89-539: Melanesia ( UK : / ˌ m ɛ l ə ˈ n iː z i ə / , US : / ˌ m ɛ l ə ˈ n iː ʒ ə / ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea . The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji , Vanuatu , Solomon Islands , Papua New Guinea . It also includes
178-576: A West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands. The resident population at this time was generally speaking Common Brittonic —the insular variety of Continental Celtic , which was influenced by the Roman occupation. This group of languages ( Welsh , Cornish , Cumbric ) cohabited alongside English into
267-559: A century as Received Pronunciation (RP). However, due to language evolution and changing social trends, some linguists argue that RP is losing prestige or has been replaced by another accent, one that the linguist Geoff Lindsey for instance calls Standard Southern British English. Others suggest that more regionally-oriented standard accents are emerging in England. Even in Scotland and Northern Ireland, RP exerts little influence in
356-580: A certain linguistic, biological and cultural affinity – a certain ill-defined sameness, which shades off at its margins into difference. Both Sillitoe and Chowning include the island of New Guinea in the definition of Melanesia, and both exclude Australia. Most of the peoples of Melanesia live either in politically independent countries or in regions that currently have active independence movements, such as in Western New Guinea ( Indonesia ) and New Caledonia ( France ). Some have recently embraced
445-469: A distinct region evolved gradually over time as their expeditions mapped and explored the Pacific. Early European explorers noted the physical differences among groups of Pacific Islanders. In 1756, Charles de Brosses theorized that there was an "old black race" in the Pacific who had been conquered or defeated by the peoples of what is now called Polynesia , whom he distinguished as having lighter skin. In
534-508: A greater movement, normally [əʊ], [əʉ] or [əɨ]. Dropping a morphological grammatical number , in collective nouns , is stronger in British English than North American English. This is to treat them as plural when once grammatically singular, a perceived natural number prevails, especially when applying to institutional nouns and groups of people. The noun 'police', for example, undergoes this treatment: Police are investigating
623-406: A lesser class or social status and often discounted or considered of a low intelligence. Another contribution to the standardisation of British English was the introduction of the printing press to England in the mid-15th century. In doing so, William Caxton enabled a common language and spelling to be dispersed among the entirety of England at a much faster rate. Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of
712-399: A non-Western view of reality, complicating translation. This is confirmed by the definition of mana provided by Māori Marsden who states that mana is: Spiritual power and authority as opposed to the purely psychic and natural force — ihi. According to Margaret Mutu , mana in its traditional sense means: Power, authority, ownership, status, influence, dignity, respect derived from
801-422: A positive basis for contemporary subregional identity as well as a formal organisation". Additionally, while the terms "Polynesia" and "Micronesia" refer to the geographic characteristics of the islands, "Melanesia" specifically refers to the color of the inhabitants as the "black race of Oceania. The author Bernard Narokobi has written that the concept of the "Melanesian Way" as a distinct cultural force could give
890-659: A process called T-glottalisation . National media, being based in London, have seen the glottal stop spreading more widely than it once was in word endings, not being heard as "no [ʔ] " and bottle of water being heard as "bo [ʔ] le of wa [ʔ] er". It is still stigmatised when used at the beginning and central positions, such as later , while often has all but regained /t/ . Other consonants subject to this usage in Cockney English are p , as in pa [ʔ] er and k as in ba [ʔ] er. In most areas of England and Wales, outside
979-520: A regional accent or dialect. However, about 2% of Britons speak with an accent called Received Pronunciation (also called "the King's English", "Oxford English" and " BBC English" ), that is essentially region-less. It derives from a mixture of the Midlands and Southern dialects spoken in London in the early modern period. It is frequently used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners. In
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#17327584639141068-418: A single English definition. Both mana and tapu take on a whole range of related meanings depending on their association and the context in which they are being used. A tribe with mana whenua must have demonstrated their authority over a territory. In contemporary New Zealand English , the word "mana" refers to a person or organisation of people of great personal prestige and character. The increased use of
1157-507: A small amount of land. On average, there is one language for every 716 square kilometers on the island. This is by far the densest collection of distinct languages on Earth, almost three times as dense as in Nigeria, a country famous for having a very large number of languages in a very compact area. In addition to the many indigenous Melanesian languages, pidgins and creole languages have developed from trade and cultural interaction within
