THE OCEANIC FAMILY OF LANGUAGES. 827 
THE VERB. 
The Semitic finite verb was in its origin a participle (verbal 
adjective) or infinitive (verbal noun of action) with the abbrev- 
iated pronouns prefixed or suftixed to denote persons and number. 
From the finite verb participles and infinitives were again derived. 
Tn accordance with this, these derived participles and infinitives, 
with the separate pronouns, abbreviates, or not abbreviates, were 
often used for the finite verb, This analytic substitute for the 
finite verb tended to become more commonly used as the language 
became more analytic, as for instance in Aramaic and modern 
Syriac. Thus the Oceanic verb, as we now find it, has originated, 
being generally a derived participle or infinitive. An example 
will show clearly what is meant, or the relation between the modern 
Oceanic and the ancient verb. The verb “to fear” in Arabic 
is tak’a, from which was divided the infinitive tai’iyat a fearing or 
being feared, the Semitic infinitive having both an active and a 
passive sense. The simplest form of this verb in Oceanic corres- 
ponds, not to taka, but to takiyat, and is seen in Malay takut, Mala- 
gasy tahotra. Tahotra is a noun, fearing or fear, and is made into 
a verb by formative prefixes to be after considered—as matahotra, 
to fear, Efate mataku, Samoan matwu,; but in Malay takut is 
noun, verb, and adjective, fear, fearing or afraid, and to be fear- 
ing or afraid. Thus akutakut, I fear, or am afraid, is literally, I 
(am) fearing, or I (am) being afraid. 
The formative abstract and adjective endings. 
The simple or shortest form of the Oceanic verb being takut or 
the like, it became necessary to form it verbal nouns (infinitive) 
and verbal adjectives (participles), as takiyat (e.g., had been) formed 
from taka, or by suffixed formatives. In the Semitic languages 
there were two abstract and two adjective endings. The adjective 
endings were an, or ana, or na and 72, and the abstract endings 
were ¢ (as in takiyat), and an, dna, or On, or nd. All these forms 
having 7, originally formed adjectives, and these cause to form 
abstract nouns also. They were also combined 7 and ¢ forming 
abstracts in 7f, ¢ and 7 adjectives in ton (e.g. Hebrew from the verb 
Wakal was derived h’akalat a being crooked, crookedness ; then the 
adjective h’akalton, crooked), and tanga forming nouns and adjec- 
tivesin Amharic. In Oceanic these are used thus: Malay, takutan 
a fearing, fear; Malagasy, atahorana verbal noun, atahorina verbal 
adjective ; Samoan, mata‘utio. Here ia corresponds to Malagasy 
ina, and as both 7a and ina are used alike ; thus in Samoan we 
may infer that the Polynesian verbal adjective ending 7a is for ina, 
by elision of the x. Compare for this elision the pronoun, Malay, 
inya, or tya. This za or ira does not occur in Malay or Efate; but 
ina as an adjective ending is seen in Duke of York, rwmaina— 
housey or full of houses—from rwma, house; and na or ana 
