Serial verbs and complex predicates have a long history of research, yet there is comparatively little documentation on Oceanic languages. This volume presents new data for further typological studies. While previous research on serial verbs in Oceanic languages was mostly devoted to "core" serial constructions (with non-contiguous sV(o)sV(o) nuclei), this volume contributes a more detailed investigation of the "nuclear" type of complex predicates involving contiguous sVV(o) nuclei. Complex predicates of the form VV may correspond to two different syntactic structures, either co-ranking or hierarchized (head-modifier). Though the VV pattern does evidence a tendency towards structural compression, often entailing the fusion of the argument structures of two or more nuclei, yet it cannot be reduced to cases of co-lexicalization, compounding or grammaticalization. The data also show the "nuclear" type to be compatible with all types of basic word orders (VSO, VOS, SVO, SOV), with no evidence that this results from any word order change. This challenges the claim that "nuclear" serialization correlates with verb-final order, and "core" serialization with verb-medial order.

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Isabelle Bril and Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre are Researchers at the LACITO-CNRS in Villejuif, France.

List of ContributorsIntroductionComplex nuclei in Oceanic languages: contribution to an areal typology Isabelle Bril · What do we really know about serial verb constructions in Austronesian and Papuan languages? Gunter Senft · Core-layer junctures in Saliba (Saliba Island, Milne Bay province of Papua New Guinea) Anna Margetts · Serial and Complex Verb Constructions in Teop (North Bougainville) Jessika Reinig · Chains of freedom: Constraints and creativity in the macro-verb strategies of Mwotlap (Vanuatu) Alexandre François · Serial and compound verbs in Anejoü (Vanuatu) John Lynch · Complex verb constructions and dependency-marking strategies in Nêlêmwa (New Caledonia) Isabelle Bril · Complex predicate constructions in East Uvean (Wallis) Claire Moyse-Faurie · Serial verbs and complex constructions in Pileni (Solomon Islands): Åshild Næss · Complex predicates in Tahitian: a particular case of qualitative modification Mirose Paia and Jacques Vernaudon · Complex predicates and Juxtapositional Constructions in Samoan Ulrike Mosel · The grammaticization of directional verbs in Oceanic languages Malcolm Ross ·The evolution of the verb 'take' in New Caledonian languages Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre · Verbal compounds and lexical prefixes in the languages of New Caledonia Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre and Jean-Claude RivierreReferencesIndex