Accessibility and transport Village sampling

1.3 Population

The National Census 2000 National Statistical Office 2002 gives us the following information on the population of villages in the Biage area. Table 1. Village populations Ward Village Households Population 01. Asimba ward Kanga 26 161 02. Kovelo ward Kovelo 19 140 Koiasi 8 47 Ebea 16 106 Savaea 15 113 Kovelo 2 8 46 Yoda 8 34 Koma 4 19 Muduiu 6 52 Soa 3 14 Foka 6 46 08. Abuari ward Abuari 11 53 Hagutava 9 35 Kyile 8 32 Pelai a 22 114 09. Alola ward Alola 11 55 Isurava 9 45 TOTAL 17 villages 189 1098 a Also spelt Felai Thus, according to the 2000 census, there were 1098 people living in the Biage area at the time of the 2000 census. Population growth in Oro province 1980–2000 was at a rate of 2.7 per year; if this was true of Biage between 2000 and 2006, the total population in 2006 would be nearly 1300.

1.4 Accessibility and transport

There is an airstrip at Kokoda Station, from which regular commercial flights go to Port Moresby. Car roads link Ebea and Kovelo to Kokoda and Popondetta. Public motor vehicles PMVs go to Ebea 4 three times a week and there is a PMV based at Kovelo which goes to Popondetta. Isurava and Alola may be reached by the Kokoda trail. There is a trail from Ebea to Kanga. There are trails linking Pelai with Isurava and with Kanandara in the Hunjara-Kaina Ke area. 4 PMVs cannot reach the village of Ebea itself, but stop at the river near the village.

1.5 Other background information

1.5.1 Previous research

Dutton 1969 defines Biage as the name of a tribe who populate Kovelo and Savaea, with some at Kanga. He also notes that “this term, has broadened in reference, until today it may be used to denote any non-Orokaiva, non-Chirima River inhabitant of the Kokoda sub-district.” Dutton’s research covers six dialects of Mountain Koiali, as shown in map 6. Map 6. Dutton’s map of Koiali villages The Biage and Isurava groups spoke what Dutton defined as the Northern dialect of Mountain Koiali. The other Mountain Koiali speakers living in Oro province were at Awomo and Kovio, which he defined as the Eastern and Lesser-Eastern dialects respectively. He also defined Southern, Central and Western dialects of the language, which are located in Central province. He estimated the total number of Mountain Koiali speakers to be 3734, much higher than Ethnologue’s current population estimate of 1700 based on Dutton 1975. The New Testament was translated in Efogi which is located in the Central dialect and has the largest number of speakers. According to Dutton, it is also the most prestigious and dominant dialect. Garland 1979 echoes this view, noting that people “will often switch to Efogi talk in order to make us feel comfortable.” Dutton notes the following cognate percentages between the dialects of Mountain Koiali: 5 Efogi – Kaili central – northern: 79–82 Efogi – Awoma central – eastern: 85–88 Efogi – Kovio central – lesser eastern: 78–82 Kaili – Kanga northern – northern: 89 Kaili – Awoma northern – eastern: 73–75 Awoma – Kovio eastern – lesser eastern: 82–85 Garland 1979 has a much narrower description of Mountain Koiali than Dutton; he does not mention the villages in Dutton’s Western dialect at all, neither does he mention most of Dutton’s Southern dialect villages only Naoro. Dutton’s Central dialect he splits into three dialects Efogi, Kagi and Manumu. In Oro Province he mentions only Awoma and Kovio as one dialect and Isurava as another; he does not mention Kovelo, Savaea or Kanga villages. He notes that the differences between Mountain Koiali dialects are found in lexical and phonological variations with some variation in verbal endings. Garland notes that “the Isulava [sic] and Efogi dialects are most dissimilar in vocabulary and intonation being 79 cognate.” He concludes that literature in Efogi dialect will be used easily by the three most central and Awoma dialects, and that Naoro Garland’s southern dialect and Isurava Garland’s northern dialect would be able to use it but it may not appeal to them as much because of the vocabulary differences. In his letter to SIL in 1996, Cameron Venables listed 11 Biage-speaking villages: Kanga, Sawaia [sic], Ebe [sic], Kovelo, Isurava, Alola, Pelai, Kagi, Efogi and Manumu. The last three of these villages are in Central Province. According to Garland 2001 personal communication, Biage may include three villages in Central Province, one being Kagi, but Efogi is not a part of Biage. In our research, Biage people never included any Central Province villages in their definition of Biage. When they came up in conversation they were called Koiari, not Biage. Some people said the name Koiari also included Biage, but they said that the villages in Central Province were a different dialect. 2 Methodology

2.1 Village sampling

The survey team began the survey by visiting Efogi, 6 the Mountain Koiali village where the New Testament was translated. This was to collect a wordlist to compare with Biage and a recorded text test RTT 7 to test Biage speakers’ comprehension of Mountain Koiali. A scripture extensibility test was also pilot tested, but was not used in Biage as the test was found to be too hard see section 2.2.5. 5 These villages are depicted on maps 3 and 4 in section 1.2.2 and on map 6 in this section with the exception of Kaili, which is only depicted on map 6. 6 The team travelled to and from Efogi by plane. 7 RTTs are described in section 2.2.4. Before the survey the team planned to visit five Biage villages. The team tried to visit villages spread across the geographical area of the language, as there are most likely to be differences between villages that are further apart. The team tried to visit villages where there are different church denominations and where there are elementary, community or primary schools. They were able to spend at least one night in five Biage villages. It was decided to test the RTT in Kanga, the Biage village furthest from Mountain Koiali, and therefore likely to have the lowest levels of contact with Mountain Koiali. Table 2. Work schedule Date Village Language Time spent Work done 8 11 Oct Efogi Mountain Koiali 2 nights WL, RTT development pilot test, Scripture extensibility pilot test 9 13 Oct Kanga Biage 2 nights WL, LU, Cu, CP, Ch, Edu, RTT develop test, observe Church service 15 Oct Ebea Biage 1 night WL, LU, CP, cEdu, 16 Oct Savaea Biage walk-through Basic LU 16 Oct Kovelo Biage 1 night WL, LU, CP, Ch 17 Oct Isurava Biage 1 night WL, LU, Cu, CP, Ch, cEdu 30 Oct Pelai Biage 1 night WL, LU, CP, Ch, Edu

2.2 Tools