Sakao language
Sakao has undergone considerable phonological change and innovations, which make it utterly unintelligible to its closely related neighbours of Espiritu Santo.Substantives are not inflected for number, except kinship terms which distinguish singular and plural: ðjœɣ "my mother/aunt," rðjœɣ "my aunts;" walðyɣ "my child," raalðyɣ "my children."For instance, the word 'pig' above could be incorporated into the verb, leaving a single external argument: mɨ-jil-ra-p-ɨn3SG-hit-pig-PFV-TRa-masART-clubmɨ-jil-ra-p-ɨn a-mas3SG-hit-pig-PFV-TR ART-club"S/he hits (kills) the pig with a club"Sakao polysynthesis can also involve compound verbs, each with its own instrument or object: mɔ-sɔn-nɛs-hɔβ-r-ɨn3SG-shoots-fish-follows-CONT-TRa-ðaART-bowɛ-ðɛART-seamɔ-sɔn-nɛs-hɔβ-r-ɨn a-ða ɛ-ðɛ3SG-shoots-fish-follows-CONT-TR ART-bow ART-sea"S/he kept on walking along the shore shooting fish with a bow."Here aða "the bow" is the instrumental argument of sɔn "to shoot", and ɛðɛ "the sea" is the direct object of hoβ "to follow", which since they are combined into a single verb, are marked as ditransitive with the suffix -ɨn.Because sɔn "to shoot" has the incorporated object nɛs "fish", the first consonant geminates for ssɔn; ssɔn-nɛs, being part of one word, then reduces to ssɔnɛs.