Language

To start out my anthropological study of Papua New Guinea, I decided to begin by first investigating the language. Since a countries culture is in large part reflected and defined by its language and its relation to its social constructs, I thought that I would be able acclimate myself to the country in doing so. Why not? Seems logical enough, right?
The phrase "Boiling Pot" is often used in describing the culture of the United States, and rightly so. The U.S. has taken on the identity of a culture shaped by the combination of a multitude number of different cultures and ethnicities, which, when "boiled down", or combined, form our society. There are a number of languages which are used, stemming from years of immigration from countries all over the world, however English, and arguably Spanish, are considered to be official languages. Naturally, dialects are created and associated with different regions, however, when one is confronted with a distinct dialect of which they are not accustomed, for example when a Bostonian talks to a Texan, communication is achieved nonetheless. Dialects may vary, but the core language of our culture is still upheld, and enables to communicate to others in our country, no matter where they are located.
I bring this up because I was startled to see the diversity of the Papua New Guinea language structure. According to the U.S. Department of State, there are 3 official languages: English, Tok Pisin, and Motu. It is not the official languages that shocked me, rather it was the unofficial ones.
All 860 of them.
It is said that most of the languages are spoken by only 5,000 people each, and that a number of languages have less than 500 speakers. Furthermore, of these 860 languages, only an estimated 350-450 of them are in any way related, leaving about half of the languages as being distinct and personalized to their respective tribes/communities.
I need to do some more research on this specific topic, but I feel that much will be explained in looking at other aspects of the culture (which are soon to follow).