Does anyone know a expert in South Pacific languages? This is why I miss Twitter. I used to be able to just ask this and someone would be like “I am!” But seriously, is anyone? I need an expert on South Pacific languages.
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I know a woman who specialized in comparative Oceanic languages. I don’t think she is on here but her name is Mary Walworth and she is on IG at wallymoe
If you don't find anyone, I'm not a degreed expert but I have a frankly terrifying number of dictionaries and grammars in PDF from all over the globe and through the last couple of centuries; if you want to give me some example words I can go digging for possible matches.
It depends what you are after? My expertise is a little to the west (PNG). I can probably point you to an expert although there are not many Oceanicists on here
I stumbled on to a nineteenth century handwritten dictionary created by a sailor (c1835) that has the translation for common words for two languages & can’t figure out which languages they are. I figured a linguistic might A) be able to identify them or B) find them useful in their research
If you do have a copy of any part of the dictionary that you are able to share or a link, I'd love to have a look. I have a couple of colleagues here at the University of the South Pacific who might know if I don't
I stumbled on to a nineteenth century handwritten dictionary created by a sailor (c1835) that has the translation for common words for two languages & can’t figure out which languages they are. I figured a linguistic might A) be able to identify them or B) find them useful in their research.
How fun!! If you send me the lists I can almost certainly work it out and let you know and pass the texts on to the right people! My professional email is available online if you just google my name.
The numbers match Samoan more than any of the other major groups.
It's not impossible that some of the words are just wrong, but linguistically it has enough commonalities to be something in the Samoic family, perhaps one of the outliers in the East Uvean–Niuafo’ou, Ellicean or Futunic groups.
I can’t think of any base-5 Polynesian languages OTOH even though I can easily contort 2-4 into a language I do speak (Hawaiian), just confirming that this is most likely a Polynesian language.
Might check in with the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. They had a huge number of ships going out to the Pacific during the 1800s and might be able to help narrow your search zone.
As someone who grew up on the North Shore of MA, I love this suggestion. The PEM was not something I appreciated as a kid but as a grown up (??) I think it’s amazing that such a small museum has such cool stuff!
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Firstly that this would make an excellent lead in to a Call of Cthulhu adventure or Lovecraftain novel.
Secondly I would be fascinated to learn about this sailor
It's not impossible that some of the words are just wrong, but linguistically it has enough commonalities to be something in the Samoic family, perhaps one of the outliers in the East Uvean–Niuafo’ou, Ellicean or Futunic groups.
There are regional dialects, so I wouldn’t necessarily rule it out.
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Keep me in mind for future conundrums 🤓
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