Postgraduate Profile

Lana Takau

PhD candidate, School of Humanities & Social Science

Discipline: Linguistics
Faculty/Division: Education and Arts
Campus: Callaghan, Newcastle
Location: McMuliln Building, Room MC117
Email: Lana.Takau@uon.edu.au

Current research

PhD Thesis title: A grammar of Matanvat (Nese)
Supervisors: Dr. Catriona Malau (Principal) & Dr. Bill Palmer

Abstract
My research project will involve the documentation and description of the Matanvat (Nese) language which is spoken on the north coast of Malakula, an island in central Vanuatu. The language belongs to the Oceanic subgroup within the Austronesian language family. It has been classified as moribund and local informants today claim that it merely has 11 speakers left. Language shift and other social pressures have led to its falling disuse. Previous work on the language is limited to a wordlist and a sketch grammar.

The thesis will be a grammatical description of the language and this will include a special focus on a certain aspect of the grammar which will be determined during the fieldwork phase. While the main output of this research project is the PhD thesis, other accompanying outcomes include provision of resources which may benefit the local Matanvat speaking community, in terms of linguistic and cultural maintenance.

Qualifications

  • 2011 PhD candidate (Linguistics), University of Newcastle, Australia.
  • 2010 MA in Linguistics (Distinction), University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
    Thesis title: "English-based tongue with Oceanic Flavour: A comparison of pronouns and agreement marking in Bislama and Raga.
  • 2003 BA in Linguistics, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Languages Spoken

  • Bislama, Raga, English, French (reading knowledge)

Professional Background

2009 Research assistant to Dr. Heidi Quinn, Linguistics Department, University of Canterbury.

2006-2007 Translator (Bislama and French into English), Language Services Department, Vanuatu government, Vanuatu.

2004 Translator (French and English into Bislama), Language Services Department, Vanuatu government, Vanuatu.

Research Interests

Vanuatu linguistics, creolisation in the Melanesian context and language endangerment.

Presentations

2010 'English-based tongue with Oceanic flavour: A comparison of pronouns and agreement marking in Bislama and Raga' Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences Network, Pacific Postgraduate Talanoa Session 7, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

2010 'Pronoun Trebling in Bislama,' 8th International Conference on Oceanic Languages (COOL8), Auckland University, Auckland, New Zealand.
 
2009 'Pronouns and agreement marking in Bislama and Solomon Islands Pijin: Divergent paths in creolisation', 18th Biennial New Zealand Linguistics Society Conference (co-presentation with Dr. Quinn and Dr. Gegeo), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.