Williams. — Language of the Chatham Islands. 419 



As examples of change in consonants we niay note — 



H for WH :* huti (whuti), hi [whi), hunu {whenua). 



H dropped : f eke {heke), oeha (hoha), iki (hiki). 



K for NG : ka (nga, art.). (No other cases noticed.) 



K for T : ka and kl {te. ai't.), klhoiei (tihore). 



M for W : hni {iivi), pakihinii (pakihiivi), niahine (ivahine). 



M for K : mafahi {katahi). 



N for R .-J manino (marino). (Uvean has naita, natou ; raua, ratou.) 



NG for K : ngonei (konei). 



P for A' .• harapepc (harakeke), tape (tuke). 



P for M .•{ tupuaki (tumuaki). 



R for N : J irokonei {inakuanei), hiringaro {hinengaro). 



R for T : rika (fika). rangat {tangata), niptma {tupuna). 



W inserted : wareiv {arero), arowaro {aroaro). This sometimes 



indicates a U lost by substitution : hiivaki and hiiviki (huaki). 



Aivainei for aianei involves more than the mere insertion of W. 



A furtlier step in the transformation of words is taken in the dropping 



of a complete syllable at tlie end of a word, as hi for Jiine or for hi nga, 



ma for mate, mo for wot a. 



The effect of these letter changes is to introduce a certain amount of 

 ambiguity in the interpretation of our texts; for, on the one hand, a 

 single form mav take on the functions of a number of others, while, on 

 the other, the same word may assume a multiplicity of shapes. Thus a, 

 which has seven distinct functions of its own, acquires in addition those 

 of ae, ana, ana, and e : e has three functions of its own and those also 

 of ae, he, hei, nge, and is said further to be inserted sometimes into a 

 sentence with no other purpose than that of euphony — a very refuge of 

 the destitute for a grammarian ; i has two uses of its own and represents 

 also ae, ai, e, he (sing, and pi.), hei, ia, ki, te (sing, and pL), and wai, and 

 also perhaps a euphonic use ; hi, besides its own duties, has those of he, 

 hia, hine, hinga, and whiwhi ; ka does duty for kahore. kei, koa, ki, nga, 

 and te, besides retaining two previous meanings. Conversely, the particle 

 atii appears also in the forms ati, etu, eti, whatu, wha, at, and et ;. ivhano 

 may become whani, hano, hana, or hane ; for the singular definite article 

 we have the choice of ta, t'a, te, t'e, t'ei. ti, t'i, to, tu, t' , ne, re, ri, ro, ni , i, 

 h'a, ka, ki, and ko, and three of these forms, i, ka, and ro, may also be 

 used in the plural.§ 



Metathesis is by no means uncommon in Maori and cognate languages, 

 but some examples in Moriori are interesting : euwha for ehua, pass, of 

 ehu, leads to eneuwha for ehuehua ; huanui appears as uwhanui, and 

 hiwiki (huaki) as hikui ; whine for wahine would certainly seem to connect 

 closely with tJie fine in Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, &c., were it not paralleled 

 as a case of modified metathesis by the occurrence of kawhai for kahawai. 



The last structural peculiarity remaining to be noticed is connected with 

 reduplication. It was noted in dealing with the interchange of vowels 

 that a principle of attraction seemed occasionally to be operating. In 

 not a few cases, however, of reduplicated words, a vowel in one element 

 of the word has been altered. Thus we have hinihina for hinahina, ateata 

 for ataata, okihakehaka for hokohakahaka, and iarehara for harahara. This 

 variation of vowels occurs very frequently in reduplicated words in Tongan. 



* Cases of this occur sometimes in Maori. 



t // is completely discarded by Whanganui and neighbouring tribes. 



t This occurs in Marc£uisan. 



§ The forms /' and h' are here used for the modified t and h referred to above. 



l-l* 



