POLYNESIAN GRAMMAR. 337 



attention is paid by the higher classes to the arts of oratory. In Tahiti, the attempt to 

 avoid this repetition has led merely to the lengthening of the relative, which is pro- 

 nounced lei. That te is properly an article of unity, there can be no doubt. It never 

 precedes a noun in the plural, unless where this has a collective sense; thus, te tanata, 

 in Hawaiian, may mean either " the man," or " mankind," or the " party of men," 

 (spoken of before ;) but in the latter case it would usually have some collective particle 

 after it, as ia man tanata, or ta poe tanata. It is, perhaps, connected with the numeral 

 tahi, one, which in Rotuman becomes ta, and in Tarawan te. As regards the a, in the 

 Tongan, New Zealand, and Rarotongan dialects, it would perhaps be more proper to 

 consider it not an article, but rather a particle similar to the nominative sign ko (vide 

 17), and used when that cannot be employed, viz. : before the nominative, when it is 

 in the middle of a sentence, and before the accusative generally.] 



12. Besides the two articles above-mentioned, all the dialects 

 have other words which may be included, though with less propriety, 

 in the same class. They are mostly such as are commonly termed 

 in English indefinite pronouns. 



In Samoan these are sa, some one ; nisi, some (pi.) ; sina, some (partitive) ; isi, 

 other ; setasi, one, some one ; ktasi, a certain one, another ; etasi, some, several, other ; 

 as sa tayata, some man ; nisi ta-gata, some men ; siua vai, some water ; ktasi alii, a 

 certain chief; etasi alii, certain chiefs. 



In Tongan, ha, some one, any one ; foe, a single one ; nihi, some (pi.) ; etaha, certain, 

 other ; as ha tayata, some man ; foe niu, a single cocoa-nut ; ki he matatahi etaha, to 

 the other side. 



In the New Zealand dialect, tetahi, some one, a certain one, another, pi., etahi; wahi 

 or tewahi, some (partitive). 



In Rarotongan, tetai, some one, another, pi. etai; tetai pae, some, a portion of. 



In Mangarevan, tai, one, other ; ma, some, as ma vai, some water (but used rather 

 in the sense of " give me some water"). 



In Paumotuan, e homai te wahi komo noku, bring here some water for me. 



In Tahitian, te hoe, some one, a single one ; etahi, one, other, pi. vetahi; ma or maa, 

 some, a portion of; as tehoe vi, an apple; etahi ea, another road ; maa pape, some 

 water ; maa matai, some wind. Sometimes this last has another article before it, as 

 homai etahi a tehoe maa pape, give me some water. 



[We have also maa hernia, a piece of ground, a field, in Rarotongan maya enua. 

 Maa and maga mean also food. The origin is probably from the Tongan ma, to chew ; 

 hence, a mouthful, a morsel. Thus in Tonga they say, mai ma kava, give me some kava, 

 or a morsel of kava. In English we say, in like manner, a little bit, a mere morsel.] 



In Hawaiian, we have tahi or tetahi, and wahi; as tahi or tetahi tanata, a certain 

 man ; wahi laau, some timber ; te wahi tapa, some cloth. 



In Nukuhivan, tetahi, some one, a certain one, as tetahi niu, a cocoa-nut ; tana, some 

 one, as tona a, some day. 



[In the foregoing list, tetahi, etahi, &c., are from the numeral one ; foe, Tong., hoe, 

 Tah., means properly a mass, lump, or ball (vide vocab. verb, foe) ; wahi is from fan, 

 Sam., to divide, and means a division, a portion ; pae is perhaps a corruption of the same 

 word.] 



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