Marquesan is a collection of East-Central Polynesian dialects, of the Marquesic group, spoken in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. They are usually classified into two groups, North Marquesan and South Marquesan, roughly along geographic lines. Phonology The most striking feature of the Marquesan languages is their almost universal replacement of the or of other Polynesian languages by a (glottal stop). Like other Polynesian languages, the phonology of Marquesan languages is characterized by a scarcity of consonants and a comparative abundance of vowels. The consonant phonemes are: Of this small number of consonants, is found only in eastern Nuku Hiva (Tai Pi Marquesan), and is found only in South Marquesan dialects. In writing, the phoneme is written , and is written , the okina. Unlike Samoan, the is not an isolated nasal: it is found only in conjunction with a following . So, whereas the Samoan word for 'bay' is , pronounced , it is in Tai Pi Marquesan, and is pronounced . This word is useful to demonstrate one of the more predictable regular consonantal differences between the northern and southern dialects: in North Marquesan, the word is , and in South Marquesan, it is . The phoneme is represented with the letter ; however, it is realized phonetically as , , or , depending on the following vowel. The vowel phonemes are the same as in other Polynesian languages, long and short versions of each: Alphabet A E F H I K M N O P R S T U V a e f h i k m n o p r s t u v Morpho-syntax Noun and verb phrases Verbal particles are placed before the verb they modify. A noun phrase in Marquesan is any phrase beginning with either a case marker or a determiner. Case markers or prepositions always precede the determiners, which in turn precede the number markers. As such, they all precede the noun they modify. There are 11 personal pronouns which are distinguished by singular, dual, and plural. As well as that, there are two other personal pronouns which distinguish possession. Complex sentences use verbal nouns in subordinate clauses. Hanaiapa, o Tua-i-kaie, ua noho me te vehine pootu oko Possession Margaret Mutu & Ben Teìkitutoua (2002) present descriptions and examples of possession in Ùa Pou (a north Marquesan dialect). All examples in this section are taken from their work. See notes for