Donald Laycock
Encyclopedia
Dr Donald Laycock was an Australian linguist and anthropologist. He is best remembered for his work on the languages of Papua New Guinea
.
, New South Wales, Australia and later worked as a researcher at the University of Adelaide
in Anthropology
. He undertook his Ph.D. at the Australian National University
in linguistics and became a world authority on the languages of Papua New Guinea
.
He performed several pioneering surveys of the languages of the Sepik
region of New Guinea
. The first of these, his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Stephen Wurm
, was published as The Ndu languages (1965), and established the existence of this closely related group of languages. In subsequent surveys, Laycock found the Ndu languages were part of a larger language family extending through the middle and upper Sepik valley (the "Sepik subphylum"), and in 1973 he proposed that these languages formed part of a Sepik–Ramu phylum. This remained the general consensus in the linguistic world for over 30 years. While more recent work by William Foley
and Malcolm Ross
has cast doubt on a link between the Ramu – Lower Sepik languages and the Sepik languages
, the "Sepik subphylum" seems established as a genuine group.
Laycock also first identified the Torricelli
(1968) and Piawi
groups of languages. He published numerous papers in linguistics and anthropology.
He was described by his fellow authors of Skeptical (David Vernon, Dr Colin Groves
and Simon Brown) as a 20th Century 'Renaissance Man' as his interests were wide ranging from Melanesian languages, to channelling, Tarot cards and bawdy songs
.
He was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), Vice President of the Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) and a member of Mensa
. A keen member of the Australian Skeptics
he entertained many people at Skeptic's conventions with his demonstrations of glossolalia
and going into trances. After his death, Laycock's meticulous work on the Enochian
'language' (which was allegedly channelled to an associate of the Elizabethan mystic John Dee
) was turned by a colleague into one of the very few classics of skeptical linguistics.
He died, after a short illness, in Canberra
, on 27 December 1988.
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
Biography
He was a graduate of University of NewcastleUniversity of Newcastle, Australia
The University of Newcastle is an Australian public university that was established in 1965. The University's main and largest campus is located in Callaghan, a suburb of Newcastle in New South Wales...
, New South Wales, Australia and later worked as a researcher at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
in Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
. He undertook his Ph.D. at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
in linguistics and became a world authority on the languages of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
He performed several pioneering surveys of the languages of the Sepik
Sepik
Sepik may refer to places in Papua New Guinea:*Sepik River*East Sepik - a province*Sandaun - a province formerly known as West Sepik*Sepik region - consisting of East Sepik and Sandaun provincesIn languages it may refer to:...
region of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. The first of these, his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Stephen Wurm
Stephen Wurm
Stephen Adolphe Wurm was a Hungarian-born Australian linguist.- Biography :Wurm was born in Budapest, the second child to the German-speaking Adolphe Wurm and Hungarian-speaking Anna Novroczky, and was christened Istvan Adolphe Wurm...
, was published as The Ndu languages (1965), and established the existence of this closely related group of languages. In subsequent surveys, Laycock found the Ndu languages were part of a larger language family extending through the middle and upper Sepik valley (the "Sepik subphylum"), and in 1973 he proposed that these languages formed part of a Sepik–Ramu phylum. This remained the general consensus in the linguistic world for over 30 years. While more recent work by William Foley
William Foley
William Foley is an American linguist and professor at the University of Sydney. He specialises in Papuan and Austronesian languages. He is perhaps best known for his 1986 book The Papuan Languages of New Guinea and his partnership with Robert Van Valin in the development of role and reference...
and Malcolm Ross
Malcolm Ross
Malcolm David Ross is a linguist and professor at the Australian National University. He has published work on Austronesian and Papuan languages, historical linguistics, and language contact.-External links:**...
has cast doubt on a link between the Ramu – Lower Sepik languages and the Sepik languages
Sepik languages
-Pronouns:The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-Sepik are:Note the similarities of the dual and plural suffixes with those of the Torricelli languages.-See also:*Papuan languages*Sepik–Ramu languages*Donald Laycock...
, the "Sepik subphylum" seems established as a genuine group.
Laycock also first identified the Torricelli
Torricelli languages
The Torricelli languages are a language family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast, spoken by only about 80,000 people. Named after Torricelli Mountains. The most populous and best known Torricelli languages are the Arapesh, with about 30,000 speakers.The most promising...
(1968) and Piawi
Piawi languages
The Piawi languages are a small independent family of Papuan languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross, that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal.-Classification:Piawi consists of only two languages:...
groups of languages. He published numerous papers in linguistics and anthropology.
