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An Unusual Passive in Western Oceanic: The Case of Vitu
- Oceanic Linguistics
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 46, Number 1, June 2007
- pp. 54-70
- 10.1353/ol.2007.0027
- Article
- Additional Information
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Passive constructions are rare in Melanesia and none is reconstructed for Proto-Oceanic. This paper reports on a passive in Vitu, a Meso-Melanesian language spoken in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea, describing its structural properties (some of which are unusual) and attempting to provide a diachronic scenario through which it may have arisen.