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    Chapter 2 The Trans New Guinea family

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    Author(s)
    Pawley, Andrew
    Hammarström, Harald
    Contributor(s)
    Palmer, Bill (editor)
    Collection
    European Research Council (ERC); EU collection
    Language
    English
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    Abstract
    The island of New Guinea is a region of spectacular, deep linguistic diversity.1It contains roughly 850 languages, which on present evidence fall into at least 18 language families that are not demonstrably related, along with several iso-lates.2 This immense diversity, far greater than that found in the much larger area of Europe, is no doubt mainly a consequence of the fact that New Guinea has been occupied for roughly 50,000 years by peoples organised into small kin-based social groups, lacking overarching political affiliations, and dispersed across a terrain largely dominated by rugged mountains and swampy lowlands, with quite frequent population movements. Among the non-Austronesian families of New Guinea one family stands out for its large membership and wide geographic spread: Trans New Guinea (TNG). With a probable membership of between 300 and 500 discrete languages, plus hundreds of highly divergent dialects, TNG is among the most numerous of the world’s language families.3 TNG languages are spoken from the Bomberai Pen-insula at the western end of mainland New Guinea (132 degrees E) almost to the eastern tip of the island (150 degrees E). Most of the cordillera that runs for more than 2000 kilometers along the centre of New Guinea is occupied exclusively by TNG languages. They are also prominent in much of the lowlands to the south of the cordillera and in patches to the north, especially from central Madang Province eastwards. There are possible outliers spoken on Timor, Alor and Pantar.
    Book
    The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide
    URI
    http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/23719
    Keywords
    Papuan Languages; Linguistic Typology; Language Contact
    DOI
    10.1515/9783110295252-002
    ISBN
    9783110286427; 9783110567267
    OCN
    1135847480
    Publisher
    De Gruyter
    Publisher website
    https://www.degruyter.com/
    Publication date and place
    Berlin/Boston, 2017
    Grantor
    • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council - 230310 - CONTACTS Research grant informationFind all documents
    Classification
    Language and Linguistics
    Linguistics
    Regional / International studies
    Rights
    All rights reserved
    • Imported or submitted locally

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    License

    • If not noted otherwise all contents are available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

    Credits

    • logo EU
    • This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 683680, 810640, 871069 and 964352.

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