204 THE POLYNESIAN WANDERINGS. 



92. 

 fonga, afo, nafo, whetstone, grinding stone, and (because used as a whet- 

 stone) pumice. 

 Tonga, Futuna, Uvea, Niue: fuanga, a grindstone. Tonga: juo- 

 fuanga, pumice. Samoa : foanga, grindstone. Maori: hoanga, 

 grindstone, whetstone. Mangareva: hoanga, oanga, a fine 

 volcanic stone used for whetstones, a grindstone. Hawaii : hoana, 

 a hone, whetstone, grindstone. Tahiti: hoaa, a whetstone. 

 Arabic: nasfa-t, whetstone, pumice. 



The stem is fo and fu. This surely can have nothing to do with the 

 Semitic identification proposed. There is reason for doubt as to the defini- 

 tion. It will be understood that whetstone must be a very modern sense 

 of the word in the Pacific, for until the Europeans brought iron the islanders 

 had nothing to whet, since the process of putting an edge on stone imple- 

 ments is a tedious process of grinding. How far pumice is susceptible of 

 such employment in whetting iron I am unable to say, but in the grinding 

 of stone it can have little value. If it were not for the fact that the pumice 

 sense is recorded from Tonga I should incline to regard the explanation given 

 in the Efate case as a labored effort to produce harmony with the Arabic. 



93- 

 ngafa, a fathom. 



Samoa, Tonga, Nukuoro: ngafa, a fathom. Niue: ofa, id. 



(L,amotrek: ngaf, id.) 

 Arabic: kamat, a fathom. 

 The exact agreement of Efat<§ and Nuclear Polynesia suggests no connec- 

 tion with the proposed Arabic source other than that of identity of meaning. 



94. 



ngaingai, to pant, to be out of breath. 



Samoa: nga (Tutuila dialect), nga'e, to breathe hard, to pant, to 

 be out of breath. Tonga: nga, to pant; ngaaki, to cough. 

 Futuna : ngaaki, to pant, to be out of breath. Mangareva : nga, 

 to be hoarse. Maori: nga, to breathe; tunganga, to be out 

 of breath. Hawaii: na, to gasp, to half-breathe; nae, to pant. 

 Marquesas: nae, obstructed respiration. Rapanui: ngaengae, 

 shortness of breath, out of breath. 

 Syriac : kah, to pant. 

 The Proto-Samoan radical is ngak. The Efate is explicable as formed 

 from the already abraded stem by the verb-forming suffix. 



95- 

 ngoko i, ngokoi, ngokei, ngokai, to scrape, to mark, to paint, to smear (all 

 used in reference to najona or bast cloth) ; koko, reddish juice 

 or paint for bast cloth made from a plant of the same name. 

 Samoa : 'o'ai, to mark or paint bast cloth ; 'o'a, the tree (Bischofiia 

 javanica) from which is obtained the coloring matter for this 

 use. Tonga: koka, the name of the tree ut sup. ; to paint cloth. 

 Futuna: koka, id. Niue : koka, name of a tree whose wood is 

 used for rafters. 



