Na Passive and na- Associative in Abma: Shared Properties; Shared Origin?

Abstract

The passive is not widely attested in Melanesian languages, but Abma, an Oceanic language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, does have an impersonal passive that is flagged by deleting the subject NP, suffixing the verb with -an 'passive', and encoding definiteness (na) on the object NP. Na 'definite' is probably related to Proto-Oceanic *a/*na, an article that likely marked the common nonhuman NP as definite. Of course, nonhuman NPs tend to be semantic patients. Abma also has an "associative" construction that codes a special kind of nominal relationship - syntactically and semantically distinct from indirect possession - where the "possessor" NP has little or no control over the "possessed" NP. The "possessor" NP follows an associative marker (of the form na-), and shares semantic and referential properties with passive NPs. This paper examines the present-day instantiation of na as a marker on passive NPs and na- on noncontrolling associative "possessors." It argues that the two forms have similar functionality, and considers a possible shared origin for the two morphemes.