A tale of three languages: language shift in a micro-context

As long-term residents in Wagu village of Papua New Guinea, the authors were privileged to observe language shift and death on a small scale over more than forty years in one village. During that time, one language has died, another has now reached the point of no return, and a third language that initially seemed less likely to succeed there actually continues in full use in the village today. This paper documents the processes that led to language shift in this one small village.