Schnell, Stefan. 2014. Vera'a annotation notes. Implementation of GRAID annotations in Vera'a...

Multi-CAST veraa annotation notes

Multi-CAST veraa annotation notes 2014-11-06

Schnell, Stefan.Notes on the annotation of Vera’a (veraa)

Overview

This document outlines the mophosyntactic structure of Vera’a, and describes theimplementation of GRAID glossing conventions, as outlined in the GRAID7 Manual(Haig & Schnell 2014). Section 1 gives an overview of Vera’a basic morphosyntacticfeatures and the implementation of the core set of GRAID glosses. Section 2 dealswith the treatment of other finite and non-finite types, and Section 3 with that ofcomplex sentences. Morphological glosses and form paradigms are provided in theAppendix. The following table of contents is intended to serve as a quick referenceto individual passages.

Table of Contents

1 Basic structural features of Vera’a and GRAID glossing 31.1 Clause structure and syntactic functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.1.1 Verbal clauses and syntactic functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.1.2 Non-verbal clauses and syntactic functions . . . . . . . . . . . 71.1.3 Other syntactic functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.2 Form of referential expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.2.1 Common NPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.2.2 Personal NPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.2.3 Locative NPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.2.4 Numeral phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.2.5 Pronominal expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.2.6 Further types of expression: demonstratives, interrogative

nouns, conjoined NPs, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.3 Animacy and person of referential expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181.4 Other elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1.4.1 Adverbs and clause-level demonstrative forms . . . . . . . . . 181.4.2 Particles, conjunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2 Clausal constructions with special features 192.1 Negation and neutralisation of syntactic categories: <np:pred> vs.

<v:pred> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.2 Finite and non-finite clause constructions: <v> vs. <vother> . . . . 20

2.2.1 Imperative constructions and <vother> . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.2.2 ga-construction: <vother> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.2.3 Head-tail construction and zero TAMP marking . . . . . . . 22

3 Complex sentences, direct speech, clause repetitions and complexpredicates 243.1 Complement clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.1.1 Syndetic complement clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243.1.2 Asyndetic complement clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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3.2 Adverbial clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263.3 Relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3.3.1 Syndetic relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273.3.2 Asyndetic relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273.3.3 Function of relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3.4 Direct speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293.5 Predicate or clause repetition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303.6 Complex predicates versus clause chaining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

A Appendix 32A.1 Notes on morphological glossing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32A.2 Tense, aspect, mood, polarity marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34A.3 Person markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35A.4 Demonstrative forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

References 37

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1 Basic structural features of Vera’a and GRAIDglossing

Vera’a is an isolating language with grammatical a�xes being confined to possessivepronominal su�xes on bound nouns. Exponents of some TAM categories and thecommon NP article are enclitics and occur detached from their functional heads.Typically, phrases consist of at least two and often more words, e.g. TAM marker +verb; article + noun, and sub-constituents are all glossed as such. In the followingI outline the basic structure of the Vera’a language alongside their handling inGRAID annotations.

1.1 Clause structure and syntactic functions

Vera’a has two basic clause types, verbal and non-verbal ones. These have di↵erenttypes of predicate expressions, a verb complex (VC henceforth) in verbal ones andsome other type of phrase in non-verbal ones.

1.1.1 Verbal clauses and syntactic functions

A verbal clause need not have any argument expression, and may consist of onlythe VC functioning as the predicate, as in (1):

(1) veraa isam 032

##

netam2:3sg

lv-pro:s

marandaylightv:pred

’(And then) it became daylight.’

As in (1), the VC receives the form gloss <v>, regardless of whether its head worditself is unambiguously classified as a ’verb’. Core argument function S, A and P(in the sense of Andrews 2007) are encoded by the position of the NP or pronounrelative to the VC. S and A arguments precede the VC, P arguments occupy apost-verbal position, as in the following examples (2–4):

(2) veraa palaa 003

##

renewomannp.h:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

wotoqtoqopregnantv:pred

’(And then) the woman got pregnant.’

(3) veraa gabg 083

##

rov-rov’ered-close.toother

nik2sg

pro.2:a

etam2

lv

kurgnawv:pred

kirmobreakrv

=n=art

=ln

gakostalknp:p

wova’alpawpawrn

edem3

rn

”...would you almost have gnawed o↵ the stalk of the pawpaw (fruit)?”

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(4) veraa asms.e 068

##

Mag’ieold.womannp.h:a

anedem1.a

rn

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:a

vesiraskv:pred

saemph

other

=n=art

=ln

’ama’devilnp.d:p

edem3

rnsoquot

other

’(And then) the old woman asked the devil:’

Where the S or A function is expressed by a pronoun, it will occupy the samepre-VC slot where lexical S or A arguments occur, as in (5–6):

(5) veraa iswm 208

##

dir3pl

pro.h:a

=m=tam1

=lv

vuskillv:pred

die3sg

pro.h:p

’They killed him.’

(6) veraa isam 061

##

duru3dl

pro.h:s

=k=tam2

=lv

kalenterv:pred

ba’aintorv

kelbackrv

sareinother:l

’Then the two went ashore again.’

Where the P function is expressed by a bare pronoun, this pronoun is incorporatedinto the VC, as in example (7) where 3SG di precedes the directional adverb sar’in(wards)’:

(7) veraa iswm 171

##

dir3pl

pro.h:a

=ek=tam2

=lv

qerepushv:pred

ba’aintorv

di3sg

rv pro.h:p rv

sarinadp

leloc

=ln

=n=art

ln-pro.h:possmo-giposs.house-3sg=ln

=n=art

np:g

nimehouse

’They pushed her into her house.’

It seems that in some cases, bare pronouns may also follow the VC; in other—probably most—cases, this question is not decidable in particular contexts, asin (5) above. Bare P pronouns are glossed for VC-internal position (by preposed<rv >) only in those cases where this is indicated by the presence of other VC-internal elements following it, as in (7).

Oblique arguments are encoded by means of prepositional flagging, and soare adjunct functions. Both occupy positions following the VC. Three types ofoblique arguments are considered in the GRAID manual (Haig & Schnell 2014:13f.),i.e. those expressing locations (<l>), goals (<g>), or some other semantic role((<obl>), and all three are also distinguished in Vera’a. Examples (8–9) showlocation and goal roles:

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(8) veraa iswm 004

##

duru3dl

pro.h:s

gastat

lv

’ogstayv:pred

walexactlyrv

saemph

other

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

vono-nhome-csnp:l-np.h:poss

epers.art

rn

WowotW.rn np.h:poss

’aloc.sp

rn

NosN.rn

’The were living right up in Wowot’s home village at Nos.’

(9) veraa jjq 008

##

dir3pl

pro.h:s

=m=tam1

=lv

vangov:pred

kalupwardsrv

sarinlandrv

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

womomo’bushnp:g

’He went down to the reef...’

In all three examples, the same basically locative preposition le is the head ofthe PP expressing either a location or a goal, with more specific semantic roleinterpretations relating to di↵erences in verbal semantics and world knowledge. Adative preposition is used where location or goal are human participants. Examplesof human locations did not occur in GRAID corpora so far, but would be glossedas done for the following elicited example in (10):

(10) (observed/elicited)

##

babutother

=n=art

=ln

gaselknifenp:s

gastat

lv

’og’ogred:stayv:pred

me-ndat-cs

adp

epers.art

ln

JanetJ.np.h:l

’The knife is with Janet.’

Goal-like roles carried out by humans are recipients/beneficiaries and addressees,and are all glossed with <:g>, as shown in (11–13):

(11) veraa mvb 103

##

000.h:a

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:a

letransferv:pred

=n=art

=ln

biegbreadfruitnp:p

nenum.art

rn

vo-walnum-onern #

woandother

000.h:a

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:a

letransferv:pred

medat

adp

di3sg

pro.h:g

nenum.art

ln

vo-walnum-onenp:p

’...took a breadfruit and gave her one (as well).’

(12) veraa anv 026

##

duru3dl

pro.h:a

=k=tam2

=lv

..e..hesnc

sorwearv:pred

medat

adp

duru3dl

pro.h:g

=n=art

=ln

gogovclothesnp:p

’They put them clothes on.’

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(13) veraa jjq 318

##

TumerenT.np.a:s ds

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

teksayv:pred

medat

adp

dire3pl

pro.h:g

’Then Tumeren said to them:...’

In three-participant constructions, word order may vary slightly, according toconsiderations of referentiality and animacy features of arguments (cf. Schnell2012), demonstrated by (11) and (12). Hence, NPs with P function may actuallyoccur following a dative (or ablative for that matter) PP; thus, P NPs are thosethat are not flagged by a preposition and occur in some post-VC position. Theroles of recipients or beneficiaries may also be expressed by possessive morphology,which is glossed <:poss> for possessor, as the specific reading as either possessoror recipient/beneficiary is a matter of inference rather than encoding.

