{"id":66796,"date":"2015-09-05T00:25:37","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T22:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/?p=66796"},"modified":"2025-10-21T21:58:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:58:38","slug":"the-oceanian-continent-a-champion-of-multilingualism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/en\/2015\/09\/the-oceanian-continent-a-champion-of-multilingualism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oceanian continent, a champion of multilingualism?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by Claire Moyse-Faurie on February 15, 2011<\/span>
\n 
\nClaire Moyse-Faurie is a CNRS Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Oral Tradition Languages and Civilizations (LACITO), and a member of Sorosoro\u2019s scientific board.<\/em>
\n

\"4th

BY Sekundo (cc)- 4th Arts of Melanesia Festival, New Caledonia<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Nearly a third of the world\u2019s languages are spoken in Oceania<\/strong>, which amounts to nearly 2000 languages for 250 million people mostly living as small scattered islander communities over thirty-seven countries or territories, an area equivalent to a \u00bc of the planet\u2026
\n 
\nOceania, and Melansia in particular, has in fact one of the world\u2019s highest linguistic densities, with Vanuatu holding the absolute world record: the archipelago indeed hosts over one hundred languages for approximately 200 000 inhabitants.
\n 
\nWhile in Polynesia and Micronesia there is usually no more than one language per island, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya (West Papua), the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia \u2013 which are either independent countries or trust territories \u2013 all have a multiplicity of languages: Melanesian languages in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia; Melanesian and Papu languages in New Guinea
\n 
\nHow can we explain the high number of languages in these lands? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The reasons are various. Some are general and relate to the nature of language itself. Fragmentation is a general trend: over time, every variety of a language tends to diverge imperceptibly until it becomes a distinct language in itself. The more ancient the original language, the more differentiated its derived languages. Diversification therefore testifies to the antiquity of a settlement (35,000 years in the case of New Guinea).
\n 
\nOther reasons for this diversification belong to psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic factors.
\n 
\nMelanesian societies are segmental, fragmented into numerous chiefdoms with their own particular political organization. These chiefdoms are in contact but they are also particularly keen to assert their differences. Each group has its own language which forms an essential part of its individuality.
\n 
\nBefore undergoing policies of language centralization in relation to the colonization process, Oceanian peoples practiced a balanced multilingualism, without a dominant language or, most often, a prevailing social centre. Each language was respected as part of the clan\u2019s or community\u2019s identity, and a bi- or trilingualism largely established by social practices allowed for intercommunication. One had no reason to imitate the neighbor but instead tended to accentuate the differences in order to stay at a distance from him. Until recently, we were facing a situation which linguist A.-G. Haudricourt called egalitarian multilingualism, as no language was more prestigious than another.
\n 
\nAn example: New Caledonia <\/strong><\/p>\n

The cause for the differentiation of Kanak languages is not the supposed isolation of each valley. Instead texts of oral tradition reveal that trade between groups has always been intense. There have always been political games of alliances, intermarriage, and also breaking-offs, as with groups splitting or parts of a group moving away due to a conflict, and whose languages evolve separately, thus departing from their common origin. Women who marry outside of their group and live in their husband\u2019s family (postmarital residence is virilocal) also promote multilingualism as they often continue to speak their mother tongue with their children.
\n 
\nThus, the acceleration of the diversification process affecting Melanesian languages across history is rather explained by their intermingling.<\/p>\n

Finally, the absence for most of them of a well-established norm, as well as a relatively small number of speakers, most probably contributes to explaining the speed of change.