GRAMMAR OF SA‘A AND ULAWA. I4I 
2. me‘i and mdsi denote a part, a piece; both also serve as diminu- 
tives in either a depreciatory or an endearing sense, me‘i keni reu a 
handmaid, masi mwane inau dear lad. The form mesi may be used even 
when the preceding vowel is not 7 or u, mest kaleku my child. Nga 
and mwai may precede mdsi; nga mdsi taha what thing is it, mwai mesi 
sae different minds. 
3. miis found with sala, mi sala a piece of cloth. 
4. hoi is used of things spherical in shape, hoi niu a coconut, hoi kue 
a hen’s egg, nga hoi tahani what fruit is that? Also in connection with 
other substantives naming objects not globular, hoz 7‘e a fish, hoi nemo 
a rain squall. 
hou is used more commonly in Ulawa, hoi hudi S., hou hudi U. a 
banana; houhi a yam, hou pua an areca nut; but Sa‘a has hou ‘atea a 
coconut water bottle, hou wei a bamboo water-carrier. 
5. hatin the sense of a, an, one, is used with certain words; hadi seulehi 
an evening, hdidinge a day, hdi lama a pool, nga hdiwala a word, hai 
holaa a calm. In some places where Sa‘a has hai Ulawa uses hau; 
haidinge Si haudinga U.a day; and this hadi may be a contraction of ban 
1, where 7 is the genitive and hau denotes a period of time. 
6. maa eye or point is used with nga to indicate one, of sticks or 
matches; also with the genitive 7 S. or 12 U., maaz laenga, a going (Ulawa 
generally has nga preceding maa); ‘olu maai qaoolanga three prayings. 
7. mul, mu, mwat, mwa all show plurality; nga may be prefixed; mu 
is the form commonly used in Sa‘a, and, as is true of mwa, is always 
used before a vowel or h; mo is used eh words beginning with the 
vowel 0, and is more commonly used in Sa‘a than in Ulawa. 
8. The personal article is a. This is used with all proper names, male 
or female, native or foreign, and also with nouns expressing relationship 
or kindred. Any common noun becomes by the use of the personal 
article a a proper noun; a palopalo the priest, a me‘: wala the Word, a 
porona the person, so-and-so. After the usage common to the Oceanic 
family the employment of the personal article with the common noun 
meaning thing supplies the locution for an indefinite personality, a ola 
so-and-so. 
NOUNS. 
1. Nouns with possessive suffixes: Certain nouns take the sufixed 
pronouns denoting the possessor. These are nouns denoting: 
a. Parts of the body: maa eye, maamu your eye; nime hand, nimana 
his hand; ga‘u head, ga‘uku my head. 
b. Certain states or doings of men, life, death, speech, custom, goings: 
mae to die, maetana his death; wala word, walaku my word; lae to go, 
laehana his journey. 
c. Position, end, middle, top: ngengedena its end, danumeku my 
waist, 7 hahona on top of it. 
