Absence of {-s}

The absence of the third person singular present tense verb suffix and the {-s} plural morpheme (both in writing and speech) are as ubiquitous in Fiji English as in most other L2 varieties of English. It could be argued that printed examples are merely misprints, were it not for the fact that the feature is so common in speech and so regularly seen in writing and print. Some examples include:

(11) a. Price of Used Equipment depend mainly on size, age, hours Used [sic] and actual condition of the units. (The Daily Post, 10/5/1994)

b. The money in grog keep the wheels of economy [sic] rolling. (Letters to the Editor, The Daily Post, 8/8/1994)