In accordance with the GRAID7 Manual (Haig & Schnell 2014), no sharpdistinction is made between arguments and adjuncts. Thus, locative PPs as in(14) would also be receiving the <l> function gloss. The same holds for argu-ments/adjuncts expressing a goal (<:g>) or some other semantic role (<:obl>).

(14) veraa jjq 310

##

kamam1pl.ex:tam1

pro.1:s

mi’irsleepv:pred

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

qanrisovennp:l

’We slept in the stone oven.’

Other oblique arguments express a variety of semantic roles. In some instances,the choice of a particular preposition unambiguously encodes a particular semanticrole, for instance source being expressed by an ablative preposition in (15), whilein other instances verb semantics and context reading appear to play an importantpart, as in (16) where the instrument reading is not encoded as such by the locativepreposition:

(15) veraa jjq 346

##

000.h:s

manpfv

lv

kaluexitv:pred

denabl

adp

enart

ln

wiobamboonp:obl #

dir3pl

pro.h:s

manpfv

lv

’eqeldescendv:pred

’(They) had already come out of the bamboo, they had already come down.’

(16) veraa as1 102

##

babutother

di3sg

pro:s

gastat

lv

manamagicalv:pred

’idel

rv

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

rawhermaphrodite.pignp:obl

wuvaonlyother

’But it [i.e. some water] is magic only through a hermaphrodite pig.’

In accordance with the GRAID7 Manual, the glossing of oblique PP arguments aseither <l>, <g> or <obl> follows semantic role considerations rather than formalones. Thus, the locative PP in (16) is glossed as bearing <obl> rather than <l>or <g> function because it expresses the semantic role of an instrument.

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Clear instances of circumstantial adjuncts are glossed for their form and receivethe function gloss <other>. This is typically the case with temporal PP or NPadjuncts, as in (17):

(17) veraa jjq 393

[...]

##

no1sg

pro.1:s

=m=tam1

=lv

vangov:pred

mahitherrv

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

qonnightnp:other

[...]

”...I came here last night, (but then where were you guys?)”

For clause-level adverbs and other types of one-word modifiers the gloss<other>is used, not further classifying form and function distinctly.

1.1.2 Non-verbal clauses and syntactic functions

The predicate of a non-verbal clause is a phrase of various types, but not a VC.These phrases are glossed for their form like arguments and take the function gloss<pred>:

(18) veraa mvb 009

##

nart

ln

kakastorynp:dt s

agenedem2

rn

di3sg

pro:s

=n=art

=ln

kakastorynp:pred

neleovoicern

vu’spiritrn

’This story here, it is a customary story [lit. a spirits’ voice].’

(19) veraa as1 083

##

babutother

kumru2dl

pro.2:s

’o’withadp

=n=art

=ln

wovinqacoconut.shellnp:pred

’But do you have a coconut shell with you?’

Thus, it is a NP in (18) and a PP in (19) that bear predicate function in the respec-tive non-verbal clauses. As shown in these two examples, the subject expression ina non-verbal clause is considered to have S function, glossed <:s>. As with verbalclauses, non-verbal clauses may not contain a subject relation at all, as in followingexamples (20–21):

(20) veraa isam 002

##

qondaynp:other

nenum.art

rn

vo-walnum-onern

’erepl

ln

’ansarpersonnp:predex

’aloc.sp

rn

LemerigL.rn np

’Once upon a time, (there were) the people of Lemerig.’

(21) veraa panr 010

[...]

##

=n=art

=ln

lanwindnp:a

vushitrn

mreallv

vushitv:pred

kamam1pl.ex

pro.1:p ##

ecc

other

=n=art

=ln

marfaminenp:predex

’... [when] a hurricane hits us and (when) (there is) famine.’

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Such clauses are existential clauses, i.e. they express that an entity or state ofa↵airs exists or has come into being. The predicates of these clauses receive thefunction gloss <predex> for ’existential predicate’.

There are a number of other elements, neither NPs nor PPs, that may functionas predicate. All of these are glossed as <other:pred(ex)>. Examples are thequotative particle so that accommodates direct speech in the matrix clause, as in(22), a bare numeral, as in (23), or the existential bene ’there is’, as in (24):

(22) veraa as1 040

##

epers.art

ln

DolD.np.h:s

soquot

other:pred ##ds

onoother

no1sg

pro.1:s

manpfv

lv

qe’finishv:pred

[...]

’Dol said: ’No, I am done. (The kava has already made me drunk.)”

(23) veraa jjq 003

##

epers.art

ln

ragapeopleln

’i-’isi-ginsg-same.sex.sibl-3sgnp.h:s

sanwultenother:pred

walonern

deme??rn

nenum.art

rn

vo-ruonum-tworn

’His brothers were twelve.’ [i.e. ’He had twelve brothers.’]

(24) veraa gabg 043

[...]

##

siifother

=n=art

=ln

wova’alpawpawnp:s

beneexistother:predex ##

du1dl.in

wpro.1:a

=k=tam2

=lv

geneatv:pred

000:p

’... (and) if there are pawpaw fruits we will eat (them).’

Where existence is expressed by bene (or likewise non-existence/absence by itsnegative counterpart gitag), it receives the function gloss <:predex>, and the NPdenoting the entity that is said to exist is considered an S argument. Where theseexistential particles occur with a locative oblique argument, the clause may havelocational or existential semantics and in either case is glossed as in the examplesin (25–26):

(25) veraa jjq 338

##neg

dir3pl

pro.h:s

ne gitagnot.existother:pred

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

bo-reposs.bed-3plnp:l

’They are not in their beds.’

(26) veraa iswm 175

##

nart

ln

qoro-gihole-3sgnp:s

luwobigrn

beneexistother:predex

suweidownother:l

’It had a big hole at the bottom.’ (lit.: ’A big hole of it existed at thebottom.’)

The locative expressions in the two examples presumably have di↵erent statuses,but the di↵erence is not noted in GRAID annotations.

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1.1.3 Other syntactic functions

Other syntactic functions comprise functions of dislocated and appositional expres-sions, as well as possessors.

Dislocated expressions receive the function gloss <:dt> for ’dislocated topic’,regardless of whether the pragmatic function of its referent is actually considered a’topic’ in the narrow sense. No distinction is made between left- and right-dislocatedexpressions. Dislocated expressions can have lexical or pronominal form. Examples:

(27) veraa gaqg 084

##

nart

ln

nuoturtlenp.d:dt a

di3sg

pro.d:a

=m=tam1

=lv

lanlanred:slap

v:pred

enart

ln

bini-gihand/arm-3sg

np:p-pro.d:poss

’And when Turtle had clapped his hands,...’

(28) veraa palaa 090

[...]

##

no1sg

pro.1:dt s

no1sg

pro.1:s

mefut

lv

sagsitv:pred

’irwurbehindrv

’[You two sit first,] and I, I will sit last one in the back (of the canoe).’

Where applicable, information on clause-internal function a dislocated phrasecorrelates with is added to the <dt> function gloss, for instance <:dt a> and<:dt s> in (27–28). I assume here that a left-dislocated expression may correlatewith an object function that receives zero expression within the clause, glossing it<:dt p>, and the clause-internal object as <0:p>. These are entirely analogous toinstances where the object function is expressed by a pronoun:


##

lavetfeastnp:dt p

vo-walnum-onern

anedem1.a

rn

dir3pl

pro.h:a

=em=tam1

=lv

gisholdv:pred 0:p

’This feast, they held (it).’


##

epers.art

ln

ruwatwo.peopleln

re-renensg-woman

np.h:dt p

anedem1.a

rn

duru3dl

pro.h:a

=m=tam1

=lv

dadov:pred

’o’withrv

duruo3dl

pro.h:p

’The two girls, they (i.e. their parents) looked after them.’

A further type of function distinguished for Vera’a is that of appositional ex-pressions. These are typically co-referent with the one they are juxtapposed toand that provide additional information on this referent. They receive the functiongloss <:appos>, as in (31). Treated in the same way here are so-called ’inclusoryconstructions’ where the justapposed expression is a non-singular pronoun that ispartially co-referent with the expression it is juxtapposed to, as in (32).

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(31) veraa mvbw 020

[...]

##

di3sg

pro.h:a

=m=tam1

=lv

letransferv:pred

=n=art

=ln

ni’Ismallnp.h:p

’amanmanrn

’a...hesnc

’isimeresecond.bornnp.h:appos

anedem1.a

rn

[...]

’(When) she gave birth to the boy, the second born, [...]’

(32) veraa jjq 347

##

epers.art

ln

Qo’Q.np.h:s

dire3pl

pro.h:appos

manpfv

lv


’Qo’ and those with him had already hopped o↵.’

Appositional expressions are distinguished form coordinated phrases or othercomplex argument expressions, as outlined in Section 1.2 below.

