POLYNESIAN GRAMMAR. 245 



Tab. raau rahi, large tree ; pi. r>iuu rarahi. 



This peculiarity does not exist in the Hawaiian. 



In Samoan, by a singular exception, ititi, small, has for its plural, iti. 



28. The comparison of adjectives is effected by various circum- 

 locutions; for, "this is greater than that," they say, "this is great 

 above that," or " beyond that," or " this exceeds that in greatness," 

 or simply, " this is great to that." 



Sam. e tele lenei i lela, this is great to that. 



Sam. e sili lona lelei i low, his goodness exceeds mine. 



Sam. n'au ititi, ai tele ia, I am small, but he is great. 



Sam. taitai ane, soon beyond, for sooner, more readily. 



Tong. kuo lelei lahi ae tayata ki he sibi, a man is greatly good to a sheep, i. e. a 



man is much better than a sheep. 

 Tong. lahi ia Solomone, great to Solomon. 



Tong. lahi hake i , great above ; lahi aye ki , great beyond. 

 N. Z. he ta-gata rahi ake ia Hoani, a man great above John. 

 N. Z. kaka atu ia ia, strong beyond him. 

 N. Z. tera.atu, more, i. e. that beyond ; erima atu, five more. 

 Rar. e maata aia i te iero, he is great to (greater than) the temple. 

 Rar. kino maata ita atu te opeya o taua tagata rai tei muata-gana, bad, great, 



beyond (much worse) [is] the end of that man to the beginning. 

 Tah. e rahi Tahiti i Moorea, Tahiti is great to Moorea. 

 Tah. e rahi atu Beretane, Britain is great beyond (still greater). 

 Tah. e rahi roa 'tu America, America is very great beyond (much larger). 

 Tah. e mea maitai ae, a thing good above (or better, but in a small degree). 

 Tah. ua hau teie i te maoro, this exceeds in length. 



[These examples are taken from the Tahitian Grammar.] 

 Haw. poto ae, short above (for shorter). 



Haw. e ai atu to outou maitai i to latou, your goodness exceeds theirs. 

 Nuk. meitai, good ; meitai atu, better. 

 Nuk. i uta, inland ; i via atu, farther inland. 



Nuk. o te enana mea okoite hana ke o te Etua (G.), man [is] greater than (very 

 great to) the other works of God. 



$ 29. The superlative is formed by means of adverbs which have 

 the sense of very, exceedingly, or by a repetition of the adjective, as 

 in Italian. It is unnecessary to give examples. 



NUMERALS. 



J 30. The following are the numerals in the Polynesian dialects : 

 it will be seen that a great similarity pervades them all, with the ex- 



62 



