scholarly journals Beyond a Common Code: Cameroon Pidgin English - the Language of the Elite and the Masses

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
Rachel Ayuk Ojong Diba
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Common People ◽  
Common Code ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Masses

The principal purpose of this paper is to underline the usefulness and efficacy of Cameroonian Pidgin English (CPE) in dealing with the intense multilingualism of Cameroonians in a rural enclave in Cameroon and in the Diaspora. CPE is a highly stigmatized but extensively used language of wider communication in Cameroon. Cameroon is second only to Papua New Guinea in terms of its multiplicity of languages for a relatively small population and the shunned CPE is the language that trudges through this multi-ethnicity, multiculturalism and multilingualism to not only provide a feeling of togetherness to Anglophone Cameroonians but to also allow them communicate efficiently and cordially. CPE was incipiently a language for the uneducated, this contribution shows that today CPE is not only the language of the common people; it is also the language of the Cameroonian elite. Using qualitative data – recordings of natural conversations from individuals in Lower Fungom and written conversation from online fora comprising Cameroonians of all walks of life, this contribution demonstrates that CPE is an emblematic language which Cameroonians use when communication would otherwise be impossible and still use it even when there is an option (though one-legged) of other languages. The paper demonstrates how multilingualism functions even in rural circles. It is also demonstrates the benefits of Pidgins and Creoles in linguistically diverse settings, which are relatively uncommon.

scholarly journals Language and ethnobiological skills decline precipitously in Papua New Guinea, the world’s most linguistically diverse nation

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (22) ◽  
pp. e2100096118
Author(s):  
Alfred Kik ◽  
Martin Adamec ◽  
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald ◽  
Jarmila Bajzekova ◽  
Nigel Baro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Family Language ◽  
Cash Economy

Papua New Guinea is home to >10% of the world’s languages and rich and varied biocultural knowledge, but the future of this diversity remains unclear. We measured language skills of 6,190 students speaking 392 languages (5.5% of the global total) and modeled their future trends using individual-level variables characterizing family language use, socioeconomic conditions, students’ skills, and language traits. This approach showed that only 58% of the students, compared to 91% of their parents, were fluent in indigenous languages, while the trends in key drivers of language skills (language use at home, proportion of mixed-language families, urbanization, students’ traditional skills) predicted accelerating decline of fluency to an estimated 26% in the next generation of students. Ethnobiological knowledge declined in close parallel with language skills. Varied medicinal plant uses known to the students speaking indigenous languages are replaced by a few, mostly nonnative species for the students speaking English or Tok Pisin, the national lingua franca. Most (88%) students want to teach indigenous language to their children. While crucial for keeping languages alive, this intention faces powerful external pressures as key factors (education, cash economy, road networks, and urbanization) associated with language attrition are valued in contemporary society.

Tevul Yom and the Red Heifer: Pharisaic and Sadducean Halakah

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-273
Author(s):  
Hannan Birenboim
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Common People ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One ◽  
The Masses

AbstractBoth the Qumran scrolls and the rabbinic sources teach of a controversy between the Pharisees, on the one hand, and the Sadducees and the Qumran sect, on the other, concerning the standing of the red heifer: The Sadducees, considering the red heifer as a sacrifice, held that a tevul yom was not permitted to deal with the heifer, whereas the Pharisees, not considering the red heifer as a sacrifice, held that a tevul yom was permitted to deal with it. This controversy derived from the Pharisees' desire to enable the common people to participate as much as possible in divine worship: by not considering the red heifer as a sacrifice, they made it possible for the masses to participate in the preparation of the ashes and even to sprinkle it upon the impure; this was opposed by the Sadducees and the Qumran sectarians.

Pacific Women, HIV, and Me: A Positioned Critical Poetic Inquiry

2020 ◽  
pp. 107780042093414
Author(s):  
Michelle Redman-MacLaren
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poetic Inquiry ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Positive Action ◽  
Health And Well Being

In this article, poetic inquiry is introduced, the author’s standpoint explicated, and a critical poetic inquiry from the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea reported. Auto-ethnographic, narrative, and found (transcription) poems are included re-presenting observational and qualitative data. Impacts of violence, poverty, and stigma, along with life-affirming actions of individuals, families, and their communities, are explored. This critical poetic inquiry encourages the reader toward critical thinking and positive action for improved sexual health and well-being.

The People

2019 ◽  
pp. 23-113
Author(s):  
James W. Underhill ◽  
Mariarosaria Gianninoto
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Common People ◽  
European Languages ◽  
The People ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Contemporary Chinese

This long chapter is divided into the keywords used in European languages to refer to ‘the people’, and the various keywords that the Chinese language has used throughout its history. In Chinese, the keyword 人民‎ rénmín is at times regarded as the most important element in the nation. And the authors show how the people were celebrated in Mao’s China. Even though ‘citizen’ [gōngmín 公民‎) has made a comeback in recent years, according to the authors’ findings, the Chinese keyword 人民‎ rénmín remains a central concept, despite ironic uses in contemporary Chinese literature and the press. In European languages, the authors argue, the people can be considered as the masses, as a political force, or as a group that is marginalized or ignored. In English and French, the people are often regarded with condescension, as such expressions as ‘the common people’ and ‘fils du peuple’ suggest. However, French has a radical revolutionary tradition that means that ‘le peuple’ can be activated at strategic moments in history, as was proven in recent years. Radical right-wing movements in France are contrasted with the Farage’s Brexit rhetoric, championing ‘the people’. In contrast ‘the Volk’ in German has a much more resilient tradition with roots that spread throughout the lexicon of the language as a whole. And Czech provides the authors with communist rhetoric that parallels Mao’s celebration of the people (人民‎ rénmín) in Chinese.

