Gapun

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Gapun
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Gapun
Location within Papua New Guinea
Coordinates: 4°01′43″S144°30′11″E / 4.028746°S 144.50304°E / -4.028746; 144.50304 (Gapun) Coordinates: 4°01′43″S144°30′11″E / 4.028746°S 144.50304°E / -4.028746; 144.50304 (Gapun)
Country Papua New Guinea
Province East Sepik Province
LLG Marienberg Rural LLG
Languages
 •  Main languages Tok Pisin and Tayap
Time zone UTC+10 (AEST)

Gapun is a village in Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, located near the mouth of the Sepik River. The language isolate Tayap is traditionally spoken in Gapun by the Tayap people. Gapun village is the sole Tayap settlement, while all other neighboring villages are inhabited by non-related ethnic groups. [1] The sociolinguistic history of the village has been presented in textbooks as a case study on how and why language shift and language death occur. [2]

Contents

The village is called Saŋgap in the Kopar language. [3] :47

In 2018, the village was burned down and abandoned due to violence among households. The former residents fled to the nearby villages of Wongan ( 3°59′58″S144°31′56″E / 3.999326°S 144.532123°E / -3.999326; 144.532123 (Wongan) ), Watam ( 3°54′24″S144°32′43″E / 3.906592°S 144.545246°E / -3.906592; 144.545246 (Watam) ), and Boroi. [3] :16

Geography

Gapun is located on a small hill overlooking the southern banks of the Sepik. The hill on which Gapun is located is part of a plateau that stretches from the village of Bosmun ( 4°10′35″S144°38′55″E / 4.176323°S 144.648727°E / -4.176323; 144.648727 (Bosmun Community School) ) in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province in the east to Gapun in the west. The hill used to be an island a few thousand years ago before alluvial sediment deposits pushed the coastline further northeast. [1]

The village is located about 10 kilometers from the coast with an estimated a population of 110 in 1992. [4]

Languages

Tok Pisin is now the primary language spoken in Gapun, but Tayap was historically the primary language spoken within the village.

Gapun is the only village where Tayap, a language isolate, is spoken. Gapun is currently undergoing a language shift from Tayap to Tok Pisin, since the Tayap people associate Tok Pisin with Christianity and modernity, while they associate their own traditional language with paganism and "backwardness." [5] Further contributing to the decline of Tayap is the fact that it is not spoken in any other neighboring villages, as Gapun is surrounded by Lower Sepik-Ramu languages such as Kopar, Watam, and especially Adjora. [1] :202

See also

Related Research Articles

Tayap language

Tayap is an endangered Papuan language spoken by fewer than 50 people in Gapun village of Marienberg Rural LLG in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. It is being replaced by the national language and lingua franca Tok Pisin.

The Ramu–Lower Sepika.k.a.Lower Sepik–Ramu languages are a proposed family of about 35 Papuan languages spoken in the Ramu and Sepik river basins of northern Papua New Guinea. These languages tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.

The Yalë language, also known as Nagatman, is spoken in northwestern Papua New Guinea. It may be related to the Kwomtari languages, but Palmer (2018) classifies it as a language isolate.

Waris or Walsa is a Papuan language of northern New Guinea.

Languages of Papua New Guinea Languages of a geographic region

Papua New Guinea, a sovereign state in Oceania, is the most linguistically diverse country in the world. According to Ethnologue, there are 839 living languages spoken in the country. In 2006, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare stated that "Papua New Guinea has 832 living languages ." Languages with statutory recognition are Tok Pisin, English, Hiri Motu, and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Tok Pisin, an English-based creole, is the most widely spoken, serving as the country's lingua franca. Papua New Guinean Sign Language became the fourth officially recognised language in May 2015, and is used by the deaf population throughout the country.

Lower Sepik languages

The Lower Sepik a.k.a. Nor–Pondo languages are a small language family of East Sepik Province in northern Papua New Guinea. They were identified as a family by K Laumann in 1951 under the name Nor–Pondo, and included in Donald Laycock's now-defunct 1973 Sepik–Ramu family.

Awtuw (Autu), also known as Kamnum, is spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. It is a polysynthetic language closely related to Karawa and Pouye. It is spoken in Galkutua, Gutaiya, Kamnom, Tubum, and Wiup villages in Kamnom East ward, East Wapei Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.

Mundugumora.k.a.Biwat is a Yuat language of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in Biwat village of Yuat Rural LLG, East Sepik Province.

DeraAKAMangguar and Kamberataro (Komberatoro) is a Senagi language of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In Papua New Guinea, it is primarily spoken in Kamberataro village, Amanab Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.

Kopar is a Lower Sepik language of Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea.

Murik a.k.a. Nor is a Lower Sepik language spoken in Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in Murik ward of Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, which is located around a large coastal lagoon.

The Lower Ramu or Ottilien–Misegian languages consist of two branches in the Ramu language family. They are all spoken in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

KambotAKAAp Ma, is a Keram language of Papua New Guinea. Compared to its nearest relative, Ambakich, Kambot drops the first segment from polysyllabic words.

Kombio is a Torricelli language spoken by a decreasing number of people in Papua New Guinea, as people shift to Tok Pisin. It also goes by the name Endangen. Mwi dialect is divergent, but there is some degree of difficulty in comprehension between other major dialects as well.

Mufian, or Southern Arapesh, is an Arapesh language (Torricelli) of Papua New Guinea. Dialects are Supari, Balif, Filifita (Ilahita), Iwam-Nagalemb, Nagipaem; Filifita speakers are half the population, at 6,000 in 1999. It is spoken in 36 villages, most of which are located within Bumbita-Muhian Rural LLG, East Sepik Province. It is also spoken in Supari ward of Albiges-Mablep Rural LLG.

Bosman is a Ramu language of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken five villages of Dongan ward, Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province.

Marangis a.k.a. Watam is a Ramu language of Papua New Guinea. Like Bosmun, it shares a number of irregular plural markers with the Lower Sepik languages, supporting the proposal of a Ramu – Lower Sepik language family.

Papi is an alleged Sepik language spoken in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Glottolog leaves it unclassified.

Buna is a Torricelli language of Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

Marienberg Rural LLG Local-level government in Papua New Guinea

Marienberg Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. The Marienberg languages are spoken in this LLG, as well as various Lower Sepik-Ramu languages and the isolate Tayap.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.
  2. ↑ Kulick, Don (2019). A Death in the Rainforest: How a Language and a Way of Life Came to an End in Papua New Guinea. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books. ISBN   9781616209049.
  3. 1 2 Kulick, Don; Terrill, Angela (2019). A Grammar and Dictionary of Tayap: The Life and Death of a Papuan Language. Pacific Linguistics 661. Boston/Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Inc. ISBN   9781501512209.
  4. ↑ Kulick, Don (1992). Anger, gender, language shift and the politics of revelation in a Papua New Guinean village. Pragmatics 2:3.281-296.
  5. ↑ Kulick, Don (1992). Language shift and cultural reproduction: socialization, self, and syncretism in a Papua New Guinean village. Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521414845.
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