Regional profile: Australia Pacific Region

The overview presents information about the relationship between the Australia and Pacific varieties, the distinctiveness of the combined Australia Pacific region, and ,the relationships among the varieties within the region and with corresponding variety types of other regions, It concludes with an account of,the influence of the region's indigenous substrate languages on various features. In order to compare Australia and the Pacific with other regiOns and with each other, we look primarily at the presence or absence of the various features in the varieties of each region. The presence of a feature in a variety is clearly indicated. by 'A','B' oc 'C' rating. For the purpose of this analysis, a 'D','X' or '?' rating is interpreted as absence. Of course, this methodology is not ideal because a question mark may indicate insufficient data rather than absence. It may also indicate uncertainty about the precise meaning of the feature. For example, both Bislama and Tok Pisin use go and kam ('come') as directional markers. FI48 (serial verbs: go 'movement away from') and Fl49 (serial verbs: come - 'movement towards') are given an A rating in Bislama but a question mark in Tok Pisin. This is presumably because the status of go and kum as serial verbs in Tok Pisin, as opposed to directional particles, is still being debated.