Pronouns

There are four attested demonstrative pronouns in Mavea: aro, nel(e), maro, and male.^{[G-2011 2]} Aro and nel(e) can also function as demonstrative determiners, and aro specifically only rarely appears as a pronoun,^{[G-2011 2]} as in:

Maro ('this one') is used to refer to something nearby the speaker, and has the plural form maror,^{[G-2011 2]} which is formed by affixing the plural suffix -re:^{[G-2011 3]}

Male ('that one') on the other hand is used when speaking of something that is distant to the speaker,^{[G-2011 2]} both literally, as in

And metaphorically, in order to distance the speaker from the referent,^{[G-2011 3]} as in

Malere is the plural form of male,^{[G-2011 2]} and like maror is formed by affixing the plural -re:^{[G-2011 3]}

Maro and male are both formed by combining the complementizer ma- and a locative adverbial; aro for the former, and ale for the latter.^{[G-2011 3]}

Determiners

In addition to demonstrative pronouns, Mavea also has three demonstrative determiners: nele, (a)ro, and nor(o),^{[G-2011 5]} although of these only nor(o) is not attested as a pronoun in addition to its role as a demonstrative determiner.^{[G-2011 2]}

The three-way demonstrative system common to Oceanic Languages^[2] is not present in Mavean demonstrative determiners,^{[G-2011 5]} occurring instead in the locative adverbs of the language.^{[G-2011 6]} The demonstrative determiners of Mavea encode both spatial and temporal proximity to either the speaker,^{[G-2011 5]} as in  

or to the discourse, as in

The plural forms neler(e), ror, and noror are formed by affixing what is likely a reduced form of the plural word re^{[G-2011 7]}.

Nele, along with its plural form neler(e), is formed in part by the specific definite article le.^{[G-2011 7]}

Nor(o), and its plural form noror, is actually made up in part by a cut down form of the third demonstrative determiner, (a)ro, while nele is not.^{[G-2011 7]} Interestingly, the two demonstrative determiners which contain aro, that is nor(o) and (a)ro itself, are also the two demonstrative determiners which serve double duty as demonstrative pronouns,^{[G-2011 2]} in addition to being used as locational adverbs, a function never assigned to nel(e)(re).^{[G-2011 7]}

Additionally, one of the other demonstrative pronouns, maro, also has aro as one of its constituents.^{[G-2011 3]}

Demonstrative determiners can refer to a location in both time and space, but the spatial location is often discourse-related, rather than speaker-related,^{[G-2011 7]} as in the following example, where aro is used to refer anaphorically to a party (anana) that has previously been mentioned in the text:

This use is sometimes called the "tracking use".^{[G-2011 7]} Ror, nor(o)(r), and nelere all also have anaphoric uses, as displayed in the following examples, where the noun phrase referents occurring prior to the demonstrative have each been mentioned previously:^{[G-2011 8]}

The demonstrative determiners of Mavea follow the head noun when used adnominally, a pattern which is the norm in oceanic languages, though by no means universal.^[2] Examples of this include:

Locative adverbs

Locative adverbs are a class of sentential adverb, modifying entire sentences, and as such occur either subsequent to the verb's core argument,^{[G-2011 9]} as shown in:

Or more rarely prior to the verb's core argument, as shown in:

There are two sets of locative adverbs in Maṽea,^{[G-2011 9]} all members of which serve as spatial deictics. There is the A-set, so named because all of its members begin with [a], and the K-set, so named because each of its members begins with [ko]. They form a six-way system based on proximity to the hearer, and to the speaker, as well as relative direction (up, down, or across)^{[G-2011 9]}

Atisi(vo), atisa, and atiṽa, as well as their K-set equivalents konatisi(vo), konatisa, and konatiṽa, are likely derived from the form atu (or konatu for the K-set), compounded with a movement verb like si(vo) ('go down'), sa ('go up'), or ṽa ('go'):^{[G-2011 6]}

'Soon after I felt something touching my leg here.'

Speakers can emphasise the distance in the forms atisi(vo), atisa, and atiṽa, as well as their K-set forms konatisi(vo), konatisa, and konatiṽa by producing them with a long [t], e.g.: [a.'t:i.si].^{[G-2011 6]}

There is no easily discernible semantic difference between the A-set and the K-set, however some members of the A-set may also serve as demonstratives,^{[G-2011 11]} as in:

which is not attested in any member of the K-set.

The spatial and temporal adverbs aro, aine, and kon(a)ro, as well as the demonstrative determiner nor(o), can be juxtaposed with a noun in order to form an adverbial predicate,^{[G-2011 4]} as in

'The third one (is) here, the fourth one (is) here.'

Non-pronominal possessors

If a full NP expresses the possessor, the possessee takes the construct suffix –n, or can be pronounces [na], although this construct suffix is a homophony of the possessive clitic –n and –na the distribution is different as displayed in the following examples;^{[G-2011 13]}

Note that the case of Full NP, the possessee precedes the possessor

and

Possession is recursive, in the following example, the noun 'vulu' which is possessed by the noun 'vanatu' which in turn is possessed by John, therefore both nouns a suffixed with –[n].