Children's stories walman090 Documentation of Walman

2003: this is a collection of translations into Walman from English versions of children's stories from SIL Shell Books. Translator: Dismas Potul There are 10 stories in this collection, listed in the following order. 1. Wuel waron Slaoi Pig and Rat 2. Pelen naron Wkarai Dog and Cuscus 3. Wliew repi lapoy Big Mouth Frog 4. Kiko nan Pake Kiko and Pake 5. Ru nyemi mnon mon Whose Friend is She? 6. Mcha kranychua Let’s Play 7. Pnyoko nngkal Little Caterpillar 8. Wuem ngal olun Papua Niu Gini Some Animals of Papua Niu Gini 9. Siki naron Saku Siki and Saku 10. Ama kum mis nyua If I Were a Mother Cat The translations of these stories have been checked by only one other older speaker. Although they were prepared for a literacy programme that was to be run in the village, that programme never eventuated for various reasons. We expect that, although the Walman in these stories my be 'correct' in its syntax, it's likely that it is as conversationally unusual as the English of the stories is. It can, at least, be used for checking against more spontaneous narratives or conversational speech. We have no audio recordings of these stories. Dismas was born just after WWII. He was educated to high school level and became a teacher, and eventually a school principal.