Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German): Documentation of an endangered creole language in Papua New Guinea

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Péter Maitz
• Subject Area: Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 275623802

(1) Documentation of Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German), the world's only German-based creole language, and preservation of Unserdeutsch linguistic data. This language developed in the Bismarck Archipelago before World War I and with only about 100 speakers today, must be regarded as highly endangered. This project will begin by preparing a digital and annotated Unserdeutsch corpus that will go beyond documentation to provide the basis for a descriptive and analytical examination of the grammatical and typological features of the language.(2) In order to interpret the data that are collected as thoroughly aspossible, to make them available in a meaningful context, and to facilitatefuture research, parallel and simultaneous research is needed in thefollowing areas: (a) the circumstances surrounding the genesis of thelanguage and (b) a large amount of individual language biographies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Australia, Papua New Guinea, Switzerland
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Werner König
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Ludwig Eichinger; Professor Dr. Peter Mühlhäusler; Professor Dr. Craig A. Volker