Infusing Islam in Connected Societies

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-39
Author(s):  
Khairudin Aljunied
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Common People ◽  
Law And Ethics ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Masses

This chapter uncovers the connectedness of Malay societies that made it conducive for Muslim traders and travelers who crossed the Indian Ocean to live alongside non-Muslim Malays, thereby introducing Islam in an incidental fashion. These traders and travelers were, later on, joined by rulers, Sufi missionaries, and Islamic scholars hailing from the Arab world, South Asia, China, and Southeast Asia who gained new converts through direct preaching. Even though many Malays embraced Islam during this phase, their conversion did not radically change the outlook and governance of Malay states. Hindu-Buddhist-animist frames of reference were generally maintained by the masses as the common people slowly internalized the tenets of Islam. Islamic and pre-Islamic codes of law and ethics were fused together by Malay elites in the management of their societies so as to not disrupt the age-old cultures that the common people held on to.

Observations of probable camouflaging behaviour in a semi-commensal common spotted cuscus Spilocuscus maculatus maculatus (Marsupialia: Phalangeridae) in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 243 ◽  
Author(s):  
TE Heinsohn
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Tropical Lowland ◽  
Tree Hollows ◽  
Lowland Forests ◽  
Cape York ◽  
The Common

THE common spotted cuscus Spilocuscus maculatus is a relatively large nocturnal arboreal possum with a preference for tropical lowland forests. Its distribution is centred on New Guinea, but extends to some adjacent landmasses, including a number of satellite islands and Cape York Peninsula in Australia (Flannery 1994; Winter and Leung 1995; Heinsohn 2000). It appears to be principally folivorous and partially frugivorous and forages in the canopy, subcanopy, and understorey of tropical forests, though it may venture to the ground to cross gaps. After a night of foraging, S. maculatus typically rests by day hidden amidst the thick foliage of the canopy, in liana tangles or thickets, and appears to be less dependent on, or less inclined to use tree hollows than some other possum species (Heinsohn 1998b, pers. obs.).

Selectivity for barramundi (Lates calcarifer) in the Fly River, Papua New Guinea: implications for managing gill-net fisheries on protandrous fishes

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 499 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Milton ◽  
David Die ◽  
Charles Tenakanai ◽  
Stephen Swales
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Egg Production ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Lates Calcarifer ◽  
Gill Net ◽  
River Region ◽  
The Common ◽  
Fly River ◽  
Sexually Mature

Fishery-independent catch data from monofilament gill-nets (3.8–15.2 cm stretched mesh) were used to estimate the selectivity of each mesh size for the protandrous species barramundi, Lates calcarifer, in the Fly River region of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. These results were used with a range of life-history parameters to simulate the effects of fishing with meshes of three sizes common to the local fisheries (8.9, 10.2 and 15.2 cm) on (1) number of sexually mature females surviving to maximum age, (2) their total egg production and (3) number of mature males surviving to fertilize these eggs. Catches in most mesh sizes approximated a normal selection curve, and the mean and standard deviation of each curve were linearly related to mesh size. Juvenile and immature barramundi (<38 cm total length) were fully selected by the common mesh sizes used in the coastal subsistence and artisanal fisheries (7.6–10.2 cm) but these mesh sizes caught few sexually mature females. Population simulations showed that the number of females surviving to maximum age and their total egg production increased as mesh size was reduced. Reducing the mesh size to increase adult female escapement may be a better management strategy than increasing mesh sizes to improve recruitment.

Polyploid complexes of Glycine tabacina (Labill.) Benth. and G. tomentella Hayata revealed by cytogenetic analysis

Genome ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Singh ◽  
K. P. Kollipara ◽  
T. Hymowitz
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Chromosome Pairing ◽  
Cytogenetic Analysis ◽  
Adventitious Roots ◽  
Meiotic Chromosome ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Chromosome Behavior ◽  
Intraspecific Hybridization ◽  
The Common ◽  
Glycine Tabacina

Observations on geographical distribution, cytotypes, crossability, and meiotic chromosome behavior in intra- and interspecific F1 hybrids revealed that the complexes of Glycine tabacina (2n = 40, 80) and G. tomentella (2n = 38, 40, 78, 80) evolved through allopolyploidization. It is apparent from this study that 80-chromosome tabacinas are composed of two distinct morphological complexes having one common genome: with and without adventitious roots. In contrast, the tomentellas are inseparable morphologically. They are composed of accessions with at least three genomic complexes: (i) 2n = 80, accessions from Australia and Taiwan; (ii) 2n = 80, an accession from Papua New Guinea; and (iii) 2n = 78, accessions from Australia and Papua New Guinea. Hybrids within each group showed complete synapsis and set normal seeds; however, hybrids between the groups apparently differed by one genome and were completely sterile. Chromosome pairing in triploid interspecific F1 hybrids (2n = 59, 60) indicated that G. canescens (2n = 40) was probably the donor of the common genome for 80-chromosome tabacinas and tomentellas. Glycine latifolia (2n = 40) appears to have contributed its genome to G. tabacina (2n = 80) but could not have participated in the speciation of 80-chromosome tomentellas. Likewise, the 38-chromosome G. tomentella has no genomic affinity with 80-chromosome tabacinas but has complete affinity with 80-chromosome tomentellas. On the basis of present findings and the results published earlier, the evolution of the genus Glycine will be discussed. Key words: Glycine spp., genome, hybridization (intraspecific), hybridization (interspecific), speciation.

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