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D. Macdonald 



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With Seven lUustralioiis and a Comparative Table 
of Alphabetic Characters. 





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13th March, 1889. 


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Oceania — Race varieties, the Negroid and Mongoloid 

— Original home in Asia of the Oceanic race — Malayo- 

Polynesian or Oceanic linguistic family, branches, and 

dialects — The Asiatic family, of which the Oceanic is 

a branch — Labours and views of Humboldt, Bopp, 

Craufurd, Grabelentz, Max MuUer, F. Midler, Wallace, 

and Renan . . . . . . 1 


The Semitic-Oceanic Alphabetical Chaeactebs, 
Consonants, and Lettee Changes. 
Humboldt and Harrison on the Oceanic alphabetic charac- 
ters — Not Indian but Phoenician or Babylonian — Com- 
parative table — Transliteration — Vowels and Conso- 
nants and their changes — Hale's table — Influence of 
the accent . . . . . . . . 16 


Peonominal Woeds and Paeticles. 

stem- words not roots but formed words, and bisyllabic — 
Demonstrative particles — Personal pronouns . . 31 


Peepositions and the Aeticle. 

Article and preposition combined — Prepositions — The 
article — ^Unconscious and double article . . . . 47 

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The Relative and Intekrogative. 

The Relative — Interrogative — Indefinite — Reflexive . . 62 


Adverbial Particles and Conjunctions. 

Adverbs of place — Directives — Interrogatives — Negation 

— Conjugations — Interjections . . . . 66 


Auxiliaries and Particles of Tense. 

Verbs substantive — Pronominals— Prepositions — Conjunc- 
tions — Particles of mood . . . . . . . . 73 


Formative Particles of the Derived Verb Stems. 
Causative — Reflexive — Reflexive-Causative — Causative-Re- 
flexive — Reduplication — Denominatives . . . . 79 


Formative Particles of the Verbal Noun. 

Adjective endings — Substantive endings, modem, ancient 
— Combination of the modem with the ancient 
fossilized endings — Transitive ending or preposition . . 90 


Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs. 
Comparison of modem with ancient words, showing use 

of Adjectives and Substantive endings . . . . 103 


The Numerals. 
Cardinals — Ordinals — ^Denominatives .. .. ..115 


Some Fundamental Words. 
Man, "Woman, Father, Mother, Eye, Hand, &c. . . 123 

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Some Fundamental Words, Continued. 


Heaven, Sun, &c. . . . . . . . . • • 135 


Some Fundamental Words, Continued. 
Animals and Plants, &c. . . . . . . . . 145 


Some Fundamental Words, Continued. 
Writing, Navigation, Religion . . . . . . 152 


Some Fundamental Words, Continued. 

Names of God in the Pacific and in Madagascar — Idols 
and mythological beings — Wot — Maui — Tiki — 
Maui tikitiki. Sacred stones . . . . . . 165 


The Oceanic Family and Relationship System. 

Baal -worship — Ceremonial and sexual uncleanness — Reli- 
gious purification — Incest — The family and the clan — 
Prohibitions of intercourse and marriage — Relation of 
the father and of the mother to their children — Names 
of children — Underlying ideas of the Oceanic system 
and corrupting influences of polygamy — ^The system a 
degradation, not a development— Views of Sir John 
Lubbock erroneous — Comparison with the ancient 
pagan Semitic system — Levirate— The primitive sys- 
tem of mankind — The family the foundation of 
human society or civilization — A corrupt family sys- 
tem one of the great obstacles to Christian missions in 
the heathen world — ^The social degradation in Oceania 
natural, though lamentable — " Savages" — Witchcraft, 
infanticide, ** wreckers," burying alive the aged, licen- 
tiousness, cannibalism {its origin) . . . . . . 179 

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Religion, Moeality, astd Law among -the Oceaioans. 

The deities of the savage — Not purely destructive— Very 

much as in the ancient heathen world — Natemate 
worship of the Oceanians and the ancient Semitic 
paganism — The tomb the temple — The spirits of 
deceased ancestors gradually put in the place of God 
— Religion and morality among savages— The morality 
of the Oceanian savage, such as it is, entirely founded 
on his religion — The ideas of duty among savages — 
Taboo — The ** Sacred Man" — Religion the very life 
of the Oceanian savage — Rewards and punishments, 
in this world and in the world to come, among the 
savages — Humanizing effect of the religion of the 
savage — Origin of the Oceanic myths, and of their 
ideas respecting incest, heaven, and the future world 
— The primitive religion of mankind — Undeniable 
traces of it, and degradations from it in Oceania — 
Happy effect upon the Oceanians of the primitive 
religion in the shape of Christianity . . . . 198 


Ancient History and Oceanic Tradition . . . . 213 

Note. — For a more particular account of the Efatese language, 
see the work by the present writer, published simultaneously with 
this, entitled " Three T w Hebrides Languages (Efatese, 
Eromangan, Santo)," printed at the expense of the Melbourne 
Public Library. 

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The island world of Oceania may be roughly described 
as lying in the vast ocean spaces that stretch between 
Africa, Australia, America, and Asia, extending from 
Madagascar to Easter Island — from Sumatra, through 
New Guinea, to the New Hebrides, and from New 
Zealand to the Sandwich Islands. The aboriginal 
inhabitants of this island world, who are numbered 
by tens of millions, all, with possible trifling excep- 
tions, speak dialects or languages which belong to 
one stock, and constitute the well-known Malayo- 
Polynesian or Oceanic linguistic family. But while 
homogeneous as to language, and substantially also as 
to religion, manners, and customs, they vary con- 
siderably 'as to physique — in some places presenting a 
Negroid, in others a Mongoloid aspect. The Negroid 
Oceanians, however, are not Negroes, nor the Mongoloid 
Oceanians Mongols: they are modifications of the 
Oceanic race, caused by its intermixture with or 
absorption of African Negroes on the one hand and 
Asiatic Mongols on the other. Both the Negro and 


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the Mongol, in passing into the Oceanic race, left bis 
language behind, which disappeared, while printing 
in durable characters his racial physique, the only 
remaining record of the transaction. But the Oceanic 
race thus had the organs of speech to some extent 
modified, and the language was therefore no longer 
spoken with the same purity of sound as before. 
The change in the physique of the race carried with 
it a change in the phonesis or physique of the 

The Negro element in the Oceanic race had been 
introduced earlier than the Mongol : it is more 
universally diffused*, occurring in Madagascar, Malaysia, 
and the Pacific; and in those islands in Malaysia 
where both the Negroid and Mongoloid Oceanians are 
found, the former are regarded as the more aboriginal 
or ancient, and dwell in the inland parts, while the 
latter prevail upon the coasts ; and the Mongoloid 
element decreases in quantity, generally speaking, in 
proportion to the distance into Oceania from the south- 
eastern extremity of Asia, as well as to that from the 
coast into the interior of the larger islands. The 
Oceanians are physically considered a mixed race. 
Even in the same small village, in an island, great 
variety may often be observed in the hair, colour, and 
features of the inhabitants. The race varieties are 
not separated by definite and fixed lines, but shade off 
imperceptibly the one into the other. " The Malay 
races," says De Quatrefages, "are the result of the 
amalgamation, in different proportions, of whites. 

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yellows, and blacks." " I believe," says Wallace, " that 
the brown and the black, the Papuan, the natives of 
Oilolo and Ceram, the Fijian^ the inhabitants of the 
Sandwich Islands and those of New Zealand, are all 
varying forms of one great Oceanic or Polynesian 
race." Without entering into the uninviting task of 
enumerating the endless diversities of opinion, or 
rather conjectures, as to the race-varieties of Oceania, 
it may suffice to say that the view here taken is that 
the Oceanic race, or the race speaking Oceanic or 
Malayo-Polynesian, originally came into Oceania from 
Arabia or neighbourhood, on the one hand proceeding 
along the east coast of Africa to Madagascar, on the 
other along the southern coast of Asia to Malaysia ; 
that it was a mixed race even before leaving Arabia, 
and more or less Negroid, and that it became still 
more mixed after its settlement in Malaysia through 
physical contact with the neighbouring Asiatic Mon- 
gols and other neighbouring Asiatics. In speaking of 
the varying forms of the Oceanic race, it does not seem 
necessary here to say more. Everyone will under- 
stand that the crosses have been innumerable, and 
that there is no end to the variety of shades of differ- 
ence that have been, or that may be, produced, and 
that the islands and islets afford homes, with the oceab 
and savage customs preserving them as a wall from 
outside influences, for the perpetuation of the produced 
varieties. In Oceania the race has, in the course of 
untold ages and unparalleled migi^ations from island 
to island, over inhospitable seas, assumed varying 

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forms, the three fundamental elements being the white, 
the black, and the yellow ; and the Oceanic mother 
tongue has become broken up into innumerable 
dialects. But the physical form of the race has varied 
more rapidly and radically than the language type. 
Without any help from the study of the race forms, 
or varieties, we can ascertain and prove scientifically 
— and it has been ascertained and proved scientifically 
— that the vast multitude of dialects of Oceania belong 
to one stock, or are sprung from one ancient mother 
tongue. See for the proof of this F. Muller's Gh^nd- 
riss der SprachwiaaeTichaft, Wien, 1882 (and c/ his 
Reise der Fregatte Novara, Wien, 1867). On the 
other hand, to the study of the race-varieties, it is 
absolutely necessary to duly take into consideration 
the linguistic facts that have been scientifically estab- 
lished. It is the not doing this, for instance, that 
made it possible for the distinguished naturalist 
Wallace to assert the radical difierence as to race 
between the Malays and the Pacific Islanders, who are 
homogeneous as to language, and the radical identity 
as to race of the Malays and Mongols, who have, as to 
language, nothing in common. Even apart from lin- 
guistic facts, however, these opinions of Wallace as to 
Oceanic race questions have not commended them- 
selves to general acceptance. It could easily be shown 
that, apart from language, there is a closer afiinity of 
race between the Malay and the Papuan than between 
the Malay and the Mongol ; for instance, the descrip- 
tion which Wallace himself gives of the Malay 

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character and manners {My. Archip., pp. 584-5) 
applies in every particular to the Papuan of the New 
Hebrides; but when the linguistic facts are taken 
into consideration the evidence is irresistible that the 
Malay and Papuan are simply varying forms of the 
one Oceanic race, and that the Malay is not Mongol, 
but partly Mongoloid, as the Papuan is not Negro, 
but Negroid (hence sometimes called Oriental Negro, 
Negrillo, &;c. — names that should be disused). 

F. Muller, in the works cited, which are the best or 
standard works on the Oceanic languages, has duly 
acknowledged the labours of the renowned scholars 
and investigators who preceded him,. and made his 
works possible, as the great work of Wm. von 
Humboldt, Uber d'le Kawi Sprache, and that of H. C. 
von der Gabelentz, Die Melanesischen Sprachen nach 
ihreTn Oranimatischen Bau und ihrer Verwandtschaft 
unter sich und mit den Malaiisch-Polynesischen 
Sprachen, It is only recently that the Papuan 
languages of the Western Pacific have become 
thoroughly known. In the old days, when they were 
little known, the opinion was commonly held that 
they were different among themselves, or belonging 
to different stocks, as well as radically different from 
the better known Oceanic. Crawfurd made himself 
an exponent of these crude notions. They, however, 
have vanished before the light of advancing knowledge, 
though there are still, it seems, some people who cling 
to them, among others A. H. Keane, Professor of Hindu- 
stani, University College, London, a man of whom, 

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from his position, we might expect better things. The 
obscurity which has been dispelled from the Papuan 
groups of the Western Pacific still remains upon the 
more inaccessible or less known parts of New Guinea. 
But the Motu language of New Guinea, of which the 
Rev. Mr. Lawes has recently published a grammar and 
dictionary, certainly belongs to the Oceanic family. 
Nothing that may be discovered in New Guinea, or 
any other part of Oceania, hereafter, can alter the fact 
that the vast body of the Oceanic race, in its varying 
physical forms, speak dialects or languages of the one 
Oceanic or Malayo-Polynesian family. Possibly, at 
a very ancient period, the Oceanic race occupied 
Ceylon and the Maldives, and that both the race and 
their language were swept out of these places by 
eruption of the s warming hordes of the Asiatic neigh- 
bourhood, and it is possible that unimportant places 
may yet be found in Central Oceania as to which it 
shall be ascertained that a somewhat similar process 
has taken place. 

The Oceanic has been described by F. MuUer, who 
calls it the Malayo-Polynesian, as divided into four 
great branches- or groups: — 1. The Tagalan, of which 
the Malagasy is a type, comprising the Tagala, Bisaya, 
Formosa, Marianne, &c. 2. The Malayan, of which 
the Malay is a type, comprising the Malay, Javanese, 
Battak, Bugis, Dayak, &c. 3. The Papuan (called by 
Muller Melanesian), of which the Efatese is a type, 
comprising the Fiji, Aneityum, Tanna, Eromanga, 
Efatese, Mallicolo, Baladea, Gaudalcanar, &c. ; and. 

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4. The Maori-Hawaiian (called by MuUer the Poly- 
nesian, by others the Sawaiori), of which the Samoan 
is a type, comprising the Samoan, Tongan, Hawaiian, 
Maori, &c. It is likely enough that, as knowledge 
advances, a fifth group may have to be added to 
these. It should be observed that the names, 
Malagasy, Malay, Papuan, and Maori-Hawaiian, used 
in this connection, are purely linguistic. It is true 
that the Papuan speakers have generally a Negroid 
aspect, but some are light in colour, and have straight 
hair and features neither Negroid nor Mongoloid ; 
the Maori-Hawaiian speakers in some cases, but not 
generally,have a Negroid aspect. Among the speakers 
of the dialects called Tagalan and Malay, some present 
a Mongoloid, some a Negroid aspect, and some neither : 
the names do not denote that there is any race 
variety corresponding to each group of dialects. And 
even linguistically this division of the Oceanic dialects 
into four groups must be taken only for what it is 
worth. The original mother tongue was not divided 
into four secondary mother tongues, of which these 
four groups are the respective descendants. But all 
the dialects have equally sprung from the same 
source, and have become what they are in the natural 
course of dialectic variation among peoples who have 
gradually been becoming separated and isolated from 
each other, and sinking in the outlying islands into 
deeper and deeper savagery. In Madagascar and 
Malaysia the dialects are not so numerous in propor- 
tion to the population, and they are not so poor in 

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vocabulary, grammar, and phonesis as those in the 
Pacific. The Malay is poorer in grammar, or more 
analytic, than the Malagasy, because the Malays have 
been constantly in greater contact with foreign 
peoples by trade and otherwise, and such contact 
accelerates the analytic process. That process has 
been in constant operation in Oceania from the 
time when it was spoken as the mother tongue 
by the first fathers of the Oceanians in their 
original home or mother-land down to the present 
day, when we find it in numberless dialects spoken 
by their descendants scattered over the vast ocean- 
world, and without historical records, some of them 
completely isolated from all outside influences, and 
lapsed into cannibalism and savagery — some of 
them, as in Java, in close contact with Asia, and 
exhibiting in their architectural ruins and in their 
legends the proofs of large intercourse with India, and 
in the structure of their bodies the proofs of 
physical intermixture with the Mongols of South- 
Eastem Asia. To accurately measure the time that 
has elapsed since the first migration of the Oceanic 
fathers from Arabia by years is, in the absence of 
historical records, not possible* But there is every 
reason to believe that it is not less than three thousand^ 
and there is no reason to believe that it is more than 
four thousand years. We may, therefore, conjecture 
that the Oceanic fathers from Arabia or neighbourhood 
immigrated into Oceania nearly 4,000 years ago, carry- 
ing their speech — ^the mother tongue of the Oceanic — 

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with them. As they became separated and scattered 
their dialects multiplied; and while the analytic process 
prevailed universally, the pronunciation and grammar 
becoming simplified and the grammar gradually 
giving place to syntactical equivalents, it naturally 
went forward more rapidly in some dialects than in 
others. The Malagasy is actually found now (and the 
Tagala) not so analytic as the Malay ; the {ormer, 
favourably situated, has been like a house sheltered 
from storms and subject only to gradual decay, the 
latter, from its position, close to Indo-China, like a 
house exposed to storms. The Pacific islanders are 
the outcasts of the Oceanic race. Their* dialects are 
as far advanced analytically as the Malayan, and, in 
some cases, further. The Maori-Hawaiian speakers 
are commonly supposed to have come into the 
Pacific from Malaysia about, or shortly after, the 
beginning of the Christian era, and settled first in 
Samoa and Tonga, thence migrating to Tahiti and the 
Sandwich Islands, and to Raratonga and New Zealand; 
and, in the present century, in drifting canoes, to the 
New Hebrides, where small communities of them are 
found in the islands of Fotuna, Aniwa, Meli and Fila, 
and Mai. The last such canoe came to Mai about 
thirty or forty years ago with a large number of 
people on board, who had a musket, and who were all 
killed except one or two. A piece of that canoe is in 
my possession. It was a superior vessel, and had 
drifted, with its living freight, across 1,500 miles of 
ocean. The Maori-Hawaiian speakers of the New 

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Hebrides, while they have retained their speech 
unchanged, or only changed in pronunciation, have 
changed remarkably in physique, some of them pre- 
senting the aspect of the Negroid Oceanian. The 
causes of that change are patent. The Papuan 
speakers of the Pacific have come from Malaysia, 
which they left, earlier than the Maori-Hawaiian 
speakers, and gradually into the Western Pacific by 
way of the continuous chain of islands that extends 
from New Guinea to the New Hebrides and Fiji. 
The Papuan dialects are more numerous and diversi- 
fied than the Maori-Hawaiian (Ma.-Ha.) The Ma.-Ha. 
speakers are Comparatively few. 

The Malagasy (Mg.) has retained more of the gram- 
matical forms or formative processes of the ancient 
mother tongue than the Malay or the Pacific dialects. 
As to the almost complete substitution of syntactical 
for grammatical processes, it is on the same level with 
them. It is only in this sense that the Mg. repre- 
sents more perfectly the common mother tongue. 
The Malay has the most extensive vocabulary, and 
the largest number of introduced words, among which 
are a considerable number of Sanscrit and Arabic 
words, the latter due to the Mahommedan Arabs, and 
more recently introduced than the former. The 
Sanscrit and Mod. Arabic words in the Mg. ai-e ex- 
ceedingly few, especially the former (if there are any 
at all of them). No Mod. Arabic words have been 
found in the Pacific, and whether there are any 
Sanscrit words there is an interesting point that yet 

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awaits investigation. Probably a few may be 
found, but very few. Of some of the words in the 
Malay which are commonly said to be Sanscrit it is 
doubtful whether they are Sanscrit or Oceanic. The 
Ma.-Ha. speakers have more civilization and a larger 
vocabulary than the Papuan speakers. Among the 
latter the Fijian superiority in civilization is probably 
due to intermixture with the neighbouring Ma.- 
Hawaiians. In the matter of pronunciation, the Ma.- 
Ha. dialects have departed furthest from the original 
tongue by phonetic decay or simplification. The 
dialects of Madagascar on the one hand, and of the 
Pacific on the other, have a more archaic aspect, or 
are more purely Oceanic than the Malay. That all 
the dialects of Oceanic are sprung from one inflectional 
mother tongue, as are all the modern dialects of Indo- 
European, or as are all the modern dialects of Semitic, 
is manifest from the substantial identity of their 
structure, materia), phonesis, and syntax ; they have 
the same inflectional or formative particles (prefix, 
infix, and suffix) and reduplications, the same syntac- 
tical particles (demonstratives, prepositions, and con- 
junctions), the same words denoting the principal 
objects of external nature, the members of the human 
body, and the operations, of the human mind in the 
sphere of religion, in the sphere of family life, and in 
the sphere of social life, the same pronouns, numemls, 
adjectives, and adverbs. The phonetic changes are 
perfectly natural in the peculiar circumstances (lapse 
of time, number of dialects, complete isolation, together 

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with absence of conserving influences of civilized 
government exercised over vast countries, and of 
writing, or a standard literary language), looked at 
from the standpoint of the Semitic philology, and 
may best and most briefly be described as taking 
place according to the laws of dialectic variation 
and phonetic decay, as recognized in the ancient and 
modern dialects of the Semitic family. It will appear 
below that in the particulai-s enumerated in the sen- 
tence preceding this, the Oceanic (Oc.) is as certainly 
related to the Semitic as the various Oc. dialects are 
to one another — that isj that the Oceanic, the Arabic, 
Ethiopian, Amharic, Tigme, Assyrian, Syrian, Chaldee, 
Modem Syrian, Hebrew, and Phoenician are all sprung 
from one stock or mother tongue, and together constitute 
one family. It is necessary to bear in mind that this 
is purely linguistic, and must be treated as such, 
without help and without hindrance from questions 
or assertions as to race- varieties or social conditions. 
It would be inadmissible to argue from the fact that 
some Oceanians have a Semitic (Se.) physique, that 
therefore their language is Se., and it would be equally 
inadmissible to say that because some of them have 
not a Semitic physique therefore their language 
is not Se. Everyone knows that community of 
language is one thing and that of unmixed race 
another. The Semitic speaking peoples, as a rule, 
have not been pure but mixed races, from the earliest 
recorded times. For instance, manj^ Semitic-speaking 
people now in Arabia and neighbourhood present a 

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Negroid aspect. And as to social condition, some 
Se. speaking people now in the same localities are 
not much, if at all, higher than some of the Oceanians, 
and Gibbon remarks of some of the ancient Arabs that 
they w6re mere savages, and even cannibals, ever on 
the verge of starvation. Yet we find a writer like 
Benan, in his Hiatoire des Langues Semitiques, 
making the following extraordinary statement : — " As 
to the inferior races ... of Oceania ... to 
imagine a savage race speaking a Semitic or Indo- 
European language is a contradictory figment to which 
every person initiated in the laws of comparative 
philology shall refuse to lend himself." Kenan in- 
forms us that his valuable though somewhat preten- 
tious work was written ** to do for the Semitic lan- 
guages what M. Bopp has done for the Indo-European," 
and on a subsequent page he has approvingly written 
" en fait de langues, dit Guillaume de Humboldt, il 
faut se garder d'assertions generales," and he must 
have known that of these two world-renowned 
masters in comparative philology Humboldt was in- 
clined to think, and Bopp wrote an elaborate essay to 
prove, the Oceanic Indo-European (Uher die Ver- 
wandtschaft der Malayisch-Polyneaischen Sprachen 
mitdenlndisch'Europdischenvon Franz Bopp, Berlin, 
1841). Max MuUer (in Bunsen's Christianity and 
Mankind) has suggested that the linguistic connec- 
tion is between Oceania and not India, but the Indo- 
Chinese peninsula, and that Oceanic is Turanian or 
agglutinative. F. MuUer has shown (Reiae der F, 

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Nov.y pp. 273-8) that both Bopp and Max MuIIer have 
totally failed in the attempt to establish, linguistically, 
the one a connection between Oc. and In.-Europ., 
the other a connection between Oc. and Turanian. 
Whitney has given the conclusion of F. MuUer and of 
European science in these words — '* From what central 
point the migrations of the tribes and their dialects 
took place it is not possible to tell The family is 
strictly an insular one" (Life and 0. of Lang., 
London, 1880.) 

