PHILOLOGY, 



POLYNESIAN GEAMMAE. 



A COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR OF THE POLYNESIAN DIALECTS. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



IT has seemed advisable, for several reasons, to throw the mate- 

 rials which have been collected for the purpose of elucidating the 

 structure of the Polynesian dialects into the form of a Comparative 

 Grammar. By this mode, the various idioms are brought together in 

 such a way that the points of resemblance and of distinction among 

 them all are perceived at once. The changes, also, which the general 

 language undergoes, in passing from one group to another, are thus 

 made apparent, and the principles which govern these changes, being 

 once discerned, will prove, it is believed, of no little importance to 

 the science of philology. It happens, moreover, in many cases, that 

 what is doubtful and obscure in one dialect, is elucidated by a com- 

 parison with others, the mere juxtaposition being often sufficient for 

 this purpose. Finally, by this form, as the repetition of the same 

 rules and explanations for different dialects is avoided, the whole is 

 brought into a much smaller space than would otherwise be possible, 

 with greater convenience of reference, and no loss of clearness. 



The materials which have been used in drawing up the Grammar 

 and Lexicon consist (in addition to the collections which our oppor- 

 tunities enabled us to make) of the translations made by the mission- 

 aries in seven of the principal dialects, namely, the Samoan, Tongan, 



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