This book describes the diversity of serial verb constructions within Oceanic languages and constitutes a full account of this unusual linguistic phenomenon. Serial verb constructions are sequences of verbs placed one after another to express meanings which in other languages are typically expressed by means of single verbs. It has long been established that languages in West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea are serializing languages, but the construction has only comparatively recently been recognized in Oceanic languages, which belong to a very large subgroup of the Austronesian ... More

This book describes the diversity of serial verb constructions within Oceanic languages and constitutes a full account of this unusual linguistic phenomenon. Serial verb constructions are sequences of verbs placed one after another to express meanings which in other languages are typically expressed by means of single verbs. It has long been established that languages in West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea are serializing languages, but the construction has only comparatively recently been recognized in Oceanic languages, which belong to a very large subgroup of the Austronesian family. Based on research throughout the Pacific region, the book demonstrates that patterns of serial verbs can exhibit structural diversity even within a single language, and examines how serial verbs originate. It also investigates issues such as language contact and functional issues in language change. Serial verbs are often subject to reanalysis and this book investigates how they have developed new grammatical functions in different languages.