Vaeakau-Taumako language

Vaeakau-Taumako (formerly known as Pileni) is a Polynesian language spoken in some of the Reef Islands as well as in the Taumako Islands (also known as the Duff Islands) in the Temotu province of Solomon Islands.

Vaeakau-Taumako
Pileni
Region	Reef Islands and Taumako, Solomon Islands
Native speakers	(1,700 cited 1999)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Polynesian Futunic ? Vaeakau-Taumako
Language codes
ISO 639-3	piv
Glottolog	pile1238
ELP	Vaeakau-Taumako

The language is spoken throughout the Taumako Islands, while in the Reef Islands, it is spoken on Aua, Matema, Nifiloli, Nupani, Nukapu, and Pileni. Speakers are thought to be descendants of people from Tuvalu.

Vaeakau-Taumako was described by linguists Even Hovdhaugen and Åshild Næss, in the form of a dictionary and a grammar.

Classification

Vaeakau-Taumako is a Polynesian outlier. Within that group, it has traditionally been considered one of the Futunic branch, but a 2008 study (exclusively based on lexical evidence) concluded that this membership is weakly supported.

Phonology

Vowels

Vaeakau-Taumako does not vary from the standard Polynesian and Austronesian vowel system, featuring five vowels that can be used either in a long or short form. Short vowels found in word-final syllables are frequently devoiced or dropped, but long vowels in the same position are always stressed. There is little allophonic variation between vowel pronunciations.

	Front	Central	Back
High	i, iː		u, uː
Mid	e, eː		o, oː
Low		a, aː

Vowel sequences in Vaeakau-Taumako are typically not treated as diphthongs, as they are not fully reduplicated, as shown in the word "holauhola". This is despite the vowels in the original word being pronounced like a diphthong.

Consonants

The Vaeakau-Taumako language has one of the most complex consonant system of the Polynesian languages, with 19 distinct phonemes, plus a large amount of variation across dialects. /b/ and /d/ are found primarily in loan words, rather being native to the language.

Aspirated sounds are characteristic of the language, and are typically strong and audible. However, the use of aspirated sounds varies across dialects, enough that it is difficult to identify a consistent pattern aside from noting they always occur at the start of stressed syllables.

		Labial	Coronal	Dorsal
Nasal	plain	m	n	ŋ
	aspirated	mʰ	nʰ	ŋʰ
Plosive	unvoiced	p	t	k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	kʰ
	voiced	b	d
Fricative		v	s	h
Approximant	plain		l
	aspirated		lʰ

Morphology

Pronouns

Vaeakau-Taumako pronouns distinguish between 1st, 2nd and 3rd person pronouns. There are some inclusive and exclusive distinctions, and variations for singular, dual and plural in all cases. There are no gender distinctions. There is variation in the pronoun system for the dialects of Vaeakau-Taumako which can become quite complex, so for simplicity, only the general forms are recorded here.

Independent personal pronouns

There are two distinctive base sets of independent personal pronouns in Vaeakau-Taumako. The standard forms are used for formal occasions and recorded text, while the colloquial forms are typically found in informal, everyday conversation.

		Singular	Dual		Plural
			standard	colloquial	standard	colloquial
1st person	inclusive	iau, au	thaua	haua	thatou, thatu	hatou, hatu
	exclusive		mhuaua		mihatou, mhatu
2nd person		koe	khoulua, kholua	houlua, holua	khoutou, khotou	houtou
3rd person		ia	lhaua	haua	lhatou, lhatu	hatou, hatu

Bound subject pronouns

The language also features bound subject pronouns which act as clitics to the tense-aspect-mood marker of the verb of the constituent. They are not obligatory to use. The presence of the "u" has free variation by the choice of the speaker, but they are typically less prevalent in the colloquial forms.

		Singular	Dual		Plural
			standard	colloquial	standard	colloquial
1st person	inclusive	u=, ku=	tha(u)=	ha=	that(u)=	hat(u)=
	exclusive		mha(u)=		mhat(u)=
2nd person		ko=	khol(u)=	hol(u)=	khot(u)=	hot(u)=
3rd person		ø	lha(u)=	ha=	lhat(u)=	hat(u)=

Hortative pronouns

The dual, plural and 2nd person singular have specific pronouns used in imperative and hortative sentences.

		Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	inclusive		ta	tatu, hatu, tatou
	exclusive		ma	matu
2nd person		ko	lu	tu
3rd person			la	latu, hatu

Emphatic corefential pronouns

When the subject and direct object of a sentence are the same thing, repetition of the independent pronoun in place of both argument positions is typically used. However, there is a set of emphatic coreferential pronouns used for the direct object to refer to someone or a group of people acting alone.

		Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	inclusive	okhoiau	okhitaua	okithatou
	exclusive		okhimaua	okimhatou
2nd person		okhoe	okhoulua	okhoutou
3rd person		okhoia	okhilaua	okilhatou

The general pronoun nga

The word nga functions as a pronoun with specific use. It is a third person pronoun, but lacks specification for number, and is used to refer to both singular and plural referents. It typically is an anaphoric reference to a previously mentioned referent.

Possession

Control

While it is common for Polynesian languages to distinguish between alienability and inalienability with a and o possessives, this is not the case for Vaeakau-Taumako. This distinction exists, however it instead marks control – not of the possessed item itself, but of the possessive relationship.

A-possessives

Relationships that can be initiated or terminated freely, such as items that can be bought, sold or given away at will are marked with the a-possessive.