The only NP-internal function noted in GRAID glossing of Vera’a texts is thatof possessors, glossed <:poss>. All other NP-internal expressions do not receive afunction gloss. Also, possessors are glossed only where they have a specific referent,excluding certain cases of compounding and modification.

1.2 Form of referential expressions

Vera’a has the following basic types of referential expressions:

common NPs

personal NPs

locative NPs

numeral phrases

pronominal NPs

free pronouns

bound person markers

adverbs

Table 1 summarises the glossing practices for each of these form types. Com-mon, personal, locative NPs and numeral phrases are all glossed <np>. Vera’aalso has ’pronominal NPs’ which are multi-word expressions consisting of a freepronoun plus further modifiers, and these are glossed as pronouns, <pro>. Forfree pronouns, a distinction between default and weak forms is occasionally (butat present not consistently) made. Under bound person markers, we mainly sum-marise possessive su�xes. An additional ’bound person marker’ is assumed to becontained in one TAM allomorph, namely ne which is a portmanteau morph forboth the TAM2 category as well as 3rd person singular of the S or A (i.e. subject)argument. The gloss <other> is used for all other types of referential or non-referential expressions. The following subsections provide a brief outline of eachform type.

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form common

NP

personal

NP

locative

NP

numeral

phrase

pronom

inal

expressions

free

pronou

n

bnd.pers.

marker

adverbs,

dem

onstr.

gloss np np np np pro pro -pro otheralt. gloss pro wpro pro

Table 1: Form type–gloss correspondences of referential expressions inVera’a

1.2.1 Common NPs

Common NPs are introduced by the common article =n which may be omitted inclause initial position. Examples can be found in (29–32) above, and elsewhere inthis document. They are glossed as <np>.

1.2.2 Personal NPs

Personal NPs are introduced by the personal article e and most typically havepersonal names or one of a small class of other personal nouns as their heads, as inthe following examples in (33–34):

(33) veraa jjq 040

##

soprosp?

other

epers.art

ln

Qo’pers.name

np.h:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

mulogov:pred

’(And now) Qo’ was about to go home.’

(34) veraa palab 226

##

nart

ln

’ama’devilnp.d:a

manpfv

lv

kurdevourv:pred

saemph

other

epers.art

ln

ruwatwo.peopleln

ni-ni’i-duored-child-1dl.innp.h:p-pro.1:poss

edem3

rn

’The devil has already devoured our (dl) two children.’

In some instances, a personal pronoun takes a personal article and thus formsa personal NP. It will nonetheless be glossed <pro> rather than <np>:

(35) veraa anv 063

##

epers.art

ln

no1sg

pro.1:s

’ow’beforeother:pred

ow

’I am first (to jump).’

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1.2.3 Locative NPs

Locative NPs di↵er from other NPs in that they are not introduced by an article.They are headed by a local noun, e.g. a place name, and commonly function as thecomplement of the specific locative preposition a. Locative NPs are simply glossed<np> in GRAID annotations. Two examples:

(36) veraa bsvh 006

##

sulfolknp.h:dt

di3sg

pro.h:s

gastat

lv

’ogstayv:pred

aloc.sp

adp

loseasidenp:l

’The people who lived down at the sea,...’

(37) veraa as1 003

##

babutother

duru3dl

pro.h:s

gastat

lv

’ogstayv:pred

aloc.sp

adp

LemerigLemerignp:l

’The two lived at Lemerig.’

1.2.4 Numeral phrases

Numeral phrases are optionally introduced by the numeral article ne and headedby a numeral word which consists of a fossilised numeral prefix and a numeral root.Where numeral phrases function as arguments on clause level, they are glossed asNPs, as in (38):

(38) veraa mvbw 111

##

nenum.art

ln

vo-walnum-onenp.h:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

vangov:pred

mahitherrv

’(Then) one (of them) came over.’

Where they function as modifiers in a NP, they are glossed as sub-constituents,both numeral article and numeral word receiving <rn>, as in example (20) above.

1.2.5 Pronominal expressions

As for person markers, four types are distinguished here for Vera’a. All of theseare glossed as <pro>, despite their structural di↵erences. Free pronouns functionas subjects, objects and complements of prepositions:

(39) veraa iswm 208

##

dir3pl

pro.h:a

=m=tam1

=lv

vuskillv:pred

die3sg

pro.h:p

’They killed him.’

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singular dual trial/paucal plural

1st incl — (gi)du(o) (gi)do’ol (gi)de1st excl no ka(ma)du(o) ka(ma)m’ol ka(ma)m2nd nik(e) kumru(o) kimi’ol kimi3rd di(e) duru(o) dir’ol dir(e)

Table 2: Vera’a free personal pronouns

(40) veraa gabg 025

[...]

##

no1sg

pro.1:s

makimm

lv

’aramtellv:pred

entegwellrv

medat

adp

nike2sg

pro.2:g

’...and I will make it clear to you immediately.’

The paradigm of free pronouns is given in Table 2. Initial investigation ofsubject pronouns (Schnell 2010, 2011, 2012a, b) suggests that these pronouns aregrammaticalising into subject indexes, showing tendencies for a tighter morphologi-cal integration with subsequent TAMmarkers. This involves occasional reduction inform of 1st person non-singular pronouns through deletion of the first or second syl-lable, cf. Table 2; the reduced form is considered ’weak’ here and glossed—thoughnot entirely consistently at this stage—<wpro>. Thus, the following two glossingpractices can both be found in the current Vera’a Multi-CAST corpus:

(41) veraa gabg 044

##

du1dl.in

wpro.1:s

=k=tam2

=lv

geneatv:pred

qe’finishrv ##

gedu1dl.in

pro.1:s

makimmediatelylv

mulogov:pred

[pro.1:s]

’...and I will make it clear to you immediately.’

Where final vowel deletion occurs with pronouns, the forms are not counted as’weak’. Note that subject pronouns are essentially treated as free pronouns here.Their possibly intensifying closer integration with the VC is taken as a researchquestion to be tackled through analysis of GRAID-annotated texts rather than afact that feeds into the annotation.

Free pronouns may take further modifiers in Vera’a, and thus form a complexexpression which is termed pronominal NP here and glossed <pro>. Note thatmodifiers of such pronominal heads are glossed <rn>:

(42) veraa mvbw 127

##

kamam’ol1tl.ex

pro.1:s

birinwithrn

enart

rn

veve-maduomother-1dl.exrn np.h-pro.1:poss

’og-’ogored-stayv:pred

’We two, together with our (two) mother, will stay behind.’

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1st incl — -du(o) -do’ol -de1st excl -k -madu(o) -mam’ol -mam2nd -m -mru(o) -mi’ol -mi3rd -gi -ru(o) -r’ol -re

Table 3: Possessive (pronominal) su�xes in Vera’a


##

’eiinterj

other

kamadu1Ddl.ex

pro.1:s

anedem1.a

rn

=m=tam1

=lv

vangov:pred

mahitherrv

sirforadp

nik2sg

pro.2:g

anedem1.a

rn

’We two have come just for you.’

Possessive su�xes are glossed as bound person markers, <-pro>. Their paradigmis given in Table 3. The possessive su�x may attach directly to the possessed nounor to one of 8 possessive classifiers that either precede or follow the head noun.Possessive classifiers themselves are mostly glossed as sub-constituents, thus either<ln> or <rn>, yielding <ln-pro...> and <rn-pro...> respectively. Examples:

(44) veraa jjq 032

##

dir3pl

pro.h:a

=k=tam2

=lv

vilvilred:tiev:pred

=en=art

=ln

nakcanoenp:p

mu-reposs.gen-3pl

rn-pro.h:poss

’Then they tied up their canoes.’

(45) veraa hhak 071

##

000.h:a

letakev:pred

=n=art

=ln

ko-ruposs.ves-3dl

ln-pro.h:poss

=n=art

=ln

nakcanoenp:p

su-suored-paddlern

’[...] took their canoe [...]’


##

nart

ln

’amadevilnp.d:a

manpfv

lv

kurdevourv:pred

saemph

other

eart

ln

ruwatwo.peopleln

ni-ni’i-duored-child-1dl.innp.h:p-pro.1:poss

edem3

rn

’The devil has already devoured our (dl) two children.’

Possessive classifiers may also function as the head of a common NP, and are inthese cases treated like any other directly possessed noun in this function. WhileVera’a does not have a full-fledged subject indexing system like many other Oceaniclanguages, the paradigm of the morpheme glossed ’TAM2’ here (labelled ’aorist’ byFrancois 2009) has a distinct forms for the 2nd and 3rd person singular, e and ne,respectively. This information is reflected in the GRAID annotation by treating neas a sub-constituent with a bound person marker:

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##

epers.art

ln

Qo’Q.np.h:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

vangov:pred

mahitherrv ##

000.h:a

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:a

revdragv:pred

surdownrv

enart

ln

[...]

As this ’bound person marker’ is the only possible bound form for S and A function,these can be quantified distinctly from other person markers in these functions bycounting <pro> and <-pro> separately.

