Dual and plural in languages of Vanuatu.

Oceanic languages have rich systems of number marking, most including for-mal exponence of a dual, and very many also marking trial and/or paucal. In most Vanuatu languages number marking combines with person marking, including clusivity, in both independent pronoun paradigms and subject refer-encing paradigms. This study of pairs of these two kinds of paradigms in 34 Vanuatu languages shows that, in contrast to person values which can have fewer contrasting forms only in a subject referencing paradigm, contrasts in number values may be fewer either in the independent pronoun paradigm or in the corresponding subject referencing paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]