O-possessives

Relationships that are outside of the possessor's personal control, such as body parts and kinship relationships are marked with o-possessives.

Alienability and inalienability

Instead of a- and o- possessives, alienability and inalienability in Vaeakau-Taumako are distinguished by the use of either prenominal or postnominal possessive pronouns.

Prenominal possessive pronouns

Prenominal possessive pronouns occur directly preceding the possessed nouns, and are typically used for inalienable relationships, such as kinship terms and body parts. Prenominal possessive pronouns distinguish between singular, dual and plural of the possessor. The singular possessive forms make an additional distinction between singular and plural of the possessed entity, and encode the a- or o-possessive directly. The dual and plural possessor forms are combined with the possessive prepositions a and o to express this distinction, or they may occur without a preposition.

		Singular		Dual	Plural
		Singular possessed	Plural possessed
1st person	inclusive	taku, toku/tuku	aku, oku	(a/o) ta	(a/o) tatu
	exclusive			(a/o) ma	(a/o) matu
2nd person		tau, tō	au, ou/ō	(a/o) lu	(a/o) koto, (a/o) tu
3rd person		tana, tona, tena, na	ana, ona	(a/o) la	(a/o) latu

Postnominal possessive pronouns

The postnominal possessive pronoun succeeds the possessed noun, and are used to mark alienable relationships, such as owned items. They make no distinction between singular and plural of the possessed item, instead the distinction is usually made through the choice of article preceding the possessed noun. Like with prenominal possessive pronouns, the postnominal possessives are based on the possessive prepositions a and o, plus a pronominal form indicating person and number of the possessor. In the singular form, this is the same set of suffixes found on the prenominal possessives, whereas in the dual and plural form, a distinct set of person and number forms are found. In the third and first person, these forms are identical to the independent personal pronouns, except for the lack of aspiration on the initial consonant.

		Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	inclusive	aku, oku	taua	tatou
	exclusive		maua	matou
2nd person		au, ou	aulua, oulua	autou, outou
3rd person		ana, ona	laua	latou

Possessive Suffixes

The possessive suffixes -ku (1st person), -u (2nd person) and -na (3rd person) apply to a restricted set of kinship nouns: tama/mha 'father', hina 'mother', thoka 'same-sex sibling', thupu 'grandparent', and mokupu 'grandchild'. These nouns cannot occur without possessive marking, they require either a possessive suffix or, in the dual and plural, a postnominal possessive pronoun. An alternative construction is for these nouns to take the 3rd person possessive suffix -na in combination with a prenominal possessive pronoun or possessive prepositional phrase. The form in -na must in such cases be understood as a neutral or unmarked form, since it may combine with a pronoun of any person and number; but a form in -na without any further possessive marking is unambiguously 3rd person. Nouns other than those previously mentioned do not take possessive suffixes, but instead combine with possessive pronouns.

Negation

Vaeako-Taumako displays negation in prohibitions (prohibitive, irrealis, imperfective, admonitive), statements (verbal and non-verbal) polar questions and noun phrases. Negation morphemes behave similarly to verbs in many respects although they do not take tense-aspect-mood markers or form independent predicates. However, there are instances of their taking complement clauses and for this reason negation morphemes might be considered a sub-class of verb.

Prohibition

Prohibitive clauses may be divided into two. Prohibitive auā, (equal to the English 'don't') and Admonitive na. Prohibitives pattern themselves in similar ways and are most frequently positioned cause initially. Admonitives behave and distribute slightly differently as will be illustrated below.

Negated clauses appear with only a small range of tense-aspect-mood markers. Prohibitive clauses often display no tense-aspect-mood marker at all, if they do, the markers are either na irrealis or me prescriptive. Negated declarative clauses typically occur with either perfective ne or imperfective no, with other options only marginally represented in collected data.

Prohibitive auā

auā appears clause-initially, however discourse particles such as nahilā ('take care, make sure') may precede it. Other grammatical morphemes such as articles or markers of tense, aspect or mood may not precede it which excludes auā from the verb category of Vaeakao-Taumako.

ex:

Auā tau hano!

auā

PROH.SG

t-a-u

SP-POSS-2SG.POSS

hano

go.SG

auā t-a-u hano

PROH.SG SP-POSS-2SG.POSS go.SG

'Don’t go.'

However, auā behaves like a verb in that it may take clausal complements, which are then often either nominalised or the irrealis marker na is present (see table 1.1.3). A correlation exists between singular 2nd person subject and a nominalised clause although this correlation is not absolute.

ex:

Auā ko no hualonga!

auā

PROH

ko=no

2SG=IPFV

hualonga

make noise

auā ko=no hualonga

PROH 2SG=IPFV {make noise}

'Don’t make noise!’

Contrasting this, the 2nd person dual or plural subjects attract the irrealis marker na to create a prohibitive clause.

ex:

Auā kholuna ō!

auā

PROH

kholu=na

2DU=IRR

ō

go.PL

auā kholu=na ō

PROH 2DU=IRR go.PL

'Don’t you (two) go!’

Within data sets of Næss, A., & Hovdhaugen, E. (2011), as implied by the imperative nature of the morpheme, auā will tend to appear with 2nd person subjects as above, although both 1st and 3rd subjects are also found.

1st Person

ex:

Tatu noho themu, auā hatno folongā

tatu

1PL.INCL.HORT

noho

stay

themu,

quiet

auā

PROH

hat=no

PL.INCL=IPFV

holongā

make noise

tatu noho themu, auā hat=no holongā

1PL.INCL.HORT stay quiet PROH PL.INCL=IPFV {make noise}

'We should all sit still and not be noisy.'

