Pacific Islands Languages and Societies Commons^™

Automatic Glossing In Under-Resourced Languages: Case Studies In Bribri And Cook Islands Māori, Carter D. Anderson

Linguistics Undergraduate Senior Theses

Interlinear glossing is a major task in Indigenous language documentation. In this paper, I explore how effectively two Large Language Models, ByT5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash, can produce interlinear glossed text. I also examine how prompting an LLM with different types of information (dictionary entries, other training samples, and translations) can augment model performance. I apply these models to two under-resourced Indigenous languages: Bribri, which is morphologically complex from Costa Rica, and Cook Islands Māori, which has a simpler morphology and is from the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. ByT5 exhibits much better performance when glossing Cook Islands Māori …

Internalizing Diasporic Peoples: How Do We Keep Native Hawaiians Connected?, Kallie P. Kaaihue-Paopao

Whittier Scholars Program

In the attempt to better understand the grounds for the generation culture disconnect of identity in Native Hawaiians, I study the diaspora of my people. Diaspora is the dispersion of people from their native lands. I find interest in this aspect of my people because the most common studies blame our dispersion on socioeconomic status and as a Native Hawaiian that wishes to do more for her people, I want to express that while it plays a part that there is a disconnection between the social actions and reactions of Hawaiʻi’s people. Common questions that I find unanswered are, why …

From Voice To Noise: Accented Speech, Constructed Languages, And Subtitling Practices As Markers Of Difference, Alice Alonso Limongi

Course Work

This monograph explores three main strategies of vocal exotification in Anglophone film: representations of accented speech, inclusion of constructed languages, and non-subtitling of snippets of other languages. Using Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding framework, I approach these practices as rhetorical devices that both construct and are constructed by the complexity of our social landscapes. Portrayals of accented speech, constructed languages, and subtitling practices form a gradient of abstraction, where the denotative meaning of words gradually loses importance to the sonic characteristics of the voice. Combining broader cultural scholarship from Edward Said, sound studies writings on power and language from Nina Sun Eidsheim …

Vol. 47 No. 1 (2024): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 47, No 1-Jun 2024 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

The Synchronic And Diachronic Phonology Of Nauruan: Towards A Definitive Classification Of An Understudied Micronesian Language, Kevin Hughes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Nauruan is a Micronesian language spoken in the Republic of Nauru, a small island nation in the central Pacific. Lack of data and difficulty in analysis has hindered progress in better understanding Nauruan for decades, particularly regarding its phonology and its classification within the Micronesian family. Because of these challenges, earlier researchers have presented their work on Nauruan as highly tentative. This dissertation establishes more confident analyses of Nauruan phonology, sound change and classification, which have been made possible through original fieldwork.

Approximately one hundred hours of digital recordings have been collected as part of this research, including wordlists, phrases, …

“The Lolelaplap (Marshall Islands) In Us: Sailing West To East (Ralik→Ratak) To These Our Atolls (Aelon Kein Ad) Ad Jolet Jen Anij (Our Blessed Inheritance From God)”, Desmond N. Doulatram

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper discusses the expansion of Oceania through a Marshallese indigenous lens as a focal point. It explains that decolonizing methodologies allows reclaiming of space for mental liberation and reassurement of constitutional rights. It highlights similar occurrences of decolonization practices meeting resistance in the 21st century all while strengthening the human right argument that no human deserves any less than their fellow human brothers and sisters. It argues that an indigenous imagery can only be viewed through an indigenous lens where the researches’ level of purity is retained and unfiltered. It nevertheless argues that Marshallese ethnolinguistics reveal the same cultural …

El Pasado Lingüístico Colonial Y Las Lenguas De Instrucción En La Educación Filipina, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

La Hispanización Y La Identidad Hispana En Filipinas, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Adoption Of Christian Prayer In Native Hawaiian Pule, Kalena Silva

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Lingua Franca And Vernacular: Language Use And Language Change On Sikaiana, William W. Donner

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The Truth And Other Irrelevant Aspects Of Nukulaelae Gossip, Niko Besnier

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Borrowed Moieties, Borrowed Names: Sociolinguistic Contact Between Tanna And Futuna-Aniwa, Vanuatu, John Lynch, Kenneth Fakamuria

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

John Lynch's Review Of Terry Crowley's Beach-La-Mar To Bislama: The Emergence Of A National Language In Vanuatu, John Lynch

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Richard Moyle's Review Of Ingjerd Hoëm, Even Hovdhaugen, And Arnfinn Muruvik Vonen's Kupu Mai Te Tutolu: Tokelau Oral Literature, Richard Moyle

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Heteroglossia In Samoan Oratory, Alessandro Duranti

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Vol. 15 No. 3 (1992): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Talking Economics In Tahitian: A Few Comments, Jean-François Baré

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Books Received And Book Notices, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Book Listing for the Vol 15, No 3 Edition of the Pacific Studies Journal

Vol. 15 No. 3 (1992): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Contributors: Vol 15 No. 3, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Contributors list of Vol. 15 (1992): Pacific Studies Full Issue 3

Mario Califano's Review Of Olaf Blixen's ‘I Te Matamu‘A: Fundamentos De La Cosmovisión Polinesia, Mario Califano

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Terence E. Hays's Review Of Bambi B. Schieffelin's The Give And Take Of Everyday Life: Language Socialization Of Kaluli Children, Terence E. Hays

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Jeannette Marie Mageo's Review Of Elinor Ochs's Culture And Language Development: Language Acquisition And Language Socialization In A Samoan Village, Jeannette Marie Mageo

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Code Switching And Conflict Management In Samoan Multiparty Interaction, Alessandro Duranti

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Review Forum On Roger M. Keesing's Melanesian Pidgin And The Oceanic Substrate, Jeff Siegel, Vladimir Belikov, Derek Bickerton, Suzanne Romaine

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Gaudichaud’S Record Of Hawaiian Vernacular Names For Plants, Harold St. John

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Donald H. Rubinstein's Review Of Catherine A. Lutz's Unnatural Emotions: Everyday Sentiments On A Micronesian Atoll And Their Challenge To Western Theory, Donald H. Rubinstein

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Richard Moyle's Review Of Even Hovdhaugen's From The Land Of Nafanua: Samoan Oral Texts In Transcription With Translation, Notes And Vocabulary, Richard Moyle

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Niko Besnier's Review Of William A. Foley's The Papuan Languages Of New Guinea, Niko Besnier

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.