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Making Change in Oksapmin Tradestores: A Study of Shifting Practices of Quantification Under Conditions of Rapid Shift towards a Cash Economy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

Geoffrey B. Saxe  and
Indigo Esmonde
Geoffrey B. Saxe*
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Indigo Esmonde
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
*
University of California, Berkeley. E-mail: saxe@socrates.berkeley.edu
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Abstract

We report two studies about shifting practices of quantification in tradestores in Oksapmin communities (Papua New Guinea). In Study 1, we enlisted 7 local tradestore clerks to collect information about customers' language practices of quantification, age cohort, schooling level, and cost of purchase. Analyses of 305 exchanges revealed that older cohorts tended to use indigenous practices and extensions of the indigenous language. Younger cohorts – particularly those with some schooling -- tended to use practices that involved Melanesian Pidgin. In Study 2, we analyze interviews with 9 tradestore clerks who described typical purchase transactions with customers from different age cohorts/schooling levels. Analyses of interviews revealed that elders tended to structure multi-item purchases into sequential transactions and use extensions of indigenous approaches to quantification. Schooled adults tended to purchase multiple items in a single transaction and use Pidgin quantifiers. We argue that tradestores today sustain multiple practices of quantification but also support change towards the exclusive use of Melanesian Pidgin.

Type
Articles
Information
South Pacific Journal of Psychology , Volume 15: Special Issue: The Development of Psychology in Oceania: Theory, Research & Practice , 2004 , pp. 11 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © University of Papua New Guinea and Massey University, New Zealand/Aotearoa 2004

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