Tamambo language
[4] The word Tamambo is the native name of the island of Malo, as pronounced in the western dialect.However, in regular discourse, they are not used a great deal due to the obligatory nature of cross-referencing subject pronouns.'[14]Subject pronouns are an obligatory component of a verbal phrase, indicating the person and number of the NP.[106]Mo-iso3SG-finishna-le3PL-TAovi,livena-natu-raPL-child-POSS:3PLna3PLtelenot.yetsuiha...strongMo-iso na-le ovi, na-natu-ra na tele suiha...3SG-finish 3PL-TA live PL-child-POSS:3PL 3PL not.yet strong'So then they were living there, (but) their children were not yet strong...' [103]In Tamambo, modality can be expressed through the future marker –mbo and the two 3SG subject pronouns, mo (realis) and a (irrealis).[24] In Tamambo, the negative particle -te and aspectual lete can be used in conjunction with the 3SG irrealis a to express that a situation or action is not known to have happened.Mo3SGmatahufrightenedmatanSUBtaura-nauncle-POSS:3SGa-te3SG-NEGmai.comeMo matahu matan taura-na a-te mai.3SG frightened SUB uncle-POSS:3SG 3SG-NEG come'He is afraid that his uncle might not come.'[97]Nebutareifsohenlikea3SGleteneverlaitakenaARTmanji,animal,a-mbo3SG-FUTturustandaietherea3SGhisitoucha3SGmate...dieNe are sohen a lete lai na manji, a-mbo turu aie a hisi a mate...but if like 3SG never take ART animal, 3SG-FUT stand there 3SG touch 3SG die'But if it was such that he never caught any fish, he would stand there until he died...' [101]In Tamambo, only the 3SG preverbal subject form has a irrealis, thus when -te is used with other preverbal subject pronouns, the time of event can be ambiguous, and phrases must be understood from context and other lexemes.For example, the verb tete can only be used in conjunction with the 3SG preverbal subject pronominal clitic.[59]The 3SG pronoun's of a (irrealis) and mo (realis) are used in conjunction with tete to respond to varying questions depending on whether the answer is certain or not.[64]...ka-te1PL-NEGsoari-a,see-OBJ:3SGka1PLsai-asearch-OBJ:3SGmo3SGtetenegative...ka-te soari-a, ka sai-a mo tete1PL-NEG see-OBJ:3SG 1PL search-OBJ:3SG 3SG negative'...we didn't see it, we looked for it (but) there was nothing.'[32] The condition and the 'if not' (bolded) component occur together before the main clause illustrated in example [124].[32] Balosuropresent.timeku1SGvuro-hofight-OBJ:2SGhinaPREPhamba-kuwing-POSS:1SGnianithiso2SGlaia-a,take-OBJ:3SGrothuso2SGlai-atake-OBJ:3SGaleifa-tete-ro3SG-negative-thuso2SGmate!dieBalosuro ku vuro-ho hina hamba-ku niani o laia-a, ro o lai-a ale a-tete-ro o mate!present.time 1SG fight-OBJ:2SG PREP wing-POSS:1SG this 2SG take-OBJ:3SG thus 2SG take-OBJ:3SG if 3SG-negative-thus 2SG die'(So) now I'm going to fight you with these wings of mine and you defend yourself, so you defend yourself and if not then you're dead!'[34] Demonstrative pronouns are organised into a two-way framework, which is based on the distance relative to the speaker and the addressee.[34] Tamambo, like many other Oceanic languages and possibly Proto-Oceanic, includes a demonstrative system which functions to reference previous discourse.[34]Tamambo includes the demonstrative pronoun, niaro, used for emphasis, as shown in example (5).These three sets of spatial modifiers can be organised into three groups depending on the distance from the speaker, a trait common to demonstratives in Oceanic languages.Aien refers to location in place or time more generally than another spatial modifier, roni.[39]These adverbs share the same forms as demonstrative pronouns and modifiers, but they occur at different parts of the sentence and perform different functions.[38] In addition, the pointing gesture which commonly accompanies the adverbs niani, niae and niala can be derived from the demonstrative function of the Proto-Austronesian component *ni.O2SGboiwantmwendeparticular.onenianithisteneormo3SGtete?NEGO boi mwende niani tene mo tete?2SG want particular.one this or 3SG NEGDo you want this one or not?[43] Ka1PLmaicomeanaPREPjaraplacetaweabignianithis...Ka mai ana jara tawea niani1PL come PREP place big this...We came to this big place...[43]In this example, the demonstrative modifier niani follows directly after the descriptive adjective tawera, which in turn follows the head noun jara.[43]In example (16), the demonstrative modifier niani directly follows the after the noun samburu.[43]In example (17), the demonstrative modifier niala follows directly after the first tamalohi, which is the person the speaker is referring to.Niaro is the only emphatic reference modifier, which can also only occur posthead as shown in example (20).[45]TA:tense-aspect marker REP:repeating action LINK:possessive linker REF:prior reference made