DATA AND NOTES. 289 



240. 



aue, interjection of surprise, commiseration. 



Samoa: aue, alas, oh (wonder). Niue: aue, alas. Maori: aue, 



alas (surprise). Hawaii: aue, auwe, alas. Mangareva: aue, 



alas (surprise and grief) . Tahiti, Raro tonga, Paumotu : aue, alas. 



Tongarewa: awai, id. Tonga: oiaue, alas. Aniwa: kawe, alas. 



Futuna: uei, alas (indignation, surprise). Marquesas: aue, ue 



(surprise). Fotuna: awe, alas. Rapanui: aue, aueue, ue, alas. 

 Aneityum: awe, auwe, iyauwe, alas. Nguna: ai, id. Mota: 



awa, id. Eromanga: uwe, id. Tanna Weasisi: awe, id. 



Bierian, Baki: awa, id. 

 Malay: ahi, ayi, ayue, alas. 

 Arabic: awwi, alas. 



It is a sure identification from the Paumotu through all Polynesia, 

 through all Melanesia, through all Indonesia, and to the Semitic if one so 

 will. And to the cow, if one so will, for I have caught it in the calf-call of 

 lowing kine. And why should it not be identifiable, for the word lacks 

 all the elements of strength which part the word from the cry? There is 

 not a consonant anywhere in it, for the w is no more than a matter of tran- 

 scription ; it might just as well be u. Only in Aniwa do we find a consonant, 

 the deepest palatal and initial at that. To me it seems no more present 

 than is the initial m in the moo of cattle, a mere appulse. 



What is this cry which our primitive islanders share with the animals? 

 Look at its elements, all full-throated. First we have a, the sound of 

 mouth open, fauces open, lungs full of air. As air expires the sound recedes 

 in the mouth toward the palate and we find the u. Last comes the con- 

 scious finish of the utterance, the muscles begin to retract, the sound-mak- 

 ing point is forced forward and the sound is e. If the man had but a few 

 more cubic centimeters of lung capacity he could attain cow volume for 

 his cry, or interjection, since it amounts to the same thing. 



241. 



bwala, bwela, bwola, to incline to, to be close to, to be stuck. 



Samoa : pili, to be near, to approach, to be caught, entangled. Niue : 

 pili, to stick together. Hawaii : pili, near, close, to stick 

 together. Maori : piri, to stick ; pipiri, to be close together. 

 Tahiti: piri, to be squeezed or confined close. Rarotonga: 

 piri, to stick together ; akapiripiri, to get near. Mangareva : 

 piri, to stick together; akapiri, to patch, to glue. Paumotu: 

 pxripiri, glue ; fakapiri, to adhere. Rapanui : piri iho, to devote 

 oneself to; pipiri, glue, gum, sticky; hakapiri, to join to. 

 Marquesas: pit, to be joined together, to stick. 



Motu : hebirihebiri, to sit or stand close together, as trees standing 

 close together; hebirimatemate , to be squeezed, crowded. Mota : 

 kpwir, to be close together; vakpwirkpwir, to crowd together. 

 Aneityum: bili, promiscuously. 



Malay: ampiri, to bring near to; ambir, near, nigh. 



Arabic: mala, mayl', to incline, bend, or lean to, to be close or near. 



