Noteworthy features of Nahavaq include: (i) two classes of bilabial consonants, which are distinguished by palatalisation and velarisation (ii) two reduplicative verbal prefixes, which partially overlap in function (iii) a base-20 numeral system with subbases of five and ten (iv) nouns which include an accreted article (v) serial verb constructions and (vi) nine different surface forms for expressing possession relationships. The thesis includes a sociolinguistic overview of the Nahavaq-speaking community and descriptions of phonetics, phonology, mophology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Nahavaq was previously undescribed, and this grammar is based on data collected by the researcher over a total of nine months in the Sinesip area. School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand 2009Ībstract This thesis is a descriptive grammar of Nahavaq, an Oceanic language spoken by about 700 people in the Sinesip cultural area of Malakula, Vanuatu.

A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

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