TARAWA. 439 



E naiwarak n' te tapa, stabbed with a knife. 



Iribdia te oamata, the men dislike him. 



Tia kona te udua, I understand the swimming. 



It is possible that another article, n or e, really exists in the language, although it was 

 not perceived by the interpreters. On inquiring of a native the word for man, he gave 

 both te oamata and a oamata ; in other cases, a similar particle seemed to be used, but 

 our opportunities did not enable us to determine its exact import. 



THE SUBSTANTIVE. 



The gender is distinguished, when necessary, by the words umane, man or male, and 

 niuie, woman or female. When the substantive signifies an irrational creature, these 

 words are appended immediately to it ; as mo 1 umane, a cock ; mo 1 aiine, a lien. When 

 it is a term used only of persons, the particle ni is inserted, as, atai ni umane, a man- 

 child ; atai ni aiine, a girl (perhaps, a child among men, &c.) ; tu ni umane, an old 

 man ; tu ni aiine, an old woman. 



Case is denoted by prepositions prefixed to the substantive. The most common are 

 ni, of, for, from, among, by ; i, to, at, in ; kai, to ; ru and mairu, from, among, about, 

 belonging to ; ma, with, by. It should be observed, however, that ni, i, and ma, are the 

 only prepositions which can immediately precede the noun. The others must have the 

 first of these (ni or n') after them, as, uki ni bai, nail of finger; i Kuria, in Kuria; 

 ma te ika, with the fish. Wilia kain te aiine, carry it to the woman. Run tinam, 

 from thy mother. 



The particle ni frequently loses its vowel, as in the instances just given, and is then 

 suffixed to the preceding word, whether noun, verb, or preposition, as, manayin te ai, 

 ashes of the fire ; ia tian tuay, I am done with telling. By the interpreters, a vowel 

 i or e was frequently inserted before the n, as, ko babak in anti, thou art great among 

 spirits. This, however, was probably only the final letter of the preceding word omitted 

 in their usual pronunciation (babak for babaki), and reinserted when it became necessary 

 in order to separate two consonants ; the foregoing phrase should therefore properly be, 

 ko babaki ri 1 anti. 



We could discover no mode of distinguishing the singular from the plural, except by 

 prefixing the words maiti and baibete (many), as may be seen in the vocabulary. It is 

 possible that other modes may exist, but, if so, they are seldom used. In general the 

 number of the thing or things spoken of is to be understood from the context, or from 

 circumstances. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 



The same word is often used, with no change of form, as substantive, adjective, and 

 verb.; thus, main means " life," " alive," and " to live." The exact meaning is deter- 

 mined by the collocation. The adjective immediately succeeds the noun which it quali- 

 fies, as, umane rapa, good man. When an adjective precedes a noun, it takes a verbal 

 signification, or, at least, the substantive verb is to be understood between them, as, 



