HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Darrell T. Tryon (20 July 1942 – 15 May 2013) was a
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
-born
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, academic, and specialist in
Austronesian languages The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken ...
. Specifically, Tryon specialised in the study of the languages of the
Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...
, particularly
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...
, the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
, and the French-speaking Pacific. From 1970 to 1971, Tryon completed the first systematic study of the
languages Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...
of Vanuatu, known at the time as the New Hebrides. His study, which collected a list of vocabulary words from communities throughout the islands, determined that there were more than one hundred distinct languages in Vanuatu. Tryon determined that the modern, indigenous languages of Vanuatu are part of Austronesian language family. Tryon began to study the languages of the Solomon Islands in 1978. He was also authored works on the
pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...
and
creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...
s of the
Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...
, including Pijin of the Solomon Islands and Bislama of Vanuatu.


Early life

Tryon was born on 20 July 1942, in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. He studied at the University of Canterbury, where he completed a thesis on the indigenous languages of the Loyalty Islands, an
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
of
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. He achieved fluency in French as a student and developed a fascination with the culture and history of the French regions of the South Pacific. He moved to Australia during the mid-1960s, where he taught at
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
.


Vanuatu

Much of Tryon's research focused on the New Hebrides, the colonial name for Vanuatu. He was a specialist on Vanuatu and its linguistic diversity. Tryon began his fieldwork in there in 1969. From 1970 to 1971, Tryon conducted the first systematic study of the more than 100 languages of Vanuatu. Rather than focusing on grammar, Tryon collected lists of vocabulary words from languages throughout the islands to determine the relationships between the languages. His 1970–1971 study established the existence of 117 indigenous languages spoken in Vanuatu in the early 1970s. The languages of the islands were found to be members of the Austronesian language family. He used the cutoff of 81% shared
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
s to differentiate a distinct language from a
dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
. Some of the languages studied by Tryon have since become extinct. For example, the Sowa language, which was spoken by just 20 people living in one village near Ranwadi on Pentecost Island at the time, became extinct when the last speaker died in 2000. In 1972, he published '' Pacific Linguistics volume (C-50)'', which contained his surveys, research and a 292-word list collected from 179 Ni-Vanuatu communities. The book also contained maps, showing where he language was spoken on each island. Tryon presented his findings at the First International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, which was held in
Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
,
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, in 1974. Tryon's final survey on Vanuatu's 117 languages was published in 1976. Tryon's surveys have considered to be essential to any researcher studying Vanuatu's languages. They still form the basis for much of the current knowledge on Vanuatu's linguistic heritage, according to John Lynch, a professor
emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...
in linguistics at the University of the South Pacific. Tryon headed the Vanuatu Fieldworker Programme from the early 1980s until 2009. The Vanuatu Fieldworker Programme invited men from villages throughout the country to a meeting in
Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...
once a year. Each annual meeting explored a specific cultural topic. The participants, who eventually included more than fifty men, made audio recordings of their community's cultural traditions and
folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
. The researchers and the men recorded the material in Bislama. All recordings and other records from the Vanuatu Fieldworker Programme were archived at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre in Port Vila. Much of Tryon's research from the 1970s to the 2010s continued to focus on Vanuatu. He published an extensive collection of papers and other academic research on the country and its languages.


Solomon Islands

He also conducted extensive research on the languages of the Solomon Islands, beginning in 1978. Tryon and his research partner, Brian Hackman, travelled throughout the country, conducting a systematic study of the nation's languages. Their work resulted in the publication of a volume on the languages of the Solomon Islands, published in 1983.


Later work

In 1995, Tryon released the ''Comparative Austronesian Dictionary'', a five-volume set published by Mouton de Gruyter. The work was the result of years of research. Tryon wrote the introductory articles for the set. The Dictionary contains
annotated An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...
wordlists for 1310 meanings, which organised semantic domain from 80 Austronesian languages, stretching from
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
to the Pacific, including 40 languages from the Oceania region. Each list, which was assembled by a specialist in that particular language, also included a written introduction to the language by the specialist. He and Jean-Michel Charpentier co-authored the 2004 book, ''Pacific Pidgins and Creoles'', which explored the history of the
pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...
and
creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...
s in the Pacific islands. Tryon served as the deputy director of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
during portions of the 1990s and 2000s. He became increasingly interested both the sociology and governments of the various South Pacific nations and territories during the time, which was reflected in his research. Tryon also became a Constitutional Advisor to the government of Vanuatu. The government of France awarded him the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
in recognition of his contributions to French culture and language in the Pacific as well as his commitment to Australia–France relations.


Death

Tryon died from
melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...
in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
, Australia, on 15 May 2013, at the age of 70. Dignitaries in attendance at his funeral in Canberra included Acting
Prime Minister of Vanuatu The prime minister of Vanuatu is the head of government of the Vanuatu, Republic of Vanuatu. The office of prime minister was created under the Constitution of Vanuatu upon the country's independence in 1980, with independence campaigner Walt ...
Ralph Regenvanu.