1.2.6 Further types of expression: demonstratives, interrogativenouns, conjoined NPs, etc.

There are some further elements that potentially pose problems in terms of analysisand glossing of formal properties.

Oblique pronominal forms. Vera’a has two ’special pronominal’ forms thatare restricted to oblique argument functions, typically expressing a location or goal.Their form is rendered as <other> in GRAID, as in (48–49) below.

(48) veraa 1.tnu 012

##

mulgov:pred

mahitherrv

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

vunuvillagenp:g rn #rc

arel

other

dir3pl

pro.h:s

=s=sim

=lv

’ogstayv:pred

beneobl.pro

other:l

’...went to the village where they lived.’

(49) veraa jjq 117

##

epers.art

ln

Qo’Q.np.h:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

vangov:pred

mahitherrv

[...]

##

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

000.h:s

remclimbv:pred

rowseawardsrv

ranaobl.pro

other:g

’Qo’ came and dragged down his canoe, climbed onto it and...’

They are classified as locative adverbs and glossed <other> in terms of form asthey are not personal pronouns in the narrow sense.

Demonstratives. The demonstratives ne(’e) and gen can form a referential ex-pression and function as an argument. It always has deicic (“Deixis am Phantasma”in narratives) or discourse-deictic reference. They are always glossed <dem pro>,as in (50).

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(50) veraa mvbw 079

##

nedem1

dem pro:s

=n=art

=ln

’erepl

ln

ni-ni’i-kred-small-1sgnp.h:pred-pro.1:poss

walonceother

’[Oh, people,] this is truly my kids (whose voices we are hearing).’

Almost all other demonstrative forms are derived from these two basic forms. Theyoccur either as sattelites in NPs, glossed simply <rn dem>, or as modifiers onclause level, thus glossed <other( dem)>. The addition of < dem> is not doneconsistently in these latter cases.

Interogative and indefinite expressions. Vera’a does not have interrog-ative or indefinite pronouns, and instead NPs headed by interrogative-indefinitenouns fulfil the respective functions. Examples:

(51) veraa mvbw 102

##neg

siifother

kumru2dl

pro.2:s

woandother

mi’irsleepv:pred

rosneg2

other ##

kumru2dl

pro.2:a

=m=tam1

=lv

ronhearv:pred

enart

lnsavawhatnp:p

[...]

’If you don’t sleep at night, what you hear...’

(52) veraa jjq 277

##

nike2sg

pro.2:s

epers.art

ln

sewhonp:pred

’Who are you?’

Complex NPs. In complex NPs the gloss for the entire phrase is aligned withthe first nominal head, and all other constituents to the right are glossed <rn>,with sporadic further specifications of form and animacy, for instance in (53). Onlypossessors are specified for their function, see (54).

(53) veraa iswm 179

##

ama-gifather-3sgnp.h:dt a

=n=art

=rn

veve-gimother-3sgrn np.h

duru3dl

pro.h:a

=k=tam2

=lv

siksearchv:pred

di3sg

pro.h:p

soquot

other

’His father and mother, they looked for him.’

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##

dinreachrv

mahitherrv

=n=art

=ln

nimehousenp:p

mo-nposs.house-csrn

epers.art

rn

’amaruofather-3dlrn np.h:poss

woandrn

=n=art

=rn

veve-ruomother-3dlrn np.h:poss

’[... ran] to the house of their father and mother.’

The preposition birin ’with’ can function as a co-ordinator on NP level, andthe modifier PP is in these cases treated as a sub-constituent, as in (55):

(55) veraa mvbw 127

##

kamabo’ol1tl.ex

pro.1:s

birinwithrn

enart

rn




In cases where the co-ordination analysis is not clearly suggested by the syntacticdistribution—the pronoun and PP in (55) occupy a single pre-verbal slot—it istreated as an oblique PP on clause level expressing a comitative role, as in (??)below:

(56) veraa hhak 109

##

duru3dl

pro.h:a

=k=tam2

=lv

vangov:pred

gisholdrv

enart

ln

vusbownp:p

birincom

adp

enart

ln

’erepl

ln

wo’iqearrownp:obl

’Then they grabbed (their) bows together with the arrow [and went.]’

(57) veraa mvbw 096

[...]

##ds

000.1:a

momputv:pred

’del

rv

kumruo2dl

pro.2:p

birinwithadp

enart

ln

go-mruposs.eat-2dlln-pro.2:poss

=n=art

=ln

gengenfoodnp:obl

’[...] an (we) will take you together with your food.’

Pluralising particle ’ere. The pluralising particle ’ere typically occurs asa plurality-marking particle in NPs, as in (56) above, but is also used as a freeform with 2nd person non-singular reference in imperative constructions. Hereit occupies a slot following a possible 2nd person pronoun (cf. Section 2.2.1 onimperative constructions), and is glossed <other.2> in these instances too, as in(58).

(58) veraa hhak 144

##ds

babutother

000.2:s

’erepl

other.2:voc

supaddlevother:pred

kaluprv

kelbackrv

mahitherrv

’But you guys paddle back here and come ashore...’

Note that the function gloss <voc> for ’vocative’ is used here due to this functionof the particle in everyday communication outside imperative constructions. Noexample of this latter kind is attested in the current corpus.

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1.3 Animacy and person of referential expressions

Referential expressions with human referents receive an animacy feature gloss <h>.Those with non-human referents that are anthropomorphised—typically capable ofspeech/thought, desires, planned actions—receive the feature gloss <d>. Thesenon-human referents are typically certain spirits and animals in customary fables.

Where inanimate objects—typically rocks, reefs, trees—turn into human-likesuper-natural beings (Vera’a: vu’ or ’ama’ ) in a narrative, the discourse referent inquestion is treated as inanimate as long as it does not appear as human-like, andas human-like where it appears as such. Example:

(59) veraa isam 023

[...]

##

socpl

other

=n=art

=ln

me’reefnp:dt s

[...] di3sg

pro:S

=m=tam1

=lv

vangov:pred

mahitherrv

rekselikeadp

=n=art

=ln’ansarapersonnp.h:obl

’...that the reef, it had become like a human being.’

(60) veraa isam 024

##

di3sg

pro.d:s

=m=tam1

=lv

rerecrane.neckv:pred

kalupwardsrv

’It craned upwards.’

As a rule, animacy features are assigned according to reference, not to classificationof nouns. Reference is here treated as including ’class/generic reference’, thus thegloss for ’ansara above includes <h>. Where the same noun is used to refer to aspirit, it is glossed <d>:

(61) veraa isam 036

[...]

##

’ansarapersonnp.d:s

leloc

rn

=n=art

=rn

me’reefrn np

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.d:s ds

tekspeakv:pred

medat

adp

die3sg

pro.h:g

soquot

other

’[...] then the person inside the reef said to him:...’

Numeral expressions or NPs headed by the place-holder noun ge ’thingy’ likewisereceive animacy glosses by type of reference.

1.4 Other elements

A number of other elements are only noted as such, and mostly glossed <other>.

1.4.1 Adverbs and clause-level demonstrative forms

Adverbs and demonstratives on clause level are simply glossed <other>. Fordemonstratives, additional tags are occasionally—but not entirely systematically—added, for instance <other dem1>.

Temporal adverbs functioning as frame-setting topic expressions are also simplyglossed<other>, no indication of this particular pragmatic function is noted in theirglossing.

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1.4.2 Particles, conjunctions

Particles and conjunctions on clause level are also simply glossed <other> in mostinstances. This is also true for all instances of the emphatic particle sa whichprecedes or follows the phrase it marks; further research is required in order todetermine its nature.

Clause-connecting elements are all glossed <other>. This comprises underivedconjunctions like adversitive/theme-shifting ba, coordinative wo, the disjunction si,and subordinators like clause-combining e, relativizer a, or the complementizer soetc.

Also glossed <other> are words that appear to be de-verbal conjunctions, orig-inally involving complex sentence structures. Typical examples are da ’do’ andqe’ ’finish’ that occur clause-initially to mark causal or temporal relations betweensentences:

(62) veraa gaqg 024

##

dadoother

bewaternp:dt s

di3sg

pro:s

=m=tam1

=lv

kaluexitv:pred

mahitherrv

’[The rain became really heavy.] And so the water came out [and carriedaway the trunk I live in].’

In other cases, however, the structures involved seem to resemble complex sen-tences, the verb da ’do’ heading a VC, thus clearly forming a clause entering acomplex sentence structure. These are glossed as in (63).

(63) veraa iswm 128

##

so??other

=m=tam1

=lv

dadov:pred #cc

socpl

other

di3sg

pro.h:a

=m=tam1

=lv

remclimbv:pred

enart

ln

qansidenp:p

ve’rockrn np

ane’edem1.a

rn dem1

’And consequently he climbed up this rock wall.’

