POLYNESIAN GRAMMAR. 283 



un elliptical form of expression for te mea o te ao, or to te ao mea, the things of the world 

 [v. 71] ; this omission of a word which will be understood from the construction is not 

 uncommon in these languages). As an instance of striking resemblance in forms between 

 two widely separated dialects, we find that in Samoan, " what I tell you," is translated 

 sa'u mea efui atu iate outou (lit. my things to tell to you), and in Hawaiian, " what I 

 have commanded you," is ta'u mea i kauoha atu ia outou (my things to have com- 

 manded you). 



Nukuhivan : na te puaa e uhu i te epo, the pig roots in the earth ; e kai taau, I eat. 



74. In most of the dialects the dual and plural pronouns perform 

 the office of conjunctions in connecting proper names and words sig- 

 nifying persons. 



In New Zealand, Pareha raua ko Hara, Pharcs and Zara (lit. Phares they two Zara). 

 Hura ratou ko ana teina, Judah and his brethren. 



In Rarotongan, Mose raua ko Elia, Moses and Elias. 



In Mangarevan, Petero raua ko Paulo, Peter and Paul. 



In Hawaiian, Adamu laua o Eva, Adam and Eve. 



If you observe to a native, " I am going to the town," instead of saying, " I will go 

 with you," he merely says "taua," " we two," i. e. we will go together. 



THE FORMATION OF WORDS. 



75. Words are very frequently formed by the duplication of 

 single words. No general rule, however, can be given on this point. 

 There are many words which are never doubled, others which are 

 never found except in this form. Sometimes a noun by being doubled 

 becomes an adjective; but frequently the duplication, whether of 

 nouns, verbs, or adjectives, gives only an intensitive or frequentative 

 force [v. H 27, 46]. Sometimes the doubled word has an entirely 

 different meaning from the single. 



Examples of these cases are, lolo, Tonga, oil, lolololo, oily ; poka, Rar., stone, 

 pokapoka, stony. Fitafita, Sam., strong (fita, no meaning). Layo, Sam., a fly, 

 layolayo, to lean upon. Boto, Tong., wise, botoboto, round. 



76. A sort of adjective with a passive sense is formed from many 

 verbs by prefixing ma. 



Samoan : sae, to tear, masae, torn ; saa, to spill, masaa, spilt ; tula, to loose, 

 matala, loosed, freed. 



Tongan : fohi, to strip, peel, mafohi, stripped off (as bark) ; feti, to break, mafeti, 

 broken. 



New Zealand : riyi, to pour out, spill, mariyi, spilt ; rere, to go, depart, marere, 

 gone. 



Rarotongan : vete, to loose, to open, mavete, opened ; yaro, to hide, mayaro, hidden. 



Tahitian : heu, to open, maheu, opened ; tara, to loose, matara, loosed. 