He was described by his fellow authors of Skeptical (David Vernon, Dr Colin Groves
Colin Groves
Colin Peter Groves is Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.Born in England on 24 June 1942, Colin Groves completed a Bachelor of Science at University College London in 1963, and a Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal Free Hospital School of...
and Simon Brown) as a 20th Century 'Renaissance Man' as his interests were wide ranging from Melanesian languages, to channelling, Tarot cards and bawdy songs
Ribaldry
Ribaldry is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to gross indecency. It is also referred to as "bawdiness", "gaminess" or "bawdry"....
.
He was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), Vice President of the Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) and a member of Mensa
Mensa International
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test...
. A keen member of the Australian Skeptics
Australian Skeptics
The Australian Skeptics is a non-profit organisation based in Australia which investigates paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies.-History:...
he entertained many people at Skeptic's conventions with his demonstrations of glossolalia
Glossolalia
Glossolalia or speaking in tongues is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied with time and place, with some considering it a part of a sacred language...
and going into trances. After his death, Laycock's meticulous work on the Enochian
Enochian
Enochian is a name often applied to an occult or angelic language recorded in the private journals of John Dee and his seer Edward Kelley in the late 16th century. The men claimed that it was revealed to them by angels...
'language' (which was allegedly channelled to an associate of the Elizabethan mystic John Dee
John Dee (mathematician)
John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....
) was turned by a colleague into one of the very few classics of skeptical linguistics.
He died, after a short illness, in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, on 27 December 1988.
See also
- Kwomtari–Baibai languages
- Ndu languagesNdu languagesThe Ndu languages are the best known family of the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea. Ndu is the word for 'man' in the languages that make up this group. The languages were first identified as a related family by Kirschbaum in 1922....
- Papuan languagesPapuan languagesThe Papuan languages are those languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The term does not presuppose a genetic relationship. The concept of Papuan peoples as distinct from Melanesians was first suggested and named by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1892.-The...
- Piawi languagesPiawi languagesThe Piawi languages are a small independent family of Papuan languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross, that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal.-Classification:Piawi consists of only two languages:...
- Sepik languagesSepik languages-Pronouns:The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-Sepik are:Note the similarities of the dual and plural suffixes with those of the Torricelli languages.-See also:*Papuan languages*Sepik–Ramu languages*Donald Laycock...
- Sepik–Ramu languages
- Torricelli languagesTorricelli languagesThe Torricelli languages are a language family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast, spoken by only about 80,000 people. Named after Torricelli Mountains. The most populous and best known Torricelli languages are the Arapesh, with about 30,000 speakers.The most promising...
- EnochianEnochianEnochian is a name often applied to an occult or angelic language recorded in the private journals of John Dee and his seer Edward Kelley in the late 16th century. The men claimed that it was revealed to them by angels...
- Stephen WurmStephen WurmStephen Adolphe Wurm was a Hungarian-born Australian linguist.- Biography :Wurm was born in Budapest, the second child to the German-speaking Adolphe Wurm and Hungarian-speaking Anna Novroczky, and was christened Istvan Adolphe Wurm...
Selected bibliography
- The Ndu language family (Sepik District, New Guinea). Pacific Linguistics C-1. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 1965.
- "Languages of the Lumi subdistrict (West Sepik district), New Guinea." Oceanic Linguistics 7: 36-66. 1968.
- Sepik languages - checklist and preliminary classification. Pacific Linguistics B-25. Canberra, 1973.
- (with John Z'graggen) "The Sepik–Ramu phylum." In: Stephen A. Wurm, ed. Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene: New Guinea area languages and language study 1. Pacific Linguistics C-38. 731-763. Canberra, 1975.
- The Complete Enochian Dictionary: A Dictionary of the Angelic Language as Revealed to Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley, London: Askin Publishers. 1978
- The Best Bawdry, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1982
- The World's Best Dirty Songs, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, 1987, ISBN 0-207-15408-2
- (with Alice Buffet) Speak Norfuk Today, Norfolk Island, 1988
- Skeptical Eds. Don Laycock, David Vernon, Colin GrovesColin GrovesColin Peter Groves is Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.Born in England on 24 June 1942, Colin Groves completed a Bachelor of Science at University College London in 1963, and a Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal Free Hospital School of...
, Simon BrownSimon BrownSimon Brown, born in 1956 in Sydney, New South Wales, is an Australian Science Fiction writer.He originally trained as a journalist and worked for a range of Australian Government Departments, including the Australian Electoral Commission and the NSW Railways Department...
, Canberra SkepticsAustralian SkepticsThe Australian Skeptics is a non-profit organisation based in Australia which investigates paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies.-History:...
, 1989, ISBN 0-7316-5794-2 - A Dictionary of Buin, a language of Bougainville, ed. Masayuki Onishi (Pacific Linguistics 537, 2003)--published posthumously. ISBN 0858835118.