Prepared by Nick Thieberger (thien [@] unimelb.edu.au).
This page lists materials in and about Efate (Vanuatu), in particular, the south Efate language or Nafsan. It links to historical translations as well as more recent work I have undertaken with Nafsan speakers.
The collection of Nafsan language material was begun in 1996 and has grown since then,
arising from my fieldwork with speakers in several periods (see the background description in my grammar, below). Subsequently there has been work by
Rosey Billington (on phonetics) and
Ana Krajinović (on tense, mood, and aspect).
The language is also known as South Efate but in 2015 a group of speakers decided it should be referred to as
Nafsan (
See authority lists for the Nafsan language here). My main aim was to record oral tradition in the language, and this included a range of stories, described below, and songs, including songs that accompany stories, stringband performance, and hymn singing by the men's group.
The following recordings include songs.
You will need to be a registered user of PARADISEC to be able to download material that is listed here.
I have contributed to a wikipedia page with an introduction to Nafsan
here. I have also prepared a collection of Arthur Capell's papers on Nafsan
here.
The work of transcribing recordings was mainly done by Manuel Wayane (
photo here ) and Endis Kalsarap (
photo here )
This collection is archived in
PARADISEC and consists of primary recordings, both video and audio, photographs (images of speakers and other images for plant and animal identification), transcriptions, texts derived from the transcriptions and interlinearised, online versions of those texts, a dictionary, a grammar, and historical sources in the language, as page images and transcripts, all detailed below.
This work is the result of three periods of fieldwork in the villages of Eratap and Erakor in South Efate, Vanuatu, between 1995 and 2000 and subsequent trips after my PhD research. I first went to Vanuatu in 1995 as an Australian Volunteer Abroad with my family. I planned to learn one of the local languages during the three years that we would be living there. There are three national languages, Bislama, English, and French, as well as over 120 indigenous languages.
I have edited a set of manuscripts by the anthropologist John Layard, collected when he was in Vila in 1914. They outline some oral accounts, genealogies, and cultural information. This can be seen here:
https://rebrand.ly/LayardEfate.
Some introductory information about the spelling system used can be seen here:
Orthographic conventions followed in the present work are as follows.
g is the velar nasal
m̃ is a simultaneous velar and labial nasal stop (m tilde)
p̃ is a simultaneous velar and labial oral stop (p tilde)
m$, p$ this is the ASCII representation of the character rendered more properly as m tilde and p tilde, labio-velar nasal and stop respectively. Some datasets produced in the process of working with this collection required plain ASCII and so the dollar symbol <$> appears. I have converted it in most places to unicode, but some relic forms may still appear.
, both video and audio, are available
here.
Photographs of speakers and images for plant and animal identification are available here.
Transcriptions are given both as pdf images of handwritten transcripts (jpg files stored with, and with the same name as, the media item in the PARADISEC collection), and as time-aligned typed versions with each media file they transcribe.
Texts were selected from the recordings, derived from the transcriptions and interlinearised using Toolbox. The text versions of these files (best used inside Toolbox, but they are plain text), are available here.
A pdf of the book "Natrauswen nig Efat", a collection of stories in Nafsan and English (196 pages), is available here. All current work is being done in FLEx, please contact me to get a copy of these files.
The dictionary is available as an Android app,
archived structured text file, a
pdf, or an
online (but now outdated) version, with embedded sound.
The grammar of South Efate (Nafsan) is available as a
pdf version.
Contents of: Thieberger, Nicholas. 2006.
