THE LANGUAGE OF HAWAII. 
49 
Most writers on the subject fall into the natural habit of 
comparing the Oceanic with the European tongues, and 
analogies more or less real are indicated. These are often 
stretched beyond the limits warranted, perhaps with the 
laudable object of easing the student’s path. The fact is the 
Oceanic family of languages is a distinct and separate crea¬ 
tion, and must be studied on entirely different lines from 
those followed in Western speech. The inflections of our 
highly cultivated tongues add symmetry and elegance, but 
do not necessarily give flexibility. Even barbarous dialects 
can furnish in certain directions more varied locutions for 
the conveyance of thought; for instance, in the Hawaiian 
language gender is denoted in two ways. There are five 
methods of distinguishing number. There are ten cases. 
There is almost endless variety in the arrangement of words, 
depending on the order of preference. 
The Singular and Plural Distinctions. —The five ways of in¬ 
dicating number are: 
1. By changing the article, as in most European languages, 
and saying lea hale , the house, or na hale , the houses; 
2. By the use of the plural sign mau, which can be associ¬ 
ated with any noun. Thus they have he mau lio, several 
horses; or— 
3. One may employ a collective noun ; as in 
he poe haumana , a company of disciples; 
keia pae moku , these islands; 
he pu’u pohaku, a pile of stones. 
Poe is applied to living things, pae to lands and islands, 
and pulu to lifeless objects. These shades of meaning, inva¬ 
riably observed, impart a vividness to the language unknown 
to Western speech; 
4. By shifting the accent; as, kanaka , a man; kanaka , men. 
And, finally— 
5. The same idea may be expressed by using the word 
ma, which means literally a company. 
Here, then, are five distinct ways of expressing an idea for 
which only two exist in our own language. 