3rd Person

ex:

O ia auā no kutea mai tuku mata, ia a iau auā taku kuteange ona mata.

o

CONJ

ia

3SG

auā

PROH

no

IPFV

kute-a

see-TR

mai

come

t-o-ku

SG.SP-POSS-1SG.POSS

mata

eye

ia

CONJ

a iau

PERS 1SG

auā

PROH

t-a-ku

SG.SP-POSS-1SG.POSS

kut-a

see-TR

ange

go.along

o-na

POSS-3SG.POSS

mata

eye

o ia auā no kute-a mai t-o-ku mata ia {a iau} auā t-a-ku kut-a ange o-na mata

CONJ 3SG PROH IPFV see-TR come SG.SP-POSS-1SG.POSS eye CONJ {PERS 1SG} PROH SG.SP-POSS-1SG.POSS see-TR go.along POSS-3SG.POSS eye

'She is not allowed to look at my face, 'and I cannot look at her face.'

Auā is also found in conjunction with modifiers such as ala which marks a hypothetical or oki, 'back, again'.

auā-ala

ex:

Auā ala tau faia e anga e tapeo i taha

auā

PROH

ala

HYP SG.SP-POSS-2SG

t-a-u

POSS

fai-a

do-TR.

e

SG.NSP

anga

work

e

GENR

tapeo

bad

i

LDA

taha

side

auā ala t-a-u fai-a e anga e tapeo i taha

PROH {HYP SG.SP-POSS-2SG} POSS do-TR. SG.NSP work GENR bad LDA side

'You should not do bad things outside.'

auā - oki

ex:

Auoki tō haiange oki la manei oki la

auā

PROH

oki

again

t-ō

SG.SP-2S.POSS

hai-a

do-TR

ange

go.along

oki

again

la

DM.3

mua

place

nei

DEM.1

oki

again

la

DM.3

auā oki t-ō hai-a ange oki la mua nei oki la

PROH again SG.SP-2S.POSS do-TR go.along again DM.3 place DEM.1 again DM.3

'Don’t ever do that anymore here.'

Irrealis na and Imperfective no

Irrealis na and imperfective no adheres to a common pattern of appearing in 2nd person in dual or plural within prohibitive clause structure.

ex:

Auā kholuna!

auā

PROH

kholu=

2DU=IRR

na

go.PL

auā kholu= na

PROH 2DU=IRR go.PL

'Don’t you (two) go!’

Instances of 3rd person are less frequent and tend to include the imperfective no in postposition to morpheme auā.

ex:

A heinga auā no hū ite koe.

a

COL

heinga

thing

auā

PROH

no

IPFV

hū

hidden

ite

LDA

koe

2SG

a heinga auā no hū ite koe

COL thing PROH IPFV hidden LDA 2SG

'Nothing shall be hidden from you.'

Admonitive na

na behaves similarly to aluā only in that it is clause initial, it is otherwise classified as a clause initial particle and it must be accompanied by the tense-aspect-mood marker me which acts as a prescriptive.

ex:

Na me teia te tangara!

na

ADMON

me

PRSC

ta-ai

hit-TR

te

SG.SP

tangata

man

na me ta-ai te tangata

ADMON PRSC hit-TR SG.SP man

'Don’t kill the man!’

However na also has a second function, it acts to point out the consequences of disobeying the order. In this role the na often appears without me, creating a clause without tense-aspect-mood marking.

ex:

Meri noho lavoi, na me sepe.

Meri

Mary

noho

stay

lavoi

good

n

ADMON

me

PRSC

sepe

expose oneself

Meri noho lavoi n me sepe

Mary stay good ADMON PRSC {expose oneself}

'Mary, sit properly, do not expose yourself.'

Statements

Verbal Clause Negation

Verbal negation is made up of three morphemes which act independently and may be understood as the English equivalents to siai 'not', sikiai 'not yet',and hiekh 'not at all'.

siai 'not, no'

According to Næss, A., & Hovdhaugen, E. (2011) the colloquial pronunciation of siai is hiai, however the standard written form is siai. Siai comes after preverbal arguments but is placed before the tense-aspect-mood particle and following clitic pronoun.

ex:

Ko ia siai ne longo ange ki a sinana.

ko

TOP

ia

3SG

siai

NEG

ne

PFV

longo

listen

ange

go along

ki

to

a

PERS

sina

mother

na

3SG.POSS

ko ia siai ne longo ange ki a sina na

TOP 3SG NEG PFV listen {go along} to PERS mother 3SG.POSS

'She did not listen to her mother.'

As in the case of auā modifying particles, which are traditionally found after verbs, may appear following siai. An example of this is loa which is an emphatic marker.

For example, siai loa.

ex:

E mae loa te kai ia siai oki nei fuia ona mata.

e

GENR

mae

refuse

loa

EMPH

te

SG.SP

kai

eat

ia

CONJ

siai

NEG

oki

again

ne-i

PFV-3SG

fui-a

wash-TR

o-na

POSS-3SG.POSS

mata

eye

e mae loa te kai ia siai oki ne-i fui-a o-na mata

GENR refuse EMPH SG.SP eat CONJ NEG again PFV-3SG wash-TR POSS-3SG.POSS eye

'He refused to eat, and he didn't wash his face either.'

