150 GRAMMAR OF SA‘A AND ULAWA. 
taka denotes spontaneity: luhe to loose, takaluhe come adrift. 
tata, toto denote condition: gelu to roll, tatagelugelu headlong, qini wet, 
totogini soaked. 
cE Comparison: Degrees of comparison are shown by the use of 
prepositions or adverbs, or by a simple positive statement. ‘The prepo- 
sitions used are mwaani from, which always has the suffixed pronoun, 
and Iiuta‘a 8. liutaha U. beyond, in excess, which is followed by the 
third possessive. 
The adverbs employed are kele S., ‘ele U., walawala U., wa‘ewa‘e U., 
hi‘ito‘o S., ha‘ahuu‘er S., ha‘ahuu‘ani VU. 
A positive statement carries comparison by implication: tle nihou ¢ 
diena, ile niweu e ‘aela this is good, that is bad, 7. ¢., this is better than 
that; inihou e diena this is best. 
VERBS. 
Almost any word may be used as a verb by prefixing the verbal par- 
ticles, but some words are naturally verbs as being the names of actions 
and not things. ‘There are also verbs which have special forms as such 
by means of a prefix or termination. Verbal particles precede the verb, 
they have a temporal force. 
1. The verbal particles are ko, ke, kei S.; ‘a, ‘e, ‘ana‘i U. The par- 
ticles are written apart from the verb, but the speakers like to join them 
to the governing pronouns of the first and second persons singular, and 
the ‘a of ‘ana‘i is joined in the same way. 
a. The use of ko S. ‘a U. marks the time as present, but only in so far 
as the action is not regarded as past or future. The time having been 
shown to be past ko and ‘a take up the narrative, and the illative si may 
be added. After ko the vowel a in certain words changes to ¢ as it does 
after a preceding 1 or u. The illative s: may replace ko. 
b. ke expresses a certain amount of futurity in the action, ke‘i is used 
of the definite future; ‘e conveys the sense of let, as also does ke; ‘¢ and 
ke are also used following a negative, ¢ ka‘a ola neke manata‘inie I know 
nothing. 
The adverb muni U. to, in order that, is used as a subjunctive or 
optative and is followed by ‘e; muni ‘e contracts to mun‘e, and similar 
contractions occur with the pronouns kira and ka‘elu when followed 
by “e. 
c. ‘ana‘t U. denotes the time as more or less future, the illative 57 
may be added. 
No particle is used when the time is past, but ‘oto and ka‘u follow the 
verb to denote a preterite. For the imperative no particle is employed. 
2. Times and moods: A subjunctive is formed by ana if, when, used 
in Sa‘a with ko or ke, in Ulawa with ‘a. Kos by itself also denotes the 
subjunctive. 
Conditional affirmation is expressed by ha‘alaa S. taume‘t, mune‘i U. 