1246-422: A universal concept, found in all human cultures and expressing fundamental human awareness of a sacred life energy. In his 1904 essay, "Outline of a General Theory of Magic", Marcel Mauss drew on the writings of Codrington and others to paint a picture of mana as "power par excellence , the genuine effectiveness of things which corroborates their practical actions without annihilating them". Mauss pointed out
1335-423: A vast area with a long history of exchanges. The name Melanesia (from ‹See Tfd› Greek : μέλας , translit. mé.las , lit. "black", and ‹See Tfd› Greek : νῆσος , translit. nɛ̂ː.sos , lit. "island"), etymologically means "islands of black [people]", in reference to the dark skin of the inhabitants. The concept among Europeans of Melanesia as
1424-872: A very modest degree with the indigenous populations there". The study did find a small Austronesian genetic signature (below 20%) in some of the Melanesian groups who speak Austronesian languages , but found no such signature at all in Papuan -speaking groups. Most of the languages of Melanesia are members of the Austronesian language family or one of the numerous Papuan languages . The term "Papuan languages" refers to their geographical location rather than implying that they are linguistically related. In fact they comprise many separate language families. By one count, there are 1,319 languages in Melanesia, scattered across
1513-513: Is a foundation of Polynesian theology , a spiritual quality with a supernatural origin and a sacred, impersonal force. To have mana implies influence, authority , and efficacy : the ability to perform in a given situation. The quality of mana is not limited to individuals; peoples, governments, places, and inanimate objects may also possess mana , and its possessors are accorded respect. Mana protects its protector and they depend on each other for growth, both positive and negative. It depends on
1602-725: Is also due to London-centric influences. Examples of R-dropping are car and sugar , where the R is not pronounced. British dialects differ on the extent of diphthongisation of long vowels, with southern varieties extensively turning them into diphthongs, and with northern dialects normally preserving many of them. As a comparison, North American varieties could be said to be in-between. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are usually preserved, and in several areas also /oː/ and /eː/, as in go and say (unlike other varieties of English, that change them to [oʊ] and [eɪ] respectively). Some areas go as far as not diphthongising medieval /iː/ and /uː/, that give rise to modern /aɪ/ and /aʊ/; that is, for example, in
1691-431: Is based on British English, but has more influence from American English , often grouped together due to their close proximity. British English, for example, is the closest English to Indian English, but Indian English has extra vocabulary and some English words are assigned different meanings. Mana (Oceanian mythology) In Melanesian and Polynesian cultures, mana is a supernatural force that permeates
1780-715: Is both external and internal. Sites on the Hawaiian Islands and in French Polynesia are believed to possess mana—for example, the top rim of the Haleakalā volcano on the island of Maui and the Taputapuatea marae on the island of Raʻiātea in the Society Islands . Ancient Hawaiians also believed that the island of Molokaʻi possessed mana compared with its neighboring islands. Before
1869-795: Is included in style guides issued by various publishers including The Times newspaper, the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press . The Oxford University Press guidelines were originally drafted as a single broadsheet page by Horace Henry Hart, and were at the time (1893) the first guide of their type in English; they were gradually expanded and eventually published, first as Hart's Rules , and in 2002 as part of The Oxford Manual of Style . Comparable in authority and stature to The Chicago Manual of Style for published American English ,
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#17327584639141958-482: Is no general agreement even among anthropologists about the geographical boundaries of Melanesia. Many apply the term only to the smaller islands, excluding New Guinea; Fiji has frequently been treated as an anomalous border region or even assigned wholly to Polynesia; and the people of the Torres Straits Islands are often simply classified as Australian aborigines. In 1998, Paul Sillitoe wrote: "It
2047-402: Is not easy to define precisely, on geographical, cultural, biological, or any other grounds, where Melanesia ends and the neighbouring regions ... begins". He ultimately concludes that the region is a historical category which evolved in the nineteenth century from the discoveries made in the Pacific and has been legitimated by use and further research in the region. It covers populations that have
2136-505: Is now free or flown." In Māori culture , there are two essential aspects of a person's mana : mana tangata , authority derived from whakapapa ( genealogy ) and mana huaanga , defined as "authority derived from having a wealth of resources to gift to others to bind them into reciprocal obligations ". Hemopereki Simon , from Ngāti Tūwharetoa , asserts that there are many forms of mana in Maori beliefs. The indigenous word reflects
2225-412: Is of the greatest advantage to possess or control". Describing pre-animism, Robert Ranulph Marett cited the Melanesian mana (primarily with Codrington's work): "When the science of Comparative Religion employs a native expression such as mana, it is obliged to disregard to some extent its original or local meaning. Science, then, may adopt mana as a general category ... ". In Melanesia, "animae" are