A further example is the addition of po which generally serves to connect a complement clause.

ex:

Siai po ke ileila sika.

siai

NEG

po

COM

ke

HORT

ila~ila

REDUP~look

sika

straight

siai po ke ila~ila sika

NEG COM HORT REDUP~look straight

'She did not feel safe.'

sikiai, hikiai 'not yet'

sikiai, hikiai (where sikiai is the formal written expression of spoken hikiai) appears in the same formation as above siai except it proceeds the preverbal argument and precedes any tense-aspect-mood markers. It appears less frequently and is often accompanied by the perfective marker ne.

ex:

A Osil hikiai ne ala.

A

PERS

Osil

Åshild

sikiai

not.yet

ne

PFV

ala

wake

A Osil sikiai ne ala

PERS Åshild not.yet PFV wake

'Åshild is not yet up.'

hiekhī/hiekhiē 'not at all'

This is the emphatic form of the negator. It follows the same distribution as both sia and sikiai and is often accompanied by the post-nuclear modifier loa.

ex:

Hiekhī loa nei kutea te ali na.

hiekhī

not.at.all

loa

EMPH

ne-i

PFV-3SG

kute-a

see-TR

te

SG.SP

ali

flatfish

na

DM.2

hiekhī loa ne-i kute-a te ali na

not.at.all EMPH PFV-3SG see-TR SG.SP flatfish DM.2

'He couldn’t find the flatfish at all.'

As with siai hiekhī appears in conjunction with complementiser po, although with lower frequency.

ex:

A thatou hiekhiē po no kutea i mui thatuno utuutu ai na.

a

PERS

thatou

1PL.INCL

hiekhiē

not.at.all

po

COMP

no

IPFV

kutea

see-TR

i

some

mui

place

thatu=no

1PL.INCL=IPFV

utu~utu

REDUP~draw

ai

OBL.PRO

na

DEM.2

a thatou hiekhiē po no kutea i mui thatu=no utu~utu ai na

PERS 1PL.INCL not.at.all COMP IPFV see-TR some place 1PL.INCL=IPFV REDUP~draw OBL.PRO DEM.2

'We had no idea where to draw water.'

Non-verbal Clause Negation

The same negators are used as in the verbal clauses above.

ex:

A Malani na siai e vai ai.

a

then

Malani

Malani

na

DEM.

siai

NEG

e

SG.NSP

vai

water

ai

OBL.PRO

a Malani na siai e vai ai

then Malani DEM. NEG SG.NSP water OBL.PRO

'And Malani, there was no water there.'

Questions

Polar Questions

Polar questions are commonly formed in three ways. A declarative clause with a rise in intonation to mark the interrogative which requires the binary, 'yes' or 'no' response, much as they are in English may be used. The second alternative is the addition of the verbal negator (o) siai ‘(or) not' and the third is the addition of verbal negator sikiai (not yet) if the interrogative has a temporal element.

Simple interrogative formed with declarative clause:

ex:

Thaka ō mua?

tha=ka

1DU.INCL=FUT

ō

go.PL

mua?

just

tha=ka ō mua?

1DU.INCL=FUT go.PL just

'Shall we go?’

(o) siai

ex:

E ai mua etai ne au o siai? (NUP)

E

GENR

ai

exist

mua

just

etai

person

ne

PFV

au

come

o

CONJ

sai

NEG

E ai mua etai ne au o sai

GENR exist just person PFV come CONJ NEG

'Has anyone come here?’

sikiai

ex:

A hinana koi takuange po ke hano moa oi kutea moa a haupƝ po ko lanu e hikiai?

a

PERS

hina-na

mother-3SG.POSS

ko-i

INCEP-3SG

taku-a

say-TR

ange

go.along

po

COMP

ke

HORT

hano

go.SG

mua

just

oi

CONJ

kute-a

see-TR

mua

just

a

PERS

thaupē

lagoon

po

COMP

ka

FUT

lanu

rise

o

CONJ

sikiai

not.yet

a hina-na ko-i taku-a ange po ke hano mua oi kute-a mua a thaupē po ka lanu o sikiai

PERS mother-3SG.POSS INCEP-3SG say-TR go.along COMP HORT go.SG just CONJ see-TR just PERS lagoon COMP FUT rise CONJ not.yet

'His mother told him to go and see if the tide was rising yet.'

Noun Phrase Negation

Negated Existence

Non-specific article e can be used to express 'negated existence' unless the noun has a possessive marker in which case e is absent.

ex:

Hiai loa e mahila ku kapakapai i hale.

siai

NEG

loa

EMPH

e

SG.NSP

mahila

knife

k=u

HORT=1SG

kapakapa

work

ai

OBL.PRO

i

LDA

hale

house

siai loa e mahila k=u kapakapa ai i hale

NEG EMPH SG.NSP knife HORT=1SG work OBL.PRO LDA house

'There is no knife for me to use in the house.'

Spatial Deixis

Spatial deixis is primarily expressed through demonstratives and directional forms in Vaeakau-Taumako. These spatial-deictic forms "allow the speaker to point to spatial locations" and encode the context of utterances or speech events. Interestingly, demonstrative and directional usage in Vaeakau-Taumako is particularly unique for a Polynesian language. This illustrates that spatial deixis is an especially important feature of Vaeakau-Taumako grammar. Demonstratives and directionals are discussed in more detail below.