The world of Oceania lies before us like a vast 
hieroglyphic record, the deciphering of which will 
throw light upon the history of the human race and 
upon the deepest questions of modem thought : the 
illustrious scholars who have laboured, without success, 
to find the key to unlock the mysterious record merit 
our warmest gratitude. Their labours stand not as 
barriers to the subsequent investigator, resisting pro- 
gress and forbidding hope; but as lighthouses, shedding, 
far across trackless waves, light, whose every beam is 
pregnant at once with friendly warning and noble 

The view here taken is that the ancient Oceanic 
mother tongue was a branch of the Semitic family, 
just as Ethiopic, Himyaritic, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, 
Chaldee, Phoenician, and Assyrian, and that while, 
like each of these, it had much in common with all 
the rest of phonesis, grammar, and vocabulary, it had 
also, like each of these, something of phonesis, gram- 
mar, and vocabulary peculiar to itself, and that the 

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modern Oc. dialects are Neo-Semitic, somewhat as are, 
for instance, Modern Syriac, Amharic, and Tigre. The 
ancient mother tongue of the Semitic is lost, and we 
can know it only from its descendants, the Arabic, 
&c. ; the ancient mother tongue of the Oceanic is also 
lost, and we can know it only from its descendants, 
the Malagasy, &c. From these decendants we learn 
that the Oceanic mother tongue had the Semitic stock 
of triliteral words and of one-syllable formative par- 
ticles ; the Semitic internal vowel inflection, and the 
inflection of case (construct state), of number (dual and 
plural endings), and of gender (feminine ending), and 
of the perfect and imperfect of verbs, and of the verbal 
nouns (participle and infinitive, or verbal adjectives 
and verbal substantives), the Semitic article, and 
Semitic phonesis. In order to prove this we have to 
duly compare the known Oceanic with the known 
Semitic dialects ; and I shall take, as the most con- 
venient way to do this, four Oceanic dialects, one to 
represent each of the four great groups into which the 
family is divided — ^namely, the Malagasy (Mg.), the 
Malay (My.), the Efatese (Ef.), and the Samoan 
(Sam.) for the one side of the comparison, and all 
known Semitic dialects for the other. The whole 
family, embracing the dialects of both sides, I shall 
name the Semitic-Oceanic (Se.-Oc.) 

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The Se.-Oc. Alphabetic Characters, Consonants, 
AND Letter Changes. 

The Oceanic written alphabetic characters, as seen in 
varying forms in Sumatra, in the Battak, Korinchi, 
Rejang, and Lampung ; in Java, in the Javanese ; in 
the Celebes, in the Makassar and the Bugis ; and in 
the Philipfines, in the Tagala alphabet, are. thus 
spoken of by Humboldt (Lettre a Mr, Jacqiiea, sur 
les Alphabets de la Polynesie Asiatique) — "It is, 
then, perhaps, more just to say that these (Oceanic) 
alphabets are of unknown origin, that their prototype 
must be of a high antiquity, and that it has served 
for the basis of the Devanagari itself." They are, 
certainly, derived either directly from the " Phcenician, 
or more rightly, Babylonian" or indirectly from the 
same through the earliest written alphabet of India, 
which itself was derived from the Phoenician (com- 
pare on this subject the works of F. MuUer, above 
cited, for his views). So far as I can see, the evidence 
available, that is, a comparison of the actual written 
characters. Oceanic, ancient Indian, and Phoenician, 
is decidedly in favour of the view that the Oceanic 
characters are directly, and not by way of the Indian 

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modification, derived from the Phoenician. I am able 

to refer, in support of this statement, not only to the 

following comparative table of Oceanic and Phoenician 

alphabetic characters, but also to the fourth volume 

of the Journal of the Anthropological Inatitutey 

in which there is an interesting paper by Mr. J. P. 

Harrison on " Phoenician Characters from Sumatra," 

with a plate in which the Sumatran (Bejang) and 

Phoenician characters are exhibited side by side. 

Mr. Harrison remarks that " nearly the whole of the 

letters . . . are identical in form with Phoenician 

characters, mostly of a pure period," and that " both 

in Java . . . and Sumatra . . . written 

traditions, mixed with fable, refer to the arrival of 

ships in remote times, and at two different epochs, 

from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf — in the one 

case when vessels still coasted round the Bay of 

Bengal ; in the other, in the age of Alexander, who is 

said to have built a bridge *in the sea,' which may 

mean that ships commanded by some of his officers 

arrived direct from India. Three of his descendants 

are also said to have become kings of Palembang, &c. 

The ships would have been manned principally by 

Phoenician sailors. Stripped of legendary matter, 

there seems nothing contrary to or inconsistent with 

history in these traditions." In addition to the forms 

of the alphabetic characters modernly used by the 

Oceanians, there are more ancient forms of the same 

found inscribed on rocks or stones in the Malay 

Archipelago. While the Oceanic alphabets funda- 


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mentally are directly Phoenician, slight Indian modi- 
fications may have been added to them, especially in 
Java and immediate neighbourhood, in more recent 
times. The modern Malays have adopted, instead of 
the Oc. alphabet, the modern Arabic introduced by 
the Mahommedan Arabs. The Mg., Ef., and Sam. 
have been reduced to writing by Europeans, and are 
written in the Roman character. If the Se. alphabet 
had been invented (as is not unlikely) before the first 
peopling of Oceania by the Oceanic fathers, then 
they probably brought their alphabetic characters 
with them to the Malay Archipelago ; in that case we 
have in Oceania the only part of the world where the 
original Se. alphabet has been in use from about the 
time of its invention to the present day by a Se. 
speaking people. However this may be, it is quite 
certain that no living alphabet of the present day is 
so like to the Phoenician — the great mother alphabet 
of all the world's alphabets — as the Oceanic. 

In the subjoined table the Hebrew characters are 
given as representing the original stock of Semitic 
consonants : — 

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12 8 4 6 

Eng. Heb. Rom. Phoen. Oceanic. 

A ^ a, ' K y- Korinchi 

^ 3 ^v '^ / Rejang 

<> ^ « ^ ^ Korinchi 

D "1 d ^ <y Makassar 

H r\ h tf ;-i7 Battai 

W 1 w,u(o) 7 ^^^ Bugis, >Lampung 

Z \ z t- f^ Korinchi (j) 

(Kh) n h ^ '^'71 Battak(h), »Lampimg(k) 

^ ^ * i'vly ^^F Tagala(d,r) 

Y ^ y, i (e) /T/I^ ^^ Bugis, -Lampung 

K 3^nEth.,k >| ^P>-^ Battak, *Tagala (g) 

L ^ \ tj ^^ Rejang 

M 153 m X X Rejang 

S D 8 ^ ^ Bugis 

N ^ n ^ H Lampung 

(0) J) « r <=> Battak (vowel 

^ B,fl P»f ) ^ Bugis 

Ts XV S /> "^ Battak (s) 

Q p k /^ ^ Makassar 

R T r 7 5 Lampung 

8h gf sh, s <-#7 5*-^^ Lampung (ch or tsh) 

Th, t n th, t Z ^T^ Lampung, 'Tagala 

In the above table column 3 shows how the 
original Se. letters are expressed in the Roman 
characters. In addition it is necessary to give the 
transliteration of the following peculiar Arabic letters 
— namely, that connected with J, and pronounced 
usually as g (in gmh), but dialectically also as i (gf in 
get)^ for which I shall use g or j, that connected with 
n, tK that connected with H, M (like cA in Scotch 
locK), th§,t connected with "7, d (like th in ihit), that 

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connected with X, dh (like th in this), that connected 
with tD, th " pronounced like a strongly-articulated 
palatal zl' sometimes as dh, that connected with B, ", 
" a guttural gr," * being a kind of guttural A, and in 
some Se. dialects a mere breathing or vowel. Compare 
the table of Se. alphabets in Ges. HeK Diet The 
Arabic letter cZA, th, are usually pronounced by the 
Malays in Arabic words modernly introduced as dl, 
or I (nearly) ; we shall see below that these and the 
Se. cognate letters are often represented by I, r, dr, 
&c., in the most ancient Oc. words. 

Powers of the Roman characters. It is to be noted 
that in Ef. and Sam. books written by the missionaries 
g (in the following sometimes written ng) represents 
the sound of ng in the English aiTig ; that in Ef . also 
h represents both h and p; f both / and v ; k both k 
and g ; 8 both 8 and z (hard g and z being rarely heard, 
however) ; and that p when used represents a peculiar 
sound to be noted below, something like Eng. pw. In 
Sam, * represents a guttural sound between h and k, 
and stands often for what is k in the cognate dialects. 
In Mg, o represents u; y represents i (y as in 
county) ; and j represents d^. 

The Vowels a, e, i, o, u, have the Italian sounds. 
" In My. and Javanese e and o are nothing but modi- 
fications of i and u " (F. Mul.) ; so in the Tagala 
dialects. In the Tagala alphabet one character repre- 
sents both i and e, and another represents both u and 
o. Thus the Oc mother tongue, like the most ancient 
Se. dialects, had only the three vowels a, i, tt. As in 

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Arabic so in My. and Ef., the vowel a is often pro- 
nounced as a short e. Vowel changes are frequent in 

The Consonants. — The Se. guttural sounds are found 
in some Oc. dialects — see, for instance, as to the most 
peculiar of these, the Aiabic " (Glixiin), what is said 
in Dr. Codrington's work (The Melaneaian Languages) 
about " the Melanesian g." But in our four dialects 
these guttural sounds have usually been softened into 
a mere breathing (spiritus lenis), according to the 
analytic tendency of the Se. Thus Ayin, or *, in 
Assyrian, &c., is usually a mere vowel or weak letter 
{ayin or ghain is sometimes represented by A or A; in 
Oc), and h is either k, h, or lost altogether. In 
Amharic *, and * (aleph and ayin) "are both pro- 
nounced alike as the Greek spiritus lenis Q," and k 
(Arb. and Heb. A), h (Arb. and Heb. h), and kh (Arb. 
kh) " are all pronounced alike, like h in horse, and are 
often exchanged for aleph (a, or '), thus entirely 
dropping the aspiration " (Isenberg, Amharic Oram- 
mar ; compare Dillmann, Ethiopic Qrammar), 

Ng is usually a corruption of n, as in Amharic, 
but sometimes of m, and often of h 

It is simply impossible to give, in a brief space, an 
account, with examples, of the changes of consonants 
that take place in Oc, or in Se.-Oc, occasioned by the 
formation of words, euphony, phonetic decay, and 
dialectic variation, and the operation of the analytic 
tendency, in what Ges. {Heh, Or.) calls "commutation, 
assimilation, rejection and addition, transposition," 

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whether we compare among themselves the Se. dia- 
lects, or the Oc dialects, or the Oc. with the Se. 
dialects. Yet the changes, whether of consonants or 
vowels, though they are innumerable, are not such as 
to destroy the family likeness of the dialects. Every- 
one knows a human face when he sees it, but no two 
human faces are exactly alike in every particular. I 
shall only give here a few notes on this subject, 
referring the reader for fuller information to the Se* 
and Oc. grammars, among the latter especially to the 
general works of F. Muller, while for the Ma.-Ha. 
may be consulted Hale's Polynedan Orammar, and 
for the Papuan the works of Gabelentz and Codring- 
ton above-named. When phonetic changes have been 
going on for thousands of years we have to take into 
account, not only the present corrupted phonetic form, 
and the most ancient and uncorrupted, but also the 
numerous intermediate forms that have appeared and 
disappeared in the intervening ages, and, in the 
absence of ancient literature, without record. This is 
the law of gradual " transition." In Oceania we have 
no books of different ages (though we have number- 
less living dialects, which, by exhibiting the same 
words in different stages of phonetic decay, answer 
to some extent this same purpose) such as exist in 
Europe, connecting the modern Indo-European 
analytic dialects with the ancient inflectional tongues 
from which they have descended, and help the 
student to prove the fact of descent. Supposing there 
were no literature in Great Britain, and only the vulgar 

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A.ngIo^Saxon dialects of the counties of England and 
Scotland, and no other Teutonic dialect, ancient or 
modern, in existence, the difficulty of proving these 
vulgar English and Scotch dialects Indo-European 
would be much greater than it is, and although 
phonetic changes take place according to fixed laws it 
would be difficult to explain all such changes observed 
in these dialects except in the most general terms, 
very much as in the Oc. dialects. Why, for instance, 
should we have " Scots wha hae wi " instead of " Scots 
who have with," and " fi, se oo," instead of " all one 
wool," ' o,' and * off,' with * of,' and * i ' f or ' in ' ? 

Hale, speaking of Ma.-Ha., says that no dialect 
makes any distinction between the sounds of b and p, 
d and t, g and k, I and r, or v and w ; and that I is 
frequently sounded like d, t like L (See above on the 
Ef . letters b, /, t, k.) In Ef . 6 and /, when the initial 
consonant of a verb, are universally interchangeable 
for euphony, which sometimes is determined by the 
caprice of the speaker. 

Hale gives the following table of letter changes in 
the Ma.-Ha. dialects : — 






































































ng, k, n 








































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He gives Ha. t, but it answers for both t and k, and 
the question as to which letter should be used has 
been settled in favour of k. Note in Nukahivan the 
interchange of n (the original letter) through mg tok. 
In £f . k and ng are very frequently interchanged. A 
table of this kind is interesting, but applies only to a 
limited number of Oc. dialects, and to the compara- 
tively recent changes in these. For our purpose we 
have to go much deeper, taking into consideration all 
the branches of the Oc. and their phonetic changes 
from the most ancient times to the present. 

My 6, /, and u, in Ef., especially when ending a 
word (or a syllable), are sometimes interchanged, the 
consonant into the vowel, not vice verad. In the Se. 
languages m is readily changed into b or v ; m and v 
are interchangeable in Assyrian. In Himyafitic 
(Halevy, Etudes Saheenees) the common Se. mn 
(who ?) and mn (from) are written bn, or vn, and m 
(from) is written b, or v, like b, or v (in). Again 6, 
/, or w readily passes into a mere vowel. See the Se. 
grammars, e.g., Isenberg (Amh.), who remarks that 
what in Amharic is 6, in Tigre is v, which is readily 
changed " into a mere vowel o . . . being a mere 
condensation of that vowel." So p (/) and b (v) in 
Mod. Syr. are often vocalized (Stoddart, Mod, Syr. 
Orammar.) In Hebrew one letter represents both 6 
and V, and another letter both p and /. In Arabic the 
p sound, in My. the / sound, has been lost. 

k In Sam. k hardly exists, being represented by 
' as aforesaid. This * and the Oc. k generally is often 

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elided. In Mg. and My. k and h are sometimes inter- 
changed, and in Mg. often elided. What is k in My. 
and Ef. is often h in Mg. as (digging), Ef. kili, My. 
gali,, Sam. 'eli, Mg. hady. In this example also, what 
is I in the other dialects is d in Mg. What is k in Eth., 
&c., is often h in Araharic. Heb., Arb., and Eth. h, 
"a strongly -articulated, guttural A;," is pronounced 
vulgarly in Syria and Shoa as a mere spiritus lenis ; 
so often in Oc, as will be seen below in the words 
child, above, below, &c. 

I, r. These letters are very frequently interchanged, 
and often elided, and r readily changes into d, t, and 
t into ts and 8,z;l readily changes into d, t, and t into 
s, z (in Heb. r and z are interchanged) on the one hand, 
and into n, and n into m or ng on the other ; r in Se. 
is partly guttural, and in Oc. is found changed into g 
and h (F. Mul.) in some dialects. In Oc. I is often 
found changed into fc, sometimes through ng (n), 
sometimes through L For examples of changes of I, 
see below on the negative adverb, the article, and the 

In the ancient languages instead of a doubled 
letter was sometimes used a single letter with r, or n 
(m) before it. Letters with r (I) or n (m) before 
them are common in Oc, as nd, nt, mb, &c. 

N, m. In Se.-Oc. n is very frequently elided (" tht< 
fleeting nun "), and also m, though not so often, both 
from the beginning, middle, and end of words ; and 
they are also very frequently irfterchanged. N is found 
changed into k, through ng. 

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t, th. This letter is sometimes elided in Se.-Oc., 
and interchanged from the earliest to the latest 
times with k (see the personal pronouns for in- 
stances). In Ha. both t and k are represented by 
the one letter k. It is changed also into h; into 
r, i, often ; and into te, 8, tr, d, nt, md, nr, &c. In 
Barbaryand Algeria the Arb. t is pronounced ta, in 
Mg. the termination t is pronounced tr in one 
<lialect, is in another. This Se.-Oc. ending will be 
treated of below as to its uses and phonetic changes. 

In one dialect of Mallicolo what is v or f in Oc. 
generally is th, thus the common Oc. word fa/ine or 
vavine is thathine (woman), and the common fan or 
van (to go) is than, and in Rotuma t is changed to /, 
as mat (eye) to maf. This interchange of t to f is 
also seen in Mg. in the final tr, t (Anc. Se. fern, and 
abstract ending), thus, rakotra, rakofana({or rakotan^i), 
{k to /) lelaka, lelafina (cf. vintana, kintana, lintana, 
star), bohaka, hohafina, donaka, donafina, horaka, 
horahiTia (k, t, f, h): and see on the numeral "two" 
below, which has the same Anc. Se. terminal, t, th, 
changed in some dialects to v, k, h. In this Mallicolo 
dialect, and in Rotuma, we see clearly laid before us 
this interchange ; in the other dialects we see traces 
of its working from early times. This is a lesson to 
which we may get a parallel as to almost all the 
particular phonetic interchanges in Oc. ; in one dialect 
we find a particular interchange very frequent, in 
another another, but in* the one as in the other has 
only been given special prominence to what has always 

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been and is in the Oe. family, though more or less 
latent here or there, or then or now. Compare the 
vulgar Arb. tomm for fmtvm mouth, and fwm for 
th/wm deinde ; c/. also fahlaly thahlal. 

s. This letter is changed into h, t, r, I, sometimes 
to n, and sometimes elided. 

The changes occurring in the formation of words, 
and in the formative particles, prefix, infix, and suffix, 
and also the changes in, and connected with, the 
article, will be treated of below. 

F. MuUer has noted the interchange of y and — Mg. 
izy, My. iya, he. The peculiar combination seen in 
the Eth. ku (kw), &c., occurs in Oc. in some dialects 
as Ef. kw, bw (represented by p, see above), mw (cf. 

As in all languages, the consonants uttered by the 
same organs most readily interchange, as dentals with 
dentals, labials with labials, and palatals with palatals. 
In Se.-Oc. sibilants and dentals and the letters I, n, r 
readily interchange, also the t and k sounds ; the k 
sounds and gutturals are apt to be elided, also the 
labials and the semi-vowel sounds w and ^, and even 
the sibilants and dentals. The large multitude of Se. 
triliterals treated of in grammars as weak verbs, verbs 
with gutturals, and contracted verbs, one or more of 
whose letters are gutturals, or semi- vowels, as ', h, h, S 
2/, Wy or whose first letter is n, or whose second letter 
is doubled, usually appear in Oc. in their short or 
corrupted forms. In comparing the Oc. shortened 
with the Anc. Se, fuller forms of the common tri- 

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literal words, it is important also to bear in mind the 
influence of the accent. The accented part of the 
word is retained, the unaccented being more apt to 
disappear. The Se. triliterals that " were originally 
trisyllabic (as in Arabic), and became by degrees two- 
syllable (in Hebrew), and one-syllable (in Aramaic)," 
are two-syllable in Oc. In Arb. the accent in these 
words was on the first syllable, and in two-syllable 
words also on the first syllable. In Oc, as F. M. has 
remarked, the great mass of the stem-words are two- 
syllable, and the accent is on the first syllable. Of 
course I speak of the general rule in each case. Now 
Anc. Se. trisyllabic triliterals, none of the three letters 
of which were weak letters, and which had the accent 
on the first syllable, gradually came to be pronounced 
in Oc. in two syllables, the final unaccented (third) 
syllable being most naturally dropped by the opera- 
tion of the law of " laziness," or " least action," and 
the final (third) consonant, which then closed the 
second and unaccented syllable of the bisyllabic word, 
naturally disappearing also in many cases. Without 
entering into particulars, it is evident that the pre- 
valence in Oc. of the bisyllabic pronunciation of the 
stem-words with the accent on the first syllable has 
an important bearing on the present subject, and has 
operated in the contraction of many of the ancient 
words to their present form. 

