A GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY 



OF THE 



VITIAN LANGUAGE. 



THE materials which have served for the construction of the 

 grammar and dictionary which follow are (1st), an abstract of a 

 grammar of the Lakemba dialect, by the Rev. David Cargill, late 

 missionary to the islands ; (2d), a brief grammar of the dialect of 

 Somusomu, by Mr. Hunt, the missionary residing in that town ; (3), 

 a dictionary of the Vitian language, drawn up by Mr. Cargill, in the 

 dialect of Lakemba, and revised by Mr. Hunt (at the request of Cap- 

 tain Wilkes, by whose care the copy which we possess was procured), 

 for that of Somusomu ; (4th), the translations, by the missionaries, of 

 portions of the three first gospels, into the dialect of Lakemba, with a 

 brief catechism in that of Somusomu ; and (5th), a large collection 

 of words and sentences, taken down from the pronunciation of the 

 natives, while we were at the group, principally at Ovolau, Rewa, 

 Mbua, and Mathuata. 



Although some errors and omissions will, perhaps, be apparent on 

 a more thorough acquaintance with the language, it is, nevertheless, 

 believed that the account of it here given will be found sufficient for 

 all purposes of philological comparison. On some accounts, the 

 addition to the dictionary of an English- Vitian part would have been 

 desirable, but the limits of our publication do not admit of this ex- 

 tension. 



