192 



EASTER ISLAND. 



au 1 I (vau). 



P Mgv., Mq., Ta.: au, I. Ta.: vau, id. 



In its simplest Polynesian form this pro- 

 noun is compound, u being the element in 

 which inheres the ego sense. We note 

 here the occurrence of forms in which au 

 is modified. The Maori has ahau, a com- 

 posite of a and hau. The vau type is 

 found in Rapanui, Paumotu and Tahiti, 

 ovau in Tahiti and Paumotu, kovau in 

 Rapanui, wau in Hawaii, oivau in Hawaii, 

 awau in the South Island Maori, avou in 

 Aniwa. 



au 2 the gall. 



P Mgv.: au, hau, eahu, gall. Mq., Ta.: 

 au, id. 

 The aspirated Mangarevan eahu may 

 preserve a Proto-Samoan original, for we 

 find ahu in Tonga and Niue, two languages 

 generally retentive of an original aspira- 

 tion which has vanished from Samoan. 



au 3 vapor, smoke T. 



P Mgv.: ahu, au, cloud, mist. Ta. : au, 

 smoke, vapor. 

 Of the Proto-Samoan stem asu all the 

 Tongafiti languages have lost the conso- 

 nant, except for its interesting preserva- 

 tion as an alternative in Mangarevan, and 

 all have lost the distinctive smoke sense. 

 The attribution of smoke as a meaning in 

 Rapanui we owe to an authority of the 

 second rank, but taken with the form 

 preservation in Mangarevan this sense 

 retention is probable, and taken in coag- 

 mentation they bear upon the central 

 theme of a Proto-Samoan migration on- 

 ward to Southeast Polynesia. 



auahi (au 3-ahi 1) smoke. 



miro auahi, steamboat. 

 Mgv.: auahi, smoke. Mq.: auahi, 

 smoke, vapor. Ta.: auahi, fire. 

 (The Polynesian Wanderings, 287). 



auau to itch, to long. 



aue ah, alas. 

 aueue oh. 

 PPau., Ta. : owe, alas. Mgv.: aue, auhe, 

 alas Mq.: aue, oh, alas; auhe, a 

 sigh. 

 Exclamation in general representing the 

 most primordial type of speech, it seems 

 that this may be reduced to recognizable 

 elements. The e is throughout these lan- 

 guages a vocative or hailing sign, com- 

 monly postpositive in relation to the per- 

 son hailed. In the examination of au 1 

 we have shown that the primal first person 

 singular designation is u. With the com- 

 paratively scanty material afforded by 

 this vocabulary we may not attempt to 

 define the use of a, but we have no hesita- 

 tion in noting that proof based on wider 

 studies will show it to have, inter alia, a 

 characteristic function as a word-maker. 

 In a very high degree, then, a-u-e is repre- 

 sented by a common English interjection 

 "oh my!" in which oh = o, my=w, and 

 e=\. 



auha tuhi auha, middle finger. 



auru to sleep, to put to sleep, sleepy, over- 

 come by sleep (ahuru). (kaha- 

 uru Q.) 



auru no, to sleep late. 

 rava auru, to be a sound sleeper. 

 tae auru, sleepless. 

 hagaauru a vision by night. 

 ava 1 



a. distance, distant. 



ava poto, a short distance. 



b. space, interval. 



PS Mq.: ava, distance, space, interval. 

 Ta. : ava, interval. 

 The simpler form of the root is va, which 

 is not found in Rapanui and Marquesan, 

 and in Tahiti is narrowly restricted to the 

 spacing of thatch, but in Nuclear Poly- 

 nesia and in the Tongafiti migration is 

 expressive of the sense of distance and 

 interval. In Samoa the same meaning is 

 carried by an advanced form of the root, 

 and ava in this sense is not found elsewhere. 

 Its reappearance in these three languages 

 of Southeast Polynesia points to a direct 

 migration from Samoa. 

 ava 2 channel, strait, pass, passage, breach, 

 entrance to a harbor. 

 P Pau. : ava, harbor, channel, pass. Mgv. : 

 ava, channel, passage, canal. Mq. : 

 ava, channel, passage, creek, defile, 

 fissure. Ta. : ava, pass, channel. 

 avaava 1 



a. to strike, to slap, to grind, to dent. 



b. to correct, to maltreat, to exterminate. 

 avaava 2 angle, chink. 



Mq.: koava, chink, fissure. 

 avaava 3 tobacco. 



Mgv., Ta.: avaava, id. 

 In this nook of Polynesia tobacco and 

 its common method of pleasurable use are 

 alike imported. In Melanesia tobacco 

 was indigenous but was employed for the 

 business of medication and not to assuage 

 the conditions of cannibal society. The 

 leaves when fully grown were shredded, 

 macerated and employed as a cataplasm. 

 Applied upon the abdomen it was the prin- 

 cipal agency in the production of emesis 

 and catharsis. Applied secretly in axilla 

 it superinduced the ecstasy of the priest 

 when in the trance of possession by his 

 god. In Fiji it was used as an insecticide. 

 avaga T a grave. 

 avahi a wedge, to split. 

 avahiga part, partial. 

 avahiga kore, inseparable. 

 P Mgv. : vahi, to split, to cleave. Mq.: 

 vahi, to open, to separate, to split 

 in two. Ta.: vahi, to open, to split. 

 avai to abdicate, to accord, to alienate, to 

 disburse, to dedicate, to distribute, 

 to give, to afford, to deliver, to 

 offer, to place, to procure for, to 

 remit, to yield up. 

 avai hakahou, a loan, to borrow. 

 avai no mat, gratis. 