A Grammar of South Efate: An Oceanic Language of Vanuatu Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication, No. 33. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. (384+xxvii pages+DVD)
Contents
List of Tables and Figures ........ xii
Preface ........ xv
Acknowledgments........ xvi
Table of Contents........ xvii
Abbreviations ........ xviii
Conventions........ xxi
Symbols used........ xxii
Maps ........ xxii
Pictures ........xxiv
1. Introduction........1
1.1. Methodology........1
1.2. The corpus ........ 5
1.3. Language documentation and the South Efate corpus ........6
1.4. Audio-linkage........9
1.5. Overview of the present study........ 10
2. South Efate, place, people, and language ........ 12
2.1. South Efate, the place ........ 12
2.2. History and social organization of South Efate........ 14
2.2.1. Archaeology ........ 14
2.2.2. Population ........ 16
2.2.3. Kastom........ 18
2.2.4. Social organization ........ 20
2.2.5. Economic base of South Efate society ........ 25
2.2.6. Outside contact and settlement ........ 26
2.3. The language of South Efate........ 30
2.3.1. Writing South Efate ........ 33
2.3.2. Previous work on the language........ 33
2.3.3. Codrington and Ray........ 35
2.3.4. Recent work ........ 35
2.3.5. Publications in South Efate ........ 38
2.3.6. Sources on neighboring languages ........ 40
2.3.7. The linguistic situation in Vanuatu, vernaculars, Bislama, and metropolitan languages ........ 40
2.3.8. The future for Vanuatu's vernaculars........ 42
2.3.9. The current state of the South Efate language ........ 43
3. Phonology ........ 45
3.1. Current orthography........ 46
3.2. Consonants ........ 46
3.2.1. Stops /p, t, k, p̃/........ 47
3.2.2. Fricatives /f, s/........ 50
3.2.3. Nasals /m̃, m, n, g, nr/ ........ 50
3.2.4. Liquids /l, r/........ 52
3.2.5. Semivowels /w, y/........ 52
3.2.6. Non-phonemic glottal stop ........ 53
3.3. Vowels........ 54
3.4. Proto Oceanic and South Efate correspondences ........ 55
3.5. Phonotactics........ 57
3.5.1. The syllable........ 57
3.5.2. Consonant distribution ........ 59
3.5.3. Vowel distribution........ 64
3.5.4. Stress ........ 65
3.6. Morphophonemic processes........ 67
3.6.1. Medial vowel reduction (MVR)........ 67
3.6.1.1. /i/ to [ə] vowel centralization ........ 67
3.6.1.2. Medial vowel deletion (MVD)........ 68
3.6.2. Nasal assimilation ........ 70
3.6.3. Degemination ........ 71
3.7. Whispering and ingressive voice ........ 73
4. Word classes........ 74
4.1. Zero conversion and word class........ 74
4.2. Nominals........ 74
4.3. Conjunctions and subordinators ........ 76
4.4. Numerals ........ 76
4.5. Verbs ........ 78
4.6. Prepositions ........ 79
4.7. Adjectives........ 81
4.8. Adverbs........ 88
4.8.1. Pre-modifiers ........ 92
4.9. Interrogatives........ 94
4.10. Quantifiers ........ 95
4.11. Interjections........ 96
4.11.1. Lexical interjections ........ 96
4.11.1.1. Greetings, leavetakings........ 99
4.11.1.2. Hesitation markers........100
4.11.2. Non-lexical interjections........100
5. Nominals and the noun phrase ........103
5.1. Pronouns........103
5.1.1. Focal pronouns ........104
5.1.2 . Oblique free pronouns ........106
5.1.2.1. nakte 'my', '1sgPOS'........106
5.1.3. Bound pronouns........107
5.1.3.1. Number agreement ........107
5.1.3.2. Bound subject pronouns (proclitics) ........109
5.1.3.2.1. Realis/irrealis pronominals........109
5.1.3.2.2. Perfect pronominals ........110
5.1.3.2.3. kai echo-subject marker........111
5.1.3.3. Bound object pronouns........115
5.1.3.3.1. The object suffix paradigm........115
5.1.3.3.1.1. The problem of 3sgO, zero marking,and the 'distant' clitic........117
5.1.3.3.2. The OBL object paradigm........119
5.1.3.4. Inclusory construction........120
5.1.3.5. Impersonal reference ........120
5.1.3.6. Bound direct possession pronouns ........121
5.2. Nouns........123
5.2.1. Kinship nouns ........124
5.2.2. Placenames and the locative affix e- ........125
5.2.3. Temporal nouns ........126
5.3. Possession........127
5.3.1. Indirect or general possession........127
