The most striking feature of the Marquesan languages is their almost universal replacement of the /r/ or /l/ of other Polynesian languages by a /ʔ/ (glottal stop).[3]
Like other Polynesian languages, the phonology of Marquesan languages is characterized by a scarcity of consonants and a comparative abundance of vowels. The consonant phonemes are:
Of this small number of consonants, /ŋ/ is found only in eastern Nuku Hiva (Tai Pi Marquesan), and /f/ is found only in South Marquesan dialects. In writing, the phoneme /ŋ/ is written ⟨n(g)⟩, and /ʔ/ is written ʻ, the ʻokina.
Unlike most Austronesian languages, the /ŋ/ is not an isolated nasal: it is found only in conjunction with a following /k/. So, whereas the Samoan word for 'bay' is faga, pronounced [ˈfa.ŋa], it is hanga in Tai Pi Marquesan, and is pronounced /ˈha.ŋka/. This word is useful to demonstrate one of the more predictable regular consonantal differences between the northern and southern dialects: in North Marquesan, the word is haka, and in South Marquesan, it is hana.[citation needed]
The phoneme /h/ is represented with the letter ⟨h⟩; however, it is realizedphonetically as [h], [x], or [s], depending on the following vowel.[example needed]
The vowel phonemes are the same as in other Polynesian languages, long and short versions of each:
iu pao taia, atahi a kai (...when finish that, then do they eat)
imperative
a
a hee! (go!)
a hee io te tante (go to the doctor!)
A noun phrase in Marquesan is any phrase beginning with either a case marker or a determiner. Case markers or prepositions always precede the determiners, which in turn precede the number markers. As such, they all precede the noun they modify.[7]
There are 11 personal pronouns which are distinguished by singular, dual, and plural. As well as that, there are two other personal pronouns which distinguish possession.[8]: 100
DEF chief big from Hanaiapa DEF hear-devb def chief lesser from
Hanaiapa, o Tua-i-kaie, ua noho me te vehine pootu oko[9]
Possession
Margaret Mutu & Ben Teìkitutoua (2002) present descriptions and examples of possession in Ùa Pou (a north Marquesan dialect). All examples in this section are taken from their work. See notes for more information.
Possession in Marquesan is marked by prepositional particles affixed to the noun phrase which they modify. These prepositional particles relate the phrase as a whole to other parts of the sentence or discourse and therefore can be considered centrifugal particles.[10] Possession is essentially different from the other types of adposition modification in that it marks a relationship between two noun phrases as opposed to that between the verbal phrase and the noun phrase.
There are four possession markers in Marquesan. They are the prepositions: a, o, na and no. Possessive prepositions a and o translate as 'of' while na and no are attributive, possessive prepositions which translate either as 'belong to, of' or 'for'.[11]
a and o possessive prepositions
In these examples, the relation of two noun phases with the use of the possessive prepositions a and o can be seen. The preposition is affixed to the possessor noun phrase which in turn dominates the possessed phrase.
ex:
Úa
PRF
tihe
arrive
mai
hither
te
DEF
vahana
husband
a
of
tenei
this
tau
PL
vehine
woman
Úa tihe mai te vahana a tenei tau vehine
PRF arrive hither DEF husband of this PL woman
"The husband of these women has arrived."
ex:
Úa
PRF
tau
land
ma
path
ùka
top
o
of
te
DEF
haè
house
Úa tau ma ùka o te haè
PRF land path top of DEF house
"(It) landed on top of the house."
na and no attributive, possessive prepositions
In these examples, we see the relation of constituents which form a noun phrase. This is an example of attributive, alienable possession.
ex:
…ùa
PFV
ìò
taken
i
STATAG
-a
PS
Tainaivao
Tainaivao
è
INDEF
tama
son
na
of (belong to)
Pekapeka…
Pekapeka
…ùa ìò i -a Tainaivao è tama na Pekapeka…
PFV taken STATAG PS Tainaivao INDEF son {of (belong to)} Pekapeka
'(she) was taken by Tainaivao, a son of Pekapeka.' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
ex:
À
IMP
too
take
tēnei
this
vaka
canoe
no
for
koe
2SG
À too tēnei vaka no koe
IMP take this canoe for 2SG
'Take this canoe for yourself.'
