176 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



pi. -geau, hundreds. In the general speech, however, this article is 

 no longer used, its place being supplied by the Vitian a. As regards 

 pronunciation, in the eastern or Lakemba dialect of the Vitian, the t 

 before i is pronounced like tc. (ch), or like ti in Christian. It is the 

 same in Tongan, but in no other of the Polynesian tongues. Finally, 

 there is a large class of words in which the Vitian uses the soft th (8} 

 or the s, and the Tongan, which wants these letters, has in their place 

 an h, while the Samoan and all the Polynesian dialects have nothing 

 whatever; as, 



These instances of resemblance, affecting whole classes of words, 

 and important grammatical characteristics, cannot be explained on 

 the supposition of an ordinary intercourse, such as is at present main- 

 tained between the two groups. Nothing but an intimate connexion, 

 and some intermixture, would have availed to produce such an effect. 



2. In bringing together the materials for the Polynesian Lexicon, 

 the meaning of the words fiti (or viti*) and tonga became apparent. 

 The first means properly to rise, applied to the sun. The second is 

 the noun formed by adding the suffix ya, to the verb to, which signi- 

 fies to set, as the sun. The first is found in the dialect of Fakaafo as 

 fiti, in Nukuhivan as fiti or hiti, in Tahitian and Hawaiian it is hiti, 

 in Rarotongan iti, and in New Zealand rviti, in all with the same 

 meaning. The second (to) occurs with the sense of to set, in Tahi- 

 tian, Rarotongan, Paumotuan, and New Zealand ; and in other 

 dialects it has, though not the same, somewhat similar meanings. In 

 Tahitian, (which omits the y,) the suffix ya becomes a, and thus we 

 have, in the translation of the New Testament, Matt. xxv. 27, " mai 

 te hitia o te ra i te tooa o tera," " from the east to the west," literally, 



* The Polynesian / becomes invariably v in the Vitian language. 