In the Malay, in many triliteral words (whether 
ancient or intermediate triliterals), the third or final 
consonant written is elided in pronunciation (see 

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Marsden's My. Gr., pp. 114-115), and the shortened 
form is sometimes the common one in Ef. and Sam., 
as " skin," " bark," My. (written) kwlit, (pronounced) 
kwliky Ef. kuli, d. vnli, Sam. iZi, Ma. kiriy Mg. hoditra, 
Heb. geled, Arb. gilid, gild ; " fearing," My. tcihiity Mg. 
tahotray Ef. mataku, Sam. mata'u ; " drinking," Mg. 
minona, My, minuTn, Ef. minu, Sam. inu ; My. darat, 
pronounced darah, shore; saH^, saHA, sick (Ef . misaki, 
Sam. ma'i); aiiaA; (Mg. anaka\ child, pronounced 
atia, in Ef. only as ani. These few examples indicate 
the fact that a number of the stem-words, which 
are equally in Mg. and My. triliterals, in Mg. are tri- 
syllabic, in My. bisyllabic, while in Ef. and Sam. the 
third or final letter, dropped in My. in pronunciation, 
has disappeared. But this elided final letter some- 
times reappears in Ef. and Sam., when a suffix is 
attached to the word — thus, to take the above words, in 
'Ei,hdi with suffix i becomes kultiy in Sam. ma^a't6with 
suffi:? ia becomes mata'utiay in Ef. minu with suffix 
i becomes minungiy in Sam. inu with suffix anga be- 
comes inumangay with suffix ia, inuniia ; as in its 
disappearance we see the influence of the accent, so in 
the reappearance of the final letter we also see the 
influence of the accent, for the suffixed particle draws 
the accent towards the end of the word. We see the 
same phenomenon in the Anc. Se. languages, in, for 
instance, the losing in pronunciation of the ending t 
or thy when no suffix is attached to it, and its re- 
appearance when a suffix is attached to it. It appears 
that the final consonant in any closed syllable is apt 

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to be elided in pronunciation in My. — ^thus, the for- 
mative prefix bar, or ber, is commonly pronounced ba, 
or be, and so the formative prefix tar, or ter, pro- 
nounced ta or te, and, as before, the shortened form 
may be the only one in Ef . and Sam., as My. barkalahi, 
to fight (from kalahi, fight), Ef. faJcah, fight, war, Fi. 
voUu ; My. baranak (cmak, child), Sam. fdnau, to bear 
a child (Makassar ma-owia) ; My. bardarah, Ef . mita, 
to bleed (Tagala mataga, g for r, Bugis madara), 
denominative verb from My. darah (Ja. and Mg. ra, 
Ef. ra, tra) blood. When a prefix is attached to a 
word it tends to draw away the accent further from 
the end of the word, which is the more apt to be 
elided in pronunciation. In Se.-Oc. the article is pre- 
fixed, and not only itself has undergone various 
phonetic changes, but has operated in causing changes 
in the words to which it is attached. 

The changes in particular words will be noted 
below in each case, when necessary, as they occur. 

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Pronominal Words and Particles. 

As F. Muller has remarked, there are no roots in 
either the Se. or Oe. languages, but only stem-words 
or formed words ; and in both the one-syllable stem- 
words are contracted words. The tendency of the Se. 
languages, in the course of analytic development, is to 
replace the living inflection by internal vowel changes, 
by the external inflection by formative additions, and 
by syntactical processes. But the Se. languages, how- 
ever analytic, must bear in the stem-words the marks 
(though these may sometimes be effaced by phonetic 
corruption) of the characteristic inflection by internal 
vowel change. And it is thus that the Oc. languages 
bear that inflectional stamp in their stem- words, while 
they still use livingly, and with the natural modifica- 
tions, the inflection by formative additions, and largely 
use the original Se. syntactical processes. The stem- 
word, as before said, in Oc. bisyllabic, may, as in Anc. 
Se., " be indifferently either a verb or a noun." The stem- 
words are either primitive, secondary, or derivative 
— by secondary being meant a stem-word originally 
derivative, but now, whether tri-literal, quadri-literal. 
or quinque-literal, used as a primitive or ground stem. 
In Anc. Se. reduplication was used to denote repeti- 

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tion, intensity, &c. ; in Oc, also, reduplication, with 
the natural modifications rendered necessary by pho- 
netic and grammatical decay and simplification, is 
largely used. 'In Se.-Oc. the whole material of the 
language may be considered under two heads — the 
great mass of stem- words, and, in whole or in part 
derived from them and contracted, the smaller class of 
ancient and common pronominal words and particles, 
formative and syntactical. The words of the latter 
class, though fewer, are of the first importance, being 
not only a fundamental part of the material, but also 
of the organic structure of the Se.-Oc. languages, both 
in the formation of derivative words and of sentences. 
These, naturally, therefore may be treated of at this 
stage, and I begin with the demonstrative particles. 

These are — 1, n* or 'n ; 2, 7 or T ; 3, A^ ; and 4, ta, 
da, sa, za, which last three are variations of ta. The 
third personal pronoun, 6, u, i, he, she, it, is also used 
as a demonstrative, and combined with demonstra- 
tives ; and, 6, the final particle a has a demonstrative 
power pointing to a distance. These all appear on 
both sides of the comparison in the following, as 1 in 
Mg. iny. My. ini, Ef. in, ni, na, Sam. na, n^i, Syr. 
hana, Ch. hen, Assy, annu, Himy. hen, " this." 

Again 2 appears in Sam. le, Arb. cd, the article com- 
posed of " the prosthetic a " and the demonstrative 
syllable V or li, in Ef. ra, li, erik, arai, this, that, 
and in the common plural signifying " these," " those," 
" they," Mg. ireo, izareo, My. marika, Ef. n^zra^ 
inira, Epi nala, iolai, Sam. 'o i latov, {tou for 

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tolu, 3), Niue lau (tolu), Tonga nau (tolu), Tagala 
sila, Fiji ko ira, Paama ke ila, Tanna ila, Aneityum 
aray Heb. elleh, Amh. ela, eleh (h for k), Eth. ellu, 
elehiy Ch. illek, Arb. oZaA;a and olaikay heola, heolaik, 
Mg. ireto, Eth. elontu, Mg. ireny, Himy. eieti. 

Again, 3 appears in My. iki £his, iA;it and ika, that ; 
Himy. ka, that; E^i. afe), that; New Caled. yek, he, she, 
it; Amh. yh, yth (for yk, yek), this; Ch. se^, Arb. daka, 
Santo t^ttgfa, Ef. tuk, anduk, Eth. elekuetw, eleketu, 
Mg. irikitra, irokotra, that. Also, 4 appears in Mg. 
i^y, itony, this ; My. i^u, that, he, she, it, the ; Bugis 
yatUy Eth. uHu y%, he, she, it, the, that ; Tigre et, or 
etc ; also in the above Mg. irikitraj Eth. eleketu, Mg. 
izato, My. si^u, Ef. sentUy setu, Eth. ^re^i^u for zetu. 
It appears also in Arb. da, Ch. deA;, deria. Again, 4 
as sibilant appears in some of the above, and in Ef. 
8^, Eth. zi, Heb. zeh, hazzeh, Tig. eze, this ; Amh. e^^a, 
that (for eziya) ; and in My. aika, here, Eth. zeku, 
that, Amh. e2?eA (A for k), this. 

The pronoun of the third person, u, i, is rarely used 
unless combined with other demonstrative particles. 
In the ancient languages u was masculine, i feminine, 
but in the Pentateuch, hw denotes he, she, it ; and i 
(y*) prefixed to verbs, as in Eth., Mod. Arb., and Assy., 
denotes he, she, it ; and in Ef ., before verbs, i denotes 
he, she, it ; in Syr. ii? prefixed to verbs is probably a 
combination of n and i : i has become prevalent in 
the third personal pronoun in Oc, and is common 
mas., fern., neut.) In Ma.-Ha., o (for u) is a demon- 
strative and article, with which compare Mod. Syr. o. 


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In the Sa-Oc. the pronoun third person is often used 
as an article. Both i and u often have a suffixed, 
giving a kind of emphasis, as £f . tta this, ia this, he, 
she, it, Sam. ia, My. iya — compare Arb. huwa, hua, 
hiya, hia ; with the dem. or article (see below) pre- 
fixed, Mg. izy, zy, Tagala aiya, Ef. aia, si, aa, 8, he, she, 
it, Sam. sia this. My. diya, dia, Ef. tia and via, Ef. ki 
(Tongan Ico, Sam. 'o), My. inia, Ef . inia, and nai, and 
suffixed My. nia, Mg. ny, Ef. nia, ni, na, n, Sam. 'o ia 
he, she, it, Fi. koya, that, he, she, it, Ef . koya or koia 
that, there (close at hand), Ma. ia, that, he, she, it. In 
Amh. ya is " that " and sometimes he ; but in Amh. ersu 
(Eth. reeao) has replaced the common pronoun third 
person, literally " his head," as if " his lordship " were 
used in Eng. for " he." As a " personal article," and 
an article before pronouns, i, simple or combined {ki, 
si) is much used in Oc. — compare Rabbinic ihu, ihi. 

For the pronoun third person plural we have — 
1. The above plural demonstrative, which see. It 
sometimes has the article (for which see below), or is 
suffixed to the pron. third sing., as, Ef . inia he, inira 
they, nai he, nara they, Mg. izy, izareo. My. inia, 
and (m for n) maHka, Sam. 'o ia, 'o i la (tou). 

2. Ef. u, with article eru or iru (dialect r elided, 
see article below), iu, or ?u, they. This is the Anc. Se. 
inflectional plural third pers. pron. contracted, thus 
(original Eth. um, Dillmann), Arb. hum, Ef. H, the 
final m being elided, as it is, for instance, in Mod. Arb. 
entutoventum,ye; Eth. dlu tor ellum, those, ke. : see 
further below on the second and first pers, pronouns. 

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3. The plural demonstrative, in 1, prefixed to the 
plural pers. pron. in 2, thus, Niue lau, Tonga nau : 
lau, mtu therefore literally signify " those — ^they." 

4. The plural pronoun third person in 2, with the 
pi. dem. in 1 after it. — The pi. pron. (see 2) sometimes 
suffixed a (dem.), as in Heb. hemah, Mod. Arb. homma, 
and sometimes u, as in Anc. Arb. humu. Now, in the 
Oc. pron. second person, My. kamu (see below) we 
find contraction by the elision of the m (final part) in 
Tag. Jcayu, My. kau, and of the ka or kw (initial part) 
in My. mw, Ef . mu, so Tagala. So, in the third person 
plural, also, we have both contractions, the one eliding 
the initial, the other the final part. Thus, in Amb. 
i is " he," ^ they (for u, Ef. d., with article, ri for rw 
they), but, in the expressions " they two," " they 
three" (" dual " and " trial "), it occurs in Amb. as mv, 
(Arb. humu), mu ri they two, mu si they three, or, 
as in the dialect in Gabelentz, bo ro or hv, rw they 
two, bu 8U they three. We may, perhaps, compare 
Tahiti vera {v\ however, may be the article, as in vau, 
I) they, ra (tou), ra as in vera (see 1), being " they 
three or more." Also, we may compare Ef. mara or 
mera, used in a well-known Oc. phrase, thus, John 
mara Peter, " John they Peter " for John and 
Peter, as in Ef. nara (1) may also be used, John 
nara Peter: John mara nan, usually written John 
meroan, literally "John they there," meaning John 
and others. In the Ma.-Ha. dialects simple ma 
(probably " they ") is thus used, and in Ef. the same 
with the demonstrative na changed to nga, thus. 

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Ma. John ma, £f. John Tnanga, In Tagala the 
same manga is used, but is put before the noun, as we 
can say in £f. nara John. Thus a kind of (analytic 
or syntactical) plural is formed in Oc. by the help of 
a word which is an Anc. inflected plural. In Ef . and 
Tag. manga is used with both proper and common 
nouns. In Tanna it is suffixed and enclitic as mi, as 
English boat, boatimi boats (pL), boatimi (dual) two 
boats. It is used also with the interrogative pronouns 
as Ma. wai who ? singular, wai Toa who ? plural ; 
Ef . 8€ who ? singular, se viai and se mani who ? 
plural ; Ef . dialect kehe (he for ae) who ? singular, 
kehe mxinga who ? plural ; Tanna svmami (for sin^mi) 
who ? plural, aimami who ? dual ; Santo, ro ae who ? 
plural ; Mota irasei who ? plural, literally they (or 
those) who ? 

The Oc. pronoun third person dual is (so F. Muller, 
&c.) formed by suffixing to the pronoun the numeral 
"two," which, as I shall show, has the Anc. Se. 
inflectional dual ending a. This numeral is in My. 
dv,a, Mg. and Ef. rua, Sam. Ivai, Tonga (initial conso- 
nant elided) ua, Anc. Arb. thinta, &c. (see below on 
the numerals), in all of which the a has the Se. dual 
ending. This numeral is combined with the above 
plural demonstrative la ra — thus, Sam. laua, Tonga 
(pi. nau) nana, Nine (pi. lau) laua, contracted la ; 
Ef . (only in latter form) rd they — two ; Ef . dialect ri 
they, via they — two {ri ma, riua, ria). This is the 
Oc. analytic or syntactical dual pronoun, in which is 
used an Anc. Se. inflected dual word. Generally in 

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the more analytic Se. dialects, as Eth. and Syr., this 
dual termination is retained only in the numeral 
" two." In the Anc. Arb. there is a dual pronoun of 
the third and second persons, huma they two, 
antuma you two, in which the- same a is seen^ 
The Sam, and Ef. analytic dual of the third and 
second persons is used instead of this, and thus the 
Anc. dual termination is much more frequently used 
in Sam. and Ef . than in Eth. and Syr. 

The pronoun of the second person is, used for 
singular, in Mg. separate hiando, suffixed nao, and ao, 
My. separate angkau, suffixed kau, Ef, separate ango 
(for anko, ankau), short form kv, (for kau), suffixed 
ko, dialect k, My. and Ef., dialect, ang for ank thou, 
Sam. separate 'o oe, suffixed v,; also in My. and 
Ef . suffixed mu, and ma, Mg. hiamao has hi prefixed, 
compare Negrito decarmiy hicamu, aikam (for the pre- 
fix, see below on the article), and anao, for ankaOy is 
identical with My. angkan for ankau, and Ef. ango 
(anko). Sam. oe, which elides the k, like Mg. a^, com- 
pares with Ef. ko, ku, My. kau, Tag. kayu. The k is 
retained in Mg. indriako (indH lo !), and provincial 
roky, rikia (rika). In My. also, occurs the form 
dikau (and dika), di of diya he (see article below). 
The forms kau, angkau, are plural used for singular, 
as Eng. " you " for " thou." Used for plural, we have 
Mg. separate hianareo, suffixed nareo and areo, My. 
separate, and suffixed kamu, and suffixed mu, Ef. 
separate akam, akamu, and with enclitic 8 (which is 
also attached to pronouns in Eth.) akamua, dialect 

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humUt short form kvu, suflixed mu, Sam. separate 
'o outou, suflixed on tou (ton three), Mg. anareo (com- 
pare Amh, anta thou, elant* ye, literally "those — - 
thou ") is for aiikareo thou — those, thou (and) those ; 
so also Bopp. Ef, akam, akamu is probably (cf. ango 
for anko) for ankam, My. kamu is the same without 
the article a or an, Sam. ou (tou) is for kou, My. 
A;au. My. and Ef. mu is by elision of the ka (initial 
part) for A:amu, and My. kati, Ef. ku, is for the same 
by elision, as above remarked, of the m (final part) : 
80 Florida gamu and gau, and thus we have in Bara- 
tonga ko (tou), and in Niue mu (tolu). The Se. pro- 
noun second person was in Heb. singular anta or 
anka (t changed to k), or atta, akka, the n of the pre- 
fixed demonstrative or article an being assimilated, 
and plural anfem or attem, ankem or akkem. What 
is tern, kem in Heb. is tuTu, tumu, kum, kumu in Arb., 
and temu, kemn in Eth. Heb. t&m is sometimes con- 
tracted to tu, and Arb. tumu in Mod. Arb. to tu^ Eth. 
antemu in Amh. to antu, and kemu to hu Qt for i), 
and ka to A. 

Eawi (Java) anta compares with Heb. Arb. Eth. 
anta thou ; Tagala suffixed ka with Eth. suffixed ka 
thou, and-Ef. d. suffixed k thee with Syr. suffixed k 
thee, Mg. ana (i.e., anka) in ana-reo with Heb. 
anka thou, and Ef . akarti, akamu (ku, ko, kumu, mu, 
ina, My. angkau, kau, kamu, mu, Sam. 'oe, 'ott, Mg. 
g^nao, i.e., ankao, nao, ao\ with Heb. akkem (Arb. 
kvmxUy Eth. kemu, Amh, Ait, &c.) The common use 
in Oc. of the plural for the singular is similar to that 

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in English, and in Amh. antw (Eth. antemu plural) is 
used for the singular. In Ef. the more contracted 
form ango is used for the singular, and the uncon^ 
tracted or fuller form aJcam for the plural. I adopt 
the explanation of this given by Bopp (p. 89, speaking 
of the Tagala) in the sentence beginning, *' Ich halte 
aber diese Unterscheidung fur zuf allig." The presence 
in this pronoun of the prefixed demonstrative an in 
Mg., My., and Ef., as in Arb., Heb., Syr., Eth., is note- 
worthy. The Oc. syntactical dual is formed by the ua 
or Tua, above explained in connection with the third 
personal pronoun, in Sam. ovZua, Marquesas koua^ 
Nine mua, Ef. ko rua, ho ra, okaTn ra : Ef. d. kia, 
in which dialect ki is for ku you, as ri for ruu they, 
so that kia seems to compare with Arb. kuma you 
— two (as ki with kum you) rather than with ko 

The pronoun first person singular is in Mg. separate 
izaJio, ako, suffixed ko, hy, My. separate aku, suffixed 
ku, Ef . separate kinau (short form a), suffixed gn (ku, 
k), au, Sam. separate 'o a'u, suffixed 'u, a'u. For iz 
in izaho, ki in kiriau, 'o in 'o a'u, see the article 
below. Ef. 'tuxu is for 'nahw, Sam. a'u, for aku, Mg. 
oho for aku, and 'nakn {an or enaku) compares with 
Assy, andkn, anku (Heb. anoki), an being the same 
prefixed dem. as is attached to the pron. second person. 
Heb. anoki becomes contracted to ani, with which 
compares Arb. and Eth. ana, &c., Ef. dialects enu, ni, 
Amb. na, ni, &c. My. aku (Mg. aho, Sam. a'u, Ef. au) 
is without this an, and the original Se. pronoun. Mg. 

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ho, My. kuy Ef. gru, kn, Sam. 'u, compares with Assy. 
and Eth. hw, Amh. hu suffixed, and Ef. a (short form) 
before verbs, with Heb., Arb., &c., a prefixed to verbs. 
The plural first personal pronoun is in Mg. separate 
izahay, suffixed nay, ay, My. separate and suffixed 
hami, Ef. separate hinami (dialects kimam, komam, 
ningami, angamUy nikam, Eromanga kam, Aniwa 
akimi, Florida garni, and contracted gai, short form ai, 
Motu ai), short form an, suffixed nami (dialects ngaTwi, 
kam), Espiritu Santo {nau, I) anam, suffixed nam, 
Sam. separate 'o i ma (tou), suffixed ma (tou). Mg. 
ahay compares with Tagala and My. kami by the 
elision of the m, as Florida gai for gami, Ef. kimam 
for kinami shows the change of n for m. Ef. kinami 
has the same article ki as khiau I, and is certainly 
the plural of kiTiau, Ef, 'nami, of which ngami, 
ngam, kam are variations, is identical with Mg. nay, 
as Ef. ngami, kam, My. kami with Mg. ahay. Siam. 
ma has elided the first syllable of this pronoun, like 
My. (and Ef. and Nine) mu for kamu ye. Ef. nami 
(Mg. nay, Santo anam) compares with Arb. nahnu 
(Mod. Arb. nahna, nahn, Heb. anahna, Eth. nehna), 
and it may be a question whether the final n of 
nahnu is for the original m (of the Se. plural) which 
is retained in the Oc. nam^i, kami, or whether this 
Oc. m is by a more recent change from this Arb., &c., 
n: the m of the Se. plural termination in Heb. is 
more original than the n in Arb. in nouns, and this m 
appears in both the Arb., Eth., and Heb. pronouns of 
the second and third persons, but has been changed even 

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in these to ti in Aramaic. Thus nami is identical 
with TUihnu, the h of which (weakened from the k of 
the first person singular, which originally was anaJcu, 
&s in Assy., of which nahnu is the plural) is naturally 
elided in Oc, especially as closing a syllable and 
immediately before a nasal. In Oc. in ndbmi the accent 
is accordingly on the a. In one Ef . dialect the short 
form (before verbs) is m'ih and jm, Paama me (cf. Sam. 
ma\ Epi ni (Epi dialect me), where we see the same 
interchange of n and m. Epi. ni compares with the 
prefixed (to verbs) Anc. form, Heb., Assy, m, Eth. 
ne, Arb. na. The form with k, the article, retains the 
n (dem.) in Ef. kinau, kinami, Santo kariamy changes 
it to m in Ef. kimam, Mallicolo kamam. In Ef. nin- 
garni, nikam, ngami, kam the k is for n {ng), and kam 
for nfiam, and with Ef. kam is identical, Amb. kima, 
Eromanga kam, kimi, My. and Tag. kami, Aniwa 
akimi, Florida igami, and gai, short form ai, Mg. 
oJiay (for akay). Accordingly the Mg. in the suffixed 
form of this pronoun has the original n in nay, Ef. 
nami, the n of nay is elided when it is suffixed to 
a noun ending in k, as zanak child, zanakay our 
child, but reny mother, reninay our mother. Thus 
Ef. kiTiami is an older or more incorrupt form of this 
Oc. pronoun than the My. and Mg. kdmi, ahay. 
Without either the k, or the n are Motu ai, Florida 
short form ai, Ef. short form aw, Mg. suffixed as above 
ay, i.e., ai. Now as Mg. ai is, as above proved, for 
ami, so Ef. avb is for amw (in one Ef. dialect, it is 
actually mvb, see above), and compares with Heb. anu 

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(contraction of anahnu), as ami with the same; 
compare also, Mod. Syr. ahni, Mod. Arb. ahnxi, with 
Heb. anu in which the h is elided. 

The Oc. syntactical dual is in Sam. HfiatLa contracted 
Olid, " we — two," Ef . dialect Tnoa (for mu ua), other 
Ef . dialect ara, or au tnta we — ^two ; for ua, ma, a, 
see above. 

