Language use patterns Bosmun

3.3.5 Economic factors

Marangis is similar to the Awar villages and Kayan see sections 3.1.5 and 3.2.5, respectively. There is no business opportunity in their villages, so all economic endeavors must include the use of Tok Pisin as they interact with outsiders. As such, those endeavors negatively impact the vitality of the Marangis language. Watam has frequent visits from cruise ships throughout the year. The ships stay in the harbor off Watam and people are ferried in to view Watam culture. The Marangis people perform cultural dances, explain how to make traditional items, and talk about how their ancestors lived. The people were reluctant to tell me how much the village receives in compensation, but it must be at least a little bit of income on top of the items they sell to the tourists. This activity has both a positive and a negative impact on the vitality of Marangis in Watam. On the positive side the people are encouraged to maintain their culture so they can perform for the tourists. This includes language use, since they give the names of cultural items and teach phrases to the tourists. On the negative side, this activity cannot be arranged without the use of Tok Pisin. Someone from the community has to plan these trips with the cruise line and this has to be done in either Tok Pisin or English. Even when the tourists are there it would be wise for people to know Tok Pisin to try and communicate with the tourists. Those who know English have a greater advantage since they can speak easily with all the tourists and negotiate the sale of their wares.

3.3.6 Conclusion

The Marangis language is a 6a vigorous on the EGIDS scale. Even though Foley is rightly concerned about losing the complexity of the language see section 3.3.1, the vernacular is still being transmitted to almost all children. The communities still use Marangis in their own interactions as well. Most telling are the statements of identity that were used to describe what it means to know the Marangis language in these two villages. Marangis is used to some extent in all the churches in the area. It is also used in the elementary schools that are functioning, not as the official language of instruction, but as the language used when something needs to be explained. The relative closeness of Madang and the lack of true economic opportunities within the communities do have negative effects on the language. However, for the time being it seems that Marangis speakers have established a stable bilingual situation where Tok Pisin is the language of town, school, and church, and Marangis is the language of home and village. Foley may say that this situation is slowly bleeding toward less and less use of Marangis, but currently the language is vital. Given the current internal social pressure on immigrants and children to use the Marangis language, unless there are significant changes to this or other factors, the Marangis language will be spoken as the primary language in Watam and Marangis for the next couple of generations.

3.4 Bosmun

Bosmun is spoken in at least six communities: Daiden, Nemnem, Dogan, Wamtac, Goingbang 2, and Base Camp. All of these villages are accessible by boat on either the Ramu or the Mbur rivers. Base Camp and Goingbang 2 are also accessible by road.

3.4.1 Language use patterns

There was a general impression in each Bosmun village that all the children can understand the vernacular language, but it was hard for them to produce it. All five communities reported that children learn Tok Pisin as their first language. Only the people of Dogan thought that their children would never learn Bosmun. The rest of the communities reported that children eventually learn Bosmun when they are around five years old. In my entire time among the Bosmun, I did not hear any child use the Bosmun language for more than a few phrases, though I did observe some children respond in Tok Pisin to something that was said to them in Bosmun. My observation confirms the first statement, children can understand the language, but usually do not speak it. When asked, parents and grandparents reported that they spoke to their children in Bosmun, while the children responded in Tok Pisin. Deeper probing revealed that most of the time parents and grandparents speak to their children in Tok Pisin. One man in Dogan said it best, “We try to use our language, but if we want them our children to understand us, we use Tok Pisin.” 26 I did see parents and grandparents speak Bosmun to their children and occasionally the child responded or reacted. However, for the most part parents either used Tok Pisin with their children from the outset of an interaction or switched to it to facilitate quicker responses. All five communities surveyed agreed that the only domain where the Bosmun language continues to dominate Tok Pisin is the traditional singsing. This is a ritual dance that is conducted in either the local language or another vernacular language; these are never done in English or Tok Pisin. In most cultures in PNG, the preparations for the singsing, the singsing itself, and surrounding interactions are the last holdout in a situation of language shift. In all other domains the communities report they use Tok Pisin alongside Bosmun. They did not report a domain where Tok Pisin is the only language used, nor did they indicate which language is used more. In walking around the communities I heard many conversations among adults in Bosmun. I also heard interactions exclusively in Tok Pisin. My observations can confirm what they reported; that both languages are in use in the communities.

3.4.2 Internal and external community attitudes