Thus, the first elements here are taken to form a matrix clause for a subsequentcomplement clause, licensed by the verb da. The matrix clause does not have aclearly referential subject in these instances, thus no zero argument is consideredfor glossing. Section 3.1 below provides more details on the glossing of complementclauses.

2 Clausal constructions with special features

In this section I discuss a number of clausal constructions that di↵er in some regardfrom the basic structures outlined above.

2.1 Negation and neutralisation of syntactic categories:<np:pred> vs. <v:pred>

Negation in Vera’a is expressed by a separate set of TAMP (tense-aspect-mood-polarity) markers. Crucially, a VC marked with a negated-set marker can contain

19 of 38


a nominal expression as its head that would in a�rmative clauses form a non-verbalpredicate, e.g. a NP. Compare the following two examples:

(64) veraa iswm 035

##neg

di3sg

pro.h:s

egen.neg1

lv

ka-kalured-exitv:pred

rosgen.neg2

rv

denabl

adp

enart

ln

nimehousenp:obl

’He didn’t leave the house.’

(65) veraa iswm 029

a.

##neg

nik2sg

pro.2:s

egen.neg1

lv

WowotW.v:pred

wuvaonlyrv

rosgen.neg2

rv

’You are not Wowot for no reason,...’

b.

##

babutother

nik2sg

pro.2:s

WowotW.np.h:pred

sirbecauseadp

enart

ln

savawhatnp:other

’...you are Wowot because of something, [namely...]’

Thus, while the predicate in (65b) is a NP headed by the personal name Wowot,the predicate of in (65a) is treated like a VC due to the presence of TAMP markingand receives the <v:pred> gloss like the negated VC in (64). Even pronouns can bethe head of negated VCs, and these are glossed likewise, though information aboutthe pronominal form is added as follows:

(66) veraa iswm 326

##ds.neg

onoother

di3sg

pro v:pred

rosgen.neg2

rv

’No. (That’s) not him.’

2.2 Finite and non-finite clause constructions:<v> vs. <vother>

Besides imperative clause constructions, there exist two potentially non-finite clauseconstructions. These are a) a type of head-tail construction, and b) a type ofpurposive clause construction, the so-called ’ga-construction’, which occurs as thecomplement of the purposive preposition ’alen.

2.2.1 Imperative constructions and <vother>

Orders, commands and similar speech acts may be expressed in Vera’a by an im-perative construction in which an otherwise verbal predicate does not take TAMPmarking. Lacking a finiteness feature, the predicate is glossed <vother:>. Overtsubject pronouns may nevertheless occur, and thus where no overt subject appearsa zero argument is glossed:

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(67) veraa isam 025

##ds

nik2sg

pro.2:s

vangovother:pred

mahitherrv

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

kolo-kback-1sgnp:g-pro.1:poss

”Come onto my back, [and then we go].”

(68) veraa anv 060

##ds

000.2:s

damhandvother:pred

mulumlumslowrv

qe’ia.momentrv

’Keep swinging for now, [I’ll swing back, and then we go.]’

The same applies to non-singular subjects. Here, the pluralising particle ’ere occursadjacent to the verbal head. It is glossed <other.2> (cf. Section 1.2.6 above), andits function is rendered as vocative, <:voc>:

(69) veraa jjq 439

[...]

##ds

kimi2pl

pro.2:s

’erepl

other.2:voc

vrigrushvother

qeldescendrv

waloncerv

rowseawardsrv

aloc.sp

adp

loseasidenp:g

”[...] you guys run down to the sea [and look for a tree...]”

(70) veraa mvbw 098

##ds

000.2:a

’erepl

other.2:dt

geneatvother:pred

saemph

other

=n=art

=ln

gengenfoodnp:p

”You guys eat this food that...”

2.2.2 ga-construction: <vother>

A clause-like construction functions as the complement of the prepositions ’alen or’amen and expresses a state-of-a↵airs that is the purpose of the action expressedin the matrix clause. The predicate in these constructions takes the stative markerga and does not allow for overt realisation of the subject, thus no zero subject isnoted and the head of the predicate receives the <vother:pred> gloss.

(71) veraa jsu 121

a.

##

di3sg

pro.h:s

soprosp

other

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

kalenterv:pred

ba’intorv

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

qoroholenp:g

liecavern

’alenass

adp

’...he wanted to go into the opening of the cave...’

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b.

##cc:other

gastat

lv

letakevother:pred

=n=art

=ln

ve’stonenp:p

tiktiksmallrn

’alenpurp

adp #cc:other

gastat

lvvangovother:pred

mahitherrv

’...in order to collect small stones to bring them and [smash open hiscanarium nuts.]’

2.2.3 Head-tail construction and zero TAMP marking

Vera’a seems to have a type of clause construction that resembles what has cometo be called ’head-tail linkage’ or ’head-tail construction’. A candidate for such aconstruction is the following:

(72) veraa jjq 074

a.

##

womarawrawSpidernp.d:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.d:s

’ogstayv:pred

’idelrv

’And so Spider stayed behind.’

b.

##

000.d:s

’ogstayv:pred

’idelrv

’Stayed behind,...’

c.

##

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

qonnightnp:other

anedem1

rn

womarawrawSpidernp.d:a

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.d:a

durhollowv:pred

000:p

’...and at night Spider began to hollow (it, i.e. the canoe).’

As in this example, the clause essentially repeats the state-of-a↵airs expressed inthe preceding one, leaving the same subject zero. No TAMP marking occurs. How-ever, a would-be ’tail-head’ construction is not straightforwardly distinguishablefrom other constructions with similar properties. For one thing, similar discourse-structuring functions are carried out by canonical finite constructions, as in (73b):


a.

##

dir3pl

pro.h:s

=ek=tam2

=lv

lak-lakared-dancev:pred

’Then they danced.’

b.

##

dir3pl

pro.h:s

=em=tam1

=lv

lak-lakared-dancev:pred

edem3

other

[...]

’[And as] [T]hey danced,...’

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c.

##

duru3dl

pro.h:a

=k=tam2

=lv

’enseev:pred

mahitherrv

=n=art

=ln

lumgavyoung.mannp.h:p

nenum.art

rnvowalnum-onern

’...[- the two were hiding in the bush -] they (the two girls) spotted ayoung man.”

On the other hand, constructions lacking overt TAM marking also occur inother contexts, as in (74–76), which are clearly not tail-head linkages, but theexact finiteness status of which appears to be yet unclear:

(74) veraa jjq 241

##

dir3pl

pro.h:a

’enseev:pred

vag-’olord-threenp:p

na-gi??-3sgrn

’They saw the third one.’

(75) veraa mvbw 052

a.

##

000.h:s


suwdownrv

mahitherrv

’[...He climbed the tree, picked a few (fruits),] (then) came down,...’

b.

##

000.h:a

bulstonev:pred

munmunoshatterrv

’...smashed them open... ’

c.

##

000.h:a

letransferv:pred

000:p

medat

adp

di3sg

pro.h:g

’...smashed them open and gave (some) to him.’

(76) veraa mvbw 127

##

kamabo’ol1tl.ex

pro.1:s

birinwithrn

enart

ln




Thus, in (74) we seem to be dealing with a ’normal’ non-embedded independentclause. Yet, no TAMP appears between subject pronoun and verb. The chainedclauses in (75) seem to resemble essentially the same type of structure, with thesubject being left zero. In (76), the subject is 1st person trial, and it may bepossible that we are dealing with a zero allomorph of the TAM2 morpheme. Theexact nature of these ”zero TAMP markers” is yet unclear, and therefore, it seems,head-tail linkages are not clearly identifiable.

The practical conclusion from these combined analytical uncertainties is thatwe treat constructions without an overt subject as in (73) and (75) both as zero sub-jects, not distinguishing between would-be head-tail linkages and clause chaining.

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Again, systematic analyses of GRAID-annotated Vera’a corpora should eventuallyinform our analytic decision, rather than a premature analysis inform our glossingpractice.

3 Complex sentences, direct speech, clauserepetitions and complex predicates

This section deals with the treatment of combinations of clauses into larger units,i.e. complex sentences. I will discuss the glossing of complement clauses (Section3.1), adverbial clauses (3.2), relative clauses (3.3), embedded direct speech (3.4), thehandling of clause repetitions (3.5), and clause-chaining constructions (3.6) whichare distinct from complex predicates involving serial verbs.

3.1 Complement clauses

Complement clauses can be syndetic or asyndetic, the latter case obviously beingthe more problematic one.

3.1.1 Syndetic complement clauses

Syndetic complement clauses are clearly recognisable by the complementiser so thatintroduces them. They are glossed as in (77–78).

(77) veraa hb08

[...]

##

nik2sg

pro.2:s

gastat

lv

moroswantv:pred #cc

socpl

other

nik2sg

pro.2:s

etam2:2sg

lv-pro.2:s

galalaknowv:pred

’[...] (if) you want to know.’

