Categorial flexibility as an artefact of the analysis: pronouns, articles and the DP in Hoava and standard Fijian

Hoava sa and ria have been analysed as pronouns in some contexts, and articles in others, an apparent case of flexibility in functional categories. However, this analysis depends on an assumption that pronouns are NP head. An alternative analysis employing the Determiner Phrase (DP) demonstrates that in all contexts sa/ria occupy the same syntactic position: DP head. They are always pronouns, alternating with articles in D, an analysis supported by evidence that 1st/2nd pronouns behave in an identical way. This unified analysis gives no grounds for positing membership of separate categories. In contrast, in Standard Fijian (SF) articles and pronouns occupy different syntactic positions: SF pronouns are not in D, but in N. The paper concludes that structures such as DP have considerable descriptive power; pronouns behave variably across Oceanic; and Hoava sa/ria are pronouns in all contexts. Their apparent flexibility was an artefact of earlier analyses, not a feature of the grammar.