learn. Prenasalization of consonants occurs, so that b is pronounced mb, and d is pronounced nd. Unlike neighbouring languages such as Apma, Ske permits a variety of voiced consonants to occur at the end of syllables, although when they occur at the end of an utterance they are often followed by an 'echo' of the previous vowel. Thus, iq "you", for example, is often pronounced inggi. In addition to the five standard vowels (a, e, i, o and u), Ske has mid-high vowels é (intermediate between e and i) and ó (intermediate between o and u), like in Sowa and Sa languages. Vowels do not appear to be distinguished for length. Stress typically occurs on the final syllable of a word. Grammar Basic word order in Ske is subject–verb–object. Pronouns Personal pronouns are distinguished by person and number. They are not distinguished by gender. The basic pronouns are: Nouns Nouns in Ske are generally not preceded by articles. Plurality is indicated by placing the pronoun nier ("them") or a number after the noun. Nouns may be either free, or directly possessed. Directly possessed nouns are suffixed to indicate whom an item belongs to. For example: dloq = my voice dlom = your voice dlon = his/her voice dlon subu = the chief's voice Possession may also be indicated by the use of possessive classifiers, separate words that occur before or after the noun and take possessive suffixes. These classifiers are: no- for general possessions (noq tobang, "my basket") blie- for things that are cared for, such as crops and livestock (blied bó, "our pig") a- for things to be eaten (am bwet, "your taro") mwa- for things to be drunk (mwar ri, "their water") and for buildings (mwan im, "his house") bie- for fire (biem ab, "your fire") die- for fruits that are cut open (dien valnga, "his bush nut") na- for associations, over which the possessor has no control (vnó naq, "my home island") The possessive suffixes are as follows: A verb may be transformed into a noun by the addition of a nominalising suffix -an: vwel = to dance (verb) vwelan = a dance (noun) Modifiers generally come after a noun: vet = stone vet alok = big stone vet aviet = four stones Verbs Verbs are preceded by markers providing information on the subject and the tense, aspect and mood of an action. These markers differ substantially