(78) veraa jjq.e 162

##

nik2sg

pro.2:s

etam2

lv-pro.2:s

’enseev:pred #cc

socpl

other

=n=art

=ln

nawsaltwaternp:dt

di3sg

pro:s

=m=tam1

=lvmelebreakv:pred

vag-’olmult-threeother

’When you see that the waves broke three times, [...]’

The function of a complement clause is taken here as a unique function, as thestructures involved do not resemble those of ’regular’ NPs with P function in thesense of Andrews (2007:138↵.). Thus, no function gloss is added to the <#cc>gloss. Consequently, the other argument in the matrix clause bears S rather thanA function. Note that syndetic complement clauses can never have the function ofan S or A argument.

The complementizer so is related to the quotative so ’say’ and glossed <other>.In some instances complement clause constructions as discussed here can be hardto distinguish from direct speech, cf. Section 3.4 for details. Syndetic complement

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clauses show typical clausal properties: their predicate is TAM-marked, all argu-ments can be expressed, and all non-core positions are available to the left of thecore, for instance the left-dislocated position, as witnessed by (78).

3.1.2 Asyndetic complement clauses

Asyndetic complement clauses lack a complementizer, but are fully verbal andunreduced. They contain a TAM-marked VC functioning as predicate, and thesubject may be realised overtly, but need not be. Examples:

(79) veraa mvb 087

##ds

no1sg

pro.1:s

gastat

lv

moroswantv:pred #ds cc

no1sg

pro.1:s

=k=tam2

=lv

kakatalkv:pred

birinwithadp

nike2sg

pro.2:obl

’I want to talk to you.’

(80) veraa bsvh 034

##

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

masogitimenp:other

di3sg

pro.h:s

gastat

lv

moroswantv:pred #cc

000.h:S

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

vrigorushv:pred

’When he wanted to run away...’

Complement clause constructions with moros ’want’ as matrix predicate are tobe distinguished from constructions where moros ’want’ occurs in a series with afollowing verb:

(81) veraa paww 072

##ds

nik2sg

pro.2:a

gastat

lv

moroswantv:pred

kurdevourrv

kamaduo1dl.ex

pro.1:p

’You want to eat us.’

This construction is analysed as a serial verb construction (SVC) here, rather than acomplex sentence where the matrix predicate would take a clausal complement, as inthe English translation. There is no evidence for subordination in this constructionin Vera’a, and the structure resembles exactly that of a SVC. Treatment of serialverb constructions is discussed in Section 3.6 below.

Another case of fuzzy boundaries between complement clause construction andother structures is represented by the set of examples in (82–83).

(82) veraa isv 084

##

di3sg

pro.h:s

=m=tam1

=lv

’enseev:pred #cc

’ow’owbeforeother

enart

ln

loso-gitesticles-3sgnp:s-pro.h:poss

gastat

lv

sagsitv:pred

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

me’emedoornp:l

’Then he saw that before his [a giant’s] testicles had been sitting in thedoor(way).’

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(83) veraa mvb 081

##

di3sg

pro.h:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

’enseev:pred #cc

enart

ln

’nsarpersonnp.h:s

nenum.art

rn

vo-walnum-onern

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

vangov:pred

mahitherrv

’[...] then he saw a man coming up (to him).’

While in (82), we find a complement clause with a clear left boundary marked bythe left-most adverb, the construction in (83) could be analysed as subject-to-objectraising. Again, nothing in Vera’a grammar forces such an analysis, and thus thecomplement clause analysis seems to be preferable. A reversed type of structure isfound in the following set of examples:


a.

##

di3sg

pro.d:a

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.d:a

dinflickv:pred

likmorerv

enart

ln

liecavenp:p

nenum.art

rn

vowalnum-onern

ane’edem1.a

rn dem1

’He flicked yet another one of those caves,...’

b.

##

=n=art

=ln

liecavenp:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro:s

wakopenv:pred

’...and the cave opened.’


##

di3sg

pro.h:a

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:a

dinflickv:pred

enart

ln

liecavenp:p

anedem1.a

rn ##

000:s

netam2:3sg

lv-pro:s

wakopenv:pred

’You want to eat us.’

As the first predicate in (85) does license a NP complement but not a clausalcomplement, the NP must be regarded as bearing P function. The following clausehas a zero S argument, as is clear from comparison with (84).

The practical conclusion thus is that we gloss complement clauses in cases wherethis type of complementation is licensed by the matrix predicate in question, andgloss clause chaining in other cases.

3.2 Adverbial clauses

The distinction between adverbial clauses and main clauses is not consistently rep-resented in GRAID annotations of Vera’a texts. Vera’a is strongly paratactic andclues pointing towards complex sentence structure are often restricted to prosodicfeatures. Adverbial clauses are glossed as such only where the occurrence of certainsubordinators at the beginning of a clause makes this clear, as in (86). However,even in these latter cases the annotation of adverbial clauses has not been doneconsistently so that they are often simply treated like independent clauses.

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(86) veraa mvbw 024

##ac

’ow’beforeother

owabl

adp

denart

ln

enmother-3dlnp.h:s-pro.h:poss

veve-rutam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s

nedeadv:pred ##

ma’ di3sg

pro.h:s=m=tam1

=lv

rusosickv:pred

’Before their mother died, she fell sick.’

Thus, in (86) the dependency of the two clauses is overtly marked, the first clauseis glossed as an adverbial clause.

3.3 Relative clauses

Relative clauses are usually considered for GRAID annotation in Vera’a. Theymay be syndetic or asyndetic. The relativizing strategy in both types of relativeclauses is gapping for core arguments, and the ’gap’ is considered a zero argumentin GRAID, <0(.x):y>.

3.3.1 Syndetic relative clauses

Two examples of a syndetic relative clauses are given in (87–88) together withGRAID glossing. The relativizer a is glossed <other>. Where a relative clauseappears centre-embedded, its end is marked by <%>, as in (88).

(87) veraa gabg 030

##

nart

ln

belelbasketnp:dt s rn #rc

arel

other

reksolikeother

=n=art

=ln

gosuworatnp.d:a

gastat

lv

gisholdv:pred

000:p %

di3sg

pro:s

=m=tam1

=lv

wurfullv:pred

nenenentirelyrv

’The basket that the rat took with him was full.’

(88) veraa anv 023

##

nart

ln

maru-nuncle-csnp.h:s

epers.art

rn

renewomanrn np.h:poss rn #rc

arel

other

000.h:s

=m=real

=lvma’deadv:pred

nedem

other

[...]

%

’So the uncle of that woman that had died said:...’

3.3.2 Asyndetic relative clauses

In asyndetic relative clauses, the relativised function is often the object, in whichcase the relativizing strategy is gapping. The respective ’gapped’ function is glossed<0>, as in (89).

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(89) veraa isam 033

[...]

##

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

vunuoislandnp:g

nenum.art

rn

vo-walnum-onern rn #rc

dir3pl

pro.h:a

gastat

lv

ulcallv:pred

000:p

soquot

other

HiwHiwnp:other

’...at one island which is called Hiw...’

However, asyndetic relative clauses with relativised zero subjects do seem toexist. These ’reduced’ relative clauses usually contain a ga-marked VC as theirpredicate which is in turn headed by a stative verb expressing a property, as in(90). Formation of this type of relative clause in Vera’a—as in many other Oceaniclanguages—is a means of modification by property words that are formally verbsand cannot usually function as modifier just on their own. Their GRAID glossingtherefore does not reflect the relativisation structure but merely treats the stativemarker ga and the following verb as <rn>-glossed NP constituents, even in caseslike this where the final adverb va’a ’still’ provides some evidence of the clausalstatus of this construction.

(90) veraa iswm 360

##

duru3dl

pro.h:s

wunvaproabalyother

=m=tam1

=lv

ma’deadv:pred

’ekeneloc.dem1

other:l

leloc

adp

=n=art

=ln

’eyearnp:other

gastat

rnmewmanyrn

va’astillrn

’Probably they died there after many years,...’ (lit. ’...in years that are stillmany.’)

Like complement clauses discussed above, reduced relative clauses potentiallyinvolve structural ambiguity as well. Two elicited examples illustrate this:

(91) (elicited)

a.

##

nik2sg

pro.2:a

etam2:2sg

lv-pro.2:a

’enseev:pred

enart

ln

me’emedoornp:p

gastat

rn

wakopenrn

’You see an open door, [go in this door].’

b.

##

nik2sg

pro.2:s

etam2:2sg

lv-pro.2:s

’enseev:pred #cc

enart

ln

me’emedoornp:s

gastat

lv

wakopenv:pred

’You see (that) the door is open, [you may go in].’

Glossing decisions are made according to the context of the surrounding discourse,which involves among other things the specificity of the NP’s referent.

Similar structures of relative clauses with ’gapped’ subjects are found with thesimultaneous marker =s.

