Nese: A diminishing speech variety of Northwest Malakula (Vanuatu)

• Published in: Oceanic Linguistics Vol. 49; no. 2; pp. 595 - 600
• Main Author: Guerin, Valerie
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Honolulu University of Hawaii Press 01-12-2010; University of Hawai'i Press
• Subjects: Clauses; Crowley, Terry; Declarative sentences; Grammar; Language; Language varieties; Linguistics; Native languages; Prepositional phrases; Regional dialects; Sentence structure; Speech; Syntax; Translation; Translations; Wh phrases; Vanuatu
• ISSN: 0029-8115; 1527-9421

The last subchapter "syntax" covers "simple declarative clauses" (including monoclausal declaratives, prepositional phrases, locational and temporal markers), "interrogatives" (monoclausal content questions), and "complex sentences" (coordinated and subordinated clauses). Due to insufficient data, C cannot determine whether these five language varieties are dialects of the same language or distinct languages with dual-lingual speakers (Lincoln 1979), although he favors the former hypothesis, at least for Naha and Nese, as reflected in the title of the grammar: Each entry contains the part of speech of the Nese word, an English translation, and sometimes, an example in the vernacular and its translation. Were the lexicon to be expanded, words like long and longlong might lose their spatial connection, and it would perhaps be more efficient to group related words under a single entry with subentries.