DATA AND NOTES. 277 



The Malay proposed in identification assumes without confirmation a 

 stem of three consonants. The Arabic shows not the slightest resemblance 

 save in meaning. 



223. 



fis i, fisi, fifis i, fif i, to bind around or about, to twine around or twist; 

 fifi, to twine or go around, a fillet. 



Samoa : fisi, to entwine, as a vine around a stick ; fa'afisi, to entwine, 

 to coil; fifi, the small intestines; aft, to do up in a bundle. 

 Tonga : fihi, thick, bushy, entangled ; fihifihi, curled in the grain, 

 linked one into another, inextricable ; fifihi, one who in wrestling 

 is dexterous with his limbs locking the limbs of his antagonist ; 

 fi, to plait, to twist, to curl; fifii, to enclose fish in plaited 

 coconut leaf. Nuguria: afii, to wrap up. Futuna: fifi, a 

 bundle of cooked fish. Niue : fi-ika, a bunch of fish. Tahiti: 

 fifi, entangled; faafifi, to entangle. Maori: whiwhi, twisted 

 together; whakawhiwhi, to wind around; whiwhiwhi, the fat 

 covering the intestines. Hawaii: hihi, the twining of vines; 

 hoohihia, to entangle. 



Viti: ww, to roll up or around, to coil around. 



Mota: viv, vivis, to wind around, to bind around and around. 



Malay: pusing, to turn around, to twist. Malagasy: fihina, grasp, 

 seizure, fihitra, a clutch, a grasp. 



Hebrew : habas', to bind, to bind on, to bind about. 



In"this group we are dealing with a stem fis, which may be expanded to 

 fisi and which may be abraded to fi; see note 243. 



In Polynesia we find only fisi and fi, in Viti only fi, in Efat£ all three 

 forms, and in Mota only fi and fis. 



The Indonesian suggestions involve the difficulty of a third radical con- 

 sonant which has left no vestige in our area; see also note 245. 



The Hebrew likewise entails a third consonant in the root, differing from 

 the Indonesian in being applied frontally. 



224. 



katnut i/ngamut i, kami, to take, to grasp with the fingers, to nip, to nip 



or cut with scissors ; kam, native tongs (a split stick for grasping 



hot oven stones and lifting them) ; kamkam, scissors. 

 Tonga : kamu, to cut off anything round. Futuna: kamu, to cut, 



to shorten. Samoa: 'amu, to cut off, as part of a beam. 



Hawaii : amu, to shear or shave the hair from the head, to trim 



the hair. 

 Viti : nggamu, pincers, vise ; nggamuta, to take hold of or hold with 



pincers or between the teeth. 

 Malay : cubit, chubit, to nip, to pinch. Java : juwit, id. Malay : 



angkub, tongs, nippers. 

 Hebrew : kamas, to squeeze together, to take with the hand ; kamat, 



to hold fast with the hand, to seize firmly; kafas, to contract, 



to shut (as the mouth) ; kabas, to take or grasp with the hands. 



Arabic : kabasa, to take with the tips of the fingers ; kabas' a, to 



grasp with the hand. 



