38 



THE POLYNESIAN WANDERINGS. 



the palatal series and again in the lingual series only one of the two 

 inheriting languages falls away from the ancestral estate and that 

 in but a single item in each series. In the labial series both lan- 

 guages have lost, and in equal measure, a possession of the parent. 

 In the comparison of the two junior languages we shall see that the 

 Efate* more nearly takes the property as heir-at-law, and the Viti is 

 struggling to keep a younger son's uncertain hold upon the family 

 possessions. The proof of this lies in our comprehension of the 

 inward significance of the reinforced or prefaced consonants. 



Both languages show the impossibility of reproducing the uvular 

 r without a conscious effort to produce a sound for whose expression 

 the buccal organs lack training. The effort takes the same form; 

 Efate* with its tr shows a shade less exertion to be necessary than 

 the Viti ndr. In all other cases where Viti employs the nasal of 

 the same series, namely, in the three sonant mutes, it is seen that 

 Efate is able to take the sound without assistance. This makes it 

 clear that Efate, lying relatively toward the west, closer approaches 

 E-V than Viti, which lies so far at the eastern verge of Melanesia as to 

 have been overlaid deeply by Polynesian sounds, forms, and usages. 



So far as these two points may determine the line, so far as the 

 comparison of the two tongues shows the direction along that line, 

 we look for E-V at some point on the line produced beyond Efate. 

 Now the inspection of our charts shows that the line produced 

 westward beyond Efate is immediately drowned in empty sea. We 

 may, then, look for the E-V parent either among the islands lying 

 south of the central New Hebrides or among those lying in the 

 northern area. So far we have considered but these two points; 

 we need new points to establish to our satisfaction what becomes 

 of that line when once it turns the corner at Efate. The remaining 

 data, which we are now to study, will tend to acquaint us with 

 these points. That is the definite object which the close scrutiny 

 of this store of newly available Melanesian material has presented 

 to my investigation. 



Table A. 



