Aighon

This submission is aimed primarily at re-classification of the Aighon language. Currently it is classified as a dialect of Kaulong, but I believe that this is inaccurate. While Aighon and Kaulong are in the same language family, their lexical and grammatical similarities are very limited. I estimate that their lexical similarity is less than 5%. The grammatical similarity is greater, but that languages are quite distinct. The languages are also separated by at least 30 km of rough terrain that is rarely traveled. Ross 1988 shows that Aighon and Kaulong are in the same language chain, but he separates Aighon as a distinct branch; whereas Miu and Sengseng are grouped with Kaulong. The survey by SIL PNG in 2002 confirms classification by Ross 1988.

Literacy: L1 is 80%, L2(Tok Pisin) is 80%, L3(English) is 40%

Population: Aighon- 2623, Bao- 2805

Language Atlas of the Pacific Area Part 1-2, Wurm and Hattori 1981.

- I have no access to this resource, so it is unknown what the basis is for the claim that Aighon(aix) is a dialect of Kaulong.

Language, Communication and Development in New Britain- Raymond L. Johnston 1980. SIL. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea.

Chapter 9 pp 225-240- Western Whiteman Family(Kaulong, Miu, Asengseng)

- does not include Psohoh

Chapter 5 pp 122-128- The Whiteman Family(Mangseng, Bebeli, Psohoh)

- acknowledges that these languages lack much similarity but are closer relations than any other languages.

Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia. M.D. Ross 1988. Pacific Linfuistics Series C- No. 98. Dept of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National Univiersity. Ch 5, pp 160-163.

- Figure 5 shows Psohoh as a separate branch of the Pasismanua Chain

- Figure 5 shows Kaulong, Miu, and Asengseng as the Western Whiteman Family, which confirms Chowning’s research and Johnston 1980.

Aighon Language Survey Report. Philip Lambrecht, Michael J. Rueck, Kevin Wigglesworth. 2002.

- Confirms classification in Ross 1988

Personal research- Nathan Duhe

- Aighon(aix) is most related to Asengseng(ssz), this can be seen in lexical and grammatical similarities. The lexical similarity is about 40% based on the word lists in Johnston 1980, and the grammatical similarity is currently unknown. I have not been able to find any published linguistic documentation. The Aighon people say that the older generations could communicate with Asengseng speakers, but that skill has essentially died out. The two groups have almost no interaction.

- The similarities of Aighon to Kaulong are very limited. The lexical similarity is probably less than 5%. The grammatical similarity is greater but still quite limited. They have a similar nominalisation suffix, and the basic word order is SVO.

- I am currently documenting the Aighon language. My research has shown that the languages are not similar enough to qualify as dialects.

Papua New Guinea Census Data 2011

Gasmata LLG Ward 5

Aighon 402 households, 2168 persons, 1136 male, 1032 female

Asirim 96 households, 455 persons, 222 male, 233 female

Mosa LLG

Tamba 470 households, 2805 persons, 1441 male, 1364 female