Inclusive. — The Oc " inclusive pronoun " is a syn- 
tactical combination of the pronouns of the first and 
second persons, and denotes " I and thou " or '' I and 
you," and is in Mg. isika {is as iz in izaho), My. 
Hta, Ef . ningita, nikit akit (k and ak for ng, ang, i.e., 
n, an, as in ningami, nam, kara, angam, anam), 
short form (in dual) ta, plural tu, Sam. 'o i ta (tou). 
In Ef. it is sometimes pronounced kiTigita {ningita), 
that is kinu I, and ta (or ka) thou, Santo* int% 
Aneityum short form inta, Mg. ika (Epi ita for into) 
is for hika, nika, or inka. My. kita for nita or inta 
I — thou. In Mod. Arb. the equivalent expression is 
ana u ente (or anta) I and thou, Aneit. inta, Santo 
inti, the conjunction not being used. The common 
short form (with verbs) of the pronoun " thou " in Se. 
is ta or ka, and as to the Arb. ana I, sometimes an, 
Heb. ani, Amh. and Tig. ene, in one Ef . dialect " I " is 
ni, Amb. 7ia, ni, Lif u ini, ene, Lakon ina. The Ef, 
(short form) plural tu (I) ye, compares with Tonga tou, 
Tagala tayu {ku, kau, kayu, second person plural, see 
above), and the Mod. Arb. entu, Amh. antu, Heb. tu 
(the final m being elided, see above). This syntac- 
tical expression was frequent in Anc. Se., and contrary 

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to the English usage (you and I) the ego was put 
first (I and you) as in Mod. Arb. (Caussin de Percival, 
Chr, Arb. Vulgaire, section 223), Gren. xxiii. 15 ; Judges- 
xi. 12 ; John ii. 4. The syntactical dual is Tongan 
taw (plural), taiua (dual) likei nau, nana, Ef. tv, 
(plural), td (for tua, dual), Ef . dialect ti (plural), td (for 
tia, dual) : the Ef . " short forms " tu, ta, literally " you," 
"you — two," the "I" being understood from the 
longer form. Sam. taua, contracted td, like laiba con- 
tracted la. 

Thus we learn from the Oc, which are simply and 
exclusively the common Se. pronouns, that the Oc. 
mother tongue possessed the common Se. inflections of 
the plural and dual. The Se. inflection of gender seen 
in the second and third personal pronouns singular and 
plural which has disappeared from the plural in Mod. 
Syr. has disappeared from both singular and plural in 
Oc. We shall see below, however, that the Oc. mother 
tongue did possess the Se. inflection of gender. 

The Ef . " short forms " of the pronouns given above 
are used in the nominative before verbs, denoting the 
person and number, and occupy the place analytically 
of the " personal preformatives " of the Anc. Se. No 
verb can be used in Ef. without them, and they can- 
not be used without a verb ; the two, pronoun and 
verb, form one syntactical expression. These abbre- 
viated Ef. pronouns are: for I, a, as in the Anc. 
languages ; .for he, she, it, ^, as in the Anc. languages ; 
for we, mu and aw and u (Epi ni, Paama me, cf. 
Sam. ma), as in the Anc. languages, Heb. ni (for 

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anu); for thou, Mallicolo ke, Epi. dialect ka, as in the 
Anc languages ta, te, tL Te and they in the Anc 

-languages were so expressed, the plural termination 
being sujffixed to the verb, that when that inflection 
(of the " imperfect '*) became broken up, it was neces- 
sary to use the short pronoun in Oc. in the plural, as 
in Ef. hw you, ?u, fe'u they. This analytic equivalent, 

. with the same pronominal elements, for the Anc im- 
perfect, prevails in Ef. and other Papuan dialects, but 
not in Mg. and My. On the other hand, we have in 
Mg. a similar analytic equivalent for the Anc. " per- 
fect," which had the pronouns suffixed denoting the 
person and number. Thus is suffixed for I, Mg. ko. 
My, ktb, Eth. and Assy, ku ; for thou, Tagala Jfca, Eth. 
ka, Mg. nao, ao, My. kau ; for we, Mg. Tiay, ay, My. 
kaTivif Heb. nu, Arb. na ; for you, My. kamu, Eth, 
keTifiu : these, remembering that in nay and kami the 
initial consonant is the Anc. prefixed demonstrative n 
elided in the Anc. suffixed pronoun, are all identical, 
the Mod. with the Anc. In replacing the inflectional 
"perfect" by this analytic equivalent it was neces- 
saiy in Oc, for obvious reasons, to use the ordinary 
pronouns of the third person suffixed, Mg. ny (My. 
nia, from mm), n the article, and y (i), he, she, it ; 
Mg. zareo (jareo), My. marika, they {izareo they). 
From these pronominal fragments and their uses we 
learn that the Oc. mother tongue possessed the Se. 
inflection of the "perfect and imperfect." In Se.- 
Oc. these suffixed pronouns were originally genitives 
suffixed to verbal nouns. In Oc. they are suffixed, 

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and as genitives to substantives also, and compare with 
the Anc. suffixed pronouns used in the same way, the 
" nominal suffix," thus — 





your their 



nao, ao 


nay, ay 

nareo jareo, ny 



kau, mu 



kamu -^'^- 


gvi, ku 




mu ra 





ma (tou) 

'ou (tou) la (tou) 






kemu homu 






kum (u) hum (u) 

The apparent differences in these, between the Oc. 
and the Ancient, are caused by — 1, the demonstrative 
prefixed to the Oc. in, under "thy," nao; under "his," 
ny; under "our," nay, nami, and kami; and, 2, 
phonetic change, as in Sam. ma, Arb. na : a difference 
is caused under "your" in nareo, and under "their" in 
jareo, ra, la, by using in the mod. dialects the Se. plural 
demonstrative instead of the plural personal pronoun. 
A difference is also seen under " thy," caused by the 
use of the Anc. plural for the Mod. singular, while, 
in ny and nia, under " their " we see the singular used 
for the plural, as to which, however, it is to be noted 
that in Anc Arb. hi (sing.), like Oc. i, in speaking of 
things, often denotes the plural, as it does in Ef. 
These suffixes in the ancient languages, when attached 
to verbs, expressed the accusative, except i, which then 
appears (with the dem. n) b& ni: so in Ef. except 
ku, gUf which is then au (for aka), and ma, which is 
usually ko, but in one dialect k, in another ma, and na. 

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for which is sometimes na, sometimes a, t, ia, e, ea, and 
as in na, with article (see below), ni, ma, 9a, si, ma, ti, 
tia, ri, ria, ngi, ngia, mia. In Se.-Oc. the pronouns are 
also suffixed to particles, that is, to a preposition, to a 
relative, or to both combined, expressing the emphatic 
genitive, the dative, or the accusative. In Sam. the 
genitive of the pronoun is always expressed in this 
latter way, never by attaching the above suffixes 
directly to the noun, as in Mg., My., and Ef. ; on the 
other hand, the method prevalent in Sam. is rare 
in My. 

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Prepositions and the Article. 

Prefixed particles of the genitive, article, relative 
pronoun, prepositions — 1, a as Ef. dgu^ Sam. a a'u, 
My., frequently used in Sam. 

It is the article (see below) used as a relative : in 
the Anc. languages the relative was used as a sign 
or preposition of the genitive, the, that, or what (of) 
me, my, &c. The Sam. o, which is similarly used (o 
a*w, o'w) is probably the Sam. demonstrative article o 
used as a relative, originally the third personal pro- 
noun masculine with the article Mod. Syr. o, 

2. To the foregoing the common modern article (see 
below on the unconscious, modern, and double article) 
is prefixed in Sam., thus, Sam. Wu, Ma. taku, my, 
for le a'Uy te a^Uy the of me. Another form of the 
article («, see article below) is seen in Sam. aa'u my, 
8au thy, Sana his : so Sam. and Ma. with o, Zo*a, ioku 

3. The relative is prefixed to the preposition, as in 
the Anc. languages, thus in Ef. the above a is pre- 
fixed to the preposition ni of (same as Arb. Zi, Heb. l\ 
&c.), anena his (which of, or to him), dialect ariffinai, a 
which, ngi to, nai him. In Eromanga aorung my, «or' 
(fi article as in Sam. and r' preposition) the, or which 

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to. See on the article and prepositions below. So 
El. kakana, ka the, kana to him, the, or what his : 
Tanna savani, sa the, va in or on, ni him, his. £f. 
kakana in another dialect is kanana; in another 
kinina, ki the, ni of, and na him : also angana (a, nga, 
no) and anangana (ana, nga, na) the, to, or of him. 

4. The preposition prefixed in Ma. to both the 
above a and o, and to the common or modern form of 
the article in Ef . and Tag., thus, Ma. nana and nona 
his, £f . ningd his, ningnu my, ning of the. Tag. nang of 
the {ang article, as Bopp has remarked), the initial n* 
or ni in all these being the prep. " of." 

5. The preposition, alone or with article prefixed, 
is used as in Eromanga ariyau (dialects eniau, etiyo) 
my, arika thy, Arb. liya my, lika thy, Eromanga boyau 
(d. piyo) to or on me, buka to or on thee, Arb. ftiya, 
bika; Mg. azy his {a\ "to," "of," see below), and with 
article ny azy, the of him, or to him ; in Ef. kana his> 
literally " to him " (prep, ki or ka), so Tanna kun his 
(prep, y to), and fun his (prep. /' in). Compare with 
the latter My. punia (Bugis puna), Ef . bienia, and My. 
padania {da article, see below), Ma. mana, Fiji vei koya 
(see article and prepositions). 

The prepositions. — 1. Of the two commonest of the 
Se. prepositions, the one is in Heb. bi, Arb. bi, fi, 
Eth. ba, Syr. b\ Mod. Syr. bid. Tig. abl, Mg. amy, My. 
pada, Ef. ma, mi, bi, fi, bai or bei, Fiji vei, Sam. and 
Ma. ma. Mj.pada has da, the usual My. form of the 
article (see article below), as has Arb. bit. Mod. Syr. 
has in bid the relative d. My. bagi (baki) has the 

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preposition ki, and signifies "to, unto, by, for, on 
account of." 

The meanings and uses of this preposition are many 
and various. Gesenius gives its meanings as " in, at, 
by, near, on, to, unto, upon, according to, for, on 
account of, with, by (instrument and agent), by 
(swearing)," &c., and states that after a verb it gives 
sometimes a transitive or causative signification to 
the verb. This is an important function of the Se. 
prepositions. In Mg. it signifies "in, with, by, to,' 
&c. ; in My. " on, at, in, to, for, towards, by, according 
to, with;" in Ef. it signifies "on account of, on," fee, 
and is used very commonly as a kind of verb sub- 
stantive (so in the New Hebrides generally), as in 
Mod. Arb., and Eth., and in Sam. it signifies " to, for, 
with, from, on account of, because of;" in Ha. " at, by, 
in, through, unto, by means of," &c. In the sense of 
for, on account of, ma, or m\ is used in Sam. before 
nouns and pronouns, so Ef . ma or mi with another 
preposition (for which below) mxmgi (m/Hd), dialect 
mini, My. hagi. In My., Ma., and Fiji, when followed 
by the pronoun it denotes the verb " to have," as in 
Arb., as My. adapadaku, Fiji tu vei au, Ma. ai m^ku 
" I have," literally " is in me," or " on me " (ada, tu, 
ai " is " or " are "). In Eth. ba with the suffix pro- 
nouns denotes in like manner " I have," " thou hast," 
&c. The genitive or possessive is often expressed in 
My. by the word punia (Bugis puna) placed after the 
noun or pronoun, as aku punia, mine. With this I 
compare Ef. bienia have, or possess it, as a bienia, ku 

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bienia, i bienia, I have it, thou hast it, he has it. It 
can take a noun in the accusative, as Ef. i befatit, he 
has a stone, and it is identical with the preposition 
under notice^ which came also in Eth. to be used as a 
verb signifying " to have ** and governing the accusa- 
tive, on which Dillmann remarks : — " So kann auch 
diese Verbindung nur daraus eklart wer den, dass 
allmahlig der abgeleitete Sinn iiber die ursprungliche 
Bedeutung uberwiegte." Thus we see Eth. bo (few) 
denoting " in it," " in him," then " is " (as Arb. A Ef. 
6i, fi, dialects bai^ mi), then " has," transitive verb. 
Now, My. pa, Bu. pu, in punia, puna, Ef. M or jS in 
bienia, is identical with this Eth. bo (bu), and punia 
simply means " having " or " possessing it," as aku 
punia, I possess it, " my," kamu punia, you possess it, 
" your," raja punia wang, the king's money, literally 
" the king possesses it the money," or " possessing " or 
" possessor of it the money." 

This preposition is the first letter of the Hebrew 
Scriptures, and of the Syr. and Arb. (fil) versions 
denoting " in," in the expression " in the beginning,." 
and it is used in the same place in the Mg. and My. 
versions : so in John i. 1 ; and so John i. 5, ** in (the 
darkness)," This is the radical meaning of the prepo- 
sition. In the sense of " with," " by," " baptize uith 
water," it occurs John i. 33, in Syr., Tig., Arb., and 

2. The second of the two commonest Se. prepo- 
sitions is in Arb, ila. It, Heb. <XK, eli, el, U, Syr. fe, Eth. 
La, Tig. na, ne (in which the original I is changed to n). 

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Mg. any, arC, a\ ny; Tag., Battak wa, ni ; Ef . m, ngi^ hi, 
in; Ma.-Ha. na, no (ni-a, ni^), My. di (l to d), Makassar 
and Bugis ri, dialect of Battak t, Ma.-Ha. i, e, Ma. f, 
Mg. a, in which the consonant (Z) is elided, Aneityum 
ira, Eromanga ira and ra {I to r), My. ri, in rfari {da, 
the article the, that or which, of or from) of, from. 
Mg. any, My. akan, Ef . in, as Heb. ali, eli. Ef . am has 
a the article thus : Ef. ni ae of whom ? am «« that, or 
the of whom ? m* natamole of man, am* naiamole the 
of man. As in the article (see below) the I of this 
preposition is found sometimes in Oc. changed to w, 
ng, and k, as Ef . m, w^i, ^2, My. akan, kan, ka (the pre- 
position with the demonstrative n suffixed, as in 
Himyaritic Ian, la, "sans changer de signification"), 
Tag. ka, Mg. ha, ho, Sam % 'ia, i. Ma. ki, i. 

It signifies in Heb. " to, on account of, on behalf of, 
for (anyone), in, at," and is mark of dative, accusative, 
and genitive. In Mg. its meanings are " to, belonging 
to, for;" in My. "by, at, in, of, from ;" in Ef. "of, for 
(any one), belonging to," and is mark of accusative; in 
Ma. " by, (made) by, belonging to, on account of," &c. ; 
in Aneityum (Gabelentz) " in, vor, von, aus, auf, mit, 
iiber," and sign of the accusative and dative. In 
Arb., Heb., Eth., &c., and in Mg., Ef., and Tahiti, and 
less prominently in My., it is used as the sign of 
the genitive "belonging to," the original meaning 
being "to." In Ef., as in Heb., it is used to 
denote " for (anyone)," as i ning natamole mate 
he for man died. In Tahiti and Ma. it is used to 
denote " for, on account of," as in Arb., Heb., Eth., 

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and Tig., thus Arb. lima, Heb. lamah, £th. lament, Tig. 
nemintay, Tab. no te aha, Amb. ne ha "for," or 
« on account of what ? " " why ? " In Tah. and Ma. it 
also denotes *' by," " (made) by/* after passive verbs : 
so in Heb. " dative of the cause and author," " the 
efficient cause after a passive verb most frequently 
takes W Compare ni instrumental in some l^apuan 
dialects in Codrington's work. 

For the change of the original I of this Se. prep, to 
n, ng, k, &c., in Oc, see below on the similar changes 
of the I of the Se. article I in Oc. Thus we have Mg. 
ho (and ha), My. ka, akan, kan, Ef. and Fiji ki, Ma. 
and Tongan ki, Sam., Tah., and Ha. and Ma. t. As My. 
akan, kan, so Epi has ka and kan, Ef. kin, Mg. often 
combines these two prepositions thus, ho amy ; so My • 
kapada, Fiji kivei. 

The different phonetic forms of this preposition, as 
of other particles in Oc, have often been partly occa- 
sioned by its position in relation to another word. Its 
meanings and uses in the form ki, &c., are generally 
the same as those already noticed, thus Mg. " to for, 
belonging to," My, " to for, by, of, concerning, relating 
to, with." &c., Ef. " to, belonging to," &c., Sam. "in, at, 
with, to, for, of, on, on account of, concerning." In 
My., Ef., and Sam., it is much used, as in the Anc. 
languages, aa a transitive preposition. In Ef and Ma. 
ki (Tah. i, ia, a, article) is also instrumental " by," and 
also denotes " in, to, at, with," &c. As a transitive 
preposition it has the forms in Mg. an* and a\ in 
Ma. ki and i, in Ef ki, in Sam. % in My. kan ; these 

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BXQ prefixed to the noun or pronoun in Mg., as in the 
Anc. languages, between the verb and noun or 
pronoun in Ef., and sometimes suffixed to the verb, 
sometimes prefixed to the noun or pronoun, and 
suffixed to the verb in My. and Sam. In Mg. and Ef., 
as in the Anc. languages, this preposition is also the 
sign of the genitive — Mg. an, a\ ny, Ef. wi, ngi, ki, and 
so generally in Oc. In Se.-Oc., generally, this pre- 
position is a sign of genitive, dative, accusative, and 

The i in Fiji vet, Ef. (d.) hai or hei, and the o of Mg. 
ho, are the article, or the i and o (u) third personal 
pronoun singular. 

3. A third common Se. preposition is in Heb. 'fm, Syr. 
'am, Arb. ma', Mg. amana, My. (with article) dangan 
(final n as in kan), Ef . ma, me, Sam. ma with, together 

Prepositions are sometimes, whether of the Anc. or 
intermediate period, found suffixed to verbs in an Oc. 
dialect, owing to having been constantly used after 
these verbs as " transitive prepositions," as hi in Ef. libi 
— dialects lekbai, limi, U (or lek) — to see, look (Heb. 
raah, Arb. rai, Fiji rai), and hi or ba, commonly used 
after it as in Heb. raah he "to look upon!* In My. 
kan, Ef . ki, Sam. % is often suffixed to the verb, and 
much used as the transitive preposition, as in the 
Anc. languages. Also, in the Anc. as well as in the Mod. 
languages, the article was sometimes between the 
preposition and the noun, and sometimes prefixed to 
the preposition, as "the or that of," "in," "with." 

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The article had sometimes the force of the relative 

The Article. — The original Se. articles is best pre- 
served among the Anc. languages in Arb. as al, el, 
"composed of the demonstrative Z," or li, and "the 
prosthetic a, which is prefixed only to lighten the 
pronunciation." It is pronounced al and el and r 
by the modem Arabs; "in South Arabia am was 
(and even still is) used for al" In Arb. the I of the 
article is assimilated (as essemau for elsemsw) when 
the word to which it is prefixed begins with a dental, 
sibilant, or liquid ; in Heb. the I is dropped altogether, 
and the article appears as ha, Phoenician a or e. 
Accordingly this same article appears in different 
forms in the Oc. languages ; its common form is in 
Mg. ny, Ef. ni, in, na, an, n\ Sam. le, which latter 
appears in Tongan as he, Ma. te, Ha. ke, Mai re. In 
Ef. the n of the article is rarely changed to ng ; in 
Tagala its common form is ang, as it occurs also in 
Mg. as an. In Ef. dialects it occurs also as la, V, and 
r' ; for instance, nan-guau nose, in one dialect in la*u8u, 
and rang time (r* article and ang for an, Arb. an 
time), in one dialect is lang, and in another nang, 
and in another rak (ng to k). In Ef. it also appears 
as a (Fiji a, Ma. a) and e. In both the Anc. and 
Mod. languages the article is prefixed (whether to 
nouns, pronouns, or prepositions), and has a consider- 
able effect upon the pronunciation of the word. In 
the Anc. languages, assimilated as above, its loss was 
compensated by the doubling or strong pronunciation 

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of the letter following it, as Arb. as^emsu for alaeniaw 
the sun. Many words, which' were constantly used 
with the article in ancient times, appear in Oc. with 
the article glued on to them and with the initial 
consonant of the word to which it is attached modi- 
fied in a way that is thus explained : thus the word 
"sun," or "day," is in Mg. andro, My. dri, Ef. 
dlo (d. elo)j and the initial syllable is the Se. article 
prefixed in the usual way to a Se. word (for which, 
see below, signifying " sun," " day " ) whose initial con- 
sonant, the article, while being itself modified, has 
helped to modify ; while further, by prefixing a syllable 
to the word, it helped to facilitate the elision of the 
final consonant of the word. The same is true of the 
word " chief," Mg. andHa, Ma.-Ha. a/inki, aliki, alii, 
(Ef. riki senior), and many others. Of course the 
article thus prefixed in ancient times has been 
variously changed ; for instance, when the word to 
which it was prefixed began with a vowel, or weak 
letter (like the Ef. lang, rangy nang time), the con- 
sonant of the article is retained, as Mg. ray. My. rama, 
Ef. tama, Sam. tamd father (Anc. Se. abu, aha), Mg. 
reny, Sam. tind, Tig. €7io, Arb. imu, My. ibu mother, 
Mg. rano, Ef, d. *ran, My. danau, Java ranu, Fiji 
dranu, Sam. lanuu water, spring water, Arb. 'aynu or 
'a'rnu (cf. Heb., &c.) A word may occur in Oc. both 
with and without the article, as My. a6u, labu, dabv, 
dust, and Ef. tama, ava, and abu father. In words 
which have thus, the article prefixed in Anc. times 
that article is no longer recognized as an article, but it 

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is considered as a part of the word (or a *' radical " 
letter), and the (in i-eality) compound word is treated 
as if it were simple or not compounded, thus the 
above Arb. ^a'nvb "water" also means "eye," and 
Sam. lanv, lake water, when the adjective termination 
a is attached to it, that is, lanua^ means " sore eyes," 
literally " eyey," and lanv, is even used as a denomina- 
tive verb " to pour fresh (lake or spring) water on one 
after bathing " in the sea, Ef. bangaranu (for a and 
banga, see Formative Particles below), the Arb. verb 
'ana (from which *a'nu comes) signifying to " flow : " 
and to a word with such an anciently prefixed or 
radicalized article, the modern article (the two may 
be called the double article) is now prefixed as to any 
other word; thus the above Ef. 'ran " water" takes the 
common Ef. article (Mod. form) n\ as niran, Mg. ny 
ratio; and Sam. laau, which is identical with Ef. 
maJcaw, Ef. d. nakasu^ Mg. ny hazo (kaii, My. kayu, 
" tree," " wood ; " for the Anc. Se. form of this word, 
see below) takes the article le laau. This may be called 
the unconscious article in Oc., and it is only in this 
way that the common Se.-Oc. article is preserved or 
used in the My. dialect. Its being so unconscious 
points to distant ages in the past when it was the 
consciously used article. If these unconscious articles 
have been regarded by the natives as parts of the 
original words, it is no wonder that they have been 
so regarded also by Europeans ; thus Bopp (p. 4) tried 
to trace the Sam. laau to Sanscrit braka^a, Prakrit 
ritJeka. In Ef. and other New Hebrides dialects, and 

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others, a vast number of words have even the Mod. 
and common form of the article *n or n prefixed, and 
Europeans do not at first perceive it to be the article 
in a given dialect till some knowledge has been gained 
of that and the kindred dialects ; for instance, the Oc. 
word for " child," My. anak, pronounced ana, appears 
in Ef. only as ndni — that is, with the article n' (for 
this Se. word, see below). 

