Welcome to PNG Language Resources

small map of Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea is linguistically the most complex nation of the world. Over 800 languages are spoken in this Pacific country. This site aims to show some of this linguistic diversity by making available the research results carried out by members of SIL.

SIL in PNG is a branch of SIL International, a volunteer nonprofit organization that has worked in PNG since 1956. In cooperation with the PNG Department of Education since 1956, research has been carried out in more than 389 languages, and at the present time about 316 SIL members are actively working on projects in 190 different languages.

This site provides information on many of these languages, including phonologies, grammars, dictionaries, literacy, and other materials, as well as language maps. In many cases the materials have been previously published, but unpublished archived and unedited studies and reports are also made available here. We believe it is appropriate for even incomplete and dated analyses to be made available, but in such cases the reader should note the tentative nature of the research.

We expect this site to expand as more materials become available electronically. We trust you will share our fascination with this linguistically rich country.

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