150 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



{d) There is another, and probably more correct view which may- 

 be taken of these three endings pa, i%, n. It is to regard them as 

 suffixes of a similar nature to the Melanesian transitive endings, and 

 indefinite in tense. Then pa simply states the action generally, iz 

 states it as performed indefinitely, w as a transitive action performed 

 upon some object. Compare imaipa, imizi, and iman in the following 

 phrases : — Noi danal wani mdbaegpa imaipa, he looked round to see the 

 man (Lifu, anganyideti a goe goeene troa xajawatine la ate^ ; tana imizi 

 a iman senali hula, they looked and saw the stone (Lifu, angate a 

 goeene ame hna ohne la ete). Cf. also, lesu noino geto ielpan, a nubepa 

 hadai ta/ran, a noi hadai ta/ri%, Jesus took him by the hand and raised 

 him, and he arose. 



(e) Perfect Tense. 



The verb muasin, meaning ' to finish,' is used with other verbs to 

 express the completion of an action. Ngita muasin harengemin, ye have 

 heard ; na muasin nidizi nanu ngulaig, she has done what she could 

 (lit., her ability) ; noi muasin tanamulpa waean, when he had sent ; 

 noi muasin iamuliz, as soon as he had spoken. 



The meaning of the present perfect is often expressed by the adjec- 

 tival ending -7iga. Kazi umanga, the child is dead (Lifu, meci M la neko). 



(/) Pluperfect. 

 A. kind of pluperfect is expressed by the termination izinga, which 

 forms a verbal noun, and is used with the possessive pronoun. Tana- 

 mun imaizinga, things they had seen, lit., their things seen. (See 

 Nouns, §iu., 1.) 



{g) Future. 



This tense is shown by the word kai {ka, kae), usually following 

 the verb, but sometimes preceding. It is used with the root, or with 

 the endings pa, iz, n. Cf. (d) above. Mangi kai senali tona/re, a 

 time will come ; ngita iman kai mdbaegau kazi, ye shall see the son of 

 man ; kai noi mulepa, he will say ; ngita kai toridiz, ye shall receive. 

 Macgillivray also gives examples. See p. 146. This kai must be dis- 

 tinguished from the kai or ki of emphasis. The verb ladun, to go, is 

 also used to express the future. Ngalpa ladun iman, we are going to 

 see. The Lifu future particle tro is also the verb ' to go.' 



' This phrase is in the ceremonious language used to chiefs in Lifu. 