The article is found prefixed to the personal pronoun 
of the third person in Se.-Oc., and the compound thus 
formed is used both for the personal pronoun and as a 
demonstrative, " that," " this," and in certain circum- 
stances as an article. The Se. article T is found in 
Oc. (the original I changed directly or indirectly, that 
is by " transitional" or intermediate changes, as i to ti, 
QTi, ng, k, h, or I to t, d, 8, z, k, or I to r, z, 8, &c.) in 
the following forms, in addition to the above given, 
namely z (or a) and k h, and t (dj, m, fee, as Mg. 
anaka, My. anak, with article Mg. zaTiaJca, My. kanaJc, 
Ef. kanao, kano, kan (as well as nani) child, Sam. 
tama (m for n) sometimes pronounced kama (as in 
Haw.), My. cZalapan, delapan, salapan (lapan, Atshin) 
'* eight;" compare My. labu, dabtv, ahu, dust, Java 
Zmtang, Mg. Ajmtana, My. frmtang, Celebes 6ituy, 
Sam. feixx, Ef. masei (Ceram toi) star, Ef. nalangi, 
Sam. matangi, the wind. The article, as Aja in My., 
usually appears in Mg. as Aa, as My. kanan, Mg. 
Jiavanana the right hand, but Mg. also sometimes has 
the k, as Mg. kamory, Ef. namoru, and moru, pool, 
Mg. kijanajanaka a doll {zanaka)y kifafa a brush 

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(/a/a to sweep), hilalao, and lalao play things, hifehy 
a cord {fehy tie). Compare also Mg. tavolo, Ef. nabeta 
or nabera arrowroot, Mg. temitia, Ef. namit mat,. 
Mg. oxLmbo, Ef. na6u, Fiji namftui tail, Mg. laoka, EL 
naika, Sam. le ia, Meli (Ma.-Ha., off Efate) taika fish,. 
Mg. lamho, Fi. tia intaia swine. The Meli ta has 
come by way of the Central Pacific to the New 
Hebrides, the Ef. na (naika, taika fish) by way of New 
Guinea, and both by way of Malaysia by countless- 
steps in thousands of years, from the same origioal 
home, and the same original Se. article T of Arabia 
and neighbourhood. Compare also, as a specimen 
of a large class of words (of which more below), Mg. 
Aafatisana, My. X;amatian, Ef. Tiamatiana, or mmatien,. 
" the dying," death ; on the large part the article plays, 
in combination with the Verb Form Particles, as in 
Mg. mahay mana, &c., My. mang, &c., Ef . baJca^ Sam. 
fa'a, &c., see below. 

The article with the third personal pronoun is as in 
the Anc. languages, and has been prefixed in the Anc. 
period and become the unconscious article; to this 
the Mod. form of the article is also prefixed sometimes 
(the double article). The kernel of the Se. pronoun 
third pei-son is u or i, to which a (the demonstrative 
particle) is often suffixed. My. iya (or iia) occurs also 
as inya (the n being supposed by Marsden euphonic),, 
and diya, which both Marsden and Craufurd declare 
to be a mere euphonic variation of iya ; this latter F. 
Miiller identifies with Mg. izy by the interchange of 
y and z. While the n of My. inya appears in Ef. ima 

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and nai, and while Sam. ia is identical with My. iya, 
in all alike in this pronoun as sufGxed the n appears 
thus — Mg. ny (after a preposition zy), My. nia ornyUy 
Ef. na, ni, and nia. The Mg. izy is identical with 
My. iya, thus : it is without the suffixed a, and iy. 
My., is the same as izy, Mg., by the elision, as in Sam. 
ia, of the I of the article, originally el or il, which 
appears in izy as iz or z, and in inya, ny, nia, &c., as 
in or n. In Ef. (dialect) this same article appears as 
k in ki he, and in Mg. (dialect) and Epi (d.), as r 
in ri he, in Tag. as s in aiya he, in Mallicolo and Epi 
as Hn ^i he; in My. d in diya he, and in Santo (d.) as m 
in mo he, in this last as in Epi (d.) nao, no (Ef. nai), 
the is the Anc. Se. u, o, while generally the Anc. i 
prevails in Oc. in the pronoun "he," "she," "it." Now 
we find this third personal pronoun with the article in 
these various phonetic forms prefixed to the pronouns 
of the first and second persons in Oc, signifying 
literally he or this — I, or that — thou ; thus, Mg. 
(dialects) rika and roky (ri with i, q^ with u) thou 
(that — thou), Sumatra rektv, Motu lau (for laku), Lobo 
kcku I (this — I), and thus, My. dika thou, dikau you, 
daku I, Negrito (Phil.) dicamv, you, and thus Tag. 
siya he, Negrito (Phil.) sikanie, Ef. ningami, nikam, 
(and kingami), Mg. izaltay we, Negrito hica thou, 
hicamu you, Mg. hianoA) you, hianareo ye, Mg. isika 
(this — I — thou). This is the undoubtedly true ex- 
planation of these forms, which are all mere phonetic 
variations of one original ; thus Griffiths {Mg, Gr) 
explains izaho rightly, as " from izy he, and oho I." 

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The change of the article I to m (as in Himyaritic) 
at once explains the m (changed to v in Tah. vav, I) of 
My. mika thou (Motlav hiek, nek), and My. maHka 
they, those, Ef. nara, inira, Mg. izareo. So Ef. 
kinau I, and the ki he, has the Se. i, as the Sa. 'o (as 
in 'o a'Uy i.e., ko aku 1) has the Se. o (or u). And 
these demonstratives, or articles prefixed to the pro- 
noun third person, often distinctly retain their per- 
sonal significance even when used with other words, as 
the interrogative pronouns and proper nouns, and 
have, therefore, been called the "Personal Article." 
Of these below as they occur. The k form of the 
article occurs, as all other forms of it, in My., as 
** unconscious " in kangkaii for kiangkau you, Malli- 
colo keingko thou (kei or gei he), Paama keiko you 
{kei he), Ef. kaiig, dialects navg, ang^ Ef. ningita I — 
thou, Ef. dialects nikita and keingita, or keiA;ita, Fiji 
koi keda, koi for koya, i.e., koia, Sam. 'o ia, he, that. 

The article is attached to the original Se. personal 
pronoun third plural in Ef. as ir or er — thus, ei'u or 
iru, and with the consonant elided in one dialect ^u or 
^w they (compare this pronoun in Heb. with the same 
article) ; and to the Se. plural demonstrative used in 
Oc. for " they," in Mg. izareo, My. mamka {n to m), Ef. 
nara, Sam. *o i la (tou), Tag. sila, Tanna ila, Paama 
keila, Mallicolo kara. This, the Anc. common Se. 
plural demonstrative, is given above : here the article 
is treated of. The article in Oc, as in the Anc. lan- 
guages, is prefixed also to the demonstrative pronouns 
(see those above, as ti in Ef. nia, nin, and nanga and 

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netn this ; nanga or nang is also used for a relative 
pronoun, and corresponds to My. Tien, a phonetic varia- 
tion of yang (iang, article as i); another variation 
is Java sang (article as s), and still another is 
Java kaTig (article as k). In Ef. the article appears 
as k in kin, kia this, and kintii, kistu this here, and ke 
or ki this ; it appears as iz in Mg. izato this, and as ir 
in Mg. iroa that, Ef . irw and iri or e?*i6, eri this. Ef . 
erti and eri, this, is er article, and the Se. u and i third 
personal pronoun singular (Ef. without article ua and 
i this), so Mg. iroa. The original Se. demonstrative 
i* is quite different from k the variation of the article, 
and was usually suffixed as it is in Oceanic, thus Ef. 
erik this, Mg. io (perhaps for iko, iko), Java iku, iki, 
ika, the u and i suffixed to the final k being the u and 
i third personal pronoun as in Eth. elekw, Mg. ireo 
(perhaps ireho, ireko), Arb. olaika, Mg. and My., with 
article, izareo, maHkct those, these, they. With Ef. 
eHk, compare Mg. iHkitra, irokatra that, and as to 
these two final demonstratives k and t in the latter 
compare Eth. eleketu those. The final demonstrative 
Eth. tu, of which the u is that of the Se. third personal 
pronoun, appears also only as a final in Oc, as in Mg. 
izato, Ef. Tietu, nistu, kistu, Mg. ity. My. itu this, Eth. 
elontu, Mg. ireto these. 

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The Relative and Interrogative. 

As the relative in the Se. languages, as in most 
others, is originally demonstrative, so in Oc. there is 
little difference between them ; but here also, both in 
the Anc. and Mod. dialects, the use of the article is to 
be noted. Thus the relative in My. is the yang with its 
phonetic variation "tien, Java sang and kang, just 
noticed, Ef. nang^ in all of which the article occurs 
prefixed to the demonstrative n (ng) ; so in Mg. izany, 
and the same article prefixed to another demonstra- 
tive Sam. Uy Tah. fe, tei, Ef. te, Mg. izao. In Arb. 
the relative was composed of the article, al or ely pre- 
fixed to a demonstrative thus, alladi, but the Mod. 
Arb. " vulgar form, for all numbers and genders," 
namely, elll (also ell and d), best compares with the 
Sam. Ze, Mg. izdo, Ef. te, Tah. <e, tei. The Se. and Oc. 
article is sometimes itself used as a relative pronoun. 
With Arb. TnaUy ma (Heb. mi, onaft), compare Tah. 
mea (Sam. and Ma. mea) and mena^ whatever, who- 
ever, anything, such a one. 

The Interrogative. — With this also in Oc. the 
article is to be noted. The interrogative What ? is in 
Mg. ino, inona and ovi (in ovi-ana, what time ? 
when ?), My. apa, apatah, and pa (in pa-bila what 

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time? when?), mana, Ef. safa^ contracted ad, and 
safana, contracted sdTia, also dialect nqfite, Sam. a, 
o le a, 86 a: in these s, le and se, and n are varying 
forms of the article (see above). 

My. apa, Ef. afa, a, Sam. a (Rarat. aa, Ma. aha), 
Mg. ovi, compare with Arb. ayuma, contracted a*ma, 
Mod. Arb. ama. The na in inona, aafana, is the Se. 
enclitic dem. Tta. Himyaritic also changes the com- 
mon Se. m of the interrogative into b or v, 

Mg. pa compares with Arb. ma, Heb. mah, and My. 
"iiiana with Amharic men, Syr. mo?io (mana). 

Mg. mo, Tag. ano, compares with Syr. a* no, Eth. 

My. apatah, Ef. a/i^e, have the dem. t suffixed, and 
compare with Mod. Arab, made what ? 

Sam. le fea, se fea which ? Ha. Aea, which ? what ? 
when? where? Tah. both pea and hea; fea is con- 
nected with mea, mena, has elided the n, and com- 
pares with My. Taana. 

The interrogative Who ? is in Mg. ^^ou?/, i^CL> My. 
siyapa or siapa, and contracted sapa, Ef. S6 or sei, 
dialect /e, Sam. o ai. The 0, ^^r, and Ef . a are forms of 
the article, is the Sam. dem. above explained, and 
My. ai is the " personal article," that is, the third 
personal pronoun with the article prefixed to it. 

Hence My. aiapa, aapa, Mg. zovy, denotes literally 
he or she what or which (apa, ovi) ? what person ? who? 

Mg. iza, Santo iae, Ef. ae, compares with Eth. ay, 
Arb. ay (ai), and Tag. aino (Tanna ain) has the 
** personal article," and compares with Syr. a'no. 

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Sam, ai (Maori ^va^, Tah. vai), Ef. dialect fiy 
Eromanga me, dialect wi, Heb. mi, and My. Ttiana, 
Amh., Mod. Arb, and Ch. man. 

Indefinites. — These interrogatives are used as indefi- 
nites, signifying " whatever/' " something," &c., as My. 
viana, Tah. menu and m£a, Syr. mono ; My. apa. Ma. 
aha, Ef . safa, Arb. ama ; Mg. zavatra, Ef. riafatuna, 
namatuna, fatuna, matuna (ma, and tu7ia=M.g. 
tony this), Arb. ma, Heb. mah, Ch. mah, mahdi ; and 
reduplicated Mg. apaapa, Heb. meumah, Mg. wa iTiOTia 
71a inona. 

So signifying " whoever," " someone," &c., as Ef. se 
Mota isei, Mg. i^a, Arb. ay. 

The interrogative What ? is used in Ef., as in Arb., 
after nouns in an indefinite sense, " however," " some 
or other ; " and after verbs preceded by the negative 
adverb it is used in Ef. (mau), Fotuna (ma), and Aniwa 
(mana), in the same indefinite sense as in Amharic 

(771 or 7)1?). 

The word for " man," in Ef. nata, is used, as is the 
same word in Aramaic, enasha, and as in Heb., 
to denote "someone," "anyone," (cf. German man, 
French on), " each," " everyone." If Ef. " every " is 
also expressed by sera, for which see the numeral 1 

Other indefinites are My. pulan, Arb. fulan " such 
a one." " Such a one," " such a thing," is expressed in 
Mg. by ano, anona, ranona, ianona (ra and i " per- 
sonal articles ") ; My. anu, anun, and sianu (si " per- 
sonal article"), Florida hanu, Arb. hanu. 

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The Reflexives. — In the Se. languages we find 
" self," " selves," expressed by various words with the 
nominal suffixes, as Eth. rees head, reeso his head, 
" himself," Amh. eraw himself " he." In Arb. occurs 
also nafs (Heb. Tiefes) soul, ruh spirit, an eye, essence ; 
Heb. etsem, gerem bone, guf body. The word thus 
used in Mg, is teria body, self (My. den self) ; compare 
Arb. tun the body. The word that is used in My., as 
tena in Mg., with the nominal suffixes, to denote self, 
selves, is diri, compare Eth. lali self, selves, as My. 
dirikamu, Eth. kdikemu yourselves. If Java dewe is 
identical with My. diri (if My. orang, Java uwong, 
wong man), it has come to be in that dialect a substi* 
tute for the pronoun third person as the above-men- 
tioned ersw in Amh. In the Se. languages self, selves, 
is often expressed by the "reflexive forms" of the 
verb; it is thus, as we shall see below, also in the 
Oc dialects. 

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Adverbial Particles and Conjunctions. 

The common particle of comparison signifying "as," 
Heb. A;*, ha, Arb. ka, seen also in Arb. kama, Heb. 
kemo, Eth. kama, zakama, kamaze as (as what, that 
as what, as what this), Heb. kazek, Arb. kada, hakada. 
Arm. kedi, a% a^kan, da% da'k hono, hokan, hokut, 
as, thus, so. These are combinations of the particle k' 
as, and the interrogative, relative, and demonstrative 
particles. The same are seen in Ef . H, My. kiyan 
"as," Ef. kua so, Mg. ahoana "however," Ef. kite, 
Java kadi (Arm. kedi) as, Ef . taka, takan, Mg. tahaka, 
Arm. da'ka, da'k hono, "as," "that as," Mg. hoatra 
"like," "as." See further below on the interrogative 

The same particle occurs with the preposition be, ha, 
prefixed in (perhaps, see verb forms below, My. 
hagai, contracted hagi) Heb. hekoh, (My. bagai-mana) 
Eth. bakama, (My. bagini) Heb. beken " as." If My. 
baga is same as Ef. baka, Fiji vaka, it, like them, 
belongs below (verb forms). 

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Adverbs of Place. — The following are the demon- 
strative particles above noted : — 

here (this) 

there (that) 


eo, eto, ety 

eny, ery 


siniy sinan 

sitUf Sana, sanan 



na, ra 





kO'heni, a^heni 

ko-hena, a-hena 


i, 86, aia, esas, nanga, &c» 

ina, esan, esanien, &c. 


' hona, hahona 

hannaf hinna, Jwnna, &c. 


hennah, zeh, ^hi 

sham, haldh, Syr. hdl 

We see the article in My. aini (ini this), situ (itw 
that) ; Bugis kotu, Ma. konei, kona ; Bugis lomaie (n 
to m, Ma. konei), Java kene, and riki here {iki this). 
These occur with the prepositions prefixed as with be, 
ha, Eth. bahya here, bazya there; Haw. maaTiei, 
mcdaila, and with le, - la, li, Syr. leko here, lehol 
there ; My. diaini, diaana ; Tong. giheni, gihena ; 
Sam. iinei, Una, iUa, io ; Mg. ax>, aty, any. 

Connected with these are the Oc. " directive par- 
ticles '* :— 

hither thither 

Sam. mai atu, ane 

Ef. mat hanotu, haina, ban 

Thus the i of mai is "here" (Ef.), and the hv of 
atu, &c., is the tu in My. situ, and the ina, n^, n, of 
baina, ban, is the above ma, na, " there." The only 
question is as to the nature of the prefix, ba, ma, a, to 
these pronominal adverbial particles. Now, these 
words in Ef. are verbs, rnai to come here, banotw. 

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baina, ban (also bano and bani) to go there ; and it is 
a fact that one of the commonest verbs in Ef. is 6a to 
go, also to enter in (to anything) as i ba rartui he 
enters into a canoe or sliip, "go on board a ship," 
" embark." The simplest explanation, therefore, 
would seem to be that Ef . mai (for bai) is ba i, " go 
here," i.e., '* come here," and ba Tiotu, ba iTia, ba n, 
"go there." But another and better explanation is 
given below (Verb Forms, Causative Form) by which 
mai is "make for here," and atu, &c., "make for 
there." This latter explanation is confirmed to 
certainty as correct by the equivalent expressions in 
Mg. Toankety, "come hither" (ety), and vianJceny, 
manlcery go thither {eny, ery), and that these Mg. 
words are "departiculative" verbs of the causative 
form (see below) is beyond all doubt. The question 
as to the origin of these (Pacific) " directive particles," 
rendered illustrious by the labours of Bopp, is thus 
finally set at rest. 

The Interrogative Adverbs. — ^Where ? is expressed 
in My. by the above maifia, Sam. fea, and in Ef. by the 
above safa, sa. In Mg. it is expressed by aiza, Heb. 
ezeh, Mg. aia, Heb. eyah, Ef. e, Heb. e, and in Ef. with 
article, ae. 

How ? Why ? is expressed in Ef . by kua, kuan, or 
ngvu, ngnen, Mg. ahoana, aJcory, of which the A, or k, 
or ng, is the above particle of comparison " as," and ua 
or the interrogative, the final tia, o^ being demon- 
stratives; compare My. bagimana (bagi "as"), and Ef, 
kasafa, kasana, kasa, as what ? dialect kaimbe (Jcaibe) 

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Epi kavai, Tigre kamai. Tongan fefe (Sam. pefed), 
Heb. bamah, Eth. bament, Am. biha, Arb. fima 
(why ?), have the preposition be, ba. Ef . tdkan, Syr. 
alhano : the Syr. is interrogative, particle of compariT* 
son (above), and demonstrative, the Ef. the same with 
article t' prefixed. The Sam. faapefea how ? My. 
mangapa why ? Fiji vahaevei how ? are " departicula- 
tives," Causative Form (see Verb Forms below). Ef, 
tahalise, or tabalisafa is taba to be like, le thing, and 
86 or 8a/a what ? Ef. ^a6a to be like, Mg. tovy, My. 
dama (in daTnoMyan like so), Heb. damah, Arm. 
diema to be like. 

When ? Ef. sifi, rang, siji nang what time ? and 
nangasa, i.e., nanga ea time what ? My.ya6i?a what 
time ? &iia mana time what ? Mg. oviana, ovi what, 
ana time ? Sam. anafea time what ? This word 
" time" without the article in Mg. ana, Arb. an, has 
the article in My. dan, Ef. ran{i, and ran, nan^, lang. 
In Arb. also ayyan (for at/ an what time ?) denotes 

How many ? is expressed in My. by barapa {apa 
what ?), Mg. firy, Java pira, Ef. 6i«a and bia, Sam. 
j^; this word is a "departiculative" of the reflexive 
form (see Verb Forms below). 

Interrogative particles are My. kah, Ef. ko, Syr. ka, 
and My. tah, Ef. ta, Tigre da, and Mg. no, Eth. nu. 

Adverbs of affirmation are My. eny, Sam. en<i, Arb. 
inna, and My. iya, Sam. i, Ef. ia, io, Arb. 'iy, Mod. 
Syr. ^*, ye\ and indefinite affirmative My. lah, Ef. Za, 
Arb. Zo. 

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Adverbs of Negation. — Sam. le (Maori te), Faama ro, 
Heb. le, la, lo, Ef . dialects ti^ tu, ta, di, ndi, tai, aa 
(prohibitive), and in the first syllable of tab, tiba, riba, 
•' not," and of tika, rika, tsika, tdia " is — not," Sam. leaiy 
(for lehai). As to the 6 or &a in tiba it is the pre- 
position V (bo, ba) as in Eth. aWxi, aJXbo is — not, aJX, 
Heb. al not, and as in Arb. niafi is not (ma not), and 
f he ha (in tika), also means " is " (see below), being a 
verb substantive. The change of the original Z to r, 
(/, t8, 8, is to be noted. We have the same negative in 
Jly. ta, and in the first syllable of tida (compare Amh; 
lela, verb substantive Eth. halo, Amh. ala), tada, 
tiada (My. ada is, are, Amh. ala), and as ja in javgan 
(prohibitive). We have the same negative in Mg. tay, 
and in the first syllable of tdary, tsiadry (ary, adry, 
My. ada), diahoe, isia. My. tak, Ef. tika, tsika, taia, 
Sam. le'ai, Arb. la yakun, la yaku is — ^not, literally 
"not — is," and in the last syllable of Mg. aza 
(prohibitive). Mg. tay, iay, taiay (iay, verb substantive) 
compares with Arb. laiaa, leia, Ch. lo ita, Syr. lathi 
The prohibitive has the imperative particle thus : Ef . 
ba aa, dialect nga aa, or ka aa "that not," My^ 
jangan (ja ngan not that, not shalt), Mg. aza (a za 
" that not "), and the change of t to a, j, z, is partly 
owing to the emphasis natural to a prohibitory 
command, and partly to the neighbourhood of the 
imperative particle. 

