Tregear.— r/i^ Track uf a Word, 483 



to remark that in Polynesian the t to k transfer is exceedingly 

 well marked, and that it is, even now, changing and spoiling the 

 Samoau vernacular speech. The real k of the western dialects 

 is, in Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Samoan, either lost altogether, 

 or replaced by a kind of soft catch of the breath ; the k which 

 appears in the Hawaiian being the Maori and Tongaii t. Thus, 

 the Hawaiian kai is the Maori tai, the sea ; the Maori kai, food, 

 being represented by the Hawaiian ai. The Hawaiian kii, a 

 carved' image, is the Maori tiki, the medial k being lost, the t 

 replaced by k. 



Haviug thus shown that the change of mata to maka is the 

 regular transfer of sound which should be looked for, I will now 

 resume — the digression haviug been necessary, as we shall find 

 that the t io k sound is not confined to the language of the 

 Sandwich Islands. Keturning to Fiji, we pass westward, first 

 to Eotumah, where "the eye" is matho ; then to the New 

 Hebrides, where, among a Papuan population, many colonies 

 of the fairer-skiuned race have been planted. Here we find at 

 Malicolo, maitang ; at Tikopia, mata. At Santa Cruz, maku is 

 the face ; at San Christoval, ma is face ; at Vaturana, mata ; 

 at New Georgia, mata. In New Ireland, the eye is matak; at 

 Port Praslin, mata; in New Guinea (Triton BB,y), matato7igo ; 

 (Onim) matapatin. We find at Gilolo (Galela), mata. Four 

 dialects of the Celebes give the eye as mata .■ Borneo (medial, 

 near Labuan), mata. Ceram's seven dialects yield matamo, mata, 

 matacolo, mata, matanina, matara, and matan. Timor gives mata ; 

 Savu (S.W. of Timor) is mata ; Java = moto : Sumatra, mata, 

 although in South Sumatra matty. The Malay proper is mata : 

 the Dyak is mata. Let us now take a long flight to the west- 

 ward, to the island of Madagascar. Concerning the Malagasy 

 I shall say little, as it is a well-known fact (whatever may be 

 the origin) that the language possesses very many words akin 

 to the Malay, and which have no representatives on the African 

 coast near at hand. Of these words, one is maso, the eye ; the 

 root, mat, having apparently passed through the change (so 

 common in all languages) from hard k to soft c or s, thus : mat, 

 mak, mac, maq, mas ( = maso). We will now return to the 

 vicinity of New Caledonia, and pass to the Marianne Islands, 

 where at Guam we get mata ; at Chamori, mata ; at Ulea, 

 matai ; at Satawal, metal. In the Pelew Islands we get the 

 corrupt form muddath ; but in the Tagal of the Philippines mata. 

 In Formosa, macha; in the Loo-Choo Islands, ?)ij ; and again in 

 Japan, mi. We shall probably trace, as we go on, how this 

 curious variant mi has arisen. The Aiuios, or aborigines of 

 Japan, have no representative word ; neither have the Coreans, 

 or the Kamschatkans, nor any tribes north of this point. 



The Chinese (Canton) have the word as mok, so also the 

 Tonquin gives mok, and Cochin-China 77iok ; but Cambogia has 



