DATA AND NOTES. 231 



Tanna : nikiatu, the outrigger bars. 



Arabic : h'ata, h'iato, to sew, to join together. 



151. 

 kubenga, a fish net. 



Samoa: 'upenga, a net, not restricted to fishing. Tonga, Futuna, 

 Niue, Uvea, Nukuoro, Maori, Rapanui, Rarotonga: kupenga, 

 id. Nuguria: kupena, id. Anivva: kowpenga, id. Marquesas: 

 upea, tipeka, upena, id. Hawaii: upena, id. Tahiti: upea, id. 

 Mangareva, Paumotu : kupenga, a thread, a filament. Fotuna: 

 kanpenaua, the neck. 



Sesake: kupenga, a net. Mota: gape, id. Merlav: gambe, id. 

 Gog: gamb, id. Lambell, King: mbene, id. Lamassa: mb'dne, 

 id. L,aur: mb'dn, id. Motlav: kmbweng, id. Volow: 

 nggmbweng, id. Pala: u6t'n, id. 



Arabic: fc*/7 a ^ a net, from fca^fa, to wrap around. 



In form the Polynesian word has the appearance of a verbal noun from 

 some verb stem kupe which we do not identify, for Tregear's suggestion of 

 Viti kumbe to catch hold of, to cleave or cling to, does not commend itself 

 in signification. Against this idea militates the fact that the word has 

 been preserved in Efate and Sesake, termination and all. The sense is 

 always and everywhere a net or meshed fabric, except in Mangareva where 

 it has become limited to that of which nets are made. The Fotuna form is 

 clearly a composite of kupenga and ua the neck, but its precise explanation 

 is not clear. 



In Melanesia we find two groups of identifications after passing Sesake 

 as an unchanged loan word. 



In the first group we have the languages which have assimilated a 

 putative stem kupe. These are Mota, Merlav, Gog. 



In the second group are the languages which, while abrading the first 

 syllable, have used as their stem penga and have preserved more or less of 

 the seeming noun-formative termination. In the order of their strength 

 these are Motlav, Volow and the New Ireland group. The Pelion on Ossa 

 of the Motlav and Volow forms, it must be remembered, are each a single 

 sound ; therefore these do not, as might seem, reproduce the full kupenga; 

 it is just the Melanesian clumsiness in compassing a Polynesian p with lips 

 which play havoc with the fine precision of labials. 



In view of the fact that the palatal nasal is most probably radical we may 

 scarcely accept the Semitic identification. 



152. 

 lafi, to take up, to carry. 



Samoa : lavea, to be removed, of a disease. Tonga : lavea, to bite, 

 to take the hook, as a fish. Futuna: lave, to comprehend, 

 to seize. Niue: laveaki, to convey. Rarotonga: rave, to 

 take, to receive. Tahiti: rave, to take. Mangareva: rave, 

 to take, to take hold; raveika, fisherman. Maori: raw, to 

 take up, to snatch. Hawaii: lawe, to take and carry in the 

 hand. Marquesas: ave, an expression used when the fishing 

 line is caught in the stones. 



