POLYNESIAN GRAMMAR. 



273 



As the formation of these nouns, like that of the passive voice, is most clearly and 

 fully displayed in the New Zealand dialect, it seems advisable to depart from our usual 

 order, and draw our first examples from this tongue. The general rule is that the par- 

 ticle of the noun depends upon that of the passive, a, ia, na, ya, and yia being changed 

 into ya, and hia, kia, mia, ria, and tia becoming respectively haya, kaya, maya, raya, 

 and taya, as 



ACTIVE. 



patu, to kill 



wati, to break 



tahu, to burn 



kai, to eat 



pai, to favor 



tayi, to lament 



wakawd, to judge 



aru, to pursue 



tu (trans.), to stand on 



korero, to speak 



patua 



watiia 



tahuna 



kaiya 



paiyia 



tayihia 



wakawakia 



arumia 



turia (stood upon) 



korerotia 



patuya, a killing 

 wat,iya, fracture 

 tahuya, a burning 

 kaiya, a meal 

 paiya, favor, kindness 

 tayihaya, lamentation 

 wakawakaya, judgment 

 arumaya, pursuit 

 turaya, a stand, foundation 

 korerotaya, a speaking 



It is probable that the passive suffixes ina and kina are changed to ya, but the ex- 

 amples are so few and doubtful that no positive conclusion has been arrived at ; thus, 

 wakaputa-ina, made to appear, or shown, has wakaputaya, a showing forth, but then 

 this verb has also another form of the passive, wakaputaia, from which the noun may 

 be derived. The suffixes ya and taya are those which are generally used where a noun 

 is to be formed from a word which is not a verb, as from nui, great, we have nuiya, 

 greatness ; from pouri, dark, pouritaya, darkness ; from marie, peacefully, marietaya, 

 peacefulness. Sometimes a slight irregularity may be observed, as wakapuaki, to 

 testify, which should properly have wakapuakiya, has wakapuakaya, testimony. When 

 the verb of which the noun is to be formed is qualified by an adverb, this adverb, also, 

 receives a nominal suffix, which is always taya: thus ora tonu is to live continually, 

 from which we have oraya lonu-taya, eternal life; tu-kau, to be naked (lit. to stand 

 merely), has tuya kautaya, nakedness. Here it will be observed that tu has a different 

 suffix (ya) from that which it has above (raya), and with a different meaning. This is 

 not an uncommon case ; wanau, to bring forth, passive wanaua, has wanauya (reg.), 

 offspring, and wanautaya (irreg.), birth ; ako, to teach, pass, akona, has akoya (reg.), 

 disciple, and akaraya (irreg.), instruction. No certain rule can be given for these cases, 

 except that when the regular derivative of a verb has acquired by custom a meaning 

 different from that which it should properly possess (as wanauya should properly signify 

 birth, turaya, standing, akoya, teaching), another noun may be formed to express such 

 proper meaning, by affixing to the verb the particle which will form the most euphonious 

 combination. It will be seen that the Eastern dialects (Rarotongan, Tahitian, &c.) have 

 generalised this exceptional rule into a regular system, and thence derived two classes of 

 verbal nouns. 



In Samoan, the usual suffix is ya, which sometimes becomes aya, as tanuya, inter- 

 ment or sepulchre, tufa-aya, division, yataya or yata-aya, end, from yata, to termi- 

 nate. There are, however, some exceptions, which seem to indicate that a more com- 



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