POLYNESIAN GRAMMAR. 



255 



conjecture that there was once a personal pronoun na, of the first 

 person, as we find ne still existing in the Tongan ; and perhaps a 

 pronoun ku of the first person. 



The Samoan pronouns of the first and second persons singular and the second plural 

 have two forms, a full and a contracted. The pronouns which are joined with singular 

 nouns differ from those which are joined with plurals in having the /, of the article le, 

 prefixed to them, as : 



SINGULAR. PLURAL. 



Full form. Contracted. Full form. Contracted 



laa'u, loa'u la'u, kfu aa'u, oa'u a'u, d'u, my 



la'oe, lo'oe lau, lau a?oe, o'oe &u, 6u, thy 



lana, lona ana, ona, his 



la 'outou, lo 'outou Idutou, lautou a 'outou, o 'outou dutou, outou, your 



The remaining forms of the dual and plural are simply the personal pronouns with the 

 particles la, lo, a, o, prefixed, as la maua, lo maua, a maua, o maua, &c. 



The indefinite article se, when it comes before these pronouns, coalesces with them, 

 taking the place of the 1; as e le ai sona fale, he has no house (for e le ai se fale o ia, 

 there is not a house belonging to him) ; e le ai sa matou mea e ai, we have nothing 

 to eat. 



It will be observed that the pronouns beginning with I are an example of the pecu- 

 liarity pointed out in 17 ; laa'u lama, my son, is for le tama a au; lo matou fanua, 

 our country, is instead of k fanua o matou. This formation is common to all the 

 dialects. 



The difference between laa'u and loa'u, lana and lona, &c., is the same as that be- 

 tween a and o. [V. 18.] 



Ma, meaning with or for, is also compounded with the possessive pronouns, as mau 

 uso, with thy brothers ; mona lea-ga, for its evil. 



At Fakaafo, the following possessive pronouns were heard, taku, toku (sing.), aku 

 (pi.), my ; maku, for me ; tou (sing.), ou (pi.), thy ; to matou, our ; to outou, o outou, your. 



The Tongan makes no distinction between pronouns joined with singular nouns, and 

 those joined with plurals. It has, however, several classes of pronouns. Those which 

 precede the noun are as follows : 



SINGULAR. DUAL. PLURAL. 



eku, hoku etna, homa email, homau 



eta, hota etau, hotau 



hoo, ho hoo ma, homo hoo mou, homou 



ene, hono ena, hona enau, honau 



These forms differ like those in a and o of the Samoan. 



The pronouns which follow the noun are a aku, o aku, mine or of me ; a au, o ou, 

 thine ; a ia, o ia, a ana, o ona, his ; a maua, o maua; a mautolu, o mautolu, &c. 

 These are also used when preceded by the indefinite article ha, and the preposition ma 



