Institute of Germanic Languages and Literatures

Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German)

Archive 2017

Note from December 2017

New publication: Special edition of "Language and Linguistics in Melanesia"

In "Language and Linguistics in Melanesia", the journal of the Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea, Prof Péter Maitz and Prof Craig Volker edited a special issue titled "Language Contact in the German Colonies: Papua New Guinea and beyond".

The special edition can be viewed here.

Note from December 2017

New publication: Article in "forschung", the magazine of the German Research Foundation

In the magazine "forschung", which is published quarterly by the German Research Foundation, an article on Unserdeutsch and the research project was published. It is titled: "De knabe, de mädhen, de kokonuss".

The article is available here.

Note from December 2017

Research article in the "Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages"

Prof Péter Maitz and Prof Craig Volker published a research article on the topic "Documenting Unserdeutsch. Reversing colonial amnesia" in the "Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages" (32/2).

Click here for the table of contents of the issue and here for the article.

Note from 9 November 2017

Lecture by Prof Maitz in Leipzig

On 9 November 2017, Prof Péter Maitz gave a guest lecture at the University of Leipzig as part of the Diversity Linguistics Seminar. The lecture was titled "Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German): On the Creole Typicity of a German-Based Creole Language".

Note from 3 November 2017

Lecture by Prof Maitz in Bremen

On 3 November 2017, Prof Péter Maitz gave a lecture titled "Never too late? Possibilities and Perspectives of Germanic Colonial Linguistics" as part of the workshop "Postcolonial Language Studies: Current Perspectives" in Bremen. The focus of the lecture was on perspectives arising from the Unserdeutsch project.

The programme of the workshop can be viewed here.

Note from 3 October 2017

Lecture by Prof Maitz in Brisbane

On 3 October 2017, Prof Péter Maitz gave a guest lecture on Unserdeutsch at the University of Queensland in Brisbane (AUS) at the invitation of Dr. Felicity Meakins .

Note from September/October 2017

Field trip to Papua New Guinea and Australia

From 17 September to 8 October 2017, Prof Péter Maitz, together with Siegwalt Lindenfelser and Lena Schmidtkunz, went on a field research trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea. New language data was collected in both countries and archival research was conducted. Prof Péter Maitz also gave a lecture at the Queen's University and an interview with Paradise, the inflight magazine of AirNiugini, the national airline of Papua New Guinea.

Note from 11 September 2017

Podcast on "ABC Radio Australia"

A podcast from the Australian radio station "ABC" reported on Unserdeutsch in Tok Pisin, a creole and official language in Papua New Guinea.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Note from 9 July 2017

Short report in the weekly magazine "Christ in der Gegenwart"

The Catholic weekly magazine "Christ in der Gegenwart" (28/2017) published a short report about Unserdeutsch.

It can be viewed here.

Note from 4 July 2017

Lecture by Prof Maitz in Cambridge

On 4 July 2017, Prof Péter Maitz gave a lecture titled "Language endangerment in a post-colonial setting: The case of Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German)" at the "Seventh Cambridge Conference on Language Endangerment" in Cambridge.

The conference programme can be viewed here.

Note from 19 – 24 June 2017

Project seminar on Unserdeutsch in Sion, Switzerland

From 19 to 24 June 2017, a project seminar on the grammatical description of Unserdeutsch took place in Sion (Valais), Switzerland, under the direction of Prof Péter Maitz. Not only the project team but also students participated in the seminar.

Note from 12 June 2017

Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) contribution about Unserdeutsch

The radio station SRF4 News broadcasted a five-minute radio report titled "Unserdeutsch: Mündliches Erbe der deutschen Missionare im Pazifik". It is mainly about the history of Unserdeutsch, but also mentions the vocabulary of the Creole language.

Click here to listen to the report.

Note from 8 June 2017

Article in the "Rheinische Post"

On 8 June 2017, the german daily newspaper "Rheinische Post" published an interview titled "Unserdeutsch kurz vor dem Aussterben". In this interview, Prof Péter Maitz and Prof Craig Volker answer questions about creole languages and the origin, history and structure of Unserdeutsch.

