Trade, mines and language: The Chinese in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The island of New Guinea is the locus of extreme linguistic and cultural diversity: about a thousand languages spoken there belong to at least sixty families, in addition to quite a few isolates (linguistic 'orphans' with no known relatives). The advent of the European coloniser has added an extra dimension to this diversity. The emergence and spread of Tok Pisina national language and a lingua franca of Papua New Guinea (PNG), based on English-has affected the linguistic ecosystem of the country. What about the Chinese, a major group of expatriates?The growth of Chinese immigration to PNG over the past few decades and the rapid establishment of Chinese-run enterprises are likely precursors to the emergence of special registers and new ways of speaking-a further splash of colour in the patchwork quilt of the diverse linguistic ecosystem in PNG. Two contributions to this volume, by I-Chang Kuo and by Shaun Gessler, focus on newly arising means of communication between Chinese and Papua New Guineans in the Basamuk nickel refinery in Madang Province.