596 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



In the ceremonial language of the Samoans we have a 

 word fofoga. A common man's eye is mata, a chief's eye is 

 fofoga ; a common man's nose is isu, a chief's nose is fofoga ; 

 a common man's mouth is gutu, a chief's mouth is (still) 

 fofoga. This seems a rather inconvenient and indefinite style 

 of address, unless we translate fofoga as feature, instead of 

 nose, mouth, &c. When an ordinary man bathes it is ta'ele ; 

 when a chief bathes it is 'au'au, to swim about, or fa'a-malu, 

 to cool oneself. For the common word sau, to come, we have 

 the respectful maliu-mai to a head-man, susu-mai to a great 

 chief, afio-mai to the greatest chiefs. When a peasant eats 

 it is 'ai ; when a chief eats it is taumafa. When a commoner 

 coughs it is tale ; when a chief coughs it is male. The oration 

 of an ordinary person is lauga ; a chief's address is afioga. 

 The ordinary word for sickness is ma i i ; the chief's word is 

 gasegase, weariness. When a plebeian lies down it is taoto ; 

 when a chief lies down it is falafalana'i. Before a chief a 

 thing is not " burnt " (susunu) ; it is fa'a-vela, " made warm." 

 The will or intention of a common man is loto ; but a chief's 

 will is finagalo. These may serve as sufficient to exemplify 

 the subject. 



There are three things to consider in analysing these 

 chiefs' words: (1.) Are they foreign? (2.) Are they ancient? 

 (3.) Do they stand in the same relation to Samoan as 

 Basa-Krama does to Javanese, or Norman French did to 

 English ? 



The answer is " No " to every one of these questions. As 

 to their being foreign, although the etymology is, naturally 

 enough, not clear at first sight, they are very certainly true 

 Polynesian words, most of them true Samoan words. Taking 

 the words which are not evidently Samoan, and whose mean- 

 ings are not mere evasions (such as gasegase, wearied, instead 

 of ma'i, sick), we can trace them with ease. Fofoga, the 

 chief's word for nose, eye, mouth, &c, is in the Tongan fofoga, 

 the head or face applied to chiefs, and probably the Tahitian 

 hohoa form, likeness. From the chiefs' words meaning " to 

 come" — viz., maliu-mai, susu-mai, and afio-mai — we may 

 eliminate the mai, as it only means "hither." Malm is a 

 pure Polynesian word. It is found in Hawaiian — maliu, to 

 attend to one, to listen to a request, to turn towards one and 

 be gracious. Thus, maliu-mai means " be gracious hither," a 

 lofty way of asking a chief to come. Susu is the Hawaiian hu, 

 to come, to heave in sight, as a ship. Afio is a royal word in 

 Tahiti ; and in Maori means to wind round, to turn one thing 

 round another, so that afio-mai is a form of " turn hither." 

 Taumafa, the chief's word " to eat," is the Maori taumaho,, a 

 thank-offering to the gods, and the Tahitian taumaha, an offer- 

 ing of food to the gods. While the common man's cough is 



