Research report 2010 - Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

Are you joking or what?­ – The Trobriand Islanders' ways of speaking

Authors
Senft, Gunter
Departments

Max-Planck-Institut für Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen
Summary
The Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea differentiate and label in their language Kilivila genres and varieties or registers which are constituted by these genres. The documentation and analysis of these varieties and genres reveals how important it is to understand these metalinguistic differentiations. The cultural and verbal competence which is necessary to adequately interact with the Trobriander Islanders is based on the understanding of the indigenous text typology and the Trobriand Islanders' culture specific ways of speaking.

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