2314-632: Is often made between the island of New Guinea and what is known as Island Melanesia , which consists of "the chain of archipelagos, islands, atolls, and reefs forming the outer bounds of the sheltered oval-shaped coral sea". This includes the Louisiade Archipelago (a part of Papua New Guinea ), the Bismarck Archipelago (a part of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands ), and the Santa Cruz Islands (a part of
2403-411: Is perceptible, appearing as a "Power of awfulness" (in the sense of awe or wonder). Objects possessing it impress an observer with "respect, veneration, propitiation, service" emanating from the mana's power. Marett lists several objects habitually possessing mana: "startling manifestations of nature", "curious stones", animals, "human remains", blood, thunderstorms, eclipses, eruptions, glaciers, and
2492-547: The Chambers Dictionary , and the Collins Dictionary record actual usage rather than attempting to prescribe it. In addition, vocabulary and usage change with time; words are freely borrowed from other languages and other varieties of English, and neologisms are frequent. For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the ninth century, the form of language spoken in London and
2581-568: The orenda of the Iroquois Indians and theorized that mana was a universal phenomenon that explained the origin of religions . The reconstructed Proto-Oceanic word *mana is thought to have referred to "powerful forces of nature such as thunder and storm winds" rather than supernatural power. As the Oceanic-speaking peoples spread eastward , the word started to refer instead to unseen supernatural powers. Mana
2670-561: The Commonwealth of Nations and are also members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group . Melanesians were found to have a third archaic Homo species along with their Denisovan (3–4%) and Neanderthal (2%) ancestors in a genetic admixture with their otherwise modern Homo sapiens sapiens genomes. The frequent occurrence of blond hair among these peoples is due to a specific random mutation, different from
2759-658: The East Midlands became standard English within the Court, and ultimately became the basis for generally accepted use in the law, government, literature and education in Britain. The standardisation of British English is thought to be from both dialect levelling and a thought of social superiority. Speaking in the Standard dialect created class distinctions; those who did not speak the standard English would be considered of
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2848-801: The Indonesian part of New Guinea and the Maluku islands , the French oversea collectivity of New Caledonia , and the Torres Strait Islands . Almost all of the region is in the Southern Hemisphere ; only a few small islands that are not politically considered part of Oceania—specifically the northwestern islands of Western New Guinea—lie in the Northern Hemisphere . The name Melanesia (in French, Mélanésie )
2937-608: The Lau Islands . From the geological point of view, the island of New Guinea is part of the Australian continent . New Caledonia is geologically part of Zealandia , and so is Norfolk Island . The names of islands in Melanesia can be confusing: they have both indigenous and European names. National boundaries sometimes cut across archipelagos. The names of the political units in the region have changed over time, and sometimes have included geographical terms. For example,
3026-493: The Royal Spanish Academy with Spanish. Standard British English differs notably in certain vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation features from standard American English and certain other standard English varieties around the world. British and American spelling also differ in minor ways. The accent, or pronunciation system, of standard British English, based in southeastern England, has been known for over
3115-490: The Scots language or Scottish Gaelic ). Each group includes a range of dialects, some markedly different from others. The various British dialects also differ in the words that they have borrowed from other languages. Around the middle of the 15th century, there were points where within the 5 major dialects there were almost 500 ways to spell the word though . Following its last major survey of English Dialects (1949–1950),
3204-708: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England , or, more broadly, to the collective dialects of English throughout the British Isles taken as a single umbrella variety, for instance additionally incorporating Scottish English , Welsh English , and Northern Irish English . Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English acknowledges that British English shares "all
3293-573: The University of Leeds has started work on a new project. In May 2007 the Arts and Humanities Research Council awarded a grant to Leeds to study British regional dialects. The team are sifting through a large collection of examples of regional slang words and phrases turned up by the "Voices project" run by the BBC , in which they invited the public to send in examples of English still spoken throughout
3382-610: The West Country and other near-by counties of the UK, the consonant R is not pronounced if not followed by a vowel, lengthening the preceding vowel instead. This phenomenon is known as non-rhoticity . In these same areas, a tendency exists to insert an R between a word ending in a vowel and a next word beginning with a vowel. This is called the intrusive R . It could be understood as a merger, in that words that once ended in an R and words that did not are no longer treated differently. This