Demonstratives

Vaeakau-Taumako demonstratives comprise a three-term system which is summarised below:

Figure 1

Demonstrative	English Translation
ne(i)	'here, close to speaker'
na	'there, close to addressee, some distance away'
la	'there, away from both speaker and hearer, quite far away

Overall, these demonstratives have not only nominal and adverbial uses, but are also used in various capacities to structure discourse. The demonstrative particles also occur in more complex forms (see verbal demonstratives and deictic adverbs below).

Historical context

Vaeakau-Taumako demonstratives have cognates in other Polynesian languages. These demonstratives are also consistent with what has been reconstructed for Proto-Polynesian and Proto-Oceanic. These linguistic reconstructions are summarised below:

Figure 2

Language	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Proto-Oceanic	*ni/*ne	*na	*ra(i)
Proto-Polynesian	*ni/*nei	*na	*ra
Tongan	e-ni	e-na	ia
Irafa-Mele	-nei	- nā	rā
Vaeakau-Taumako	ne(i)	na	la
Samoan	(le)nei	(le)nā	le(lā)
Marquesan	nei	nā	ʔā, aʔā

Furthermore, in the following discussion it will become evident that Boumma Fijian shares multiple linguistic traits with Vaeakau-Taumako. Therefore, it is possible that Boumma Fijian may be more closely related to Vaeakau-Taumako than other Polynesian languages.

Speaker-based system

The Vaeakau-Taumako demonstrative system is speaker-based: the location of the hearer or speaker serves as reference point for where the relevant object is located. Denny summarised this succinctly in describing this system as one that centers space on the speaker or other participant. In Vaeakau-Taumako, 'ne(i)’ reflects an object’s proximity to the speaker, 'na' reflects an object’s proximity to the hearer and 'la' reflects distance from both the speaker and hearer, or a third party in the conversation.

This three-way distinction is so common in Oceanic languages that it is "virtually certain" that Proto-Oceanic also adopted a person-based demonstrative system. On a global scale, this three-way contrast is the second most common demonstrative system in the languages listed on The World Atlas of Linguistic Structures(WALS), with a two-way contrast being the most common system.

Vaeakau-Taumako's speaker-based system can be rationalised by the geographic context in which it is spoken. As the language is spoken on islands in the Solomon Islands, the speakers inhabit relatively small environments that do not have naturally defined reference points to describe space. To compensate for this, demonstratives are instead based on the speakers and hearers who are in the "immediate speech situation".

Distance-based system

However, discourse analyses of current demonstrative usage indicates that the system may be shifting to one that is distance-based and therefore not dependent on the speech-act participants. This is summarised below:

Figure 3

Demonstrative	English Translation
ne(i)	'here, close by'
na	'there, some distance away; neither very near nor very far'
la	'there, far away'

'Na' is generally the preferred neutral choice of demonstrative to refer to an object that is neither far nor close. Therefore 'na' is not only used in direct conversations to illustrate proximity with a speech-participant (e.g. 'that one near you'), but it is also used in narratives as a medial term of a distance-based system. In these narrative contexts, 'na' refers to an object that is distance-neutral or medium-distance. This dual purpose of 'na' is not completely unique to Vaeakau-Taumako as Boumaa Fijian also adopts a "mixed" system.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstratives in Vaeakau-Taumako can be used as heads of noun phrases that are comparable to the English phrases 'this one' and 'that one'. In this capacity, the demonstrative is often preceded by the articles 'te' (indicating singularity) or 'ngha' (indicating plurality). This is typical for a Polynesian language. The following example shows the demonstrative 'na' ('that'), being used in conjunction with the prefix 'te' to denote singularity:

ex:

Ko

TOP

te-na

ART-DEM

e

ART

ika

Fish

efa.

bg.

Ko te-na e ika efa.

TOP ART-DEM ART Fish bg.

'That is a big fish.'

Furthermore the following example shows the prefix 'ngha' attaching to the demonstrative 'la' ('those') to indicate plurality:

ex:

Ngha-la

PL.SP-DEM.3

a

COL

hahine

woman

e

GENR

toko-lua

CL-two

ma

CONJ

te

SG.SP

memea

child

e

GENR

ko-tahi

PREF-one

Ngha-la a hahine e toko-lua ma te memea e ko-tahi

PL.SP-DEM.3 COL woman GENR CL-two CONJ SG.SP child GENR PREF-one

'There were two women and a child (literal meaning: those ones, the women were two and the child was one).’

Alternatively, the demonstratives can occur as a free-standing lexical item (i.e. without the need for preceding articles). This more unique aspect of Vaeakau-Taumako is exemplified in the following clause:

ex:

Na

DEM

e

ART

kio

chicken.

Na e kio

DEM ART chicken.

‘That is a chicken'.

When acting as heads of nouns, the demonstratives may also be used anaphorically to refer to previously mentioned objects/participants in the conversation. The demonstratives can therefore serve the same purpose as a third-person pronoun (see Figure 4.4 below). Cross-linguistically this is not common, with the 100 of the 225 languages on WALS having language systems where third person pronouns are unrelated to demonstratives.

ex:

ila

look

mua

just

a

PERS

nohine

wife

a-u

POSS-2SG.POSS

la

DEM.3

nga

PN.3

te-la

SG.SP-DEM.3

ia

3SG

ila mua a nohine a-u la nga te-la ia

look just PERS wife POSS-2SG.POSS DEM.3 PN.3 SG.SP-DEM.3 3SG

'Look, that is your wife there.'

