18 The Oceanic Languages Semitic: 



Compare Ai*abic la yakun, layahu. 



(with m negative) 



My. hiikan cf. Arb. raa yakun 



TJtanata (Pa.) 2^^f^kana 



Lifu 2^ako, Epi miaka Mod. Arb. (Baghdad) maku 



(with i negative) 



Sam. i'ai, Tongan ikaA Eth. ako 



As to the weakening of the initial k of this verb to h or 

 a breathing in Mg. and Sam., compare the Amharic in 

 which it is likewise changed to h. In Arabic its final qi 

 is sometimes elided. The Arb. kana is much used as an 

 auxiliary : Eth. kon, Amh. hon, My. kana, to be able, seem 

 radically identical with this, as also Mg. hay, to be able. 

 My akan, shall, will, may belong here. 



h. The common verb substantive in Malay is ada, to be, 

 identical with Mg. ary. This by the change of I to r, and d, 

 cf numeral 2, in II., is identical with Eth. halawa, halo, 

 Amh. alct, Tig. ali, verb substantive, to be, and used as 

 an auxiliary. Halevy derives the Arb. article al or hal 

 from this verb, that is, he derives this demonstrative from 

 this verb. In M.j. with the negative Ave find it thus : — 

 tiada, tida, tada, tadak, and in Mg. as tsiary, tsiadry, 

 (Errub and Maer lola), Ambry m tolo, Bisayan dili, Amharic 

 lela. 



With "in negative we find it in Epi. TUdLvaka — My. ta dak 

 Paama hoel, Maori hore. Halevy (Polynesian Grammar) 

 suggests that oloo is a verb substantive in Samoan : Pratt 

 (Sam. Gr.) gives it as loo. 



c. In Mg. isy is the common verb substantive, with 

 negative tsy, isy, ts, 'isy. This is identical with Heb. es, 

 Arb. aisa, with negative laisa, leis, Syr. ith, with negative 

 lath, Ch. ita and lo ita. This Semitic verb substantive is 

 used also as an auxiliary in Heb., and especially in Aramaic. 

 It seems to be this verb substantive that we have with 

 negative ma in Segaar vutti, Onim tnatio, Papua kowiay, 

 Qnarate. Connected with this probably, is the demonstrative 

 t. III,, § 2, a (7), or s (3), as some Semitic scholars think : 

 see Ges. Heb. Diet. s. v., eth, at end. 



d. In Fa. the common verb substantive is bi, fi, in one 

 dialect hai or hei, in another mi. This verb substantive is 

 found widely used in the New Hebrides, with and without 

 the negativ^e. With negative it is in Fa. tiha, riba, tab. It 



