The dialects of Koiari revisited

In this paper an earlier account of the dialect situation in Koiari based on lexicostatistic evidence is revised after the data used for the earlier account is re-examined from a comparative historical point of view. Although the basic picture remains the same the new analysis reveals a greater level of complexity at the subdialect level. The sociohistorical implications of this revised account are at odds with traditional oral ones of the origin and movement history of many of the villages surveyed. Some reasons for the discrepancy between the former and the latter are discussed but further fieldwork would be required to try to clarify the apparent differences between them.