My. bukan compares with Arb. ma yakun, Epi 
maJca with Arb. (Bagdad) maku, for nia yakun, ma 
yaku, the final n of this verb substantive being elided. 

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The Arb. verb substantive kana (Eth. hon^ Amh. Aon, 
& to A as in Mg. diahoe, cf, Sam yai) sometimes elided 
the final n. 

A third negative appears in Epi (dialect) i, Eth. % 
Mg. ai not, and in the first syllable of Sam. i'ai Qai as 
in Wat) Tonga ikai is — not. These three, fe, ma, and i, 
are the common Se. negative adverbs^ and the first in 
Oc, as in the Anc. languages, is by far the commonest 
and most used. It is important, also, to note the Se. 
verbs substantive used with these negative particles 
in Oc. as in the Anc. languages. 

Conjunctions. — ^Ma. and Ha. a, Rarat. and Tah. e, 
Arb. and Eth. wa, Heb. and Arm. wi, " and " : Ef. 
ma, me, Sam. ma, " and," literally " with," " together 
with," and My. (with article) dan, same as preposition 
(above) Arb. ma', &c. Hale remarks that the pro- 
nouns perform the office of conjunctions, so Ef. nara 
(they), Epi nai (he), nalo (they), " and " : compare, 
perhaps, Mg. art/. For My. maka, Mg. manko, see 
Verb Forms below. As final conjunctions signifying 
"that," " in order that," " to," occur Mg. mha, Ef. 6a, 
mba, Arb. fa (as final conjunction) : Mg. ka. My. 
akan and ngan (in jangan), Ef. ka and nga, Sam. ia. 
Ha. i. Ma. and Rarat. kia, Tong. ke is the preposjtion 
(above) which in the Anc. languages also, Arb., Heb., 
Arm., was used as a final conjunction. Led by the 
phonetic similarity and use, I formerly compared it 
with the final conjunction Heb. ki, Arb. ka. Another 
final conjunction is in Sam. ina, Arb. en, enna. 

Interjections. — Ef. o (after nouns), Eth. o (before 

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nouns) vocative: Ef. uancb, Mg. inay, Ma. ina, Heb. 
hinneh, Amh. enaho, there ! behold ! look out ! As a 
vocative is used My. and Arb. ya, Ha. e; Mg. and Heb. 
he, lo ! Mg. akory, aJcary la, Ef . akori la (see la adverb 
and ri demonstrative, above), ako, Heb. ekah, literally 
"how?" In Ef. and Heb. used in lamenting and 
deploring, as Ef., in bewailing the dead, ako tai O 
alas, brother ! ako ki nt* " woe is me ; " but in 
Ef. and Mg. used also as a mere exclamation of sur- 
prise. My. ahi, ayi, ayue, Sam. aue, Heb. hm, awoy, 
Arb. awi, wa, Eth. wai " alas \ " 

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Auxiliaries and Particles of Tense. 

The verb substantive (see above, under the negative 
adverbs, tika, Arb. kana, yaku, aku, i,e, ku) is used in 
the Mod., as in the Anc. languages, as an auxiliary of 
tense. Thus in Tonga gtia,gu, present tense ; Sam. *wa, 
present and past ; Tah. tta, Ef. dialect kul, past. Hale 
observes that it is used with all the tenses, and that in 
Ma. it is generally ka, so in Ef . it is usually ka, another 
form of which seems to be ko. Between Ef. ka and ko, 
the difference is that ka denotes the past, ko present 
continuance of a state, quality, or action, thus i ka tok 
he stopped, i ko toko he is continuing stopping, and 
compare Ma. " ka pai good (is good), ka hore no, it is 
not'* (Ef . tika not is, is — not). Thus ka and kua, whether 
we regard their phonetic form or use, may be regarded 
as (ka) a relic of the Anc. " perfect" of this verb (Arb. 
kana), and (kua) of its Anc. "imperfect" (Arb. ku). 
My. <xda (Amh. ala, Eth. halo) is used like " is," "are" 
in Eng., " is " or " are stopping." In Ef. the verb sub* 
stautive thus used is bo, as bo uia, is good, bo toko is 
stopping, bo bisa is speaking. Now this is the Se.-Oc. 
preposition, used in Ef . as a verb substantive, bi, with 

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o suffixed instead of i; bi, as already stated, is the pre- 
position (used also in Arb. and Eth. as a verb substan- 
tive), and o is the pronoun third person, which also is 
used in the Anc languages as a verb substantive, 
and the preposition V (in the Se. languages) prefixed 
to a verb gives a gerundive sense, denoting continu- 
ance. Thus bo (dialects mo,/o, uo, o) is literally "in 
being," continuing being, going on being ; bo cannot be 
used before a substantive, and is only used before 
verbs (or adjectives) to give this gerundive sense. See 
more below on bo, kai, ka. 

An auxiliary tense particle, which is, as Bopp 
rightly thought, of pronominal origin, is Mg. n' (pre- 
fixed), Sam. and Tong. na, Tanna n, in, denoting the 
past ; but in Fiji it denotes the future, in Motlav the 
present, and in Tagala the present and the past. It is 
the Se.-Oc. demonstrative (above), used also in Amh. 
(ncL) as a " verb substantive," Heb. hinneh used before 
the verbal noun (participle) for the present, the future, 
and the past of the finite verb ; Arb. inne, Eth. ene. 
In Mg. no " was" is the past tense of the verb substan- 
tive o, but also sometimes means " is ;" compare the o 
in the above Ef. bo. 

The particle of the future is in Mg. K (prefixed), 
My. akan, Ef. nga (ka) ; Mg. ho "will be," is the 
future tense of the verb substantive o, o as in no, and 
in Ef . bo. Mg. h\ My. dkan, Ef. nga {ka) is the pre- 
position " to" (for which see above), and the same 
preposition in the Anc. languages is used also as a 
final conjunction "that," and prefixed to the verb or 

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verbal noun sometimes expresses the future and some- 
times the gerund (see next paragraph below). This 
preposition in Chaldee is prefixed to the verb substan* 
tive, and the compound is used as an auxiliary of the 
future, or denoting, as Mg. Ao, " will be" (literally " to 
be" or " that be") ; so Ef. nga uo, compound auxiliary 
of the future (dialects nga ho, and ngo — cf. Mg. hx> 
with this latter), « will be " (literally " to be," or " that 
be "). See above, the final conjunction. 

In the Anc. languages both of these prepositions 
(for instance, in Heb.) were prefixed to what is the 
verb in Oc. (that is, to the verbal noun) forming a 
gerund. In Mod. Syr. the preposition V is prefixed 
to what was the Anc. infinitive forming the Mod. 
present participle and the present tense (denoting 
simple continuance like Ef. ho before verbs). It also 
forms a much-used participle or gerund in Ef. in such 
phrases as "he answered and said," Greek "he 
answered saying," Ef. i hisa ho till (i.e., ho-tili or 
hotUi). In another Ef. dialect this latter use of ho is 
expressed by the other preposition (see preceding 
paragraph) ka, nga, as i hisa kai till (the i of kai is 
the article) ; so Mg. Ax&, as Ef. t kani ho huka, orikani 
kai huka, Mg. nihinana izy ka voky, he ate to being 
filled. In Ef. the preposition may be omitted, as { 
kani huka, " he ate filled," i.e., " being filled." In Fiji 
the preposition ki is thus used, as " lako ki nioce, go and 
(to) sleep." (Haz., Or., p. 52.) 

The Ma.-Ha. e, which Bopp compared with My. de 
(di), is the same preposition (occurring as i, see above 

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on the prepositions) by elision of the consonant (Heb.) 
Arm. le, My. de, Sam. e), and is the sign of continuance 
(present), and of the future ; its force is well given in 
the Tahiti Dictionary as " answering generally to the 
English auxiliaries would, could, should, ought, may, 
can, will, and shall." In Heb., used in the same way, 
it gives a gerundive sense ; in Ch., with the force of a 
final conjunction, it gives a " conjunctive, optative, and 
imperative power," and, as above remarked, with the 
verb substantive suffixed it denotes " will " or " shall." 
Probably Sam. e (like Ef. dialect o, for bo) is the third 
personal pronoun, or verb substantive, with the pre- 
fixed consonant of the preposition elided. In Sam. it 
seems that it sometimes occurs as te, My. de or di (the 
same preposition) is also used as a sign or particle of 
the future tense. 

Particles of Mood. — The Infinitive or Subjunctive, 
it need scarcely be said, has the same preposition ** to" 
or " that," as in the future, thus Mg. h' (prefixed) ho 
(separate, before the verb). My. aJcan, di (as iya andak 
akan berlayar he intends to sail, iang tiada de, or di, 
makan orang which men are not to eat), Ef . nga (ka, 
K dialect), Sam. e sometimes i, Arm. le ; the radical 
meaning of each of these particles (they are all f orms, 
some with addition of another particle, as Mg. hx), of 
the one preposition " to," see above) is " to." Thus 
Mg. mangataka Aandeha " I ask to go," tsy manam* 
bary ho hanina izy " he has no rice to eat ;" Sam. ou 
te musu i alu " I am unwilling to go," ou te musu e 
saili " I am unwilling to seek ;" Ef. i tili i nga tok " he 

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said he to stop," i.e., that he, or that he should stop. 
So Arb. li, Heb. and Ch. le, to, that, in order that 
(before the verb, or infinitive). See this Se.-Oc. pre- 
position above. 

The Imperative. — The foregoing has sometimes a 
precative or permissive power, as Ef . i nga tok " he to 
stop," that is, he may stop, let him stop, dialect he tok, 
k' (for nga), e he, tok stop, he may, or let him stop, 
" that he stop," same order as Arb. liya'^fira that he 
forgive {li = k'). The second person imperative plural 
in Ef. ko (of which the o is a fragment of the 
pronoun second person plural) as A;o tok "stop ye" 
(literally let, or that, ye stop) has the same order as 
ke tok let him stop. In the imperative second person 
singular in Ef. ba, in like manner a, is a fragment of 
the pronoun second person singular, as ba tok stop 
thou, literally b* that, a thou, tok stop ; for ba " that," 
Arb. fa, see above, the final conjunctions. In one 
dialect of Ef. this ba is used instead of the above nga, 
or k*, in the future, and infinitive or subjunctive. In 
Sam. ia, i {kia, ki) is a sign of the imperative and 
subjunctive ; and ina is also used, see the final con- 
junctions. In the same way was used Arb. li. Arm. 
le, Arb. ka, en, enna, and fa. In Mg. My., and some- 
times in Sam., but never in Ef., the verb alone may be 
used for the imperative, as in English. 

The Anc. Se. mimation, or nunation, or the suffix- 
ing of final m or n, as, e.g., in Himyaritic, is found in 
Oc, that is, words are found (see, for instance, the 
numerals below) in Oc. with this m or n that had 

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been suffixed to them in Anc. times. This final n is 
found sometimes variously changed to ng, k, &c. 
Distinct traces are also found of the Anc vowel 
endings, especially u or o, the Anc. ending of 
the nominative, but without, of course, any case 

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Formative Particles of the Derived Verb Stems. 

The Oc. verb is a verbal noun (substantive or 
adjective), as Bopp has rightly remarked. It corres- 
ponds to or is the Anc. Se. verbal noun to which the 
article was or might be prefixed, and which was used 
both in an active and a passive tense. Hence the 
common Se. verb-form pai-ticles often occur prefixed 
to the article : that is, the particle is prefixed to an 
ancient verbal noun with the article. The article 
combined thus with the verb-form particle in Oc, as 
if it were a part of it (suffixed to it), assumes all the 
phonetic forms already familiar to us, namely, I, r, g, 
ka, ha, n, ng, m, and often modifies the initial conso- 
nant of the word to which it is prefixed, and coming 
as it does between the stem-word and the formative 
prefix it sometimes modifies also the latter. In the 
Se.-Oc. languages there are only three verb-form 
particles, two of which n and t, are reflexive (and 
reciprocal), and the third a (hay ta, sa), causative. 
These are sometimes combined, causative-reflexive or 
reflexive-causative. To these in the Anc. verbal 
noun the formative m was very often prefixed : hence 
we find it very often prefixed in the Mod. languages 
in the verbs (that is, Anc verbal nouns). The Oc 

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verb being a verbal noun may be used as an adjective 
(participle), and often is used also as a verbal sub- 
stantive, though, as will be shown, there are Mod. 
methods analogous to and partly identical with the 
Anc. of distinguishing both the verbal adjective 
(participle), and verbal substantive (infinitive), from 
the verb. The Anc. Se. verb was originally a noun, 
and as to the form-partides now to be considered or 
compared, Halevy has remarked — " Ces particules sont 
visiblement des themes pronominaux qui servent aussi 
k la flexion des noms, et, veritable trait-d'union entre 
ces deux categories de mots, montrent d'une mani^re 
concluante que verbe et nom ^taient originairement 
conf ondus dans la conception linguistique des Semites." 
Both in the Anc. and Mod. languages these particles 
have sometimes become radicalized or fossilized, form- 
ing secondary ground stems, to which the same or the 
other particles are again prefixed as if they were 
primitive stems ; these radicalized particles we may 
call the unconscious verb-form particles. We may 
now consider as 'prefixed — 

1. The causative particle, Arb., Eth., Amh., Syr. a, 
Heb. h, hi, Assy, sha, a, Himy. sa, ha, Syr. aa, tha, 
Heb. ta, ti, Eth. sa, ta, Amh. as. The first, a, in the 
common form : to this the verbal noun formative was 
prefixed in the Anc. languages giving ma, which in 
Syr. became the Maphel form, the sole form in Mod. 
Syr., and almost the sole, certainly the prevailing, form 
in Oceania, owing to the Oc. verb being the Anc. 
verbal noun. Thus we have in Mg. ma {fa, pa,mpa), 

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and, probably by elision of the m, a (in certain cir- 
cumstances), My. ma, Madura a, Ef. 6a, fa, Sam. fa : 
this, with the article (prefixed originally, as explained,, 
to the verbal noun), gives us Mg. Tnahxiy and Tnana, 
Tixan, My. Ttian, the n (that is, the article, see its forms 
above) being variously modified according to the 
initial letter of the word to which it is prefixed, 
which it also variously modifies, as also in My. ; 
see Bopp, Miiller, and the Mg. and My. grammars 
for the particulars of these modifications. Marsden 
and Craufurd deem this n purely euphonic, but 
Bopp has shown that it is not. The n (article) is 
sometimes elided (or assimilated). Identical with Mg. 
raaha is Ef. haha, faka; Sam. fa' a, Ma. whaka, Fiji 
vaka. In this combination Mg. has the two forms of 
the article (see above), n and h, My. (except in a few 
instances) only the one, n, but also r, Ef. (except in a 
few instances) and Sam. only the one, ka, *a. 

There occurs also in Sam. ta (rare), Tahiti ta (fre- 
quent), Ef. aa, si, My. sa, si, Mg. sa (rare). This, com- 
bined with the article, gives Ef. (sala) sara. 

2. The Reflexive n, Heb. (hin) na, ni, hi, and t, 
Arb. in. Assy, na, Eth. an, in Arb. sometimes, in 
Assy, often, assimilated. In Mg. in, Java in, Dayak 
in, Haw. na. Comparatively rare in both the Anc» 
and Mod. languages, the following being the common 
reflexive particle : — 

3. Reflexive, Heb. hith, Arm. ith, eth, Eth. ta, Arb. 
ta, and it : in Heb. and Arb. the t or th sometimes 

elided or assimilated. With the verbal noun pre- 


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formative m' (originally nia), Arb. mtUa, mota, mi\ 
Arm. meth, mith, Heb. mith, mit, ini\ Mg. mi {fi, pi, 
mjpi), and i (m elided), Ef. hi, ji, My. ha or 6« (pc), 
and, with article as r or i, 6ar, ^x*^, her, per, haZ, pal, 
Sam. fe, Tag. mogr (gr, article. My. r), Battak mor, 
Vanua Lava ver, Mota i;ar, Fi. vei, Oba inti, Mg. voa or 
voi (article with its consonant elided). 

There also occurs (without the preformative m) Mg., 
ta, My. ta, Ef. ta, Fiji ta, Mota to, Sam. ta ; and in My. 
with article as r, tor or ter, in Mg. with article as n, 

The above Mg. form, mi, with article as ha (as in 
causative maJia), gives miAa. 

4. The Eeflexive-Causative, a combination of 3 
and 1 — Syr. ethma, Mg. tafa (frequent), Ef. taha (rare), 
Oba tama, Mota tova, Florida tapa. The reflexive- 
causative (or causative-reflexive) was pretty frequent 
in the Anc. languages, and is just about as frequent 
in Mg., in which, in addition to to/a, there occurs the 
form (see mi above) mifa (frequent), with article as n, 
m,ifany Tnifana, with " double article " mifanka. 

These particles in the Mod. languages modifj'* the 
meaning of the word to which they are prefixed 
exactly as in the Anc. Thus, to take first the causa- 
tive : — 

Mg. vono act of killing, Tnamono to kill. My. hunoh, 
causative mximbunoh, or mamwnoh, maninggi to 
elevate, from tinggi high, Mg. mxiniay to create, from 
isy to be, manamxiro to multiply, from maro many, 
mamaka to root, send forth roots (make roots), from 

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faka root. So Heb. hishrish to put forth roots, 
shorish root, Arb. awraka to put forth leaves, warak 
a leaf, Mg. mandravina to put forth leaves, ravina a 
leaf. Another class of denominatives of the causative 
form " denotes movement towards a place (compare to 
make for a place)," as Arb. aaham to go to Syria 
(sham Syria), athaTna to go to Tehama, Heb. heymin 
to go to the right {yamin), Java malohu to go within 
(labu), My. malaut to go to sea (laut), Toaniahrang 
go to the other side of the water (sahrang), Ja. 
aniabrang, Ja. mangwetan to go eastward (wetan), 
manglor to go north {lor). Ma. whakawaAo to go 
without (waho)j Mg. mankany to go there (any), 
mankeo to go (come, make for) here (eo), mankaiza to 
go where (aiza), Ef. bakae to go where {e where ?), Ef. 
mai to go (come, make for) here (i), Sam. Tnai, com- 
pare, perhaps, My. mari, Ef . baina to go there (ina), 
Sam. atu to go there (tu), Ef. banotu to go there (tu, 
or notu), Sam. aifie to go there (ne), a as in amata to 
begin, make beginning (mata, Tahiti haamata, taniata 
to make beginning, mata\ Java apadu to make dis- 
pute (padu). This is the true explanation of these 
remarkable words viai, atu, ane, which were so care- 
fully investigated, though without success, by such 
scholars as Bopp, Humboldt, and Buschmann. 

Mg., My., Ef., Sam., ma^j/, or mate, die, dead, Mg. 
mahafaty, Fiji vakamatea. My. marriate, Tah. haamate 
to kill (Sam. tamate) ; Mg. velona, My. idup, Ef . 
mawH, Fiji bula, Sam. ola, a being alive, life, living, 
Ef. hakamauri, Fiji vakabula, Sam. faaola, Mg. 

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mamelona. My. mangidupi, to make or keep alive ; 
Mg. vao, new, havdo newness (ha article), niahavao to 
make new, or with article as nay maTiavao to make 
new, so be great, hahe greatness, mahabe and manabe 
to make great, and zava a being clear, mahazava and 
manazava to make clear, enlighten. The causa- 
tive particle is sometimes doubled, as Ef. fafa, Fiji 
vaJcavaka, Mg. mampa, mampariy mampaha, mam- 
panka. The Mg. manka has 'nka, " the double article," 
and mampan is for manpan. 

As in the Anc. languages, e.^.. Art)., the Oc. causa- 
tive form sometimes denotes the " getting into a state 
or condition, acquiring a quality, obtaining or having 
something, or becoming something of a certain kind " 
— (Wright). These are denominatives, and are in- 
transitive, because the " Semites " " regard as an act 
what we view as a state." Thus Sam. faatoeaina^ to 
become like an old man (toeainaj, Fiji vakadrau, 
to make or have leaves (drau, see Mg. mandravina, 
above), vakavuravura to become worldly {vuravurd), 
^i, fakam^romina (meromina world), Fiji vdka-Sydney, 
Ef. fakaSydney to be Sydneyfied, to make like 
Sydney, Fiji vakaevei to make or become how ? {evei)y 
Shm, faapefea (pefea), Mg. m/zninona to make what? 
how much ? (inona), and reflexive-causative (see 
below) mifaninona. SB,m.faapea(fea), (Fiji vakaevei). 
My. mangapa why? The My. maka (see conjunctions) 
compares with Mg. manko why, so (a pleonastic par- 
ticle of conversation), and therefore belongs to this 
form ; ko, as what, so (see above). Compare the Arb. 

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X., which sometimes signifies " to become like " (make 
oneself like). 

In the Anc. languages, also, the causative form is 
sometimes '* declarative or estimative," and the word 
denotes to deem, think, or declare a person or thing to 
be so and so. In Fiji " vakaocusana lit. to make bad ; 
i,e., to declare to be so . . . vakadonuya to repre- 
sent or speak of one as just, to approve of." In Ef. sa 
or se (Anc. saphel), with article as ra, as seralesoko to 
deem true (lesoko), believe, seratepalo to deem worth- 
less (tepalo), despise. This meaning is pretty frequent 
in Ef . 