3471-595: The atua . In terms of leadership, Ngāti Kahungunu legal scholar Carwyn Jones comments: "Mana is the central concept that underlies Māori leadership and accountability." He also considers mana as a fundamental aspect of the constitutional traditions of Māori society . According to the New Zealand Ministry of Justice : Mana and tapu are concepts which have both been attributed single-worded definitions by contemporary writers. As concepts, especially Maori concepts they can not easily be translated into
3560-629: The 21st century. RP, while long established as the standard English accent around the globe due to the spread of the British Empire , is distinct from the standard English pronunciation in some parts of the world; most prominently, RP notably contrasts with standard North American accents. In the 21st century, dictionaries like the Oxford English Dictionary , the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ,
3649-836: The English Language (1755) was a large step in the English-language spelling reform , where the purification of language focused on standardising both speech and spelling. By the early 20th century, British authors had produced numerous books intended as guides to English grammar and usage, a few of which achieved sufficient acclaim to have remained in print for long periods and to have been reissued in new editions after some decades. These include, most notably of all, Fowler's Modern English Usage and The Complete Plain Words by Sir Ernest Gowers . Detailed guidance on many aspects of writing British English for publication
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3738-613: The Germanic schwein ) is the animal in the field bred by the occupied Anglo-Saxons and pork (like the French porc ) is the animal at the table eaten by the occupying Normans. Another example is the Anglo-Saxon cu meaning cow, and the French bœuf meaning beef. Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English;
3827-862: The Oxford Manual is a fairly exhaustive standard for published British English that writers can turn to in the absence of specific guidance from their publishing house. British English is the basis of, and very similar to, Commonwealth English . Commonwealth English is English as spoken and written in the Commonwealth countries , though often with some local variation. This includes English spoken in Australia , Malta , New Zealand , Nigeria , and South Africa . It also includes South Asian English used in South Asia, in English varieties in Southeast Asia , and in parts of Africa. Canadian English
3916-683: The Solomons. In addition to the islands mentioned above, there are many smaller islands and atolls in Melanesia. These include: Norfolk Island, listed above, has archaeological evidence of East Polynesian rather than Melanesian settlement. Rotuma in Fiji has strong affinities culturally and ethnologically to Polynesia. The following countries are considered part of Melanesia: Melanesia also includes: Several Melanesian states are members of intergovernmental and regional organizations. Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu are members of
4005-712: The South East, there are significantly different accents; the Cockney accent spoken by some East Londoners is strikingly different from Received Pronunciation (RP). Cockney rhyming slang can be (and was initially intended to be) difficult for outsiders to understand, although the extent of its use is often somewhat exaggerated. Londoners speak with a mixture of accents, depending on ethnicity, neighbourhood, class, age, upbringing, and sundry other factors. Estuary English has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it has some features of RP and some of Cockney. Immigrants to
4094-550: The UK in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country and particularly to London. Surveys started in 1979 by the Inner London Education Authority discovered over 125 languages being spoken domestically by the families of the inner city's schoolchildren. Notably Multicultural London English , a sociolect that emerged in the late 20th century spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London . Since
4183-640: The United Kingdom , as well as within the countries themselves. The major divisions are normally classified as English English (or English as spoken in England (which is itself broadly grouped into Southern English , West Country , East and West Midlands English and Northern English ), Northern Irish English (in Northern Ireland), Welsh English (not to be confused with the Welsh language ), and Scottish English (not to be confused with
4272-465: The West Scottish accent. Phonological features characteristic of British English revolve around the pronunciation of the letter R, as well as the dental plosive T and some diphthongs specific to this dialect. Once regarded as a Cockney feature, in a number of forms of spoken British English, /t/ has become commonly realised as a glottal stop [ʔ] when it is in the intervocalic position, in
4361-410: The adjective little is predominant elsewhere. Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English within the United Kingdom, and this could be described by the term British English . The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken and so a uniform concept of British English is more difficult to apply to
4450-438: The ambiguities and tensions [with] the word 'British' and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity". Variations exist in formal (both written and spoken) English in the United Kingdom. For example, the adjective wee is almost exclusively used in parts of Scotland, north-east England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally Yorkshire , whereas
