Friday, May 8, 2015

Rabaul Creole German

One of the good things that happened to me today is i found out that there is a Facebook group that is known as Unserdeutch: The Creole German of Vunapope. Its a great find. Thanks to Ellen Tiamu (The National Weekender May 8, 2015 p.11)

Rabaul Creole German developed in Rabaul as a result of interactions between the Germans then and the local people. An excerpt from my first post titled "Word Migration and Change" reads:

Language Change

Language influence one another wherever people of different ethnic or racial groups interact over a period of time. East New Britain experienced the intrusion of WW1, WW2, colonial administrations by the Germans and British, and the conversion from traditional worship to Christianity by the early missionaries. All these influenced the changes in the lives of the Tolai and their language.This is not to say that Kuanua never experienced any changes before the wars, colonial era,and contact with early missionaries. The Tolai were trading with other ethnic groups for shells to make shell money (tabu). The Nakanai were trading partners of the Tolai. Shells for making money were hard to find in the Tolai area but were plentiful in the Nakanai area. That is why the Tolai traded with the Nakanai. They travelled by sea on canoes. The last person that I know who led a trading expedition to Nakanai was ToBelut from Rakunai village. This was between 1967 and 1972. 

Now we know Rabaul Creole German also developed about the time Kuanua was being influenced by English and Deutch.