The following forms of the Oc. causative are iden- 
tical with the Anc. forms known as the saphel^ shaphel, 
taphely &c: — Sam. tamate to kill {mate), Tah. tama to 
cleanse {ma clean), frequent in Tah. and called " the 
causative form " {Tah. Grammar)^ Ef. sigiri to 
strengthen {jgara strong), sahera ki to scatter {beray 
reflexive tabera scattered), My. sabar to scatter, re- 
flexive tabur, and perhaps Mg. sakelikia to carry under 
the arm (helikia armpit), Sam. hdlulu to shake {lulu). 
Haw. haluli {luli, reflexive naluli), 

2. The rarer Reflexive (middle, passive) n, Heb. 
niphal, Arb. vii. {infal) occurs in Haw. as nahal torn 
{hal to tear). Hale describes the form with na as a 
kind of adjective with a passive sense, and Pratt the 
Sam. form with nga — as made neuter verbs by this 
prefix. This prefix occurs as in in Dayak (F. Muller). 
This in is sometimes infixed in Tagala, Formosa, Java, 
Battak, and My. (F. Muller). So also, though rarely, 

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in Mg., dj^fitaka Ae^teM, finataka deceived, fa/oka wipe, 
finaoka wiped ; frequent in Javanese. The Arb. xiv. 
and XV., and the third of quadriliterals infix this in 
between the second and third radicals. 

8. The common reflexive (middle, passive, reci- 
procal) : see above, under 3, for the Anc. and Mod. 
forms of this particle. Examples : — Mg. mi' and voa; 
as milahatra to aiTange himself (lahatra), arranged, 
causative mandahatra to arrange, set in order (any- 
thing), and voalahatra arranged; veiy frequent in Mg., 
and always contrasted with the causative. My. bar, 
holy ha, or her, bel, be, as berajar, or belajar to learn 
{ajar) : " the intransitive or neuter verb," the r or I is 
the article. Ef. bi or fi, as biauli, or fiauli (causative 
bdauli or faauli) to take the place of each other {auli 
take the place of), or to keep on doing so, bUito to go 
backwards and forwards between two places (liu to 
return), fiatu {atu to smite) to smite or kill each 
other, as in war. Sam. feanu to spit (anu) : this form 
in Sam. is commonly reciprocal (Pratt), thus with the 
preposition *i Qci) suffixed fealua 'i to go from place to 
place (alw to go), or back and forth, or the final i (to 
be explained below), fealofani to love one another 
(alofa love), Fiji veilomani (loma). The artice in My. 
bavy pal is r or I; in Mg. miha (causative maha) it is ha, 
as tsara good, hataara goodness, causative mahatsara, 
(and manatsara) to make better, ameliorate, reflexive 
Tnihatsara to become, or grow better, fotsy white* 
hafotsy whiteness, reflexive mihafotsy to grow white, 
causative mamotsy to whiten : with niihafotsy compares 

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My. berputih to be white. In Ef. bi, fi. Fiji vei, Oba 
voa, Banks Islands var, ver, va\ Solomon Islands faiy 
fei, this form is often reciprocal, and in My. bar, ber, 
ba,be, Mg. mi,miha, reflexive (passive, neuter). In the 
Anc. languages^ e.g., in Arb. and Heb., it is reflexive, 
reciprocal, passive. ** Out of the reflexive arises 
the reciprocal signification." The reciprocal im- 
plies plurality ; the idea of plurality is often marked 
in Fi. vei, Tagala mag ( = My. bar, g for r) ; another 
form of the same idea is frequency of the act, keep on 
doing, see Ef., above. Thus ta, in Sam., " expresses 
repeated action," and so mag in Tagala. In some 
cases this form, like the Arb. viii., agrees so much 
with the simple form that both " may be translated 
by the same word." The Anc. method of expressing 
the reflexive of the intensive was by prefixing the 
reflexive particle ta, &c., to the intensive form, Arb. ii., 
Heb. Piel. The Mod. expresses the same by such 
forms as Ef. tagaragara (gara strong, causative sigiri 
to strengthen) very strong, in which the redupli- 
cation is analagous to the Anc. doubling or redupli- 
cation of the intensive form. Another Mod. method 
is the doubling or reduplication of the formative 
prefix itself, as Ef. bifi, Fiji veivei, My. beper, Mota 

This prefix (Arb., Eth., ta) appears as ta in Fiji, Ef., 
and Solomon Islands, as Ef. tagaragara very strong, 
ttibera. My. tabur (see above) scatter. With article as 
r it is frequent in My. as tar, ta* forming a kind of 
" passive participle " (reflexive-passive), as tarbalik 

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inverted (balik), iaxbuni hidden (buni), Sam. tapuni 
to shut. For this ta in Mg., see under 4, below. 

A number of words in the Oc. dialects have ma, mi, 
&c., equivalent to the Mg vfii, My. bar, bay and appear 
as verbal adjectives, the formative having been prefixed 
in the Anc. or intermediate period ; thus My. Unmah, Mg. 
"inalemy, malem^ylemy, Ef. Tnailum, mailuTtduni soft. 
In this word mai (Fiji vei) is in another Ef. dialect ma 
as in Mg. malemy ; Ef, Tiialingi, Sam. 7)ialingi spilt, 
Ef. lin-gi to pour out, My. bartuwah and batuwah old, 
mature. A very Anc. word is in My. barapa (apa), 
Mg. Jiryy Ja. 2>iray Ef. biaa and bia, Sam. fia how 
many ? The My. barapa has 6ar, the reflexive 
particle, with article as r ; in Ef. the article appears 
as s, and elided, in the others as in My., r. The 
final part is the interrogative pronoun (see above). 
The word seems literally to denote " they what 
themselves " ? how many ? In Ef. it is never used 
of bulk, or in the sense of how much ? In My. 
it denotes how much ? — literally " it what s itself " i 
and also how many ? 

4. The reflexive-causative : see above under 4. 
Examples : — Mg. tafasolo substituted (solo substitute), 
tafaiditra brought in (iditra enter) : frequent in Mg. 
Like Syr. ethmaphel it is the reflexive (passive) of 
Maphel, as Syr. masken to make poor, ethmasken made 
poor. Ef . causative balanga to raise (lamga), tabalanga 
raised, raised itself, become raised; so Mota tavaul 
untied, become untied (vJ, to untie), Oba tamamrus 
{rums) slipped off", become slipped oflT (Codrington). 

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Mg. mifandahcttra arrange one another, causative 
mandahatra (lahcUra), Tnifankatia love one another 
(mankatia, hatia, ha article, tia to love). This is the 
common reciprocal in Mg. ; in the Anc. languages, 
also, the reflexive-causative, expressed sometimes the 
reciprocal, for instance in Syr. (eshtaphel). Corres- 
ponding to Mg. mi/a, Tnifan, and " double article " (as 
in causative manka) mifankay are Fiji veivaka, Araga 
veiva (Oodrington), and Ef. bifa. 

5. The Causative-Reflexive (frequent in Ethiopic). 
Mg. reflexive inUahatra, with article mihatsara, causa- 
tive-reflexive mampilahatra, mampihatsara, to cause 
to arrange himself, to cause to grow or become better 
{tsara good, see above), pretty frequent in Mg. 

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Formative Particles of the Verbal Noun. 

The Verbal Noun (substantive and adjective). — In 
the Se.-Oc. verbal nouns are, or may be, formed from 
each stem or verb-form. To the Anc. verbal noun 
was often prefixed the article. The article is often 
found prefixed (the unconscious article) to an Oc. verb 
(that is, an Anc; verbal noun). In the Oc. dialects a 
verbal noun is often formed simply by using the 
article (Mod. form) with the verb (that is, Anc. verbal 
noun). A vast number of verbal nouns in My. have 
the article as ha, Mg. ha, Ef . na ; but the article has, 
of course, the other forms in many cases. The Oc. 
verbal nouns are either adjective or substantive, and 
express the same ideas, quality, agent, action, time, 
place, instrument of the action, &c., as the Anc. Se. 
verbal nouns. 

Formative Suffixed Particles of the Verbal 
Noun (Substantive and Adjective). 

a. A verbal adjective is formed in Mg. by the 
endings na, i, or ina, in Fiji by i, Sam. ia or a, and 
na, ina. These are adjective endings, and suffixed to 
nouns form adjectives, thus Sam. eleele dirt, deelea 
dirty, Tong. mafanna heat, mafannaia hot, gele mud, 

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ea muddy, Mg. olitra a worm, ol&nna wormy, 
worm-eaten, aomotra beard, somorina bearded, ozatra 
a muscle, ozatincc muscular, Duke of York ruma 
house, rumaina full of houses. In Ef. na suffixed to 
adjectives slightly intensifies the meaning as pUa, 
pUana big, or bipUa, bipilana, bipilena or bipilinay 
barbaruta, barbarutena fat. In the Anc. languages 
we find both these adjective endings attached both to 
adjectives (participles) forming new adjectives, and to 
nouns forming (denominative) adjectives, thus in Eth. 
i (aiviy ai), Arm. an, ana, na, Mod. Syr. toz dust, 
tozana dusty, ahena peace, shenxia peaceful, Arb. anu, 
an\ i, iy' (both combined), ani, Heb. an, on, i, ay^ 
Both of these formative suffixes are phonetically 
varied, and varied also as to use, in difierent dialects, 
but either simply intensify an adjective, or turn a noun 
into an adjective, as the use in a given dialect may be. 
Both are of pronominal origin, as Dillman has rightly 
pointed out, the i being etymologically connected with 
the Se. i, third personal pronoun and demonstrative. 
It "sounded originally iya or ay a (= der, welcher)," 
Dillmann, sec. 117. As this particle played a large part 
in the Anc. Se., and plays a large part in the Mod, 
also, or Oc, I here quote Dillmann further, and beg 
particular attention to his words with reference to 
what follows : — " Auch im Semetischen gibt es ein von 
jenem i (that is, the demonstrative or third person 
pronoun), abgeleitetes relativ ia, dessen spuren sich 
im Bindevocal des Stat. Const, und in der Adjectiven- 
dung i Eth. noch erhalten haben,'' sec. 65. As to the 

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adjective ending an, and its pronominal origin, see 
Dillmann, sec. 122. On these two Se. adjective endings, 
see F. Muller, Grundrias, fee, iii. Band, ii. Abthei- 
lung, pp. 332-3. 

A vast number of adjectives (the so-called passive 
verb or participle) are formed in Ma.-Ha. by suffixing 
m, sometimes shortened to a, to the verb, 7ia, ina being 
more rarely used, and in Mg. by suffixing i, iia, or ina 
to the verb. That these words are really formed ad- 
jectives, expressing, as in the Anc. Se., a permanent 
inherent quality or intensity, is beyond doubt. In the 
Tong. dialect, according to Marinor, it (ia, ea or a) 
" frequently " forms adjectives from substantives, and 
" verbs passive are not known in the Tong. language." 
In Ma, " nouns will be met with occasionally carry- 
ing the termination of a passive verb " (Williams) — 
that is, they are denominative adjectives. Com- 
pare Sam. mala calamity, nialaia unfortunate, to 
be unfortunate. For Mg. ina (Tag., Formosa in), see 
Gi^ndrias, p. 139 ; for Ma.-Ha. m, a. Id., p. 31. The 
consonants prefixed, in the place cited, to ia do not 
belong to this ending, as will be shown below. These 
terminations also occur in the so-called ** passive " 
imperative, Mg. i, o, Tag. an, Sam. ia, a. They occur 
also with the numerals (adjective or ordinals) as in 
Mota i, ei (ai), Eth. awi, ai, Heb. i, &c. So in 
Amh. nga for na, Sam. nga, Eromanga ngi, Santo, 
Whitsuntide, Ulawa, na, Mg. ny, Florida ni, Mar^, 
Motlav, ns. 

b. The Mod. abstract noun, infinitive or nomen 

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dctionis is formed by the abstract ending an, more 
rarely na, in My. an, Mg. ana, Ef. an or ana (dia- 
lectieally pronounced en, ena), Sam. anga, nga (or 
anxi, na), Ha. an^, Nukuhiva, n, ng, k, identical with 
the Anc. Se. abstract ending in Eth. an, na, Amh. 
an, na, nga. This is a modification of the adjective 
ending an, oia, as Dillmann has said. Not only as to 
form, but also as to signification, the Oc. abstract noun 
corresponds with the Eth. and Amh. abstracts referred 
to, and generally the Anc. infinitives of the same 
form, as the Arb. verbal nouns, having this same 
ending an, Heb. on. They " express the action or 
staie, together with certain closely related ideas (such 
as the place of the action)," and " are used both in an 
active and a passive sense." So in Oc. they may be 
active and passive, and denote not only in all the 
dialects the action or state, but various related ideas, 
as the place, means, or time of the action. Thus Mg. 
fiadananxx, slowness (miadana), fiadiana weapons 
(miady), fanoratana the means of writing, writing 
desk, pens, &c. (manoratiu). 

In Mg. and Ef., from every verb and every verb 
stem a nomen actionis may be formed by this ending ; 
it is also very largely used in My., and not so largely 
in Sam. For this ending in other Oc. dialects, see F. 
Muller, Omndriss, p. 112 ; for the same in Arb. and 
other Anc. dialects, Id.iii. Band, ii. Abtheilung, p. 332. 

This n was sometimes changed to m in Eth. and 
Amh., so Motu (New Guinea) in matama beginning 
(Sam. amatanga), Mota {v for m) muleva a going 

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(mule to go), togava a staying, station (toga to abide) 
Fagani ma*eva death {ma*e = mate, die). In Amh. this 
m (for n) is, like n, also an adjective ending. So Ef. 
/au, dialect faum, new, Mg. voovoo, My. bharu. 

This verbal noun ending has become entirely pre- 
dominant in modem (Oc.) use, the other ending that 
prevailed so largely in Anc. Se., namely t, originally 
the Se. feminine ending, occurring for obvious reasons 
" fossilized," as below. 

0. In the Anc. languages some verbs, treated as 
ground-forms, are known to be what may be called 
secondary ground-forms — i.e, they are verbal nouns or 
derived stems in which the formative additions have 
become fossilized. This is, of course, the case with a 
very large number of verbs in Oc. And the Anc. or 
Intermediate period verbal noun endings thus found 
attached to these Oc. words form a most conspicuous 
and pervading feature of these languages. The two 
Anc. endings were the two (n and t) above noticed. 

1 (n,) Eth. aUy na, Arb. an, Heb. on, an, Arm. ono, 
ana. Phonetic modifications are Heb. o for on, Eth. 
am (for an), frequent in Amh., and ma (for na), along 
with an and na and nga (for na). It occurs in Mg. 
as na, and ma and nga, the ma becoming also av, v, f; 
in My. as w, an, ng, and m, the latter also becoming 
p ; in Ef. as n, en, na, ng, m, f; and in Sam. as na, nga, 
mo, and /a. Thus in the verb " to drink," Mg. minona, 
the ending is changed to ma in the verbal substantive 
finomana,, and verbal adjective ampinomina: so in 
velona to be alive, live, the ending na is changed to ma 

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in the Mod. imperative vdoma, substantive amelomana, 
adjective velomina. The first of these words occurs in 
My. as minum, Ef. minug {minung) (n to ng) and 
Tiiinu (n elided), and in Sam. as inu, in which the n 
is elided, but appears as m in the verbal substantive 
inumanga, arid adjective inumia. See above, a and 
by for these endings of the Mod. verbal substantive, 
and verbal adjective. The second word (vdona) occurs 
in My. as idup, Java urip (m to p), in Ef. as Tnauri 
(dialects mairi, vwle), Tanna murif (m to /), Mar^ 
wamma, Sam. ola, A word may occur in its Mod. 
ground-form in one dialect with, in another without, 
this ending, as My. hanina food, eating, My. makan, 
Ef . kani, Sam. *ai (for kani), Mod. verbal noun, 
My. makaTian, Fa. kanien, Sam. 'aina, and 'aiga (g =2 
Tig) food, eating; the latter corresponds in meaning 
with the Mg. hanina, A word may occur in a Mod. 
as in an Anc. dialect in one form with, in another 
without, this ending, or in one form with this, in 
another with the other ending now to be described. 

2 (t). The Se. feminine ending t, th, Heb. th, often 
modified to h (silent), ah for ath, Arb. t modified to h 
(distinctly aspirated and guttural), Mod. Arb. t modi- 
fied to h (silent as in Heb.), and by many Arabs to ts, 
Syr. thy t (in the common infinitive elided, u for uth), 
Amh. t (at, et, it, ta, and ia or ya, for iat), Eth. t (it, 
ia for iat, et, ot, at). To be noted is the adjective 
ending i, iy\ then to this suffixed this abstract ending 
t, so Arb. iyat, Eth. % at, et, ot:, ut are formed, and 
Heb. and Arm. ut. 

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This ending occurs in Mg. as t, and modified to tr 
(dialect <«), r, s, and z, also k and h ; in My. as ty and 
modified to r, ^', or gr, and 8 ; in Ef. t, /c, and modified 
to r, and s ; and in Sam. as t, and modified to i, also to 
* (k), 8. In Ef . also o or u for ot or ut occurs, the t being 
elided. Thus, to take the common Oc. verbs, hear, see, 
die, fear, the first is in Mg. reny (sometimes, by elision 
of the 7?, re)y and the ending appears as s in the im- 
peratives 7riandrene8a, andrameso, reneso, and verbal 
substantive a7idrene8ana ; in My. r in dangar, verbal 
substantive dangaran ; in Ef. 8 in rogosa ki nia ; and 
in Sara, s in logosa 'iina ; and in Fiji th in rogotha 
(g = ng). This word also occurs in Ef. and Fiji as 
rogo (t elided); Sam. logo, and with the ending in 1, 
logona. In the second word, " see," it occurs in Mg. 
as tr and t in hiratra (hi article) sight, vision, and verbal 
substantive ihiratana ; in My. as t in Hat, verbal 
substantive kaliatan ; in Fiji as th in raitha; and as o 
(for ot) and k in Ef. leo, dialect lek. In the third 
word, " die,'* it occurs in Mg. as 8 in the verbal sub- 
stantives hafate8ana (maty) ; in Mang. as r in the 
verbal substantive mate ranga, being absent (elided) 
in My., Fa., and Sam. mati (i for it). In the fourth 
word, " fear," Mg. tahotra, My. takut, Ef. mataku, 
Sam. niaia'u, it occurs in Mg. as tr and r in 
matahotra, verbal substantive atahorana; in My. 
as ^ in takuty verbal substantive katakutan ; in 
Ef. as u (for ut) in mataku, verbal subatantive 
mataknan (for Tnatakutan) ; and in Sam. as w 
(for ut) in mata'u, the t reappearing in the verbal 

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adjective mata'utia. In the word "adhere," Mg. 
raikitra, reJcetra, My. rakat, lakat, Ef. liko, or liku, 
it occurs in Mg. as tr and t in miraikitra, and verbal 
substantive iraiketana, as t in My. Zato or lekat; 
as u and u^ in liku, likut, or o, ot in Zifo>, iiA;o^. The t, 
in this Ef. word (liko, liku), reappears when a pronoun 
in the accusative is suffixed to it, as likutia (him, it), 
likutik (thee), as the Heb. ah becomes ath in the con- 
struct state, and in Syr. ^6, uth. It appears as r in 
My. tidor, g in Tag. tulug, u for ut in Ef . matnm, to 
sleep. In another form of the same word " adhere " 
likoy Mg. rohy (Ef. na liko or luko) a rope, cord, it 
appears in Mg. as z in the verbal substantive rohizana 
tied (i.6., roped). For another example, see word 
" weeping " below. 

3. The foregoing formative suffixes are found 
regularly combined in Oceanic, thus : the adjective 
terminations in a are suffixed to the verbal noun end- 
ings in c, 1, 2, to form the Mod. verbal adjective 
(participle), and the verbal substantive terminations 
in h are suffixed to the verbal noun endings in c, 1, 
2, forming the Mod. verbal substantive, or noTnen 
actionis (infinitive). For the former we have thus in 
Mg. tinay rina, hina (for kina), sina, zina, nina, 
mina, vina, fina ; Ma. kia, Sam. *m, tia, lia, sia, nia, 
ngia, mia, Jia ; and for the latter Mg. taria, rana, 
hana, sana, rana, nana, mana, vana, fana; Sam. 
tanga, 'anga, langa ; Ma; ranga, anga; Karat. 
nanga, Sam. manga, fanga; My. tan, ran, san, gan, 
nan, man, pan ; Ef. tien, rien, sien, kien, an, nien, 

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mien, fien. In Ef. this en (in one dialect) is for an, 
or ana (as it is in another dialect). It would only 
uselessly take up space to give further examples here 
of words with these compound terminations, or rather 
combinations of the Se. verbal noun endings, of which 
the first part is Anc. and fossilized, the second living. 
They pervade the Oc. 

Suffixed Particles Connecting or Appearing to 
Connect the Verb with its Object. 

These are not found in Mg., the ordinary pre- 
positions being used when required not suflSxed 
to the verb. They are found in My., Ef., and Sam., 
and are in reality only two or three. My. kan. 
Fa. ki, Fiji fca, Sam. 'i («.€., ki) ; and My. i, Ef. i, 
Sam. i. As Dr. F. MuUer (Lc.) has said. My. kan 
is " identisch mit der Praposition Mai. akan, Batt. hon 
* zu, nach.' " SutBxed to verbs in My. it gives them a 
transitive, often a causative, sense ; in Ef. ki is the same 
preposition, and Sam. % Ma. ki is the same (see above). 
This preposition, from coming immediately after the 
verb and connecting it with the object, has in some 
dialects (not in all — not, e.g., in Mg.) come often to be 
written suffixed to the verb ; but in no dialect is it 
alwaya so suffixed. In reality its use is exactly that 
of the Anc. preposition (with which it is identical, see 
above), connecting the verb with its object.* It is 
simply a transitive preposition. In Ef. also, it should 

• Wr, Art. Or. ii., sees. 21, 27-: 

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be said, the verb used with it has sometimes a causa- 
tive sense, so in Fiji. The investigation of this matter 
has been mixed up with another — that of the verbal 
noun {substantive and adjective) endings. Thus the 
supposed two-syllabled transitive endings are simply 
this preposition suffixed to the verbal noun endings 
above mentioned, giving in Ef. raM, aki, saki, naki, 
maki, fa'i ; in Sam. ta'i, la% 8a% a%wi\ ma% fa'i ; in 
My. tkariy rkan, skan, nkan, mkan, pkan ; Fiji taka, 
thaka, raka, laka, kaka, yaka, aka, maka, vaka, waka. 
In every case the syllable preceding the preposition 
ka, kiy kan is not a preposition or part of one, but one 
or other of the verbal noun endings above discussed.* 
The other so-called " transitive endings " are not, as 
hardly need be said, except in one case (that of i), such 
at all, but simply the above verbal noun endings with- 
out the suffixed ka, ki, kan. Of these, of course, the 
adjective endings sometimes form denominative verbs 
(or adjectives), and sometimes give somewhat of in- 
tensity to a verb or adjective to which they are 
attached. The ending i in My. certainly does appear 
(that is, it forms a transitive verb) to connect the verb 
(or verbal noun) with its object. It does so also 
sometimes in Ef., but rarely in Sam., and not at all in 
Mg. It is also seen in Ef . in the termination of almost 
every Mod. verbal substantive mieny tien, &c., and in 
Mg. in that of almost every verbal noun (adjective) 
mina, Una, &c., Sam. mia, tia, &c. It is suffixed to Abe 

* See Codrington*s " Syllabic Verbal Suffixes," p. 180 of his work, 
for the hopeless confusion that arises from not perceiying this. 

