vowel harmony
VSO
concerning parts of speech it is often difficult to put Chamorro words into a single category since often one and the same word can function as a verb, noun or modifier (cf. Topping 1973: 101)
Reduplication Form-Function
initial CV-: word class derivation, pluralization
final -CV: intensification
Relationship Form-Function
various forms - various functions
Reduplication System
Chamorro has many types of affixes, their ordering in relation to reduplication can approximately be summarized as follows (see Topping 1973: 172-173, 258):
1. suffixation
2. indefinite object prefix man-/fan-, passive prefix ma-
3. reduplication
4. infixation
5. plural subject prefix man-/fan-
Stylistic Information
the number of times a syllable can be repeated depends partly on one's own speaking style when intensifying a modifier (adjective) in Chamorro through reduplication (cf. Topping 1973: 216)