POLYNESIAN GRAMMAR. 241 



if the substantives come together, with no particle to mark the rela- 

 tion between them, the latter of the two is considered to be in the 

 genitive. 



Apu-lima, Sam., palm of hand ; fale manu, Tong., bird-cage (house of bird) ; hta 

 tayata, N. Z., a man's sepulchre ; talia-tai, Tah., border of the sea, sea-coast ; tahuna 

 Pele, Haw., priest of Pele. 



The Rarotongan is peculiar in lengthening the final vowel of the preceding word, as, 

 rud vai, well of water ; kotiyd kaiya, division of land. This, however, appears to take 

 place only with the vowel a. 



17. The Polynesian languages have a peculiar particle to mark 

 the nominative, or rather the agent, in a sentence. This particle is 

 ko, or, in Samoan, Tahitian, and Hawaiian, '6. Its use varies some- 

 what in the different dialects, but its general object appears to be to 

 mark the governing noun. In all, it is used to reply to the questions 

 " who or what is it?" " who did it ?" and the like. 



In Samoan its use is very frequent. When prefixed to common nouns in the singular, 

 or collective plural, it usually has the article after it, as, o le tayata, the man ; o le tupu- 

 laya umalava, all the generations ; in the ordinary plural, however, it immediately pre- 

 cedes the noun, as, o tama ninii, the young children. With proper names and pronouns 

 it has no article, as, o Vavasa, Vavasa ; o ontau, ye. It does not always precede the 

 nominative, but only when this is at the beginning of the sentence, or in apposition to a 

 preceding noun ; as, o lana tone, o Josefa, o le tayata upu-lelei, her husband, Joseph 

 [being] a just man. It is also used independently of a substantive, as, o e lafoai iate au, 

 whoever shall reject me ; o se, whosoever. 



In Tongan, ko is used before proper names, and some of the pronouns, and koe (for 

 ko lie) before common nouns. This particle never occurs in the middle of a sentence, 

 except when in apposition to a preceding noun, or preceded by the preposition koeuhi ; 

 as, koeuhi koau, because of me (or rather koe uhi koau, I being the cause). 



In the other dialects this particle is used less frequently than in the two preceding. 

 The following are the principal cases in which it is found : (1) Before proper names, 

 when at the beginning of a sentence or in apposition, as, o Petero oe, Tah., thou art 

 Peter ; tana tane ko Josepha, Rar., her husband Joseph. (2) Before most of the per- 

 sonal, demonstrative, and interrogative pronouns in like circumstances ; ko kotoa te 

 marama, Rar., ye are the light; te mou ra, koia te opeya o teianei ao, Rar., the harvest, 

 that is the end of this world ; ko tehea o koutou, N. Z., which of you 1 o wai la to mea 

 o outou, Haw., who is there of you 1 (3) Before common nouns, at the beginning of a 

 sentence, when it is desired to emphasize them, it is generally followed by the singular 

 article, te, or by the plural particle ya or na. As the propriety of rendering an expres- 

 sion emphatic will appear differently to different minds, there is, in all the dialects, some 

 uncertainty about its use. In three chapters of Matthew (the 5th, 6th, and 7th) the 

 Samoan uses this particle fifty-six times, the New Zealand forty-nine, the Rarotongan 

 forty-six, the Hawaiian forty-three, and the Tahitian twenty-six. The latter, in general, 

 makes a more sparing use of it than the others. In the verse " all things whatsoever ye 



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