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3.3.3 Function of relative clauses

Where relative clauses function as modifiers in NPs, they are glossed <rn #rc>,as they represent a constituent within the NP (see examples above). Vera’a alsohas headless relative clauses, and their respective function and animacy features oftheir referent are annotated in GRAID. Thus, in (92), a relative clause functionsas a P argument.

(92) veraa jjq 174

##

di3sg

pro.d:a

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.d:a

ronfeelv:pred #rc.h:p

000.h:s

ssim

lv

ra-rarared-cryv:pred

’And he heard someone crying.’

3.4 Direct speech

The occurrence of direct speech (or thought, content) is usually marked in Vera’aby means of a quotative marker so ’say’. It is analysed as a particle where it followson a verb of speech or thought etc and receives the gloss <other>, as in (93).

(93) veraa anv 047

##

nart

ln

maru-ruuncle-3dlnp.h:s ds-pro.h:poss

netam2:3sg

lv-pro.h:s ds

teksayv:pred

medat

adp

duru3dl

pro.h:g

soquot

other

##ds

eiinterj

other

[...]

’Their uncle said to them: ’Hey,...”

As in this example, direct speech often comprises more than a single subordinateclause, and hence all clauses constituting direct speech are treated as independentclauses and receive the <##ds>. Moreover, clauses containing complements thatresemble direct speech are not analysed as transitive constructions here (cf. fn 6),thus the subject of such a clause, expressing the ’utterer’, is glossed as <:s ds>,where the < ds> tag signals that the clause has a direct speech complement whichmay in other languages be analysed as a transitive object expression.

The quotative marker may also function as a predicate, as in (94a), and is thenglossed <other:pred>. In (61b), the quotative marker functions as the predicateand occurs without a subject, which is a common way of signalling a shift of speaker-addressee roles in reported conversation.

(94) veraa as1 040

a.

##

epers.art

ln

DolD.np.h:s

soquot

other:pred

’After a while Dol said:...’

b.

##ds

onoother

no1sg

pro.1:s

manpfv

lv

qe’finishv:pred

’...’Oh, I’m done.’

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c.

##ds

nart

ln

giekavanp:a

manpfv

lv

manstimulatev:pred

no1sg

pro.1:p

”I’m already drunk on the kava.”

(95) veraa as1 011

a.

##

000.h:s

soquot

other:pred

’(He) said:...’

b.

##ds

babutother

ruwatwo.peoplenp.h:voc

medat

rn

=n=art

=rn

’isiruosame.sex.sibl-3dlrn ##ds

kumru2dl

pro.2:s=k=tam2

=lv

vanvanred:gov:pred

aloc.sp

adp

viewhereother:g

’...’Hey, you two brothers, where are you going?”

c.

##

000.h:s

soquot

other:pred

’(He) said:...’

d.

##ds

kamadu1dl.ex

pro.1:a

=k=tam2

=lv

siksikred:searchv:pred

no-maduposs.dom-1dl.ex

ln-pro.1:poss

eart

lnrawhermaphrodite.pignp:p

’...’We are looking for an intra-sex pig for us.”

3.5 Predicate or clause repetition

It is quite common in Vera’a narratives to stress the duration of an action orprocess, or the intensity of a property, by repeating the predicate. Though thistype of repetition is of course part of the way of speaking in the language, and thusby no means ’wrong’ or ’inferior’, it is nevertheless not considered for the analysis ofargument realisation, following the conventions of the GRAID manual. Repeatedclause constructions are thus glossed <#nc>, as in (96).

(96) veraa anv 081

##

epers.art

ln

ragapeoplenp.h:a

anedem1.a

rn

=k=tam2

=lv

siksearchv:pred

duruo3dl

pro.h:p #nc

siksearchx

duruo3dl

x

#nc

siksearchx

duruo3dl

x

[...]

’Then everybody was looking for them, looking for them, looking for them,looking for them, on and on...’

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3.6 Complex predicates versus clause chaining

As mentioned above, a VC in Vera’a may consist of more than one word, andfurther verbs (serial verb constructions), but also adverbs, or directional particles,may occur in the VC in addition to the head verb. Thus, we deal with only onesingle predicate in these cases, and thus only the head verb receives the <v:pred>gloss, other constituents being treated as additional sub-constituents, glossed <rv>,as in (97–98). Note that in (97), a object pronoun occurs evidently inside the VCand is thus glossed <rv pro.h:p>.

(97) veraa iswm 171

##

dir3pl

pro.h:a

=ek=tam2

=lv

qerepushv:pred

ba’aintorv

di3sg

rv pro.h:p

sarbushwardsrv

leloc

adp

=n=art

=lnmogiposs.house-3sgln-pro.h:poss

=n=art

=ln

nimehousenp:g

’Then they pushed her into her house.’

(98) veraa paww 072

##ds

nik2sg

pro.2:a

gastat

lv

moroswantv:pred

kurdevourrv

kamaduo1dl.ex

pro.1:p

”You want to eat us.”

Complex predicates clearly di↵er from chained clauses, even where this is not soobvious on first sight, as in (99) already discussed above.

(99) veraa mvbw 052

a.

##

000.h:s


suwdownrv

mahitherrv

’[...He climbed the tree, picked a few (fruits),] (then) came down,...’

b.

##

000.h:a

bulstonev:pred

munmunoshatterrv

’...smashed them open... ’

c.

##

000.h:a

letransferv:pred

000:p

medat

adp

di3sg

pro.h:g

’...smashed them open and gave (some) to him.’

The analysis as a clausal chain rather than a complex predicate follows from com-binatory rules applying to di↵erent categories of words, for instance a directionalmarker ma always occurs at the right margin of a VC.

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A Appendix

A.1 Notes on morphological glossing

Morphological glossing of Vera’a MultiCAST texts follows the Lepzig GloggingRules (LGR, Bickel et al. 20081). Below is a list of Vera’a-specific and standardLRG glosses used in glossing of Vera’a texts.

Table 4: Morphological glosses for Vera’a

exponent category description comment

1

2

3

me abil1 ability cf. A.1

mas abil2 cf. A.1

den abl ablative prep ablative preposition

=(e)n art common article inherently enclitic, introduces

common NP

’amen,

’alen

ass associative associative prepositions

’a ass.sp specific associative associative prepositions

e cc clause-combining

particle

may be same as DEM3 and/or disc

birin com comitative comitative preposition

cor correction construction restart after false start

-n cs constuct su�x possessive su�x accommodating

personal NP possessors

me dat dative dative preposition

’i del delimitative

aktionsart

post-verbal delimitative marker, not

part of TAMP system, cf. A.1

ne dem1 basic dem 1 cf. A.4 for explanations and com-

ments on demonstratives

ane dem1.a pref. basic dem 1 cf. A.4

gen dem2 basic dem 2 cf. A.4

agen dem1.a pref. basic dem 1 cf. A.4

e dem3 cf. A.4

anei dem4.a pref. dem. 4 cf. A.4

nei dem4 cf. A.4

-ge dis dissociative dissociative possessive su�x,

possessor unspecified

e disc discourse particle discourse-structuring function;

probably new paragraph, theme

dl dual

sa emph emphatic emphatic particle, can have focus-

marking e↵ect

ex exclusive

me fut future TAM

marker

Predicates refer to events in posterior

to CT; cf. A.1

e gen.neg1 general negation 1 cf. A.1

ros gen.neg2 general negation 2 cf. A.1

1available online at http://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php

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hes hesitation hesitation phenomenon (some parti-

cle, pause, dots, etc)

mak imm immediacy predicate expresses soa immediately

anterior or posterior to CT

in inclusive

mas inabil2 inability cf. A.1

interj interjection used to cover various types of

interjection

le loc locative prep locative preposition

(’e)kene loc.dem1 locative adv 1 cf. A.4 for explanations and

comments on demonstratives

(’e)kenen loc.dem2 locative adv 2 cf. A.4

kenei loc.dem4 locative adv 4 cf. A.4

a loc.sp specific loc. prep specific locative preposition; marks

specific locative expressions

sene man.dem1 manner adv 1 cf. A.4 for explanations and


asene man.dem1.a pref. manner adv 1 cf. A.4

esene man.dem1.e pref. manner adv 1 cf. A.4

segen man.dem2 manner adv 2 cf. A.4

vag- mult multiplicative derives iterative adverbs

nmlz nominalisation usually reduplication in nouns;

occasionally simply ’red-’

nsg non-singular reduplication in nouns; occasionally

simply ’red-’

vo num numeral prefix fossilised prefix for cardinal numerals

ne num.art numeral article introduces numeral phrases (NumPs)

’en ny.neg2 ”not yet” negation occurs in right periphery of VC

na- ord ordinal quantifier seems to resemble possessive classifier

’e part partitive article restricted to particular types of poss.

constructions

e pers.art personal article not specified for sexus

ero pers.art.f personal article

female

specialised form for female referents

man pfv perfective predicates refer to events anterior to

CT; cf. A.1

pl plural category of person marker, cooccurs

with person, clusivity gloss

’ere pl plurailizer free particle, used on its own

bo- poss.bed poss. clf ’bedding’ classifier for ’bedding possession’

