Language and Place-knowledge on Norfolk Island

Abstract

Using the place-naming practices in the small settler society of Norfolk Island, the home of Anglo-Polynesian descendants of the Bounty mutineers, we advance a linguistic argument against Saussure's claims concerning the arbitrariness of signs. When extended to place names, Saussure's claims about language in general imply place names in themselves hold no significance for how people interact with places. In contrast, we use ethnographic examples to show that people of Norfolk Island interact with the significance of the names themselves. Arguments for an integrated approach to toponymy in which place names are considered alongside other relational (cultural, economic and historical) factors that influence their use and meaning are put forward. We propose 'toponymic ethnography' as a useful methodology for understanding the connectedness of toponyms to people, place, and social networks.

Ketch Yorlye Daun Paradise: Sense of place, heritage and belonging in Norfolk Island’s Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area

“…Nash and Low (2015: 386) observe that language and ancestry ‘are the strongest discourses used to validate and locate belonging’ and senses of place on Norfolk Island. In our project, participants were invited to use the Norf’k language in their interviews and contributions to the zine and these are presented in this article without English translation.…”

Gesturing to the Past: The Case for an Ethnography of Melanesian Poetics

“…The influence of E S Casey's phenomenology of place (1996) and Tim Ingold's book The Perception of the Environment (2000) has grown exponentially across a wide range of contemporary research fields. Many recent studies in Oceania have emphasized the strong connection between landscape (as Ingold understood the term) or place and lived experience (see Douglas 2014;Fox 2006;Gegeo 2001;Hirsch 2006;Kirsch 2004;Levinson 2008;Mackley-Crump 2015;Nash and Low 2015;Wood 2004). In the long quotation given earlier, Crowdy emphasized the fundamental role of location in the interpretation of the Hula language.…”

Toponyms as a Gateway to Society

“…The sociocultural and ecological nature of places also contribute to the place naming process in these areas. This not only highlights the intersection between diverse disciplines like Toponymy, Linguistics, Geography, Ecology, and Cultural Studies, but more importantly, illustrates how inhabitants describe and understand places through their awareness of linguistic, cultural, and ecological relationships between people and place -an approach known as toponymic ethnography -which is an increasingly innovative and multidisciplinary method used in Toponymy (Nash 2012;Nash 2015;Nash & Low 2015;Hearn 2021).…”