Demonstrative adjective

Demonstratives also function to modify a noun phrase in Vaeakau-Taumako. They can be used with nouns or pronouns and can function as a deictic or anaphoric reference. The following example shows how the demonstrative 'na' ('that') is suffixed to the noun 'mhe' ('man') for a deictic purpose:

ex:

a

PERS

mhe-na

man-DEM.2

ko=ne

2SG=PFV

lau-a

find-TR

i

LDA

hea

where

na

DEM.2

a mhe-na ko=ne lau-a i hea na

PERS man-DEM.2 2SG=PFV find-TR LDA where DEM.2

'Where did you find that man?’

This second example shows how the demonstrative 'ne' can be used as an anaphoric reference:

ex:

thai

one

lhatou

3PL

e

SG.NSP

Diuku

Diuku

te

SG.SP

tai

person

ne

DEM.1

e

SG.NSP

ingoa

name

ko

TOP

Diuku

Diuku

thai lhatou e Diuku te tai ne e ingoa ko Diuku

one 3PL SG.NSP Diuku SG.SP person DEM.1 SG.NSP name TOP Diuku

'One of them was Diuku, this man is called Diuku.'

When a demonstrative is used with a pronoun, the demonstrative often (but not always) corresponds with the speech-act participant that is being referred to in the respective pronoun. Therefore 'ne' will be generally used with first person pronouns, 'na' will be used with second person pronouns and 'la' will be used with third person pronouns. However, 'na' can also be adopted as a neutral particle that is used interchangeably with third person and second person pronouns.

Local adverbial demonstratives

Demonstratives in Vaeakau-Taumako also function as local adverbs that modify a verb and indicate the location in which the respective action occurs:

ex:

a

PERS

thatu=e

1PL.INCL=GENR

ilo-a

know-TR

po

COMP

a

COL

kio

chicken

no

IPFV

tahao

stroll

ne

DEM.1

i

LDA

nghauta

shore

a thatu=e ilo-a po a kio no tahao ne i nghauta

PERS 1PL.INCL=GENR know-TR COMP COL chicken IPFV stroll DEM.1 LDA shore

'We know that chickens wander around here, on land (as opposed to the sea).’

When being used in this adverbial capacity, the demonstratives also have temporal-deictic references to refer to time (i.e. 'now' and 'then'):

ex:

ilhatu=ne

3PL=PFV

ta-ia

hit-TR

i

LDA

mua

place

ne

DEM.1

a-na

then-DEM.2

ko

TOP

ia

3SG

u=ka

1SG=FUT

tala~tala-a

REDUP~tell-TR

atu

go.out

ne

DEM.1

ilhatu=ne ta-ia i mua ne a-na ko ia u=ka tala~tala-a atu ne

3PL=PFV hit-TR LDA place DEM.1 then-DEM.2 TOP 3SG 1SG=FUT REDUP~tell-TR go.out DEM.1

'They killed him in this place, I will tell you about it now.'

Verbal demonstratives

In Vaeakau-Taumako, the formal class of adverbs is limited, so manner adverbial demonstratives with the meanings 'do/be like this, do/be like that' are regularly utilised. These verbal demonstratives are cross-linguistically rare, however Boumaa Fijian and Dyirbal also exhibit similar forms. For example, in Fijian 'eneii' functions like the verbal demonstratives in Vaeakau-Taumako. The Vaeakau-Taumako forms are created by attaching the prefix 'p(h)e' to the core demonstrative particles:

Figure 7.1

Adverbial demonstrative	English Translation
phenē	'do/be like this'
phenā	'do/be like that'
phelā	'do/be like that'

This first example shows the adverbial demonstrative 'phe-ne' being used to convey the meaning 'do like this':

ex:

noho

sit

phe-ne

like-DEM.1

noho phe-ne

sit like-DEM.1

'Sit like this!’

Secondly, verbal demonstratives also function to mean 'be the same as, in the same way':

ex:

e

GENR

phe-na

like-DEM.2

mai

come

i

LDA

Kahula

Kahula

hano

go.SG

mai

come

ki

to

nghauta

shore

e phe-na mai i Kahula hano mai ki nghauta

GENR like-DEM.2 come LDA Kahula go.SG come to shore

'It was the same as in Kahula, he went to the village there'

Thirdly, the verbal demonstratives can function as modifiers of nouns to mean 'an X like that' (Figure 7.4) or 'a certain X' (Figure 7.5):

ex:

thatu=no

lPL.INCL=IPFV

he-henga

REDUP~search

ange

go.along

e

SG.NSP

niu

coconut

boho

young

e

SG.NSP

taveli

banana

a

COL

hinga

thing

phe-na

like-DEM.2

thatu=no he-henga ange e niu boho e taveli a hinga phe-na

lPL.INCL=IPFV REDUP~search go.along SG.NSP coconut young SG.NSP banana COL thing like-DEM.2

'We have looked for coconuts, bananas, things like that.'

ex:

po

COMP

lhatu=ka

3PL=FUT

ta-pena

PREP-prepare

ala

HYP

la

DEM.3

i

LDA

te

SG.SP

langi

day

phe-la

like-DEM.3

po lhatu=ka ta-pena ala la i te langi phe-la

COMP 3PL=FUT PREP-prepare HYP DEM.3 LDA SG.SP day like-DEM.3

'They were to be ready on a certain day.'

This complex three-way distinction in which verbal demonstratives can be used is not only uncommon cross-linguistically, but it is also atypical among the languages which do have similar verbal demonstrative systems. Dyirbal and Boumaa Fijian only adopt a single verb to denote 'do it like this' in comparison to Vaeakau-Taumako's three-way system.

