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Article published In:
Variation in the Pacific: Part II
Edited by Eri Kashima and Miriam Meyerhoff
[Asia-Pacific Language Variation 7:1] 2021
► pp. 30–61

Ende oration and final /n/-realisation

| Boston University

This paper presents a sociophonetic analysis of word-final /n/-elision in Ende (Pahoturi River; Papuan). An analysis of 73 speakers reveals that tense, phonological context, and most significantly, whether or not the speaker is a kawa practitioner, a prestigious type of public oration, are significantly correlated with /n/-retention. A closer look at just five kawa practitioners reveals that age and genre may also play a role. The present study matches Schokkin’s analysis of /n/-elision in Idi (this issue). Indeed, the findings support her conclusions that this pattern is one of /n/-elision (not /n/-addition) and show similarities in conditioning factors. Analysing sociolinguistic variation in this region presents a unique set of benefits and challenges. This paper discusses how emically-derived categories relating to age, clan, and orator status may deviate from characterisations of prestige in Westernised and urbanised societies but better fit southern New Guinea’s social context.

Keywords: age, elision, genre, oration, Pahoturi River, Papua New Guinea, Papuan, prestige, sociophonetic variation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The Ende language community
    • 1.2Variable /n/-realisation
    • 1.3 Kawa oration
  • 2.Data collection and token selection
    • 2.1Token selection
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Coding and factor selection
    • 3.2Linguistic factors
    • 3.3Social factors
    • 3.4Statistical modelling and results
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Glossing abbreviations used within this article are the following
  • References
Published online: 9 June 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.19013.lin
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