846 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 283. 



guage must be free from intricate forms of 

 syntax. 



Used alone a may be a noun, an adverb, 

 a conjunction, a preposition, an interjection, 

 a verb or an adjective. Under each part 

 of speecli it has several meanings. Here 

 are a few when it is used as a noun : First, 

 the jawbone ; second, an instrument made of 

 smooth hone, used in piercing unborn infants; 

 third, broJcen lava ; fourth, white spots in poi ; 

 fifth, o sea bird; sixth, a small fah; seventh, 

 the alphabet. 



III. — MORPHOLOGY. 



General Characteristics. — We now proceed 

 to develop the peculiar genius of the Poly- 

 nesian languages, and of the Hawaiian in 

 particular. They differ radically from the 

 Indo-European family, which stands pre- 

 eminent for the perfection of its organic 

 structure, in three essential particulars : 



1. They are completely devoid of inflec- 

 tions. 



2. The vowel sounds largely predomi- 

 nate. 



3. The construction has great flexibility. 

 Most writers on the subject fall into the 



naural habit of comparing the Oceanic with 

 the European tongues, and analogies more 

 or less real are indicated. These are often 

 stretched beyond the limits warranted, per- 

 haps with the laudable object of easing the 

 student's path. The fact is the Oceanic 

 family of languages is a distinct and separate 

 creation, and must be followed on entirely 

 different lines from those followed in West- 

 ern speech. The inflections of our highly 

 cultivated tongues add symmetry and ele- 

 gance, but do not necessarily give flexibility. 

 Even barbarous dialects can furnish in cer- 

 tain directions more varied locution for 

 the conveyance of thought ; for instance, in 

 the Hawaiian language gender is denoted 

 in two ways. There are five methods of 

 distinguishing number. There are ten 

 cases. There is almost endless variety in 



the arrangement of words, depending on the 

 order of preference. 



The Singular and Plural Distinctions. — The 

 five ways of indicating number are : 



1. By changing the article, as in most 

 European languages, and saying ka hale, 

 the house, or na hale, the houses. 



2. By the use of the plural sign mau, 

 which can be associated with any noun. 

 Thus they have he mau lio, several horses ; 

 or, 



3. One may employ a collective noun ; as 

 in 



he poe haumana, a company of disciples ; 

 keia pae moTcu, these islands ; 

 he pu' a pohaku, a pile of stones ; 



Poe is applied to living things, pae to 

 lands and islands, and pu\i to lifeless ob- 

 jects. These shades of meaning, invariably 

 observed, impart a vividness to the lan- 

 guage unknown to Western speech. 



4. The plural may also be indicated by 

 shifting the accent ; as, kandka, a man ; 

 kanaka, men. And, finally 



5. The same idea may be expressed by 

 using the work ma, which means literally a 

 company. 



Here then are five distinct ways of ex- 

 pressing an idea for which only two exist 

 in our own language. 



Tense and Case. — The distinctions of time 

 are never so definite as in other languages, 

 the chief attention being centered on the 

 accidents of place. The word ana de- 

 notes continuance, and may be past, pres- 

 ent, or future. Thus e hana ana au may 

 mean, I am working, I ivas working, or I 

 will be working, according to the connection. 



Take the relations of case. There are 

 ten. The six cases of Latin are well de- 

 fined, and four of them — the genitive, ac- 

 cusative, vocative, and ablative — each have 

 two shades of meaning, for which only one 

 means of expression exist in English. Not 

 only this, but one of the subgenitives, the 

 aui pili, has two significations for which we 



