VITIAN GRAMMAR. 375 



ggoka, &c. JEi, vei, ma, mai, are also employed as demonstratives. They are usually 

 preceded by the noun or adjective to which they refer, and sometimes have an i inter- 

 posed between, as, ko fei na tantata ygou ? who is this man ? E vinaka i ei ka e d 

 i ygore, this is good and that is bad. 



THE VERB. 



The verb has, properly speaking, no inflections. All the accidents of tense, mood, die., 

 are expressed by particles prefixed or suffixed. The only exception is the occasional 

 duplication of the verb, or a part of it, to express frequency of action, as, ravu, to kill, 

 sa vei-raravui, they are killing one another. 



The particles used with the verb may be divided into (1) affirmative or active particles, 

 (2) particles of time, (3) of mode, (4) of form, (5) transitive affixes, (6) directive parti- 

 cles, and (7), the relative particle. 



The particles of affirmation are those which are prefixed to a word to show that it is to 

 be taken in a verbal sense, and which thus supply, in many cases, the place of the sub- 

 stantive verb. A large proportion of the words in the Vitian language, as in the Polyne- 

 sian, may be used either as nouns, adjectives, or verbs, and the precise acceptation in 

 which they are employed must be determined by the particles which accompany them. 



The principal affirmative particle is sa, which is prefixed to verbs in all tenses. When 

 joined with words which are properly adjectives or nouns, it may, in general, be translated 

 by some tense of the verb to be, as, sa lako mai na tamandatou, our father is coming ; 

 sa lako i Ovolau nanoa ko Seru, Seru went (or was going) to Ovolau yesterday; sa ivei 

 na tamata, where is the man? sa visa tiko, it is burning (remains burning) ; sa visa keti, 

 it is all burnt ; sa leouleou na turaya, many are the chiefs. 



E is another particle frequently used. It is often prefixed to a verb at the beginning 

 of a sentence or clause, when the nominative, instead of preceding the verb, follows it, 

 as, e lako koi kola, he goes ; a lako mai a tamata, the man is coming ; e rerekita kemun- 

 dou, blessed are ye. E is also prefixed to the pronouns of the third person dual and 

 plural, when they precede the verb, as, e ra lako, they go. 



Sometimes the nominative comes before the verb, with e between them, in which case 

 this particle supplies the place of the relative pronoun, as, koi ra e Saka d, those that 

 do evil ; koi koia e kaivi, he who is called ; koi koia e i hevani, he who is in heaven. 

 E is only used in the present and future tenses ; in the latter case it often precedes the 

 future sign na, as, e na lako mai koi koia, he will come. 



Ka is used like e, but only in the past tense, as, na lemba ka'u Sakava, the garland 

 [which] I was making ; koi koia ka lako, he who went. It must not be confounded with 

 the conjunction ka, and, which is of frequent occurrence. 



PARTICLES OF TENSE. 



It has already been explained that e and ka, to a certain degree, indicate time ; but 

 there are also two particles which have peculiarly this office. These are na for the future, 

 and a (in the third person, ka) for the preterite, as, au na vakamate, I will kill ; au a 

 vakamate, I have killed. 



These particles, however, are frequently omitted, when the time of the action is other- 

 wise indicated, either by the context, or by certain adverbs. Ugai expresses an action 



