liv : Appendix. 
Maori and Tongan. 
Each language, or more properly dialect, of the great Polynesian language, 
has five vowels, but, as stated before, the Maori has only eight consonants, 
while the Tongan has twelve. Each have two labials, m being common to 
both. Maori has no sibilants, Tongan only one. Maori has only one palatal, 
Tongan two. Each have only one dental. Maori has two aspirates, Tongan 
one. Maori has no dento-labials, Tongan two; and Maori has two dento- 
palatals, T three, as shown below :— 
Sibilant. Palatal. Dental. ue Dento-labial. Dento- — 
Maori ... n £ À, 
Tui b, т з k, g t à Fa v 3 LI 
Now, looking at the influence of this selection of their articulations in their 
respective dialects, we will see the effects on their phonologies in the following 
words :— 
Potiki, a child, in Maori, becomes bibigi in Tongan. 
Kuri, a dog, in Maori, becomes guli in Tongan. 
Taringa, the ear, in Maori, becomes felinga in Tongan. 
Ahi, fire, in Maori, becomes afi in Tongan. 
Pua, a flower, in Maori, becomes fua in Tongan. 
Ngaro, a fly, in Maori, becomes lango in Tongan. 
Wera, hot, in Maori, becomes vela in Tongan. 
Puaka, a pig, in Maori, becomes buaka in Tongan. 
and so on. Thus we see how, in a closely allied dialect, divergences commence 
by the simple, unregulated action of the tongue on different parts of the 
mouth ; also by one tribe having, in process of time or by contact with more 
highly developed languages, gained and adopted more. 
Again, by reducing both dialects to one system of spelling, we find that 
by taking several sentences of twenty words each, at random, the Maori has 
100 vowels for every sixty-three consonants, while the Tongan has 100 vowels 
for every sixty-two consonants; thus, though differing in the number of 
consonants in their respective alphabets, they may be said to be nearly equally 
soft or vocalic in their speech, 
Maori and Malay. 
Proceeding on the same principle, we come now to compare Maori and 
Malay phonetically, The Malay alphabet, as stated before, has five vowels 
and eighteen consonants, i.e., if we allow À soft and A hard to count as two; 
but, as I doubt the propriety of this, I may suggest that there sltould be only 
seventeen consonants. The A soft phonetically really has no existence, and 
has been adopted by European writers who blindly follow the Arabic system, 
where the paucity of vowel characters has necessitated the introduction of 
the final letter “ Ла” to many words actually ending in a, e, i, o, or u. 
It will be seen below that Malay has three labials to the Maori two, two 
sibilants to the Maori none, two palatals and dentals to the Maori one, three 
