CHAP. I.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 299 



selves. Almost the only difference between the 

 dialects of New Zealand and Tahiti consists in the 

 use of softer or harder consonants; for instance, the k 

 of New Zealand is exchanged for t, the r for /. In 

 the Sandwich Islands, consonants at the beginning 

 of the words are often thrown out : olelo, to 

 speak, is borer o in New Zealand, and so on. I 

 should say, indeed, that the difference is less than 

 between the Dutch and the German ; at least, a 

 native of Tahiti who was along with me under- 

 stood the New Zealanders immediately on arriving 

 amongst them, which is not the case with German 

 and Dutch. The differences existing form a good 

 instance of the influence of physical circumstances 

 in altering a dialect to a certain degree, without 

 any admixture from without, and this alteration 

 has kept pace with the variations which climate 

 and the geographical features of their respective 

 countries have effected in the people themselves. 



The Polynesian language is in its whole forma- 

 tion and construction by far more primitive than 

 the Malayan and the rest of the Javano-tagalo 

 languages. Its whole cast is ancient : it belongs to 

 a primitive state of society. The roots are mono- 

 syllables, which, however, is also the principle of the 

 Indo-Germanic languages, and the words are often 

 an imitation of the natural sound or voice, especially 

 the names of animate objects. The polysyllabic 

 words are often formed as children form words, by 

 reduplication of the root, and repetition often 