Deictic adverbs

Vaeakau-Taumako also has deictic adverbs that are formed by applying the prefixes 'a-’, 'i-'or 'e-’ to the core demonstrative particles. These forms are summarised below:

Figure 8.1

Proximal	Medial/neutral	Distal
anē 'and now'	anā 'and then'	alā 'and then'
inē 'here, now'	inā 'there, then'	Ilā 'there, then'
	enā 'somewhere there'

It is worth noting that 'ena' ('somewhere there') appears to only have a spatial reference. Furthermore the usage of 'ena' seems restricted to colloquial contexts:

ex:

a

then

ko-i

INCEP-3SG

taku-a

say-TR

ange

go.along

po

COMP

ī

INTRJ

e-na

PREF-DEM.2

na

DEM.2

po

COMP

ni

PL.NSP

vai

Water

ai

OBL.PRO

a ko-i taku-a ange po ī e-na na po ni vai ai

then INCEP-3SG say-TR go.along COMP INTRJ PREF-DEM.2 DEM.2 COMP PL.NSP Water OBL.PRO

'And he said, "Oh, somewhere here there is water".’

Demonstratives in discourse  

Demonstrative particles commonly occur at the end of phrases. This applies to a variety of phrase types, with the following examples illustrating how 'na' can occur phrase-finally in a noun phrase (Figure 9.1), a verb phrase (Figure 9.2) and an adverbial phrase (Figure 9.3):

ex:

te

SG.SP

hahine

woman

na

DEM.2

ko

INCEP

le~lek~ake

REDUP~go~go.up

na

DEM.2

te hahine na ko le~lek~ake na

SG.SP woman DEM.2 INCEP REDUP~go~go.up DEM.2

'The woman went up.'

ex:

ko

INCEP

hano

go.SG

na

DEM.2

e

GENR

kau~kau

REDUP~swim

i

LDA

thaupē

lagoon

na

DEM.2

ko hano na e kau~kau i thaupē na

INCEP go.SG DEM.2 GENR REDUP~swim LDA lagoon DEM.2

'He went and bathed in the lagoon.'

ex:

matea

maybe

atiao

tomorrow

ala

HYP

na

DEM.2

thatu=ka

lPL.INCL=FUT

ō

go.PL

atu

go.out

mua

just

hangota

fish

i

LDA

Malimi

Malimi

matea atiao ala na thatu=ka ō atu mua hangota i Malimi

maybe tomorrow HYP DEM.2 lPL.INCL=FUT go.PL go.out just fish LDA Malimi

'Maybe tomorrow we will go fishing at Malimi.'

Beyond deictic and anaphoric uses of demonstratives (which have been discussed above), another core use of demonstratives is for phrase demarcation. Demonstratives occur at the end of a phrase as a means of marking the phrase boundary and situating the phrase within the overarching context of the clause. In Vaeakau-Taumako, demonstratives are commonly used to indicate that there is a link between the demonstrative-marked phrase and the succeeding speech. It is often used in conjunction with rising intonation to indicate that "more is coming" (Figure 9.4 below). Similar demarcative particle morphemes are used in the Outlier East Futuna with the particle 'la'.

ex:

mhatu=ne

lPL.EXCL=PFV

ō

go.PL

ake

go up

na'

DEM.2

ioko

CONJ

a

COL

lakau

tree

na

DEM.2

ko

INCEP

pae

scatter

ino

fall

ki

to

te

SG.SP

ala

path

na,

DEM.2

e

GENR

takoto

lie

na

DEM.2

e

GENR

tapeo

bad

loa

EMPH

mhatu=ne ō ake na' ioko a lakau na ko pae ino ki te ala na, e takoto na e tapeo loa

lPL.EXCL=PFV go.PL {go up} DEM.2 CONJ COL tree DEM.2 INCEP scatter fall to SG.SP path DEM.2 GENR lie DEM.2 GENR bad EMPH

'We went up, and the trees, they were scattered all over the road, they were lying there, it was very bad.'

Directionals

In addition to demonstratives, Vaeakau-Taumako also has a set of morphemes that indicate verbal deixis (i.e. the physical or metaphorical direction in which an action is being carried out). There are six morphemes which can be divided into two categories (Figure 1.1 and 1.2). The directionals are best described as verbs that are most commonly used as part of a verbal nucleus, following one or more verbs. The first category of Vaeakau-Taumako directionals is summarised below:

Figure 1.1 - Person-based directionals (indicate direction relative to speech-act participants)

Directional	English translation
mai	Towards speaker
atu	Towards hearer
ange	Towards hearer
ange	Away from both speaker and hearer, toward a third person, along

The following example shows 'mai' ('towards speaker') following another verb and marking the direction in space in which the act is occurring (i.e. towards the speech-act participants):

ex:

me

PRSC

le-mai

go-come

na

DEM.2

o

to

kake

climb

me le-mai na o kake

PRSC go-come DEM.2 to climb

'Come here and climb aboard (the canoe).'