5.3.1.1. Possession marked by a possessive pronoun ........128
5.3.1.2. ni possession ........128
5.3.1.3. knen ('of it')........129
5.3.2. Direct possession........129
5.3.2.1. Dyadic kinterm construction ........131
5.4. Nominalization........132
5.4.1. na- nominalization........132
5.4.2. Nominalization of verbs using na-...-wen/ien/-an ........133
5.4.3. te nominalization........137
5.5. The noun phrase........140
5.5.1. Noun modification, premodifiers........141
5.5.2. Noun modification, postmodifers ........141
5.5.2.1. Adjectives and stative verbs........142
5.5.2.2. Quantifiers........142
5.5.3. Demonstratives go, nen, ne, and the presentative kia........143
5.5.4. Limiting determiner........147
6. Mood and aspect........149
6.1. Lexical framing of time........151
6.2. Clause combination and TMA marking ........153
6.3. The morphological expression of mood and aspect ........154
6.3.1. The Dahl 'TMA questionnaire' in South Efate........155
6.4. Mood........158
6.4.1. Obligation........158
6.4.2. Ability ........158
6.4.3. Imperative ........159
6.4.4. Possibility ........160
6.4.5. Realis/irrealis........161
6.4.5.1. Stem-initial mutation ........162
6.4.6. Correlation of mood and transitivity ........165
6.5. Aspect........166
6.5.1. Aspect in the pre-verbal complex ........167
7. Verbs and verb classes........171
7.1. Morphosyntactic classes of verbs in South Efate ........171
7.1.1. Auxiliary verbs ........172
7.1.2. The copular pi........173
7.1.3. Intransitive verbs........174
7.1.3.1. Object incorporation........175
7.1.3.2. Undergoer/Actor -type intransitive verbs........177
7.1.3.3. Stative intransitive verbs........181
7.1.3.4. Active intransitive verbs........181
7.1.3.5. Cognate subject verbs........182
7.1.4. Semitransitive verbs........182
7.1.5. Ambitransitive verbs........184
7.1.6. Transitive verbs........186
7.1.7. Ditransitive verbs ........189
7.1.7.1. Ditransitive verbs with intransitive counterparts........191
7.2. Inherent O verbs........193
7.3. Verb reduplication ........194
8. Valency changing processes........196
8.1. Transitivizing strategies in South Efate ........196
8.1.1. The transitivizing suffix -ki ........196
8.1.2. Distinguishing transtivizer -ki from preposition ki ........198
8.1.2.1. Object roles with the transitivizer -ki ........199
8.1.2.2. Roles introduced by the preposition ki........201
8.1.2.3. Ambiguous contexts: ki as preposition or transitivizer ....202
8.1.2.4. -ki and A-type intransitives ........203
8.1.2.5. -ki and U-type intransitives........203
8.1.3. Transitive derivation of ambitransitive verb stems ........204
8.1.3.1. Forms of the transitive suffix........205
8.1.3.2. Relic transitivizing function of the transitive suffix........210
8.1.3.3. Verbs taking only the OBL suffix paradigm........212
8.2. Relic detransitivizing processes in South Efate ........214
8.2.1. Relic anti-causatives........214
8.2.2. The detransitivizing prefix ta-........216
8.3. POc *-i/-akini semantic roles compared with South Efate ........217
9. Verb combinations........221
9.1. Types of verb combinations in South Efate........223
9.1.1. Verb compounds ........224
9.1.1.1. Symmetrical compounds........226
9.1.1.2. Asymmetrical compounds ........229
9.1.1.3. pe verbal conjoiner, intensifier........234
9.1.2. Pseudo-serial verbs ........235
9.1.2.1. Auxiliary verbs........236
9.1.2.2. Adverbial modification of verbs........237
9.1.2.3. Prepositions and deverbal prepositions........238
9.1.2.4. Directional verbs and particles........240
9.2. Enumeration of verbal constructions in South Efate........242
10. The verb complex........243
10.1. The pre-verbal complex (PVC)........243
10.1.1. Aspect ........245
10.1.2. Negation ........246
10.1.3. ta durative........248
10.1.4. f/fla conditional (CND) and 'may' ........250
10.1.5. Auxiliary verbs........252
10.1.5.1. mer 'again', 'in turn' (Group 1)........254
10.1.5.2. kano 'be unable' (Group 2)........255
10.1.5.3. lakor 'maybe' (Group 2)........256
10.1.5.4. mal 'not want' (Group 2)........256
10.1.5.5. mas 'must' (Group 2)........257
10.1.5.6. nrus 'just' (Group 2)........257
