Treffer: A grammar of Vamale

Vamale is an endangered South Oceanic > Northern New Caledonian language, spokenby around 180 people on the northeastern coast of Grande Terre. This grammar waswritten as a PhD dissertation, on the basis of 11 months of fieldwork funded by ELDP.The data consists both of elicitation and relatively free interviews, as well as recordingsof ceremonial speeches and casual conversations. ELAR contains open-access archiveof all recordings and a dictionary, as well as a FLEx database in which many examplescan be found in context. The appendix includes three texts, an oral history account ofthe 1917 colonial war, a traditional fable, and a longer modern retelling of a legend. Thegrammar intends to give a general overview of Vamale to a general linguistics audience.Its focus on syntax, and comparison with related languages should particularly interestOceanists and areal typologists. With a dedicated chapter on the community’s historyand cultural information throughout the book, this account hopes to show the beautyand wealth of both the Vamale language and culture.