FEEJEE GROUP. 325 
sists of twenty-four letters, being the same as our own, with the excep- 
tion of the z, which is wanting. They were kind enough to give me 
the sounds of the different letters, which are as follows: 
A, a, as in father, or in manner. M, ma. 
B, mb, as Bau, sounded Mbau. N, na. 
C, tha or la, sounded tha. O, o. 
D, nda or dina, sounded ndina. P, pa, it is sounded like va. 
E, eda, sounded enda. | Q, nka. 
F, fa, sounded like v. R, ra. 
G, nga. S, Sa. 
H, there is no aspirate. asita: 
I, e, eng. U, u, French sound. | 
J, ja, this sound is seldom used. V, va. 
K, ka. W, wa. 
L, la. Y, ya. 
The missionaries were at first inclined to doubt that any affinity 
existed between the Feejee language and the other dialects of Poly- 
nesia; but this arose from a superficial acquaintance with it, for on 
close study they became satisfied that their original impressions had 
been prematurely adopted, and they are now satisfied that it is no 
more than a branch from the great root whence all the Polynesian 
languages are derived. 
Originality and boldness appear to be the characteristics of the 
Feejee tongue. It has been found to be extremely copious, for a 
vocabulary of five thousand six hundred words has been already 
compiled, and still much remains to be accomplished. It furnishes 
distinctive names for every shrub and every kind of grass the islands 
yield; the names for various kinds of yam amount to more than fifty ; 
each species of taro and banana has its distinctive appellation; and 
there are words for every variety of cocoa-nut, as well as for every 
stage of its ripeness, from the bud to the mature fruit. 
Words may be found to express every disease to which the body is 
liable, as well as every emotion of the mind. 
The most delicate shades of meaning may be expressed; thus, there 
are no less than five words equivalent to our “ foolishness,” each of 
which has its peculiar signification. 
The superlative degree of adjectives is expressed in six or seven 
different ways; but all of these are not used at any one place, and this 
constitutes one of the features to which the differences in dialect are to 
be ascribed. These differences, however, are only verbal and not 
idiomatic, and are marked by an omission of letters. 
According to the missionaries, at Rewa and in its neighbourhood the 
language is spoken in its greatest purity. ‘The difference of dialect 
2c 
