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[by whom?] to be descendants of people from Tuvalu.
Vaeakau-Taumako was described by linguists Even Hovdhaugen and Åshild Næss, in the form of a dictionary[2] and a grammar.[3]
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.[4]
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.[GVT 1]
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.[GVT 1]
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.[GVT 2]
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.[GVT 3]
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.[GVT 4]
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.[GVT 5]
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.[GVT 6]
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.[GVT 7]
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.[GVT 8]
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.[GVT 9]
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.[GVT 10]
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.[GVT 10]
O-possessives
Relationships that are outside of the possessor's personal control, such as body parts and kinship relationships are marked with o-possessives.[GVT 10]
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.[GVT 11]
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.[GVT 12] 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.[GVT 11]
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.[GVT 13]
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.[GVT 14] 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.[GVT 15] Nouns other than those previously mentioned do not take possessive suffixes, but instead combine with possessive pronouns.[GVT 16]
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.[GVT 17] However, there are instances of their taking complement clauses and for this reason negation morphemes might be considered a sub-class of verb.[GVT 18]
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 nairrealis or me prescriptive. Negated declarative clauses typically occur with either perfective ne or imperfective no, with other options only marginally represented in collected data.[GVT 19]
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.[GVT 19]
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).[GVT 19] A correlation exists between singular 2nd person subject and a nominalised clause although this correlation is not absolute.[GVT 20]
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.
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.[GVT 22]
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.[GVT 23]
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.'[GVT 23]
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'.[GVT 23]
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
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.
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.[GVT 27]
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.[GVT 28]
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.[GVT 30]
Simple interrogative formed with declarative clause:
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.'[GVT 30]
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.[GVT 32]
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.' [GVT 33]
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.[5] 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:
'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).
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.[GVT 35] Denny summarised this succinctly in describing this system as one that centers space on the speaker or other participant.[7] 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.[GVT 34]
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.[6] 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.[8]
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".[9]
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:
'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.[GVT 35]
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.[GVT 35] The following example shows the demonstrative 'na' ('that'), being used in conjunction with the prefix 'te' to denote singularity:
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).’[GVT 36]
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:[9]
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).[GVT 36] 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.[10]
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
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.[GVT 37] The following example shows how the demonstrative 'na' ('that') is suffixed to the noun 'mhe' ('man') for a deictic purpose:
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.'[GVT 38]
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.[GVT 39]
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:[GVT 39]
'We know that chickens wander around here, on land (as opposed to the sea).’[GVT 39]
When being used in this adverbial capacity, the demonstratives also have temporal-deictic references to refer to time (i.e. 'now' and 'then'):[GVT 40]
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.'[GVT 40]
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.[GVT 41] 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.[GVT 41] The Vaeakau-Taumako forms are created by attaching the prefix 'p(h)e' to the core demonstrative particles:
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'[GVT 42]
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.[GVT 42]
Deictic adverbs
Vaeakau-Taumako also has deictic adverbs that are formed by applying the prefixes 'a-’, 'i-'or 'e-’ to the core demonstrative particles.[GVT 43] These forms are summarised below:
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:[GVT 44]
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 INTRJPREF-DEM.2 DEM.2 COMP PL.NSP Water OBL.PRO
'And he said, "Oh, somewhere here there is water".’[GVT 44]
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):[GVT 45]
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.'[GVT 46]
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.[GVT 47] 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).[GVT 47] 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:[GVT 48]
Figure 1.1 - Person-based directionals (indicate direction relative to speech-act participants)[GVT 48]
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):
The second category of directionals is summarised below:
Figure 1.2 - Directionals that denote direction on a vertical axis[GVT 48]
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.'[GVT 50]
Directionals may also be used as independent verbs, with 'iho' and 'oho' being the most commonly used forms.[GVT 51] 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)’.[GVT 51]
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
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.[GVT 50]
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.'"[GVT 52]
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':[GVT 53]
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):[GVT 52]
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.[GVT 48]
Abbreviations
The abbreviations used in the above examples are listed below:[GVT 54]
↑ Senft, Gunter (ed.). Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics. p. 2.
1 2 3 Ross, Malcolm D. (2004). "Demonstratives, local nouns and directionals in Oceanic languages: a diachronic perspective". In Senft, Gunter (ed.). Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics. p.177. ISBN0-85883-55-1-7.
↑ Denny, Peter J. (1978). "Locating the universals in lexical systems for spatial deixis". Papers from the Parasession on the Lexicon, Chicago Linguistic Society. 14–15: 71–84 – via Chicago: CLS.
Hovdhaugen, Even (2006). A Short Dictionary of the Vaeakau-Taumako Language. Oslo: Kon-Tiki Museum, Institute for Pacific Archaeology and Cultural History..
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