240 THE POLYNESIAN WANDERINGS. 



1 66. 

 tifai, thunder, ti, article, and fai. 



The following words all mean thunder and those in which the fai element 

 is indisputable are grouped : 



Samoa, Fakaafo: faititili. Tonga: Jaijijili. Manahiki: faititiri. 

 Tahiti: patiri. Tongarewa: hatitiri. Maori: whatitiri, 



whaitiri. Bukabuka: watitiri. Paumotu: fatitiri. Nukuoro: 

 haturi. Rapanui, Mangareva: atutiri. Hawaii: hekili. 



Nuguria: hetuturi. Marquesas: hatiitii, fatutii, hatutii. 



Aniwa, Fila: te-fachiri. Fotuna: vajiri. Vat6: vatshiri. 



(Malay: tilir, to make a noise, a noise which gives alarm.) 



Arabic: bahh', hoarse, used of thunder. 



Dr. Macdonald's simple attempt at etymology in respect of his designa- 

 tion of ti as article must have reference to the Tongafiti te, the weak demon- 

 strative functioning as article at times, for his dictionary does not identify ti 

 in Efate" in any sense. The common Polynesian words for thunder involve 

 the two elements fai and tili. The Efate alone in Melanesia contains ele- 

 ments in the thunder word which resemble the Polynesian. As to the fai 

 there can be no doubt ; ti may readily be an abraded form of tili. I know 

 of no instance in which the Melanesian has inverted the order of the ele- 

 ments in borrowing a Polynesian composite, yet in default of more definite 

 information this seems not unlikely in this case. 



The former element in Polynesia has the following forms: 



fai: Samoa, Fakaafo, Tonga, Mana- wa: Bukabuka. 



hiki. wha: Maori. 

 whai: Maori. ha: Tongarewa, Nukuoro, Mar- 

 fa: Paumotu, Aniwa, Fila, Mar- quesas. 



quesas. he: Hawaii. 



va: Fotuna, Vate. a: Mangareva. 

 pa: Tahiti. 



The latter element falls into groups, which yet may not have diagnostic 

 significance, according to the duplication of the stem, as follow: 



tili: Tahiti, Maori, Hawaii, Aniwa, Fila, Fotuna, Vate" (Nukuoro). 

 titili: Samoa, Fakaafo, Tonga, Manahiki, Tongarewa, Maori, Buka- 

 buka, Paumotu (Mangareva, Rapanui). 

 tilitili: Marquesas. 



Mangareva atutiri, Marquesas fatutii, hatutii, suggest a fatu former ele- 

 ment. Yet the Nukuoro haturi, which can scarcely be hatu-ri, seems to 

 argue a remoter tutiri duplication through an ignorance of the stem vowel 

 which Nukuoro reveals. The first of the three Marquesas forms is recorded 

 by Tregear, but is not found in Bishop Dordillon's modern dictionary. 



If we had none other than the /ai-composites we should say that the 

 former element signifies "to make." Not one of the other forms of this 

 element offers in any of the languages a sense which might explain the 

 composite, but not one of the languages has anything which would contra- 

 indicate this sense. Provisionally, therefore, we may assume that faititili 

 means "to make-tilt intensively." 