10.1.5.7. pei 'first' (Group 2) ........257
10.1.5.8. traem 'try' (Group 2) ........258
10.1.5.9. tae 'be able to' (Group 2)........259
10.1.5.10. to 'habitual' (HAB) (Group 2)........259
10.1.5.11. ler 'return' (Group 3)........260
10.1.5.12. mai 'come' (Group 4)........261
10.1.5.13. pa/pan 'go' (Group 4) ........261
10.1.6. tme/tmo 'reflexive/reciprocal, emphatic' (RR)........262
10.1.7. Quantifiers........264
10.2. Object in the verb complex........265
10.3. su perfective ........265
11. Simple sentences........267
11.1. Arguments in South Efate........267
11.2. Simple sentences........269
11.2.1. Verbal clauses ........269
11.2.1.1. Equative and existential clauses ........270
11.2.2. Non-verbal clauses ........273
11.3. Topicalization, left-dislocation, and cleft constructions........274
11.3.1. Topicalization ........274
11.3.2. Left-dislocation ........275
11.3.3. Cleft........276
11.4. Adjuncts........277
11.4.1. Prepositional phrases........278
11.4.2. Benefactives........279
11.4.2.1. The benefactive phrase in the pre-verbal complex........280
11.5. Question formation........282
11.5.1. Content questions........282
11.5.2. Polar questions........284
11.5.2.1. Interrogative intonation ........284
11.5.2.2. Tag questions........285
11.6. Negation ........286
12. Complex sentences ........290
12.1. Coordination ........290
12.1.1. Unmarked (asyndetic) coordination........291
12.1.2. me 'but', 'and'........291
12.1.3. go 'and' ........294
12.1.4. ko 'or'........294
12.1.5. ale 'then'........295
12.2. Subordination........295
12.2.1. Subordinators kin, nen, na(g)........296
12.2.1.1. kin relativizer, complementizer........298
12.2.1.2. nen 'that', relativizer........299
12.2.1.3. na, nag relativizer and complementizer........301
12.2.2. Complement clauses........303
12.2.2.1. Complement types ........303
12.2.2.2. Sentence-like complements ........303
12.2.2.3. Subjunctive-like complements........304
12.2.2.4. Nominalized complements........305
12.2.3. Complement-taking predicates (CTPs)........306
12.2.3.1. Utterance predicates ........307
12.2.3.2. Propositional attitude predicates........308
12.2.3.3. Commentative predicates (factitives) ........308
12.2.3.4. Predicates of knowledge and acquisition of knowledge..309
12.2.3.5. Predicates of fearing........310
12.2.3.6. Desiderative predicates ........310
12.2.3.7. Achievement predicates ........312
12.2.3.8. Immediate perception predicates........312
12.2.3.9. Negative predicates ........313
12.2.4. Relative clauses........313
12.2.5. Adverbial clauses ........316
12.2.5.1. malnen 'when'........316
12.2.5.2. selwan 'while', 'when'........316
12.2.5.3. eswan 'where, the place that'........317
12.2.5.4. taos/taosi 'like, in the manner of' ........317
12.2.5.5. nlaken, reason 'because'........318
12.2.5.6. na, purposive 'in order to' ........318
12.2.5.7. fwel, fla, conditional 'if' ........319
12.3. Other clause linkage ........320
12.3.1. Clause juxtaposition........321
12.3.1.1. Topic-comment linkage........321
12.3.1.2. Cause and result linkage........321
12.3.1.3. Directional clause linkage ........323
12.3.2. Clause chaining........324
12.3.3. Tail-head linkage ........327
12.3.4. Direct and reported speech ........328
Appendix—Texts in South Efate ........331
Text 1. Natopu karu, 'Another spirit' ........331
Text 2. Asaraf and Erromango........337
Text 3. Litrapong, a natopu ........341
Text 4. The origin of coconuts........351
Text 5. Ririel and Ririal........354
Text 6. Making roof thatch ........357
Text 7. Links to Mare........360
Text 8. The need for respect ........365
Attachment DVD (notes)........367
References ........368
Index ........381
I have written several articles about Nafsan, covering issues like the nature of the language used in MacDonald's 1907 work; collaborative fieldwork; the benefactive construction in Nafsan; the lack of serial verb constructions in Nafsan; the phonetics of Nafsan (mainly by Rosey Billington and Janet Fletcher); and the phenomenon of some verbs swapping initial sounds depending on features of transitivity.
