Functional Predicates in Unua

Abstract

In Unua, an Oceanic language of Malakula, Vanuatu, there are predicates which can occur as the fully inflected verb of a clause or, in quasi-bare forms, they occur in non-main predicate functions in association with a main predicate verb. This paper investigates the functional roles of such ‘reduced’ predicates and sketches out an analysis of how their surface linear orderings are derived. Reduced predicates with Continuative and Terminative roles are found to occur as part of the functional layering of the IP structure in accordance with the kind of schema proposed by Cinque. Other predicates with Directional and Resultative semantics have surface forms and locations which suggest that they..