Doctoral Dissertation Research: Grammar and Interaction in Kula [tpg], a non-Austronesian Language of Eastern Indonesia

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Kula is an endangered and undocumented non-Austronesian language spoken by approximately 5,000 people in the eastern highlands of Alor, Indonesia. Alor and neighboring Pantar are home to around 20 non-Austronesian (or 'Papuan') languages. This group of 'Papuan outliers' has become of increased interest to linguists in the past decade for their typologically unique features and for the light they shed on the topic of Papuan prehistory. Despite this increased interest, Kula remains almost entirely undocumented. Furthermore, ongoing language shift threatens the Kula language with many children now learning the local variety of Malay as their first language.This grant from will support both urgently needed documentation of Kula and related research for Nicholas Williams's doctoral dissertation on place reference in Kula. This research promotes a new model of language documentation which takes as its central focus the use of language in everyday conversation. The primary goal of the documentation project will be to produce an extensive corpus of video recorded spontaneous conversation in Kula. These recordings will be transcribed, annotated, glossed and translated in preparation for archiving, further research and use by the Kula community. Using the corpus, Nicholas will explore Kula speakers' use of spatial language and other semiotic practices (e.g. pointing) for achieving reference to places in the course of social interaction. This research asks the important question of how grammatical practices emerge in the course of social interaction, focusing on the domain of reference. This research will introduce new methods to the field of language documentation and new data and analyses to the field of interactional linguistics. The documentation materials will also become an important resource for the Kula community in any future language maintenance activities. As the first project of its kind, this work will have a positive effect on local language attitudes, potentially increasing the relative prestige of the language and mitigating the progress of language shift. By training native speakers in the basic techniques of language documentation and archiving materials locally, the project will ensure community access to the materials.