238 



PHILOLOGY. 



THE SUBSTANTIVE. 



13. The gender is distinguished either by the use of entirely 

 different words, as tama, Sam., father, tind, mother; or, more gene- 

 rally, by the use of words signifying male and female. 



Sam. lupe tane, a cock pigeon 



Tong. ioloa tane, a drake 



N. Z. tupuna tane, a grandfather 



N. Z. kararehe toarawa, a male beast 



Rar. metuatane, a father 



Tah. hunoa tane, a son-in-law 



Tah. puaa oni, a boar 



Haw. kao tane, a he-goat 



Nuk. moa ahana, a cock 



Nuk. puaka toa, a hog 



lupefafine, a hen pigeon 



toloafafine, a duck 



tupuna wahine, a grandmother 



kararetie uwa, a female beast 



metua-vaine, a mother 



hunoa vahine, a daughter-in-law 



puaa ulia, a sow 



kao wahine, a she-goat 



moa vahine, a hen 



puaka ufa, a sow 



\ 14. The plural is frequently left without any mark to distin- 

 guish it from the singular. In this case, the plurality must be 

 inferred from the general course of the conversation or narrative. 

 When it becomes necessary to mark the distinction, there are several 

 modes of doing it ; 1st, in some of the dialects, by an indefinite or 

 demonstrative or possessive pronoun prefixed, as nisi tayata, Sam., 

 some men; ona toi, his axes; era ware, N. Z., those houses; 2dly, in 

 most of the dialects, by the form of the adjective, as raau rahi, Tah., 

 large tree, pi. raau rarahi, large trees; 3dly, by some numeral or 

 adjective signifying number. These three methods will be further 

 illustrated hereafter. Finally, the most general manner of denoting 

 the plural is by means of particles, most of which have a collective 

 sense, prefixed to the noun. 



In Fakaafo we heard ni, kau, and tai used for this purpose ; as ni ao, clouds ; kau 

 pu, shells ; te taifale, the houses. 



In Samoan the plural signs are ni, au, mou, tai, -galu, atu, ya. Ni is also used for 

 some, as ni a outou, some for you ; but it more often has a general signification, as e le 

 ola lava ni tayata, men shall not live. This particle does not admit an article before it. 

 Nai is used in the same way for a small number, as nai ia elua, two fishes. Au is 

 used for a class or collection; mou and tai for a multitude; -galu for women and 

 children ; atu is only used before words signifying country, island, district, and the like, as 

 te atu nuu, the towns. J7a is found only in the numerals, as sefula, ten, selau, hundred ; 

 tolu -ga fulu, thirty ; tolu -ga lau, three hundred. It should be observed that the words 

 au, mou, tai, -galu, atu, are considered to be in the singular, and would take a singular 

 pronoun ; as lana mau ayelo, his angels (properly, his company of angels) : ana agelo 

 would signify, his angels, in a general sense. 



