Allang Village, Maluku
Relevant Books and Papers
Typological and Areal Analyses: Contributions from East Nusantara
Ewing, Michael C. and Marian Klamer (eds.). Submitted. Typological and Areal Analyses: Contributions from East Nusantara.
- Abstract:
- This volume investigates typological issues in languages of East Nusantara, that is eastern Indonesia, eastern Malaysia and East Timor, including both Austronesian and non-Austronesian languages. It focuses on three broad topics which have emerged as important foci of descriptive interest and theoretical debate regarding the typology of languages in the area: phonology, argument encoding, and verbal constructions including verb serialization and negation. Chapters vary between analyses based on specific languages and broader comparative studies. This volume presents new data from recent fieldwork in order to advance our understanding of the typological diversity, stability and spread of linguistic features in East Nusantara. Discussion of grammaticisation processes and effects of language contact also provide insights into methodological and analytical issues that will be of interest in the field of linguistics more widely.
Agentive alignment in Central Maluku languages
Ewing, Michael C. Submitted. “Agentive alignment in Central Maluku languages” in Michael C. Ewing and Marian Klamer (eds.) Typological and Areal Analyses: Contributions from East Nusantara.
Political acts and language revitalisation: community and state in Maluku
Florey, Margaret and Michael Ewing. Submitted. “Political acts and language revitalisation: community and state in Maluku.” Gunter Senft (ed.) Endangered languages and endangered cultures in Oceania.
Language and religion: a case study of two Ambonese communities
Musgrave, Simon and Michael C. Ewing. 2006. “Language and religion: a case study of two Ambonese communities”. International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 179:179–194.
- Abstract:
- Both within the Ambonese community, and in scholarly discourse, it is frequently noted that Muslim villages in Maluku have retained their indigenous languages (bahasa tanah 'language of the land') whereas Christian villages have not. This article sketches the historical and sociological background of this difference, principally an outcome of colonial and religious policy by the Dutch administration. On the basis of current evidence of linguistic vitality in two communities on Ambon Island, one Christian (Allang) and one Muslim (Tulehu), we suggest that the crucial factor in the maintenance of indigenous languages in Muslim villages was not religion itself, but the lesser engagement of these communities with colonizers and other outside influences vis-à-vis Christian villages. Now that such influences are having a significant impact on Muslim communities, the trajectory of language loss is similar to that already experienced in Christian villages. We also discuss changing attitudes to indigenous languages as a result of the recent intercommunal violence in Maluku and suggest that these attitudes may have an impact on the fate of the surviving languages.
Diverging and converging patterns of possession: Allang in its Central Maluku Context
Ewing, Michael C. 2005. “Diverging and converging patterns of possession: Allang in its Central Maluku Context”. Monash University Linguistic Papers 4.1:45-64.