Meyah: A Language of West Papua, Indonesia (Pacific Linguistics, 619) - Softcover
This book is the first detailed linguistic description of the Meyah language. The Meyah people live in the eastern Bird's Head region of Papua, Indonesia. Although the Meyah had early contact with Western people, specifically the British in the early 18th century and the Dutch in the early 19th century, very little has been written on the language or the people. Indeed, until recently the entire Bird's Head region was the most understudied area of New Guinea in relation to language, ethnography, and the natural sciences. The region is of particular linguistic interest because of its location which forms a convergence zone between Austronesian and Papuan languages. Long term contact between the two linguistic families shows an interesting hybridization between Austronesian and Papuan language features. This description of the Meyah language provides a synchronic snapshot of such diachronic changes taking place in what is presumably a Papuan language. The book begins with a brief comparison between two closely related dialects, Meyah and Moskona. Meyah became a north-coast oriented society, whereas Moskona remained isolated between the southern flank of the Arfak Mountains and the coastal lowlands. Additionally, there are many comparisons made with other eastern Bird's Head languages, such as the amazing array of phonological systems, with at least four different supra-segmental systems briefly mentioned.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherAustralian National University
- Publication date2010
- ISBN 10 0858836254
- ISBN 13 9780858836259
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages324
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