174 H. B, aUPPY, M.B., ON THE POLYNESIAN PLANT-NAMES. 



the Maori says hai, the Samoan 'ai, Fiji ka-na, New Britain (k)an 

 aud various islands of the New Hebrides have the same root in 

 the forms ca-ig, ka-ni, ga-ni ; the Malay word is ma-kan. Indeed, 

 this root is so widely spread in all Oceania that it is impossible to 

 believe the Malays — the most recent comers — brought it there ; it 

 must belong^ to the speech of the earliest occupants, the blacks. 

 And further ; in Oceania there is the frequent interchange of k and 

 t ; hence the root ka is also ta. From these two roots come many 

 of the plant-names in Mr. Grappy's lists ; they mean merely " that 

 which is edible," "that which is used as food '^ ; e.g., ka-ba, ka-pe, 

 kaka-u, ta-ha, ta-lo, ta-ro, etc., qq.v. The earliest forms of the 

 name for " sweet potato " lead me to think that ku-mara comes 

 from this root ka, with mara added to mean " sweet," for there is 

 in some of the islands the word mada, mala-ri, " sweet." 