Bibliography

*''Conversational Tahitian: An introduction to the Tahitian language of French Polynesia'' (1970) *''The Language of Easter Island: Its Development and Eastern Polynesian Relationships'' (1984), co-authored with Robert Langdon *''Comparative Austronesian Dictionary'' (1995), five volume set published by Mouton de Gruyter *''Bonnemaison: Arts of Vanuatu'' (1997), co-editor with Joel Bonnemaison and Kirk Huffman *''Pacific Pidgins and Creoles'' (2004), co-authored with Jean-Michel Charpentier *''The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives'' (2006), co-authored with Peter Bellwood and James J. Fox *''Oceanic Encounters: Exchange, Desire, Violence'' (2011), co-authored with Margaret Jolly and Serge Tcherkézoff *''Politics, Development and Security in Oceania'' (2013), co-authored with David Hegarty ; Pacific Linguistics publications *Tryon, D.T. '' Nengone grammar''. B-6, x + 101 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1967. *Tryon, D.T. '' Dehu grammar''. B-7, xii + 122 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1968. *Tryon, D.T. '' Iai grammar''. B-8, xii + 137 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1968. *Tryon, D.T. ''An introduction of Maranungku (Northern Australia)''. B-15, x + 121 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. *Tryon, D.T. '' Dehu-English dictionary''. C-6, vi + 142 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1967. *Tryon, D.T. ''English- Dehu dictionary''. C-7, iv + 165 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1967. *Tryon, D.T. and Dubois, M.J. '' Nengone dictionary. Part I: Nengone-English''. C-9, viii + 452 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1969. *Tryon, D.T. and Dubois, M.J. '' Nengone dictionary. Part II: English-Nengone''. C-23, iv + 205 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1971. *Tryon, D.T. '' Daly Family languages, Australia''. C-32, xviii + 322 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1974. *Tryon, D.T. '' New Hebrides languages: An internal classification''. C-50, vi + 550 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1976. *Tryon, D.T. ''" The Languages of the New Hebrides: Internal and External Relationships". In Wurm, S.A. and Carrington, L. editors, Second International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics: Proceedings''. C-61:877-902. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1978. *Tryon, D.T. and Hackman, B.D. '' Solomon Islands languages: An internal classification''. C-72, viii + 493 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1983. *Tryon, D.T. "Towards a classification of Solomon Islands languages". In Halim, A., Carrington, L. and Wurm, S.A. editors, ''Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 1: Currents in Oceanic''. C-74:97-108. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1982. *Tryon, D.T. "The Marquesan dialects: a first approach". In Laycock, D.C. and Winter, W. editors, ''A World of language: Papers presented to Professor S.A. Wurm on his 65th birthday''. C-100:669-681. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1987. *Tryon, D. " Oceanic plant names". In Pawley, A.K. and Ross, M.D. editors, ''Austronesian Terminologies: Continuity and change''. C-127:481-510. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1994. *Tryon, D. " Mae-Morae and the languages of Epi (Vanuatu)". In Lynch, J. and Pat, F.'A. editors, ''Oceanic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Oceanic Linguistics''. C-133:305-318. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1996. *Tryon, D.T. and Gly, R. ''Gazetteer of New Hebrides place names/Nomenclature des noms geographiques des Nouvelles-Hebrides. D-15, xxxvi + 188 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1979. *Tryon, D. '' Bislama: An Introduction to the National Language of Vanuatu''. D-72, xiv + 261 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1987. *Tryon, D. " Ngatikese Men's Language". In Pawley, A., Ross, M. and Tryon, D. editors, ''The boy from Bundaberg: Studies in Melanesian linguistics in honour of Tom Dutton''. PL-514:345-360. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2001. *Tryon, D. "The languages of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu". In Bowden, J., Himmelmann, N.P. and Ross, M. editors, ''A journey through Austronesian and Papuan linguistic and cultural space: papers in honour of Andrew K. Pawley''. PL-615:283-290. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2010. *Tryon, D. "The endangered languages of Vanuatu". In Senft, G. editor, ''Endangered Austronesian, Papuan and Australian Aboriginal languages: essays on language documentation, archiving and revitalization.'' PL-617:17-34. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2010.


See also

* Alexandre François * Terry Crowley (linguist)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tryon, Darrell 1942 births 2013 deaths Linguists from New Zealand New Zealand academics Linguists of Austronesian languages Linguists of Australian Aboriginal languages Linguists of Daly languages Knights of the Legion of Honour Academic staff of the Australian National University University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand emigrants to Australia Historical linguists Linguists of Bislama Linguists of Polynesian languages Linguists of Rapa Nui Deaths from melanoma in Australia Linguists of East Papuan languages