- Krajinović, Ana, Rosey Billington, Lionel Emil, Grey Kaltap̃au, Nick Thieberger. 2022. Community-Led Documentation of Nafsan (Erakor, Vanuatu). In: Vetulani, Z., Paroubek, P., Kubis, M. (eds) Human Language Technology. Challenges for Computer Science and Linguistics. LTC 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13212. Springer, Cham.
- Billington, Rosey, Thieberger, Nick, & Fletcher, Janet. 2021. Nafsan. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 1-21. doi:10.1017/S0025100321000177
- Rosey Billington, Janet Fletcher, Nick Thieberger & Ben Volchok. 2020. Acoustic evidence for right-edge prominence in Nafsan. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 147 (4), 2829–2844. (Available here).
Billington, Rosey, Nick Thieberger & Janet Fletcher. 2020. Phonetic evidence for phonotactic change in Nafsan (South Efate). Italian Journal of Linguistics, 32(1), 123–148.
- Fletcher, Janet, Rosey Billington & Nick Thieberger. 2019. Prosodic marking of focus in Nafsan. In Sasha Calhoun, Paola Escudero, Marija Tabain & Paul Warren (eds.), Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Melbourne, Australia 2019, 3787–3791. Canberra: Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association.
- Nick Thieberger. 2012. Mood and Transitivity in South Efate. Oceanic Linguistics. Volume 51, no. 2: 387-401
- Nick Thieberger and Chris Ballard. 2008. Daniel Macdonald and the 'compromise literary dialect' in Efate, central Vanuatu. Oceanic Linguistics, Volume 47, no.2: 365-382 (http://hdl.handle.net/11343/32646)
(See Macdonald, Daniel. 1907. The Oceanic languages, their grammatical structure, vocabulary, and origin. London: Frowde. xx+352pp.
- Thieberger, Nicholas. 2007. The demise of serial verbs in South Efate. In Diana Eades, John Lynch and Jeff Siegel (eds.), Language Description, History and Development: Linguistic Indulgence in Memory of Terry Crowley. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 237-251. (http://hdl.handle.net/11343/31292)
- Thieberger, Nicholas. 2006. The benefactive construction in South Efate. Oceanic Linguistics, Volume 45, 2: 297-310. (http://hdl.handle.net/11343/31254)
- Thieberger, Nicholas. 2004. Documentation in practice: Developing a linked media corpus of South Efate. Peter Austin (ed). Language documentation and description, Volume 2. London: Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, SOAS. 169-178. (http://hdl.handle.net/11343/34484)
I have prepared historical sources in the language, as page images and transcripts, which are archived here
Nafisan Nafousien. A catechism translated into an Efate language. Not the same as the language in other late nineteenth century Efate translations that is more clearly Nafsan (erk). Published around 1875.
Kenesis. 1874. Keyboarded from Genesis translated by Rev. J.Cosh. 1874. -- Typed by Dina Thieberger, checked and combined with the King James version by Nick Thieberger,
Efatese primer catechism and hymn book. 1911. EFATESE PRIMER, CATECHISM and HYMN BOOK. Havannah Harbour, Efate, New Hebrides. Melbourne: Arbuckle, Waddell & Fawckner, Printers, 20-22 McKillop Street, 1911. Keyboarded version still needs proofreading. Images of the original also included here.
