Making Change in Oksapmin Tradestores

A Study of Shifting Practices of Quantification Under Conditions of Rapid Shift towards a Cash Economy

Bibliographic Data

ID9338680
AuthorsG B Saxe (0000-0002-7605-7463, University of California, Berkeley, corresponding author), Indigo Esmonde (University of California, Berkeley)
Year2004
Volume15
Pages11-28
Publication date2004-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth Pacific Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0257-5434 • E-ISSN: 2059-9315
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0257543400000134
OpenAlexW247408202
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited9

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

Accommodation · Business · Cash · Geography · Indigenous · Linguistics · Pidgin · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Finance · Marketing · Psychology

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