Click here to read the interview.

Note from 7 June 2017

Newsflash on the news page of 3sat

The german TV station 3sat has reported on the impending extinction of Unserdeutsch in a short news report on their "Kulturzeit" news page.

You can view the newsflash here

Note from 7 June 2017

Radio report on "Deutschlandfunk Nova"

The programme "Grünstreifen" of the German radio station "Deutschlandfunk Nova" featured a four-minute radio report about Unserdeutsch. In the report titled "Unserdeutsch stirbt aus", the reporter Jenny Rieger and the host Sebastian Sonntag talk about the origins of Unserdeutsch.

You can listen to the report here

Note from 7 June 2017

Lecture by Prof Volker in Augsburg

Prof Craig Volker gave a lecture on "Unserdeutsch und das sprachliche Erbe der deutschen Kolonialzeit in Papua-Neuguinea" as part of his project-related visiting professorship at the University of Augsburg.

A short description of the lecture can be found here

Note from 3/4 June 2017

Lectures by Prof Maitz and S. Lindenfelser in Münster

On 3 June 2017, Prof Péter Maitz gave a plenary lecture titled "Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German): On the description of a German-based Creole language" at the interdisciplinary junior researcher conference "Dynamics - Variation - System" of the Graduate School "Empirical and Applied Linguistics" in Münster. On 4 June 2017, Siegwalt Lindenfelser also gave a lecture there called "Spontaneous transcription of spoken language using the example of Unserdeutsch".

The programme of the conference can be viewed here.

Note from 26 May 2017

Newspaper report on Unserdeutsch in "The National"

"The National", the national daily newspaper of Papua New Guinea, has published an article written by Prof Craig Volker. The article titled "How emigration is killing a language" is about the history of Unserdeutsch and the speech community today.

The article can be found here.

Note from May and June 2017

Language course on Tok Pisin by Prof Volker in Ausgburg

In May and June 2017, Prof. Craig Volker held a course on Tok Pisin, the national language of Papua New Guinea. Project staff and students took part in order to acquire competence in the substrate language of Unserdeutsch.

Note from 28 April 2017

Article in the Danish newspaper "Weekendavisen"

The Danish weekly newspaper "Weekendavisen" published an article on Unserdeutsch by Peter Harmsen. It is titled "De Chicken war gestohlen".

The article can be read here.

Note from 8 April 2017

Article in the Austrian newspaper "Wiener Zeitung"

The Austrian daily newspaper "Wiener Zeitung" published an article on Unserdeutsch. The article, written by the development worker and author Daniel Rössler, is titled "Du laufen geht wo?"

Read the article here.

Note from 25 February 2017

Radio report on "SBS German Radio" in Australia

The Australian radio station "SBS German Radio" published a fourteen-minute interview with Prof Péter Maitz. In this contribution, titled "In search of the German creole speakers of Papua New Guinea", questions about Unserdeutsch and the research project are answered.

The contribution can be listened to on SBS Radio's Soundcloud.

Note from 24 February 2017

Newspaper report in "The National"

"The National", the national daily newspaper in Papua New Guinea, published an article by Ellen Tiamu titled "Filming a dying language". This article is mainly about the research project on Unserdeutsch and a TV report that was filmed about the project and the language.

The article can be read here. The reportage that the article is mentioning can be viewed in the ARD Mediathek.

Note from 6 – 24 February 2017

Research trip by Prof Maitz to Papua New Guinea and Australia

In February Prof Péter Maitz went on another research trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea. He was accompanied by a television crew from ARD, which was on location to film a documentary about Unserdeutsch and its speakers. Further language recordings were made in Australia.

Note from 2 January 2017

Television report on the project on a.tv

The German television station a.tv. ran a short feature on the research project on Unserdeutsch.

Watch the feauture here.