Nafakoron ni aliat, 1923 Nafakoron ni aliat. Erakor Efate, New Hebrides. Nouméa: Imprimerie A.-L. Laubreaux. 1923. ('Appearance/birth of the light'). This version is a set of image files (missing pages 2 &3) and an uncorrected OCR text file.
Scripture History: Efate New Hebrides. 1923. Scripture History: Efate New Hebrides 1923, published by Epworth Printing and Publishing House, Sydney. Section headings: Atua ki kaimis ki ser nale (God made everything); Atua ki kob Atam go If elol iten ban (God chased Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden); Ken go Ebel (Cane and Abel); Nob (possible misprint for Noah).
Stories by Pastor Sope (1950s) Handwritten manuscript kept by Shirley Macrae (not the same as the item below). This version has been keyboarded but still needs to be proofread. Page images included here. Titles of short texts are: Great discover [ ]of New Hebrides; Storie Of ' Sifiu' A 'Bird' And 'Sus ' A Fish; Stories Of Rogorogorua; Marik Pilake; Storie Of Supe And Daylight; Song; Storie Of Two Tricker; Suru And Lofa; Storie Of Leikele An Koronanae.; A Song For Leikele And Koronanae; Story Of A Giant; Storie Of A Boy [ ] Sagalegale Or Mutuama.; How The Gospel Came To Efate; The Story Of Manument Rock Or Wota Ni Manu; Wota Is A Good Fisherman; Story Of Malau Or Cacoo; The Storie Of Mautici.; Storie Of Two Ladys Lives On The Moon ; The Story Of Flying Fox And The Parrot; The Story Of Hawk And The Stork; A Story Of Two Women Who Lives Away In A Bush Vilage; The Burial Of Efate In The Olden Days.
Storian Blong Pastor Sope long lanwis blong Saot Efate we oli bin kamaot samples long yia 1950 Preface -- The stories here were written by Pastor Sope in the 1950s. There were another two stories in English which I haven't included here. Pastor Sope wrote these stories in the old language of South Efate . I found these stories in Arthur Capell's materials which were held by Peter Newton at his house in Balmain (also digitised and put online at http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC2/items/VEFAT25. Thanks to Peter Newton for looking after these papers. Dina Thieberger typed the stories and Endis Kalsarap translated them into modern Nafsan and into Bislama. -- Fes toktok -- Ol storian ia oli kamaot long sam pepa we Pastor Sope i bin raetem samples long yia 1950. -- Pastor Sope ibin raetem storian ia, mo igat tufala storian mo long Inglis we mifala i no bin joenem long plesia. -- Ol storian we i stap long smol buk ia Pastor Sope i bin raetem long olfala lanwis blong bifo. -- Mi bin faenem ol storian ia taem mi bin go luk sam pepa blong wan linguis, nem blong hem Arthur Capell. Hemi ded finis, be ol pepa blong hem oli stap long Sydney tedei, mo mi talem bigfala tangkiu long Peter Newton, man we istap lukaotem pepa ia from we hemi save soem long mi ol samting ia. -- Dina Thieberger ibin taepem ol storian festaem, mo Endis Kalsarap hemi bin transletem olgeta oli kam long lanwis blong Saot Efate blong tedei, mo long Bislama. Page images of Endis Kalsarap's translations are included here.The 'prodigal son' in Nafsan from Arthur Capell's papers (typed as text). There are two versions, one, (VSEFAT306) here, and the other (VSEFAT308) here. Date unknown but probably 1960s.
This work was initially done with funding from the University of Melbourne (PhD scholarship and travel funds) and subsequently by the following research grants:
ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0450342,
ARC QEII Fellowship (with Rachel Nordlinger)
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0984419
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language,
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE140100041
ARC Future Fellowship, http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140100214.
I was employed at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (2008-2010). Thanks also to the Department of Linguistics at the University of
Cologne for hosting me during 2013 and 2014, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for their award of a
Ludwig Leichhardt Jubilee Fellowship which allowed me to discuss these projects with the team at the Cologne
Center for eHumanities (CCeH).