DATA AND NOTES. 355 



This is all very intricate, but the proof needs just this link by link elabo- 

 ration. The only point as to which we may retain proper doubt is as to 

 the kasu group of forms ; they are certainly an anomaly. Yet it is just 

 upon the kasu group, this irreconcilable kasu, that the whole of the pro- 

 posed Semitic origin rests. 



302. 

 kat i, katikati, ngat i, to bite; kakat, a bite; fikit, to bite each other. 



Futuna : katikati, to gnaw off the bark of sugar cane with the teeth ; 

 kakati, to corrode, to pierce, to eat in. Niue: kakati, to bite, 

 to chew. Maori: kakati, to eat into, to gnaw through, to 

 corrode; katikati, to nibble. Rarotonga: kati, kakati, to bite. 

 Paumotu: kakati, id. Nukuoro: kati, id. Rapanui: katikati, 

 to scratch. Samoa: 'ati, to eat in, to corrode; 'a'ati, to eat 

 in, to corrode, to gnaw off, to pierce (as the teeth of a dog) ; 

 'atimotu, to bite through. Tahiti: ati, to bite; aati, to bite, 

 to gnaw, to tear with the teeth. Hawaii: aki, aaki, akiaki, 

 to bite, to nibble. 

 Viti : katia, to bite. 



Malo: cate, to bite. Tangoan Santo: kati, id. Makura: nggati, id. 

 Bierian: mkati, id. Santo: kotkot, id. Malekula: haji, id. 

 Mota: ngit, id.; gat, to chew. Tagula: gadu, to bite. Nada: 

 gad, id. Kiriwina: gadi, id. Tubetube: letai, id. Suau: 

 retai, id. Murua: gedi, id. Kubiri: gitaboni, id. Dobu: 

 go'i, id. Boniki: kutai, id. Mukawa: kutakibai, id. Taupota, 

 Wedau: utai, id. 

 Malay: gigit, to bite; gigitan, a bite. Malagasy: hehitra, to hold, 

 to grasp, to seize, clutch, bite; kaikitra, a bite; manaikitra, 

 to bite. 

 Syriac: nkat, to bite. 



At the time of the earliest, the Proto-Samoan, migration the effective 

 stem was kati, this, however, being formed upon the root kat by the verb- 

 formative *, The bare root must have been carried down into Melanesia by 

 the Proto-Samoans, for it is found preserved in Santo and Mota. Fur- 

 thermore, in these two languages reproducing the archaic form we find the 

 only deviations from the radical a. One of these, represented by the Mota 

 ngit, is the vowel of the Malay identifications. 



The Syriac stands as a resemblance, form and sense. 



303- 

 kil i, kill, to dig; kali, a digging stick; kfli, a current (as in the sand; lit. 

 that which digs). Cf. ngil i (297) to which this note is 



supplemental. 

 Ethiopic: karaya, to dig. Arabic: kam', id. Hebrew: karah, id. 

 Chaldee: kera', id. 



304- 

 kirikiri, gravel, pebbles. 



Tonga: kilikili, small stones placed on graves. Futuna, Niue: 

 kilikili, gravel. Samoa: 'Hi' Hi, gravel, pebbles, small stones; 

 'iliti, to be pained by walking over sharp stones ; ta'ili, stony, 



