234 PHILOLOGY. 



make no distinction between the I and k, and the missionaries have adopted the latter, 

 though improperly (as the element is really the Polynesian t), in the written language. 



In Fakaafo, Paumotu, and Tahiti, we occasionally heard the /changed to a sound like 

 that of wh in what ; as whare for fare, owliawha for ofafa, &c. This may serve to 

 show the process by which both the w and the h have been substituted, in some of the 

 dialects, for the// as in New Zealand, waha forfafa, &c. 



At Fakaafo, we also frequently heard the s pronounced like a strongly aspirated h, 

 as Ka for sa, sacred. A similar sound is sometimes given to the h in New Zealand and 

 Tahiti, as in /toyi or hoi (in Samoan so-gi), to salute by pressing noses, which some have 

 supposed to be pronounced shmji, shai. In fact, the Samoan 5 is a dental letter, ap- 

 proaching, in the pronunciation of some natives, very nearly to the sound of sh. 



In Samoan the n was occasionally confounded with the p, particularly where both 

 occurred in the same word ; thus we heard manoyi, mayoyi, and mayoni; manutayi 

 and ma~gutaT)i, &c. 



In Fakaafo the word iyoa was sometimes heard as ikoa; in Nukuhivan, as has been 

 already stated, among some of the tribes, this change of y to k is constantly made. 



6. In all the Polynesian dialects every syllable must terminate 

 in a vowel; and two consonants are never heard without a vowel 

 between them. 



This rule admits of no exception whatsoever, and it is chiefly to this peculiarity that 

 the softness of these languages is to be attributed. The longest syllables have only 

 three letters a consonant and a diphthong and many syllables consist of a single vowel. 



& 7. Most of the radical words in the Polynesian are dissyllables. 



The simple prepositions, the articles, and a very few other words, are monosyllables. 

 Words of three or more syllables are usually derivatives or compounds. 



8. The accent is commonly laid on the penultimate syllable ; in 

 some instances, however, it is found on the antepenultimate, and in 

 some on the final syllable. These cases have generally been noted in 

 the vocabularies. 



When a syllable is postfixed to a word, the accent is usually shifted forward ; as ite, 

 to know, in the passive, itea; toe, to remain, toeya, Rar., toena, Haw., and toea, Tah., 

 remainder. 



Sometimes a difference of meaning is indicated by a change of accent ; as mandva, 

 Sam., the belly, and mdnava, to breathe; mardma, Rar., the moon, and mdrama, light. 

 In Hawaiian, tanata, man, makes in the plural, net tanata, men. 



5 9. The following examples will show the changes which words 

 undergo in passing from one dialect to another. 



