjatjara

Annie Langois

PL 561

The goal of this work is to describe the changes occurring in the 
Pitjantjatjara speech of teenagers in Areyonga, a Central Australian 
community, from both a grammatical and a sociolinguistic point of 
view. The study is based on data collected in 1994 and 1995. At the 
time the data was being collected, the Areyonga community had about 200 
inhabitants, more than half of them under 25 years of age. A key 
question of this work is the extent to which Areyonga Teenage 
Pitjantjatjara is being influenced by contact with English.

In order to identify changes in Areyonga Teenage Pitjantjatjara, 
contemporary speech was compared with several independent descriptions 
of Traditional Pitjantjatjara (and similar neighbouring 
dialects). Personal observations of the author and discussions with 
older Pitjantjatjara people at Areyonga help to round out the picture 
obtained.

The Areyonga population is predominantly young. Most of the older 
people have left the settlement to return to their community of 
origin. As a result, many traditional ways of living have not been 
transmitted fully to the following generation. However there is an 
undeniable striving to reintegrate traditions into the community and 
the teaching of the children. Consequently, there is a constant effort 
to educate children in their first language. What then is the state of 
Areyonga Teenage Pitjantjatjara? This book aims to answer this 
question. 

2004ISBN 0 85883 546 0xiv + 253 pp

Prices: Australia AUD$63.00 (incl. GST)

Overseas AUD$69.30
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Innamincka Words: Yandruwandha dictionary and stories

Compiled by Gavan Breen

PL 559

Innamincka Wordsis one of a pair of companion volumes on Yandruwandha, 
a dialect of the language formerly spoken on the Cooper and Strzelecki 
Creeks and the country to the north of the Cooper, in the northeast 
corner of South Australia and a neighbouring strip of Queensland. The 
other volume is entitled Innamincka Talk: a grammar of the Innamincka 
dialect of Yandruwandha with notes on other dialects.

Innamincka Wordsis for readers, especially descendants of the original 
people of the area, who are interested but not ready to undertake 
serious study of the language. It is also a necessary resource for 
users ofInnamincka Talk.

These volumes document all that could be learnt from the last speakers 
of the language in the last years of their lives by a linguist who was 
involved with other languages at the same time. These were people who 
did not have a full knowledge of the culture of their forebears, but 
were highly competent, indeed brilliant, in the way they could teach 
what they knew to the linguist student. Although the volumes document 
only a small part of a rich culture, they are a tribute to the ability 
and diligence of the teachers.

2004ISBN 0 85883 548 7x + 218 pp

Prices: Australia AUD$54.00 (incl. GST)

Overseas AUD$59.40
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Innamincka Talk: A grammar of the Innamincka dialect of Yandruwandha 
with notes on other dialects

Gavan Breen

PL 558

Innamincka Talk: a grammar of the Innamincka dialect of Yandruwandha 
with notes on other dialectsis one of a pair of companion volumes on 
Yandruwandha, a dialect of the language formerly spoken on the Cooper 
and Strzelecki Creeks and the country to the north of the Cooper, in 
the northeast corner of South Australia and a neighbouring strip of 
Queensland. The other volume is entitled Innamincka Words.

Innamincka Talkis a more technical work and is intended for specialists 
and for interested readers who are willing to put some time and effort 
into studying the language. Innamincka Wordsis for readers, especially 
descendants of the original people of the area, who are interested but 
not ready to undertake serious study of the language.  It is also a 
necessaryresource for users of Innamincka Talk.

These volumes document all that could be learnt from the last speakers 
of the language in the last years of their lives by a linguist who was 
involved with other languages at the same time. These were people who 
did not have a full knowledge of the culture of their forebears, but 
were highly competent, indeed brilliant, in the way they could teach 
what they knew to the linguist student. Although the volumes document 
only a small part of a rich culture, they are a tribute to the ability 
and diligence of the teachers.

2004                                  ISBN 0 85883547 
9                 xvii + 245 pp

Prices: Australia AUD$64.90. (incl. GST)

Overseas AUD$59.00

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A short grammar of Inanwatan, an endangered language of the Bird's Head 
of Papua, Indonesia

Lourens de Vries

PL 560

This short grammar documents the Inanwatan language, an endangered 
language of the Bird's Head of West Papua (Indonesia). It deals with 
major patterns of phonology, morphology and syntax of Inanwatan. It 
also contains a vocabulary, extensive texts and materials from a 
linguistic survey of the Inanwatan district. The introductory chapter 
contains a discussion of the sociolinguistic and historical context of 
the Inanwatan language. Special emphasis is given to the field 
linguistic problems that arise from describing a Papuan language in an 
advanced stage of generational erosion and on the basis of data in 
which Malay and Malayicised vernacular are often very hard to tell 
apart.

2004 ISBN 0 85883 545 2xii + 156 pp

Prices: Australia AUD$39.60 (incl. GST)

Overseas AUD$36.00

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Orders may be placed by mail, e-mail or telephone with:

Publishing, Imaging and Cartographic Services (PICS)
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 Australia

Tel: +61 (0)2 6125 3269 Fax:    +61 (0)2 6125 9975

mailto://Thelma.Sims@anu.edu.au

Credit card orders are accepted.

For our catalogue and other materials, see:

http://pacling.anu.edu.au (under construction)

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Other enquiries (but not orders) should go to:

The Publications Administrator
Pacific Linguistics
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 Australia

Tel: +61 (0)2 6125 2742 Fax: +61 (0)2 6125 4896

mailto://jmanley@coombs.anu.edu.au 

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