3.2.5 Economic factors
There are no companies working in the Kayan area. Their current situation is very similar to the Awar see section 3.1.5. Like the Awar the Kayan perceive that there is no means for a person to become
economically successful using Kayan exclusively. This has a negative impact on the vitality of the language, but not enough to destabilize the current situation.
3.2.6 Conclusion
The Kayan language is a 6a vigorous on the EGIDS scale. All the children in Kayan learn the Kayan language first and use it actively with all members of society including other children. The Kayan adults
see it as their role to teach their children their language and take every opportunity to do so. At the village level, all members of the Kayan community use Kayan with all other members.
The Kayan are very proud of their language and actively teach outsiders, including teachers and immigrant mothers. This has resulted in almost all children learning Kayan before any other language.
Not only is Kayan used as the language of instruction in the elementary and the community education center, it is also used in the primary school when the children do not understand the Tok Pisin and
English lessons. The local Roman Catholic church does use some Kayan—but not much, as they wish to accommodate speakers of other languages.
The negative impact on the vitality of the language created by its relative closeness to Madang and the lack of economic means within the community, is largely outweighed by these other factors. Still, the
Kayan language is a remarkably vital oral language. It is sustained by a cultural identity in which, to be Kayan is to speak Kayan. Unless the current factors impacting the vitality of Kayan change dramatically,
the Kayan language will likely be spoken as the primary language in the Kayan community for generations to come.
3.3 Marangis
The Marangis language is spoken in two communities: Marangis and Watam. Both of these villages are significantly more isolated than are the Awar and Kayan villages. There are no roads in this area. For this
reason both of these villages are only accessible by water, which is their main form of transportation.
3.3.1 Language use patterns
Both communities reported that their children use the Marangis language in all domains though in Watam they did say they mix vernacular speech with Tok Pisin if they are speaking to other children.
When I asked about this, the people of Watam said they did not like it when they heard their children use Tok Pisin and thought it was the responsibility of the parents to correct this behavior. Interestingly,
in Marangis when I asked about it they said they were happy when they heard their children mixing Tok Pisin with their language because their children needed to learn Tok Pisin. This was the only community
I visited that responded positively to this query, which could mean I didn’t communicate my question well, or the people in Marangis feel so secure in the vitality of the vernacular that they aren’t concerned
that their children are also able to speak Tok Pisin, or another language.
I was able to observe children at play in both communities. I did not hear any Tok Pisin spoken while they were playing. Most of the children I interacted with did speak Tok Pisin, but seemed to prefer
to use Marangis with their parents and other children. Near the house where I stayed in Watam a toddler was only starting to learn to speak. In his cries and laughter I heard only Marangis spoken.
It is probable that children know and use more Tok Pisin than I heard and this was confirmed by Foley. He lived in Watam for many years documenting their language. From his experience he believes
that even though children do seem to use Marangis often, they are losing many grammatical functions of the language; he specifically mentions the irregular plural markings. In his estimation vernacular use is
high, “but still young children’s competence in Watam is not as good as it was 20 years ago. They speak
it, but not with the same fluency or depth as before, and with a good deal of Tok Pisin influence” Foley, personal communication 15 November 2013.
In the village of Marangis parents report that they use Marangis exclusively with their children. They seemed quite confident that when their children are grown they will speak Marangis as their
primary language. The people of the village of Watam reported that they do use some Tok Pisin with their children, specifically when they are trying to teach them something. However, they concur with the
people of Marangis that when the children of Watam grow up they will continue using the Marangis language as their primary language.
In my time in Watam, I witnessed a few instances of adults speaking to children in Tok Pisin, though far more often I heard them using the Marangis language in many different settings. Twice I
listened intently to a childadult interaction in Tok Pisin only to find out later that in one instance the child was a visitor from another language group and in the other instance the adult was the visitor.
Language use between the two communities is similar. The people of Marangis report speaking only Marangis, while the people of Watam report using some Tok Pisin. Nothing in my observations
contradicts those reports except that I observed some Tok Pisin used on occasion in Marangis.
3.3.2 Internal and external community attitudes
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