6 The Oceanic Languages Shemitic : 



And again — 



1. We nu, Hebrew verbal pronoun, and nominal 



suffix 



2. Ye tu, Mod. Arabic verbal pronoun 



3. They u (for in) Heb. verbal pronoun (compare 



i-w, with imperfect) 



Compare with these — 



1. nay Malagasy nominal suffix 



2. tu Fate verbal pronoun, §§ 9, 10 



3. m Fate verbal pronoun, and u (for iu), Paama 



verbal pronoun 



14. These m and u plural endings are, both in Oceanic 

 and Shemitic, in reality one and the same, the u being a 

 mere phonetic variation of the '?7i. In Fatese m, especially 

 final m, is often changed into u. As to the modern Arabic 

 entu, Ye (for entwni), compare Aneiteum separate pronoun 

 aijaua, Ye (for aitaua, for aitama, Tanna itama, Api tau), 

 verbal suffix caua (for cama), Mod. Arabic kum. Note also 

 in these examples the interchange of t and k 



15. The Dual ending a. 



As to the Shemitic (see standard grammars), the ancient 

 Arabic is the only dialect that has retained the dual of the 

 separate and suffix pronoun of both the second and third 

 persons (the Sabaean retaining that of the latter only), 

 while only the Sabaean and Assyrian (third person only), 

 along witli the Arabic (second and third persons only), have 

 retained it in the verbal pronoun. The Ethiopic has lost 

 every trace of it, except what remains in the ending of one 

 word, the numeral 2 ; and the Syriac retains a trace of it 

 in the endings of three words only — the words two, tiuo 

 hundred, and Egypt 



The Assyrian dual ending is a. In the Assyrian 

 isaccinaa, They two place, i-a is the verbal pronoun ; so in 

 the Arabic iqtulaa, i-a is the verbal pronoun dual. They 

 two ; and in the Arabic taktulaa, ta-a is the verbal pro- 

 noun. Ye two. Now the Fatese has the inflectional dual of 

 the verbal pronouns of the second and third persons only, 

 like the Arabic, and that of the second person is only 

 retained in the inclusive ta (Samoan ta), §§ 9, 10, which has 

 the very same elements as this Arabic ta-a. That of the 

 third person ra (Samoan la), They two, has the dual ending 

 attached to the demonstrative r, just as in the Arabic 



