246 The Oceanic Languages Shemitic : a Discovery. 



languages, the odds would be more than 10 to 1 that in 

 both cases they must have been derived from a common 

 parent tongue; that for 6 words the chances would be 

 1700 to 1 ; and for 8 words in common, 100,000 to 1 ; so 

 that in the two latter cases the evidence would be little 

 short of certainty that the languages in question, and conse- 

 quently the natives who speak them, had a common origin. 

 But according to the more learned modern ethnographers, 

 the affinity of languages is not so much to be sought in the 

 coincidence of words as in the grammatical structure." So 

 says Mrs. Somerville. " The philologue," says Latham 

 (ch. 1.), " who looks upon languages from the historical point 

 of view has, in most cases, to infer the relationship from the 

 likeness. . . . For historical purposes, the important 

 parts of a language are the details — the details in the way 

 of its words, glosses, roots, and vocables ; its nouns and 

 verbs ; its adverbs and pronouns. Where these are common 

 to two languages the chances are that the actual relationship 

 is in proportion to the extent of the community." 



The parts of Oceanic words italicised are non-radical, and 

 explained in the part treating of grammar. 



VOCABULAEY. 



(Any word without the name of the language to which it 

 belongs prefixed is Efatese.) 



1. Father ; ava, ap. My., pa ; Ch., aba. 



2. Strong ; bur ; Heb., abir. 



3. To walk in a rolling manner, or backwards and 

 forwards, banga ; Syr., abak. 



4. Wing, avar ; Heb., abar, a wing feather. 



5. A reward ; keroa ; Syr., agroa, cf. Heb., agorah, a 

 silver coin. 



6. To gather together ; kur, ngur ; Heb., gur. 



7. To gather together ; kuruk ; Ch., gareg. 



8. To take in, draw in (i.e., lay up, to put in store for 

 oneself) ; kar, ngaru, ngarukaru, togaru; Heb., gar 'a. 



9. Heb., gar'a, also means to diminish ; Ef., kir, small. 

 My., korang ; Java, kirang ; makur, thin, lean ; My., kuru. 

 My., karu£, karifc, kukur, &c, are all belonging to the same 

 root. 



10. The radical meaning of Heb. gar'a and cognates, as 

 garr, is to scrape, scratch ; Ef. ngura, v. and s., and My. 

 garu, v. and s. Ef , kar, ngarakar. 



