It has its source in a semantic distinction between significantly affected Ps and less affected Ps. Of typological interest is the split dividing objects along two classes of transitive verbs. The benefactive phrase is cross-linguistically unusual and makes central Vanuatu languages distinctive.
An exception is the benefactive phrase, an adjunct encoding beneficiaries which occurs between the subject proclitic and the verb, and makes the verb complex a discontinuous structure.
Oblique arguments follow the object(s), and adjuncts occur in initial or final position in the clause. The most important phonological process is vowel reduction, which represent a significant driver of language change. Syllables can be complex and consonant clusters are allowed in onset and coda positions. It includes two typologically rare labial-velar consonants.
The phonemic inventory is of medium to small size, with fourteen consonants and five vowels. The areas of grammar covered in the thesis are phonology (chapter 2), morphology (chapter 3), word classes (chapter 4), noun phrases (chapter 5), possession (chapter 6), clause structure and grammatical relations (chapter 7), verb classes and valency changing devices (chapter 8), the verb complex (chapter 9), complex predicates (chapter 10), aspect and modality (chapter 11), coordination and subordination (chapter 12). This thesis discusses topics in the grammar of Lelepa, an Oceanic language spoken by about 500 people on the islands of Lelepa and Efate in the center of the Vanuatu archipelago.
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