Thomson. — Whence of the MaoH. xliii 



As we have a more extended grammar than tlie above of tlie Tongan 

 (or Tonguese), with which the Maori may be considered to be intimately- 

 connected, both being dialects of the same Polynesian language that extends 

 from the Samoa group, or ISTavigator Islands, over the Society, Marquesas, 

 and Sandwich groups, a few compaiisons with it will not be inappropriate, 

 seeing that there are some constructive and glossarial differences. 



The alphabet consists of seventeen letters, five of which are vowels and twelve of 

 which are consonants, viz. , a, e, i, o, u, and b, f, g, h, j, k, I, m, n, s, t, v respectively. 

 Du]3lication of words takes place, as in Malay and IMaori, under very similar conditions, 

 thus : toji, to peck, when doubled (tojitojij means to peck repeatedly ; noko, the hip, 

 when doubled fnokonokoj means a large hip. Of this class of words there are many 

 examples. In other cases no new idea is suggested in connection with the primitive 

 term, as in the above examples ; but its meaning is made emphatic or becomes intensified. 

 Thus the word niji, vain or vanity, when doubled means the same thing in a strong or 

 superlative sense. There are, however, exceptions to the above rule which need not be 

 entered into here. 



There are two classes of articles : (1st) those which precede common nouns — koe, ae. 

 Tie, and the indefinite article lia ; (2nd) those which are only used before proper nouns, 

 viz., ko and a. 



The masculine and feminine genders are formed by the words tangata (male) and 

 fafine (female) following the noun, of which there are parallel examples in Malay and 

 Maori. 



The plural signs are gaalii, kau, tunga, faga, oiu, and fuifui. The uses of these are 

 various. Our space will allow of only one or two examples by way of comparison. 



Tongan. Malay. 



Gaue — ^work . Krpja — work. 



-fellow workmen. Kaun-kreja, or ) ^ n -, 



- -^ ^ fellow workmen. 



Kaun her kreja 



Mate — death. Mati — death. 



Kaumate — dead people. Kamatian — a corpse. 



In the declension of nouns there are no inflections, which is also the case in Malay. 



Adjectives follow the noun in Tongan, with few exceptions, which also holds good 

 in Malay. 



Tongan. Malay. 



The personal pronouns form a class of The personal pronouns have great 

 words in the Tongan and the Polynesian variety, and in their uses nicety of mean- 

 dialects generally more numerous than in iug, thus : — 

 most other langaiages, and they are always pikst person — I. 

 used with peculiar precision. They have Aku \ 



also the ijower of indicating, by difi'erent Ku f i • t. . ■ • n 



prefixial Ld terminal partiSles or letters, Mu \ ^^^^^^ "^ bterature prmcipaEy. 



the inclusive and exclusive sense in the Beta ) 



dual and plural numbers of the first person Sai/a — used indifferently, 



only. Goh ) i i i 



From the above cause the declensions of Kita ] '^ vulgarly, 



these pronouns are more elaborate, of which Samba tuan ) used by inferiors in 



an example is given below : — Fatek \ speaking to superiors . 



FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSOlSr — ThoU. 



NoM. Ko au—1, or me. Angkau } used in literature 



Ko kita — (familiar only) Xau \ j)rincipally. 



A ail. ZiU — used by superiors ia speaking to 



Gen. Ooku — of, or belonging to me. inferiors. 



Aaku. IncM ) 



Mooku — for me. Che > used between equals. 



Maaku. Awa ) 



Dat. Kiate au — to me. It is considered to be rude to use tlie 



Kia au. pronoun when speaking to masters, fatljcrs, 



late au — in me, grandfathers, motheis, or grandmothers, 



la au. thus tuan, jja, to or dato, ma or ma ncnek 



