POLYNESIAN GRAMMAR. 277 



frequently it cannot well be translated. It usually refers to some 

 word in the first part of the sentence, expressive of time, place, cause, 

 means, manner, &c. In most of the dialects this particle is ai, in 

 Rarotongan ei. 



Judging from the Samoan and Tongan, the proper meaning of ai is there, and in these 

 languages it frequently has prepositions before it. It then answers very well to the 

 English expressions " therefrom," " thereof," " therein," used for " of it," " of them," 

 " of him," " from it," " in it," &c. It may also be compared with the French y. O le 

 itu ei ai o outou oa, lit. the place is there thy wealth, i. e. the place wherein thy wealth 

 is ; letasi no, i ai taleni elima, the one whereunto were five talents, i. e. he who had five 

 talents ; fai atu i ai, say unto him or them, or say thereunto. 



In Tongan, ai evidently signifies there, as lea ne tuku ki ai, and he placed there ; but 

 it is frequently used as a relative, as o tio atu mai he botu oku ke tu ai, and look away 

 from the place thou standest there (where thou standest) ; ae ydhi mea oku mofanoyo 

 ai, the things ye listen thereto (for, the things which ye hear); kohai ia e fd-behe ai, 

 who is he whereby it can be said (for, who is it that can say). 



In New Zealand, ya pa i meiga ai, the towns wherein was done ; te mate e aiwi ai 

 kotttou, the death which ye receive ; i mevyatia katoatia tenei kia rite ai, and all this 

 was done that might be fulfilled thereby, &c. 



In Rarotongan, te mea i viivii ei te tayata, the things whereby the man is defiled ; e 

 acre atu ra koe ki te pae roto, e titiri atu ei, but go thou to the shore of the lake, and 

 throw therein. 



In the Mangarevan, the missionaries have perhaps mistaken the office of this particle. 

 In the vocabulary ai is said to be used after a verb (having e before it) as a future particle, 

 and at the end of a phrase as interrogative. No examples are given. 



In Paumotuan, karia kakuenei taua e karo ai, by and by, to-day, we two will then 

 fight : here ai refers to the adverbs of time, karia kakuenei, but it is easy to see how it 

 might be mistaken, as in Mangarevan, for a future particle. Eaha tau warare e wii 

 mai ai koe kiaku, what is thy desire for which thou art hostile to me ? here ai refers to 

 warare, but it might readily be taken for an interrogative. 



In Tahitian, Hawaiian, and Nukuhivan, its use is the same as in the examples already 

 given ; it does not, however, take a preposition before it, as in Samoan and Tongan. In 

 most of the dialects, when this particle follows a word terminating in a, it frequently 

 coalesces with it ; as, te tanata matamua i hanaia'i e te atua, Haw., the first man who 

 was made by God : here hanaia is the passive of hana, to make, and the 'i (for ai) 

 refers to tanata, and supplies the place of the relative who. 



ADVERBS. 



J 61. It should be observed, however, that any adjective may 

 become an adverb, by being used after the verb. The same words 

 mean good and well, bad and badly, weak and feebly, &c. Cer- 

 tain classes of adverbs, however, deserve particular notice. 



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