4539-476: The area and with the wider world. Most notable among these are Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu in Papua New Guinea. They are now both considered distinct creole languages. Use of Tok Pisin is growing. It is sometimes learned as a first language, above all by multi-cultural families. Examples of other Melanesian creoles are Unserdeutsch , Solomon Islands Pijin , Bislama , and Papuan Malay . A distinction
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#17327584639144628-488: The award of the grant in 2007, Leeds University stated: that they were "very pleased"—and indeed, "well chuffed"—at receiving their generous grant. He could, of course, have been "bostin" if he had come from the Black Country , or if he was a Scouser he would have been well "made up" over so many spondoolicks, because as a Geordie might say, £460,000 is a "canny load of chink". Most people in Britain speak with
4717-559: The country called Solomon Islands). The country of Vanuatu is composed of the New Hebrides island chain (and in the past ' New Hebrides ' has also been the name of the political unit located on the islands). New Caledonia is composed of one large island and several smaller chains, including the Loyalty Islands . The nation of Fiji is composed of two main islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu , and smaller islands, including
4806-622: The country. The BBC Voices project also collected hundreds of news articles about how the British speak English from swearing through to items on language schools. This information will also be collated and analysed by Johnson's team both for content and for where it was reported. "Perhaps the most remarkable finding in the Voices study is that the English language is as diverse as ever, despite our increased mobility and constant exposure to other accents and dialects through TV and radio". When discussing
4895-523: The early studies". "With regard to these theories founded upon the primordial and universal character of mana , we must say without delay that they have been invalidated by later research". Holbraad argued in a paper included in the volume "Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically" that the concept of mana highlights a significant theoretical assumption in anthropology : that matter and meaning are separate. A hotly debated issue, Holbraad suggests that mana provides motive to re-evaluate
4984-664: The findings of a genetic study published by Temple University in 2008. That study found that neither Polynesians nor Micronesians have much genetic relation to Melanesians. The study's results suggest that, after ancestors of the Polynesians, having developed sailing outrigger canoes, migrated out of East Asia, they moved quickly through the Melanesian area, mostly without settling there, and instead continued on to areas east of Melanesia, finally settling in those areas. The genetic evidence suggests that they left few descendants in Melanesia, and therefore probably "only intermixed to
5073-413: The first half of the nineteenth century, Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent and Jules Dumont d'Urville characterized Melanesians as a distinct racial group. Over time, however, Europeans increasingly viewed Melanesians as a distinct cultural, rather than racial, grouping. Scholars and other commentators disagreed on the boundaries of Melanesia, descriptions of which were therefore somewhat fluid. In
5162-424: The gods Kū and Lono formed, through whom are the two paths to mana ( ʻimihaku , or the search for mana). Kū, the god of war and politics, offers mana through violence; this was how Kamehameha gained his mana. Lono, the god of peace and fertility, offers mana through sexuality. Prayers were believed to have mana, which was sent to the akua at the end when the priest usually said "amama ua noa," meaning "the prayer
5251-483: The idea of the totemic principle or mana. In 1936, Ian Hogbin criticised the universality of Marett's pre-animism: "Mana is by no means universal and, consequently, to adopt it as a basis on which to build up a general theory of primitive religion is not only erroneous but indeed fallacious". However, Marett intended the concept as an abstraction . Spells, for example, may be found "from Central Australia to Scotland." Early 20th-century scholars also saw mana as
5340-458: The idea of two different morphemes, one that causes the double negation, and one that is used for the point or the verb. Standard English in the United Kingdom, as in other English-speaking nations, is widely enforced in schools and by social norms for formal contexts but not by any singular authority; for instance, there is no institution equivalent to the Académie française with French or
5429-423: The island of Makira was once known as San Cristobal, the name given to it by Spanish explorers. It is in the country Solomon Islands, which is a nation-state and not a contiguous archipelago. The border of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands separates the island of Bougainville from the nearby islands of Choiseul, although Bougainville is geographically part of the chain of islands that includes Choiseul and much of
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#17327584639145518-550: The islands of New Guinea should not be included because only some of its people were Melanesians. Also, like Bory de Saint-Vincent, he excluded Australia from Melanesia. It was in these works that Codrington introduced the Melanesian cultural concept of mana to the West. Uncertainty about the best way to delineate and define the region continues to this day. The scholarly consensus now includes New Guinea within Melanesia. Ann Chowning wrote in her 1977 textbook on Melanesia that there
