Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German): Documentation of an endangered creole language in Papua New Guinea

Applicant Professor Dr. Péter Maitz
Subject Area Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics
Term from 2015 to 2021
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 275623802
 

Project Description

(1) Documentation of Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German), the world's only German-based creole language, and preservation of Unserdeutsch linguistic data. This language developed in the Bismarck Archipelago before World War I and with only about 100 speakers today, must be regarded as highly endangered. This project will begin by preparing a digital and annotated Unserdeutsch corpus that will go beyond documentation to provide the basis for a descriptive and analytical examination of the grammatical and typological features of the language.(2) In order to interpret the data that are collected as thoroughly aspossible, to make them available in a meaningful context, and to facilitatefuture research, parallel and simultaneous research is needed in thefollowing areas: (a) the circumstances surrounding the genesis of thelanguage and (b) a large amount of individual language biographies.
DFG Programme Research Grants
International Connection Australia, Papua New Guinea, Switzerland
Co-Investigator Professor Dr. Werner König
Cooperation Partners Professor Dr. Ludwig Eichinger; Professor Dr. Peter Mühlhäusler; Professor Dr. Craig A. Volker