Dominant vs subordinate possession
Marquesan distinguishes between two contrastive types of possession.[10] The first can be described in very broad terms as possession in which the possessor is dominant, active, superior, or in control of the possessed. A and na mark this type of possession:
ex:
E
NP
ìò
take
koe
2SG
he
INDEF
mea
thing
vehine
woman
na
of
ia
him
E ìò koe he mea vehine na ia
NP take 2SG INDEF thing woman of him
"You will get a wife for him."
On the other hand, o and no indicate possession where the possessor is subordinate, passive, inferior to, or lacking in control over the possessed:
ex:
Ù
PFV
kave
bring
mai
hither
koe
2SG
i
DO
tēnā
that
kahu
dress
no
for
ia
her
Ù kave mai koe i tēnā kahu no ia
PFV bring hither 2SG DO that dress for her
"You have brought that dress for her (to wear)."
Locative phrases
Locative constructions in Marquesan follow this pattern (elements in parentheses are optional):
This locative syntactic pattern is common among Polynesian languages.[8]: 282
Dialect diversity
North Marquesan is spoken in the northern islands (Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, and Ua Huka), and South Marquesan in the southern islands (Hiva Oa, Tahuata, and Fatu Hiva). In Ua Huka, which was almost entirely depopulated in the 19th century and repopulated with people from both the Northern and Southern Marquesas, the language shares traits of both North Marquesan and South Marquesan. Comparative data on the various dialects of Marquesan can be found in the Linguistic Atlas of French Polynesia (Charpentier & François 2015).[3]
The most noticeable differences between the varieties are Northern Marquesan /k/ in some words where South Marquesan has /n/ or /ʔ/ (glottal stop), and /h/ in all words where South Marquesan has /f/.
The table below compares a selection of words in various dialectal varieties of Marquesan, according to the Linguistic Atlas of French Polynesia,[12] with their pronunciation in the IPA. Tahitian and Hawaiian are also added for comparison.
North Marquesan exhibits some original characteristics. While some Polynesian languages maintained the velar nasal /ŋ/, many have lost the distinction between the nasals /ŋ/ and /n/, merging both into /n/. North Marquesan, like South IslandMāori dialects of New Zealand, prefers /k/. Another feature is that, while some Polynesian languages replace *k with /ʔ/, North Marquesan has retained it. (Tahitian and formal Samoan have no /k/ whatsoever, and the /k/ in modern Hawaiian is pronounced either [k] or [t] and derives from Polynesian *t.)
The dialects of Ua Huka are often incorrectly classified as North Marquesan; they are instead transitional. While the island is in the northern Marquesas group, the dialects show more morphological and phonological affinities with South Marquesan. The North Marquesan dialects are sometimes considered two separate languages:[citation needed] North Marquesan and Tai Pi Marquesan, the latter being spoken in the valleys of the eastern third of the island of Nuku Hiva, in the ancient province of Tai Pi. Puka-Pukan, spoken in Puka-Puka and the Disappointment Islands in northeastern Tuamotu, is a dialect of South Marquesan, and should not be confused with the homonymous Pukapukan language spoken in Pukapuka, one of the Cook Islands.
^Mutu & Teìkitutoua (2002). Ùa Pou: Aspects of a Marquesan dialect. p. 94.
^The authors of the Linguistic Atlas of French Polynesia judged the variety spoken on Tahuata to be too similar to Hiva Oa's to form a separate survey point.
DIR:directional
Further reading
Cablitz, Gabriele H. (2006). Marquesan: A Grammar of Space. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs. Vol. 169. Mouton de Gruyter. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007.