5607-523: The last southern Midlands accent to use the broad "a" in words like bath or grass (i.e. barth or grarss ). Conversely crass or plastic use a slender "a". A few miles northwest in Leicestershire the slender "a" becomes more widespread generally. In the town of Corby , five miles (8 km) north, one can find Corbyite which, unlike the Kettering accent, is largely influenced by
5696-518: The later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary . Dialects and accents vary amongst the four countries of
5785-545: The mana figures without animae, "no island of pure 'pre-animism' is to be found." Like Tylor, he theorizes a thread of commonality between animism and pre-animism identified with the supernatural —the "mysterious", as opposed to the reasonable. In 1912, French sociologist Émile Durkheim examined totemism , the religion of the Aboriginal Australians , from a sociological and theological point of view, describing collective effervescence as originating in
5874-457: The mass internal migration to Northamptonshire in the 1940s and given its position between several major accent regions, it has become a source of various accent developments. In Northampton the older accent has been influenced by overspill Londoners. There is an accent known locally as the Kettering accent, which is a transitional accent between the East Midlands and East Anglian . It is
5963-463: The modern period, but due to their remoteness from the Germanic languages , influence on English was notably limited . However, the degree of influence remains debated, and it has recently been argued that its grammatical influence accounts for the substantial innovations noted between English and the other West Germanic languages. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting
6052-437: The much more ancient indigenous Papuan-speaking peoples. Some late-20th-century scholars developed a theory, known as the "Polynesian theory", that there then followed a long period of interaction between these newcomers and the pre-existing inhabitants that led to many complex genetic, linguistic, and cultural mixing and other changes among the descendants of all the groups. This theory was later called into question, however, by
6141-423: The mutation that led to blond hair in peoples indigenous to northern regions of the globe. This is evidence that the genotype and phenotype for blond hair arose at least twice in human history. 9°S 161°E / 9°S 161°E / -9; 161 British English British English (abbreviations: BrE , en-GB , and BE ) is the set of varieties of the English language native to
6230-571: The nineteenth century, Robert Henry Codrington , a British missionary, produced a series of monographs on "the Melanesians", based on his long-time residence in the region. In his published works on Melanesia, including The Melanesian Languages (1885) and The Melanesians: Studies in Their Anthropology and Folk-lore (1891), Codrington defined Melanesia as including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and Fiji. He reasoned that
6319-480: The notion of mana", wrote Mauss's biographer Marcel Fournier , "but Hubert and Mauss were criticized for giving it a universal dimension". Criticism of mana as an archetype of life energy increased. According to Mircea Eliade , the idea of mana is not universal; in places where it is believed, not everyone has it, and "even among the varying formulae ( mana , wakan , orenda , etc.) there are, if not glaring differences, certainly nuances not sufficiently observed in
6408-409: The part that is now New Guinea, while others continued south and became the aboriginal inhabitants of Australia . Another wave of Austronesian migrants , originating ultimately from Taiwan , arrived in Melanesia much later, probably between 4000 and 3000 BC. They settled mostly along the north coast of New Guinea and on the islands to its north and east. When they arrived, they came into contact with
6497-527: The people of the region a sense of empowerment. This concept has in fact been used as a force in geopolitics . For instance, when the countries of Vanuatu , Solomon Islands , Papua New Guinea , and Fiji reached a regional preferential trade agreement , they named it the Melanesian Spearhead Group . The people of Melanesia have a distinctive ancestry. According to the Southern Dispersal theory, hominid populations from Africa dispersed along
6586-557: The person where he takes his mana . In Polynesia, mana was traditionally seen as a " transcendent power that blesses " that can "express itself directly" through various ways, but most often shows itself through the speech , movement, or traditional ritual of a " prophet , priest , or king ." In Hawaiian and Tahitian culture, mana is a spiritual energy and healing power which can exist in places, objects, and persons. Hawaiians believe that mana may be gained or lost by actions, and Hawaiians and Tahitians believe that mana
6675-518: The similarity of mana to the Iroquois orenda and the Algonquian manitou , convinced of the "universality of the institution"; "a concept, encompassing the idea of magical power, was once found everywhere". Mauss and his collaborator, Henri Hubert , were criticised for this position when their 1904 Outline of a General Theory of Magic was published. "No one questioned the existence of
6764-447: The souls of living men, the ghosts of deceased men, and spirits "of ghost-like appearance" or imitating living people. Spirits can inhabit other objects, such as animals or stones. The most significant property of mana is that it is distinct from, and exists independently of, its source. Animae act only through mana. It is impersonal, undistinguished, and (like energy) transmissible between objects, which can have more or less of it. Mana
