[Lingtyp] NW New Guinea: the least documented region in the world?

[John Mansfield]

Dear all,

I would like to advertise the exceptional current potential for fieldwork
PhDs in Papua province, Indonesia. William Foley (2018: 435) notes that
this may be the least documented region in the world. There are dozens of
undocumented languages, including whole families that are almost totally
undocumented. Furthermore, the region is now quite easily accessible, safe,
and I would say there are almost ideal conditions for fieldwork PhDs.

>From the little we know about languages in this area (see Foley 2018, The
languages of Northwest New Guinea), it is clear that they are typologically
unusual and morphologically complex. For example in the Tor family, verbs
inflect for time-of-day, proximity, elevation, and gender/number of
multiple participants.

There are still plenty of fluent speakers for most languages, and
communities that are very keen to welcome anyone who can help them write
their languages. However there is also rapid language shift in the younger
generations, so now is really the time to act.

To typologists who have potential PhD students looking for a fieldwork
location: please consider the exceptional potential and need of this
region. I would be happy to share more information, and local contacts,
with anyone who might seriously consider fieldwork here. I myself do not
have funding for any PhD positions at the moment.

John Mansfield
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