A Comprehensive Comparison of Lexemes in the ... - SIL International

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ancestors follow as they began settling and speaking in their own ways—that is,
can we determine a geographic pattern of language change based on changes in
the lexicons? Such questions are not fully answered here, but sufficient data is
provided to begin answering them.
Charpentier’s (1982) monumental atlas of lexemes in the languages of the
southern half of Malekula (Vanuatu) inspired me to create a comprehensive ‘map’
of the Tannese lexemes. South Malekula experienced drastic migration in the past
one hundred years, as those who lived inland moved to the coast. The migration
patterns are evident in the language changes. While Tanna has not undergone the
same sort of migration, the lexical changes still enlighten us about migration
patterns and the relationships between languages.
On a more popular level, the data of this study can be used by speakers of
one Tanna language to ascertain how their words are expressed in other areas on
Tanna. As more works in the Tanna vernaculars are published, readers will
encounter words in languages with which they are less familiar. This book thus
helps to familiarize speakers of Tanna languages with the other languages spoken
on the island.
1.2 Data collection
The data in this volume was collected by myself between 2003 and 2010,
as well as by two other SIL linguists who performed extensive fieldwork on
Tanna: Greg Carlson (1991–2007) and Erik Stapleton (2004–2010). Many local
speakers have assisted in the task of lexicography during this time. I held
numerous lexicography workshops in various villages throughout my tenure on
Tanna in order to elicit words, find synonyms, track dialectal changes, refine
English glosses, and produce example sentences. Carlson, Stapleton, and myself
have also carried out numerous discourse analyses in order to determine specific
nuances of lexemes.
I am indebted to Lamont Lindstrom for his dictionary of Kwamera (1986),
and to John Lynch for his work on Lenakel (1978) and SW Tanna (1982). The
data and analysis here were informed by their work. In some cases this study
corresponds with lexemes that they recorded; in other places this study shows
how lexemes have changed since their works were published.
Map 1 (next page) shows the geographic area where the data was elicited
for the six languages represented in this study. Table 1.1 below it shows alternate
names for these languages, as well as population figures and the villages where
the data was elicited. Population data is based on Lynch and Crowley (2001:126).