6853-425: The sound of a bullroarer . If mana is a distinct power, it may be treated distinctly. Marett distinguishes spells , which treat mana quasi-objectively, and prayers , which address the animae. An anima may have departed, leaving mana in the form of a spell which can be addressed by magic . Although Marett postulates an earlier pre-animistic phase , a "rudimentary religion" or " magico-religious " phase in which
6942-422: The southern edge of Asia some 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. For some, the endpoint of this ancient migration was the ancient continent of Sahul , a single landmass comprising both the areas that are now Australia and New Guinea . At that time, they were united by a land bridge, because sea levels were lower than in the present day. The first migration into Sahul was over 40,000 years ago. Some migrants settled in
7031-401: The spoken language. Globally, countries that are former British colonies or members of the Commonwealth tend to follow British English, as is the case for English used by European Union institutions. In China, both British English and American English are taught. The UK government actively teaches and promotes English around the world and operates in over 200 countries . English is
7120-711: The term mana in New Zealand society is the result of the politicisation of Māori issues stemming from the Māori Renaissance . Missionary Robert Henry Codrington traveled widely in Melanesia , publishing several studies of its language and culture. His 1891 book The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-Lore contains the first detailed description of mana in English. Codrington defines it as "a force altogether distinct from physical power, which acts in all kinds of ways for good and evil, and which it
7209-445: The term "Melanesia" as a source of identity and empowerment. Stephanie Lawson writes that despite "a number of scholars finding the term problematic due to its historical associations with European exploration and colonisation, as well as the racism embedded in these", the term "has acquired a positive meaning and relevance for many of the people to whom it applies", and has "moved from a term of denigration to one of affirmation, providing
7298-603: The theft of work tools worth £500 from a van at the Sprucefield park and ride car park in Lisburn. A football team can be treated likewise: Arsenal have lost just one of 20 home Premier League matches against Manchester City. This tendency can be observed in texts produced already in the 19th century. For example, Jane Austen , a British author, writes in Chapter 4 of Pride and Prejudice , published in 1813: All
7387-403: The traditional accent of Newcastle upon Tyne , 'out' will sound as 'oot', and in parts of Scotland and North-West England, 'my' will be pronounced as 'me'. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are diphthongised to [ɪi] and [ʊu] respectively (or, more technically, [ʏʉ], with a raised tongue), so that ee and oo in feed and food are pronounced with a movement. The diphthong [oʊ] is also pronounced with
7476-496: The unification of the Hawaiian Kingdom by King Kamehameha I , battles were fought for possession of the island and its south shore fish ponds , which existed until the late 19th century. A person may gain mana by pono "right actions". In ancient Hawaii, there were two paths to mana : sexual means or violence. In at least this tradition, nature is seen as dualistic, and everything has a counterpart. A balance between
7565-481: The universe. Anyone or anything can have mana . They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a source of power. It is an intentional force. Mana has been discussed mostly in relation to cultures of Polynesia , but also of Melanesia , notably the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu . In the 19th century, scholars compared mana to similar concepts such as
7654-750: The varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon , eventually came to dominate. The original Old English was then influenced by two waves of invasion: the first was by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who settled in parts of Britain in the eighth and ninth centuries; the second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman . These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it
7743-568: The world are good and agreeable in your eyes. However, in Chapter 16, the grammatical number is used. The world is blinded by his fortune and consequence. Some dialects of British English use negative concords, also known as double negatives . Rather than changing a word or using a positive, words like nobody, not, nothing, and never would be used in the same sentence. While this does not occur in Standard English, it does occur in non-standard dialects. The double negation follows
7832-562: Was first used in 1832 by French navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville : he coined the terms Melanesia and Micronesia to go alongside the pre-existing Polynesia to designate what he viewed as the three main ethnic and geographical regions forming the Pacific. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Melanesia are called Melanesians . This is a heterogenous set of different genetic groups and ethnicities , different cultural practices ( mythology , music , art , etc.), and different unrelated language families . Yet together they form
7921-422: Was never a truly mixed language in the strictest sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication). The more idiomatic, concrete and descriptive English is, the more it is from Anglo-Saxon origins. The more intellectual and abstract English is, the more it contains Latin and French influences, e.g. swine (like
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