The demise of serial verbs in South Efate
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Date
2007Source Title
Language description, history and development: linguistic indulgence in memory of Terry CrowleyPublisher
John Benjamins Publishing CompanyAffiliation
Arts - School of Languages and LinguisticsMetadata
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Book ChapterCitations
Thieberger, N. (2007). The demise of serial verbs in South Efate. In J. Siegel, J. Lynch & D. Eades (Eds.), Language description, history and development: linguistic indulgence in memory of Terry Crowley (pp. 237-251). Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company.Access Status
Open AccessDescription
This is an author’s final version of chapter 18 in Language description, history and development: linguistic indulgence in memory of Terry Crowley published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This version is reproduced with the permission of John Benjamins Publishing Company. http://benjamins.com
Abstract
The literature on Oceanic verb serialisation is replete with examples from Vanuatu. Crowley (2002a) noted that what he called the dissolution of serial verbs was observable in languages of southern Vanuatu, in particular in his study of Sye of Erromango. I will show that serial verbs in South Efate have followed a similar path to that described for Sye and also for Anejom by Lynch (2004a), including verb compounding, the use of directional particles, and an “echo-subject” construction. What is particularly interesting in South Efate is the development of a set of auxiliary verbs in a preverbal slot that carry out many of the functions associated with serial verb constructions. South Efate has been described as the southernmost of the Proto North-Central Vanuatu subgroup, but the features outlined here suggest a more complex relationship with southern languages than was previously considered.
Keywords
serial verbs; South Efate; language description; Vanuatu; verb compounding; directional particles; auxiliary verbsExport Reference in RIS Format