The second category of directionals is summarised below:

Figure 1.2 - Directionals that denote direction on a vertical axis

Directional	English translation
ake	'up'
iho	'down'
oho	'vertical movement, up or down'

The following examples show 'iho' ('down') and 'oho' ('up or down') following another verb and marking the vertical direction in which the respective verb occurs:

ex:

tatu

lPL.INCL.HORT

noho

stay

iho

go.down

i

LDA

te

SG.SP

lakau

tree

a

POSS

ngha

PL.SP

lepū

rat

na

DEM.2

tatu noho iho i te lakau a ngha lepū na

lPL.INCL.HORT stay go.down LDA SG.SP tree POSS PL.SP rat DEM.2

'Let us sit down on the rafter of the rats.'

ex:

Noho

stay

oho

go.vertically

ki

LDA

lalo

under

Noho oho ki lalo

stay go.vertically LDA under

'Sit down!’

Independent usage

Directionals may also be used as independent verbs, with 'iho' and 'oho' being the most commonly used forms. When used as independent verbs, 'iho' means 'go down' (Figure 2.1) and 'oho' means 'move vertically; rise up; go down' (Figure 2.2):

ex:

Ko

INCEP

iho

go.down

ma

with

ia

3SG

e

GENR

thū

stand

Ko iho ma ia e thū

INCEP go.down with 3SG GENR stand

'She went down with it and stood (there)’.

ex:

lhatou

3PL

ko

INCEP

oho

go.vertically

lhatou

3PL

ko

INCEP

iho

go.down

oho

go.vertically

ki

to

nghauta

shore

lhatou ko oho lhatou ko iho oho ki nghauta

3PL INCEP go.vertically 3PL INCEP go.down go.vertically to shore

'They went down and came to the village.'

Furthermore 'mai' can function as an independent verb to mean 'come' (Figure 2.3). This commonly occurs in imperative clauses, which is typically how cognates of 'mai' in related Polynesian languages are also used.

ex:

lhatu=ko

3PL=INCEP

ha-haloki

REDUP-call.PL

oho

go.vertically

po

COMP

mai

come

tatu

lPL.INCL.HORT

la-ina

sun-TR

i

LDA

nghauta

shore

lhatu=ko ha-haloki oho po mai tatu la-ina i nghauta

3PL=INCEP REDUP-call.PL go.vertically COMP come lPL.INCL.HORT sun-TR LDA shore

'They called to him, "Come here, let us sunbathe on the shore.'"

It is also interesting to note that 'mai' can not only encode a literal direction, but also a metaphorical 'social' direction. In the example below (Figure 2.4), 'mai' denotes 'towards me' in a metaphorical sense that is 'for me; for my benefit; on my behalf':

ex:

oi-na

help-TR

mai

come

a

PERS

iau

1SG

oi-na mai a iau

help-TR come PERS 1SG

'Help me!'

Lastly 'atu' also functions an independent verb which means 'move out, go away'. This is shown in the below example (note: 'poi' is a prenuclear modifier that precedes verbs):

ex:

a

PERS

koe

2SG

poi

little

atu

go.out

a koe poi atu

PERS 2SG little go.out

'You get away! You move out!'

Historical context

Vaeakau-Taumako directionals have cognates in most other Polynesian and Oceanic languages. The corresponding reconstructed forms in Proto-Oceanic were directional verbs that occurred either independently or in serialisation constructions with another verb. The reflexes of these forms occur in modern Oceanic languages in variety of formal word classes. For example, in Tuvaluan, 'mai' ('hither'), 'atu' ('thither'), 'aka' ('up') and 'ifo' ('down') have been classified as adverbs, while directionals are categorised as 'particles' in Somoan.

Abbreviations

The abbreviations used in the above examples are listed below:

Grammatical glosses

ADMON:admonitive mood COMP:complementizer GENR:general tense-aspect-mood LDA:locative-directional-ablative NSP:nonspecific PRSC:prescriptive SP:specific TOP:topicalizing preposition

ADMON admonitive

AG agentive marker

APPL applicative suffix

BEN benefactive

CAUS causative prefix

CLASS classifier

COL collective

CONI conjunction

COMP complementizer

DEM demonstrative

DES desiderative

DIST distributive

DU dual

DY dyad particle

EMPH emphatic particle

EXCL exclusive

FUT future

GENR general tense-aspect -mood marker

HORT hortative

HYP hypothetical particle

INCL inclusive

INCEP inceptive

INTRJ interjection

IPFV imperfective

IRR irrealis

LDA locative-directional-ablative

NEG negative

NMLZ nominalizing suffix

NSP nonspecific

OBL.PRO oblique pro-forru

OPT optative

PERS personal marker

PFV perfective

PL plural

POSS possessive

PP predicative possessive particle

PREF prefix; gloss uncertain

PROH prohibitive

PN pronoun

PRSC prescriptive

PST past

RECP reciprocal

RED reduplication

SG singular

SP specific

TOP topicalizing preposition

TR transitive suffix

VOC vocative

I 1st person

2 2nd person

3 3rd person

Lexical categories

adj adjective

adv adverb

gn geographical narue

In local noun

n, en corrnnon noun

part particle

pron pronoun

prep preposition

quant quantifier

VI intransitive verb

vsem semi-transitive verb

vt transitive verb

Notes

• References from Næss, Åshild; Hovdhaugen, Even (2011). A Grammar of Vaeakau-Taumako. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-023826-6.:

• Other sources

Bibliography

• Næss, Åshild; Hovdhaugen, Even (2011). A Grammar of Vaeakau-Taumako. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-023826-6..
• Hovdhaugen, Even (2006). A Short Dictionary of the Vaeakau-Taumako Language. Oslo: Kon-Tiki Museum, Institute for Pacific Archaeology and Cultural History..

External links

• Portions of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer in Pileni
• Paradisec has a number of collections that include Vaeakau-Taumako language materials.