(bed, pillow, sheets, etc.)

no- poss.dom poss. clf ’domestic’ classifier for ’domestic possession’

(animals, crops, personal etc.)

mo- poss.drink poss. clf ’drink’ classifier for ’drink possession’ (water,

kava, etc.; juicy fruit)

go- poss.eat poss. clf ’eat’ classifier for ’eating possession’ (food,

diseases)

mu- poss.gen poss. clf ’general’ classifier for unspecified possessive

relationship

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mo- poss.house poss. clf ’house’ classifier for ’housing possession’

(house, door(way), window etc.)

bolo- poss.val poss. clf ’valuable’ classifier for ’possession of

customarily valuable items’

ko- poss.ves poss. clf ’vessel’ classifier for ’vessel possession’

(canoe, boat, truck, plane)

mas proh1 prohibitive cf. A.1

ros proh2 cf. A.1

so prosp prospective marker might overlap with complementation,

quotative, etc.

ver- rec reciprocal reciprocal prefix

red reduplication di↵erent functions, non-singular,

imperfective, distributive

a rel relativizer

mal rem.pst remote past cf. A.1

sg

=s sim simultaneous predicate expresses soa simultaneous

with other soa

ga stat stative TAM

marker

predicates express habitual, generic

soas, properties

=m tam1 TAM 1 cf. A.1

ne, =k, e tam2 TAM 2 cf. A.1

va’ane temp.dem1 time adv 1 cf. A.4 for explanations and


va’agen temp.dem2 time adv 2 cf. A.4

ge thing placeholder word has either context-retrievable specific

or non-specific reference

tl trial probably genuinely trial rather than

paucal

A.2 Tense, aspect, mood, polarity marking

Vera’a has a fairly complex system of tense, aspect, mood and polarity marking.Table 5 provides an overview, arranging the total of 13 morphemes in two sets ofmarkers, one with a�rmative and one with negative polarity.

The TAM2 morpheme is the only one showing complex allomorphy, and theallomorphic variation is conditioned here by the person and number of the sub-ject. See A.3 on person markers for the forms involved. Note that the functionalaspects of TAMP marking in Vera’a requires more research. It seems, however,that for those categories with an informative label, the core set of functions canbe described as such. Particularly problematic in this regard are the two mostfrequently occurring TAMP markers labelled TAM1 and TAM2 here. In everydaycommunication, TAM1 marked predicates seem to designate realis, known states-of-a↵airs situated in the past, or having come into being gradually in the present.TAM2-marked predicates on the other hand designate states-of-a↵airs that are newto the addressee, ongoing or situated in the future. The use of these markers in nar-ratives is an even less understood issue, but it seems likely that it can be accountedfor in terms of shifting of deictic centre/CT within a narrative. More research isexpected to elucidate these issues. Note that in work by Alexandre Francois, the

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a�rmative negative

=m tam1 (e) ... ros general=k, e, ne tam2 negativemak immediacyga stativeme future=s simultaneous

man perfective ... ’en ’not yet’mal remote past

mas ... ros prohibitive

me ... mas ability mas ... mas disability

Table 5: Vera’a free personal pronouns

Vera’a category TAM2 is analysed as ’aorist’, see for instance Francois (2009) on thedevelopment of aorist markers from person prefixes in North Vanuatu languages.

A.3 Person markers

Person markers in Vera’a are glossed only for the three categories of person, numberand clusivity. Vera’a does seem to possess a genuine trial, the respective formprobably being restricted to reference of three people. Morphological glossing doesnot reflect the syntactic function of person forms. Person su�xes always expresspossessors, and these possessive su�xes are distinguished from free person forms bythe presence of a hyphen. Free forms can occur in a variety of syntactic functions,noted by GRAID glossing. Tables 6 and 7 provide the paradigms of free personmarkers and possessive su�xes.


1st incl — (gi)du(o) (gi)do’ol (gi)de1st excl no ka(ma)du(o) ka(ma)m’ol ka(ma)m2nd nik(e) kumru(o) kimi’ol kimi3rd di(e) duru(o) dir’ol dir(e)

Table 6: Vera’a free person markers


1st incl — -du(o) -do’ol -de1st excl -k -madu(o) -mam’ol -mam2nd -m -mru(o) -mi’ol -mi3rd -gi -ru(o) -r’ol -re

Table 7: Vera’a possessive su�xes

All dual forms, as well as some forms within the free paradigm show variation

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singular plural& dual

trial

1st =k =k =k2nd e =k =k3rd ne =k =k

Table 8: Vera’a TAM2 person marker

in the presence vs absence of a final vowel. This variation is conditioned solely bythe prosodic environment of the forms. The omission of the initial syllable in non-singular inclusive free forms as well as that of the medial syllable in non-singularexclusive free forms, on the other hand, is restricted to a partiular syntatic slot,namely the pre-VC subject position.

As indicated above, the TAM2 marker shows complex allomorphy conditionedby the number and person of the subject. The marker thus constitutes a personmarker, be it with a quite ’deficient’ paradigm / high degree of syncretism, makingonly rudimentary person and number distinctions. The paradigm is given in Table 8.

According to Francois (2009), these forms historically derive from bound subjectindexes that were prefixed to the verb in the respective proto-language of Vera’aand other closely related languages of the region. All the non-singular forms k arerelated to the 1st person form which would have spread throughout the paradigm.In the trial, it seems, we find an alternation between k and zero, also noted byFrancois (2009). Note, however, that overt zero TAMP markers may have di↵erentorigins, as discussed in Section 2.2.3 above.

A.4 Demonstrative forms

Vera’a has a large set of demonstrative forms which are systematically related toa 3-way system of basic demonstratives—DEM1–3—in the sense of Himmelmann(1997). Related to these are di↵erent types of adverbs. Apparently also formallyrelated to all these forms is a set of interrogative forms. Tables 9 and 10 summarisesthese forms.

Possibly also related to these forms is a fourth set of demonstrative forms,glossed DEM4, see Table 11. Their exact status is, however, not entirely clear atpresent. At least some of these forms may in fact be free variants of DEM1 forms,while others clearly seem to resemble temporal adverbs, for example enei ’now’.Di↵erent sets of demonstrative forms show prefixing by two types of element. The

Table 9: Vera’a demonstratives

dem1 dem2

plain a-prefix e-prefix plain a-prefix e-prefix

basic set ne(’le) ane(’le) gen(e) agen(e)

manner adv sene asene esene segen(e) asegen(e) esegen

time adv 1

time adv 2 va’ane va’ane va’ane va’agen va’agen va’agen

locative adv (’e)kene akene (’e)kegen(e) (’e)kegen(e)

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dem3 interrogative

plain a-prefix e-prefix

basic set e vie avie

manner adv sivie asivie esivie

locative adv kivie kivie kivie

Table 10: Vera’a demonstratives and related forms

dem4 / temporal adverbs

plain a-prefix e-prefix

basic set nei anei enei

manner adv esenei

locative adv (’e)kenei (’e)kenei (’e)kenei

Table 11: Possible additional set of Vera’a demonstratives

a-prefix is probably the specific locative preposition a accreted to the respectiveplain forms of the basic demonstratives or manner adverbs. The a-prefixed formsof the basic set seem to be preferred with adnominal uses, though occasionally theplain forms are found in this function too. Both the plain and the a-prefixed formsof the basic set occur on clause level, namely clause-finally, with di↵erent functions:the plain forms seem to have reinforcing-assertative function (”You do know thatthis is true!”), while the latter has the function to mark the proposition of theclause as a common ground package to which further information will be amendedin following propositions.

References

Andrews, A. 2007. The major functions of the noun phrase. In: Timothy Shopen(ed.), Language typology and syntactic description. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-versity Press. 132–223.

Bickel, B., Comrie, B. & Haspelmath, M. Revision 2008. The Leipzig GlossingRules: Conventions for interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme glosses.http://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php

Francois, A. 2009. Verbal aspect and personal pronouns: the history of aorist mark-ers in north Vanuatu. In: Alexander Adelaar & Andrew Pawley (eds.), Aus-tronesian historical linguistics and culture history. A festschrift for Robert Blust.Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 179–195.

Haig, G. & Schnell, S. 2014. Annotations using GRAID (Grammatical Relationsand Animacy in Discourse). ms.

Schnell, S. 2011. Pronominal reference in Vera’a discourse. Paper presented atthe International Workshop on the Languages of Vanuatu. Australian NationalUniversity, Oct 20–23, 2011.

Schnell, S. 2012a. Explaining formal variation in subjects and objects in Vera’a.Paper presented at the New Ways of Analysing Variation Asia-Pacific 2 con-ference, National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Tokyo, 1–4August 2012.

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Schnell, S. 2012b. Referential hierarchies in three-participant constructions inVera’a. Linguistic Discovery 10.3, 125–147.

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