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old verbal noun ending thus, in Ef . (transitive) ii, ri, 
«, ni, ngi, mi, ft, My. (transitive) ti, ri, «, ni, mi, pi, ngi, 
Sam. (transitive) ti. When the Mod. verbal substan- 
tive in Ef . is formed from the verb by suffixing an 
en) this i is retained as tangiai to bewail (or a bewail- 
ing of, or with respect to), My. tangisi (from tangis) ; 
but in My. it is not retained in the Mod. verbal noun 
formed by an, thus Ef. tangisian, My. tangisan, Ef. 
iangi is neuter " to wail," for tangis, literally " a wail- 
ing" (My. tangis), and when the particle i is to be suf- 
fixed the s (for t) reappears in tangisi ; compare the 
similar remark above pointing out how this ending 
was in the Anc. dialects similarly elided and made to 
reappear before a suffix. In Mg. i appears as a pure 
adjective ending. In Ma.-Ha. it sometimes appears 
as in the above Ef. manner, thus Ef. (bulu, bulut) 
huluti (transitive), Sam. puluti ; in Ma.-Ha., when a 
pure adjective ending, it is always followed by a, as 
pulutia, Ef. Mni, Ma. kini to pinch, verb adjective Ma. 
Hnitia; Ef. kiniti (transitive), Ha. 'initi (i,e., kiniti). 
Of course both kan, ki, and i are found suffixed to 
verbs also that are without the verbal noun endings. 
In Fiji this i appears unchanged both as the adjective 
ending and when the verb is followed by an object, 
in the one case appearing to be a " passive " ending, in 
the other a transitive particle. That the Oc. verbal 
adjectives are not real " passives " is further manifest 
from the fact that in Sam., e.g,, they have " an active 
signification when the pronoun precedes " (Pratt), and 
are transitive. Thus i, even when apparently a 

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transitive particle, may be simply the adjective ending, 
though it certainly suggests comparison both as to 
origin, form, and grammatical use with the Anc. i 
(etymologically identical with adjective ending i) of 
the Se. construct state. Undoubtedly the adjective 
ending i in Oc. verbifies a substantive (i.€., forms a 
denominative adjective or verb), and increases the 
verbal power of or intensifies a verb or adjective 
(participle) ; and the same may be said of the other 
adjective ending *n', of which, as -an, -ang, Muller says 
that in Makassar and Dayak it "has generally the 
same force as i," while in Battak " it forms intransi- 
tive verbs," exactly as also does i in the cases pointed 
out. In Fiji this na forms verbs (transitive) from 
nouns, and is described as a transitive termination, 
though in fact it is simply the adjective ending. 

As the Oc. verb is originally a verbal noun, its 
object may be considered as the genitive of the object, 
and the verb or verbal noun as governing it in the 
construct state : therefore, the above i is used in the 
manner described, to all appearance (though it is really 
the adj. ending), as it was in the Anc. languages^ as the 

Note. — If the My. i is, as is most probable, tlie same i as is 
seen in the terminations of the Mg., Sam., and Ef., it is the 
adjective ending sometimes apparently a transitive termina- 
tion in Sam. and Ef., always so in My. If it is simply a 
transitive preposition it is the same as Ef . ki, Sam. H suffixed, 
Maori i not suffixed, Mg. a' not suffixed. As to the pho- 
netic variations of the Anc. termination t, th, in Oc, it is quite 
certain that it is sometimes changed to /, v (which must be in 
My. p)y as is elsewhere shown. 

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mark of the genitive or construct state; thus, My. 
(liat) liati orang " see a man," literally " seeing (of) a 
man," and so with the prep, liatkan orang, " seeing 
(of) a man," or " looking at (or to) a man." When 
two nouns come together in My. the first governs the 
second in the genitive of the construct state, as tanak 
JavMy the land of Java. In the other Oc. dialects, 
Mg., Ef., and Sam.^ generally a genitive preposition is 
used, though the construct state is found in all. In 
Ef. the above would be tano ni Jawa, or tano ngi 
Jawa, or tano hi Jawa, ni, or ngi, and hi, all forms of 
the same prep., and hi. My. ha{n). In the Anc. lan- 
guages, as in the Mod., both constructions are used. 

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Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs. 

Having considered the pronominal words and the 
formative and syntactical particles, we now proceed to 
the other and larger part of the material of the Se.-Oc. 
languages — the great mass of the stem- words. In Mg. 
faly {fall) is an adjective signifying "pleased," "glad" 
(Arb. farih, pleased, glad, v. adj. of Jariha i. he was 
glad), mifaly 3 (the numbers denote the verb forms 
above), ifaliana enidJifaliaTiay, subst. of 3, hafaliana 
V. subst. of faly with article as ha,falifalina v. adj. 
of faly reduplicated, mampifaly 5, arriYjifaliana v. 
subst. of 5, ampifalina v. adj. of 5, fahafaliana v. 
subst. of 1 (article as ha), mamalifaly 1 (for manfa- 
lifaly, article as 7i), aTnalifaliana v. subst. of 1 {see 
Mg. Dictionary) The Arb. verb has three forms — 
i., ii., and iv. In this case the primitive Oc. word is 
an Anc. verbal adjective (participle). The following 
is an Anc. verbal substantive (infinitive): — Mg. ara- 
hdba a salutation (Arb. marhaba word used as a 
salutation or in bidding welcome, verb rahuba or 
rahiba i.), miarahaba 3, Jiarahaba, fiarahabana v. 
subst. of 3, arahabaina adj. of arahaba p. (primitive). 
These two words may show that the Oc. primitives 
or ground-forms are Anc. verbal nouns (substantive or 

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adjective). Sometimes they are verbal nouns of the 
intermediate period, as Mg. haniifia (see below) eating, 
and perhaps Mg. aina (with same v. n. ending no) 
life (Heb. hayah to live, be prosperous, originally " to 
breathe," v. n. hay living, life, Arb. hay living, 
hayawan life), miaina 3, to live, be prosperous, ^airia 
V. subst. of 3, " mode of living, breathing," mpiaina 
n. adj. of 3, liver, one living, fiainana v. subst. of 3, 
mampiaina 5, to cause to live, fampiainana v. subst. 
of 5, Tniainaina 3, with primitive reduplicated, "to 
breatlie feebly." The causative of the Anc. verb is used 
in Arb. and Heb. 

1. Death, die, dead. Mg. maiy dead, faty dead 
body, Ja. pati death (Arb. ma'tat) dead. My. mati, Ef . 
mate, Sam. mate dead. My. and Ma. mati death, dead, 
Sam. oti (Chaldee mx)t) death, Ef. d. mate dead, place 
of the dead, the grave (Heb. mouth, moth) ; Arb. TYiata, 
Heb. mef, Eth. mM, Syr. Tnit, he died. The Mg. m/ity 
or faty. My. and Ma. mxiti, compares with the Arb. 
n. a. {nomen actionis) Tna'tat, matet (Eth. motat), 
matets, Tnateh, or matih (for the final t was sometimes 
pronounced in Arb. ts, gutteral h and silent h, and in 
Heb. th and silent h) ; in Oc, in the forms of this word 
about to be given, it is either silent or pronounced as 8 
or r — Mg. mahafaty. My. mamatikan, Ma. whakamate, 
Sam. taTYiate, Fiji vaJcamatea, all 1, Mg. fahafatesana 
n. a. of 3 (s the Anc. v. n. ending), Mg. hafateaaTia, 
My. kamatian, Ef . namatiana, v. subst. of p. with the 
article as ha, ha, and na, Ef. matiana, Mangareva 
materanga (r the Anc. v. n. ending in Mg. s) v. subst. 

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of p. without article, death, act of dying; another 
abstract ending is seen in Mangareva matenga death, 
Ef. Tnatingo place of the dead — the grave. The causa- 
tive of the Anc. verb was used, as the Oc. 1, in Arb., 
Heb., Eth., and Syr., and with the same signification. 

2. Life, living. Mota esu, Ja. urip, Sam. ola, Ef. 
mauri (dd. mole, maim) Lif u mely Fi. 6uZa, Mg. velona 
(and veloina)y Arb. {'asha i. he lived) n. a. 'a's/i, *ishat, 
Tna'ash, ma'ish, Tna'ishat Mg. velona p. living, 
"mivdona 3, velomina adj. of p., TnaTndona 1, 
Tnpamdona n. ag. of 1, fahavelomana n. a. of 1, My. 
idup (ending p, Mg. m, ti), idupan n. a., kaidupan 
n. a., with article as ka, maTigidupkhn, or i, 1, Ef. 
Tnauri, n. a. mauriana, nsimauriana (article as na), 
bakamauri 1, bakamauriana, nafakamaiiriana n. a., 
Mota vaesu 1, Fiji vakabula 1, Sam. ola p., olanga 
n. a. lifetime, so ola'anga (*Arb. i), and olatanga means 
of living, faaola 1, v., and n. ag. faaolangayfaa^latanga 
n. a. The causative and reflexive of the verb are used 
in Arb. and Mg. As we have the "unconscious 
article" and "double article," so we have the "un- 
conscious " and " double " verbal noun endings in Oc. 

3. Seeing. Mg. hiratra (hi the article). My. liat, 
Ef. leo, lo, le, lek, Fi. rai, Sam. ilo, iloa, Arb. raai i., 
n. a. raat, raxii, royat, rayat, royan, Heb. raah i., n. a. 
reoh, reot ; Eth. reyat The Anc. verb signifies to see, 
know, think. Mg. hiratra sight, vision, maJiiratra 1, 
"mihiratra 3. My liat p. to see, liatkan, liati, kalia- 
tan V. n. of p., with article, maliat 1, pangliat v. n. of 
1 (with article as ng\ pangliatan v. n. of 1. Ef. leo, 

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le, lo, lek (k for t) to see, with preposition (unconscious) 
libi, lekba (Heb. raah be), leoan, loon, lekan, lekban, 
and with article naleoan, &c., n. a., lolo, Ide, redupli- 
cated look for (look much or often), Idnga adj. ending 
(unconscious), bildnga 3, look for, langan, bilangan, 
or nalangan, &c., n. a. Fiji rai seeing, to look, be 
seen, raitha (always followed by object — that is, con- 
struct state), vakaraitaka, vakarairaitaka l,ka as in 
My. liatkan, transitive preposition, cause to appear, 
show. Sam. ilo, iloUo, ilonga, faailonga, v. n. of 
faailo, and used also as a verb, faailongaina v. adj. 
In the Anc. the causative and reflexive used. Com- 
pare here also Mg. ray, My. dai, Ja. rai. Ma. rae, To. 
lue, Heb. rai, Eth. rey forehead, appearance, aspect, 
sight. The Anc. abstract ending t is plainly seen in 
Mg., My., and Fiji. 

4. Fearing, being feared. Mg. tahotra, My. taJcut, 
Ef. mataku or mitahw, Sam. mata'u, Arb. (taka* 1, 
he feared, a secondary radical from wak<i viii.) 
takiyyat a fearing, or being afraid. Mg. tahotra fear. 
My. takut fearing, to fear, fear ; Mg. matahotra 3, 
My. bartakut 3, Ef. matakib 3, Sam. mata'u 3, to fear, 
be afraid, fearing ; Mg. ToakataJioPra, My. manakut, 
Ef. bakamataku, Sam. faamata'u, all 1, to frighten ; 
verbal substantives Mg. fahatahorana (t or tr to r). 
My. takutan, and with article katakutan, Ef. 
matakuan, Tnatakua, and naraatakvAin, namatakua, 
fakamatakuan, and with article nafakaniatakuan, 
Sam., adjective, mata'utia. In this word the primi- 
tive or ground-form in Ef . and Sam. is form 3 — that is. 

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the ground-form is not used. So with many stems in 
the Ane. languages and Mod. 

5. Digging. Arb. {kara' i., Heb. karahy Eth. karaya, 
he dug), n. a. karw a digging or being dug, Mg. hady 
ditch, My. gali, Ef . kili, Sam. 'eli, to dig ; Mg. voahady 
dug, mihady 3, to dig, hadina adj. being dug, 
fikadiana v. subst. of 3, mpiady n. ag. of 3, a digger, 
fangady v. n. of 1, a digging instrument, the native 
spade. My. panggali : My. manggali 1 ; My. gali to dig, 
Ef. kili (Sam. 'eli). My. galiaUy Ef. kilian and (with 
article) nakilian, act of digging, the digging, Ef. kdK 
native spade. Reduplicated Mg. mihadihady 3, mana- 
dihady (for Tnanhadihady, article as n, cf, Ef.) 1, Ef. 
kilikili, kilikilian, n. a., Mg. hadihadina, adjective, 
being (Jug. Ef, kdH compares with the Arb. n. ag. of 
form i. kdri. 

6. Hearing, a being heard. Heb. shama*, and 
shame'a, Eth. dham'a, Arb. sami'a, n. a. aama'at, Heb. 
sheTnuah, Mg. rea, re a being heard, mandreny 1 
(Erom. mantrengi), andrenesana n. a. of 1 (the Anc. 
abstract ending as s, Arb. t) ; My. dangar to hear 
(Anc. abstract ending as r), kadangaran n. a. with 
article as ka, mandangar or manangar 1 (article as n), 
pandangar v. n., sense of hearing ; Ef . rongo, rongi 
to hear, rongoan, narongoan (article as ti) a hearing, 
the hearing, or the thing heard, report (so Anc. 
languages), rongosaki listen to (preposition H, Anc. 
li, and abstract ending as s, as in Mg.), reduplicated 
rongorongo ki to proclaim (so Anc), rongorongoan 
proclamation, narongorongoan uia the good proclama- 

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tion or report, the Gospel, Fiji rongo to hear, be 
heard, sound, rongotha (abst. ending th and t, as in 
Anc.) to hear, transitive (that is, construct state), 
(My. clangar), vakarongothxi 1, rongotaka, Ef. rongo- 
saki, Sam. longolongosa'i, Fiji rongorongotaka ; Sam, 
longo, to hear, feel, report, a report, sound, longoina 
adj., reported, longolongod adj. renowned, longoTva to 
hear {na adj. ending), faalongo 1. Mg. re, rea, in 
which the n is elided, as in Tah. roo. The causative 
used in the Anc. languages also. 

7. Eating. Heb. akal, Ch. dkal, Arb. akala i., to 
eat, devour, n.a. makal, akal, Mg. hanina (adj. ending 
na, cf. velona, aina, above), food, being eaten. My. 
makan, Mg. fahana, Ef. kani (Fiji, kana, v. adj. 
ia'Mi), Sam. 'ai to eat (ti elided), v. adj. 'airui, Mg. 
mihinana 3, to eat, fikinana v. n. eatable, mpihinana 
n. ag. eater ; Ef . iamana, Sam. 'ainga, My. maAja-jm^i 
act of eating, food: causative Mg. mamahana, My. 
mamakan, Ef. ftangram, Fiji vakania; Ef. bafavga 
(caus. particle reduplicated), Sam. fafanga, to feed, 
cause to eat; Mg. faJianana, My. makanan, Mg. 
amahanana, Ef. banganiana. It is remarkable that 
the causative is used in Mg. and Ef. also for to charge 
(i.e,, feed) a musket. After being separated thousands 
of years muskets (a comparatively recent invention) 
came to Madagascar and the New Hebrides, and, such 
was the identity of language, thought, and race, the 
same Anc. Se. word was equally applied by the Mala- 
gasy and Efatese to this new use. The Anc languages 
also used the causative " to feed," " cause to eat." In 

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this word we see that in the Oc. or Mod. may- 
be found more than one Anc. verbal noun of a 
particular verb. 

8. Drinking, drink. Heb. (shathah i. to drink), (Ch. 
shtha, ishtha)^ n. a. mishteh, sMthi (akthi), shiku, Arb. 
siki, drink, act of drinking; Lifu idhi (ith), New 
Caledonia undu^ Mah. heru, Ulawa iluhi, Anudha 
ilu, Mg. minona {na adj. ending as above, velona, 
dlna, hanitia). My. minum (end. n to m), Ef. minung, 
TninUy dd. Tnini, mining, munuma ; Fiji ngunuva 
(m to v) ngunu, d. unu7)ia ; Sam. inu (the ending m 
appears in adj. inumia, and v. subst. inumanga). Mg. 
finomana (for finonana, n to m), My. minuman, Ef. 
minungiana, Sam. inumanga, v. subst. : causative 
("give to drink," as in Heb. and Arb. — note change 
of th to k in this word in Heb., Arb., and Eth.) Mg. 
n. ag. mpampinona giver to drink, one who causes to 
drink (farnpinomana v. subst., ampinomina v. adj.). 
My paminum a drinker; Fiji vangunuva, "to give 
drink to, or cause to drink." The change of s or < to 
n is common; compare My., Ef., and Sam. stisu, 
Mg. nono to suck, breasts (teats), milk, and see 
below the numeral " six," and the word for " palm " 

9. Doing, acting. Heb. pa'al, Arb. fa'ala, 1, to do, 
make, act, n. a. Heb. po'dl (po'l), Arb., fa'alat, Ef. 
bolo,folo, Fiji vala. Ef. bolo/olo, Fiji valavala, to make 
or do, Ef. nafolofolon action, deed, mode of action, 
conduct. The abst. ending (Arb. i) appears in Fiji 
transitive (construct state) valata to make or do, Ef . 

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bolus to do (a person, in a hostile sense). In E£, in 
one dialect, holo also means " to act deceitfully;" com- 
pare Arb. viii., " finxit mendacium contra aUquenC* 

10. Working, work, making. Heb. ('owaA 1, to work, 
make) n. a. ma'dseht participle 'oseh, Mg. asa, Java 
yasa, Ef. uisi, wisi, d. piai, Sam. 08i to work, make. 
Mg. asa work, labour, miasa 3 to work,^8a mode of 
working, implements, usual time or season for working, 
asaina adj. wrought, Sam. osia, Ef. nauisian work, 
thing made. 

11. Creating, producing, creation, production. Heb. 
bara (create, produce, beget), Arb. bara (create, n. a. 
bur\ bum'), bariya (to be clear, pure, innocent of, 
n. a. bara, bum, barat) n. a. bariyat, Heb. beriah, 
creation, thing made or created, Heb. 6ar, a son, offspring. 

Mg. forona {na adj. ending, as in velona, hanina, 
&c.), " formed, created, fashioned, produced, arranged," 
mamorona 1, to form, create, produce, Ef. bora, and 
wora to be produced, to spring up, to be born (in Heb. 
and Arm. the reflexive is " to be bom"), wora offspring, 
Mg. fara, offspring, children, progeny, heir (Heb. and 
Arm. bar), Ef. bakawora 1 (Mg. mamorona) to cause 
to spring up, create, produce. Heb. bari, Ef. baru, 
barua fat, fattened. Arb. bariy, &c., pure, clear, free 
from, innocent, Ef. baru, barua. 

Perhaps My. buwat (Heb. beriah, Arb. bariyat) be- 
longs here (r, as often, elided), to do, make, construct, 
fabricate, buwatan abst. n., mambuwat 1 (Mg. 
mamorona), n. ag. pambuwat, and parbuwat (note the 
article both as m for n, and as r in this word). 

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parbuwatan, and pamhuwatan, abst. n. In Ef ., in one 
dialect, we have meri or mari, in another hati, in 
another hringi ot fringi to do, to make. 

12. Adhere. Mg. raikitra, rekitra, rohy a rope, 
rohizana bound, fettered ; My. lakat, rakat and lakap 
(for lakat), (transposed) kalat, halat a rope ; Ef . liko, 
luko, Ukati, lukoti, My. lakatkan, malakat 1, barlakat 
3, Mg. miraikitra 3, mandraikitra 1, raiketana (adj.) 
Arb. 'alika 1, verbal nouns, *lafcat a cord, 'ala&at, 
'alikat. The Arb. uses i., iv., v., and viii. In Ef. the 
ending t is not used except when the i is suffixed, and 
then is always transitive. 

13. Bad, ill. Arb. sd 1, to behave or be bad, to be 
ill, n. a. 8a\ sawat, &c., Mg. ratsi/, Baju rahat, My. 
jahat, Fiji tha, Ef. sa bad ; Ef. tctsan (adj.) to be ill, 
Mg. marary 3 (but appears as an independent word), 
mankarary 1 (double article). 

Ef. masaki might seem the same (sa with prepo- 
sition ki), Sam. ma% but My. sakit proves that it is 
not, and that masaki is like My. barsakit 3, and for 
masakit : sakit being the same as Arb. sakawat conditio 
mala, status malus, miseria, n. a. of sakia 1, to be in 

These few examples show the actual use of the 
formative particles in the Mod. dialects, and how these 
particles both undergo and cause phonetic changes, 
and how the particles affixed in the Anc. and inter- 
mediate periods have (like the article, and sometimes 
the suffixed transitive particle or preposition) become 
"unconscious," or as if they were radical parts of the 

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word. They show how every letter and syllable may 
be accounted for in the vast majority of cases. And 
they show how vain it is in comparing the Oc. lan- 
guages with the Anc, or with others, to simply place 
the compared words in juxtaposition, as has too often 
been done, taking no account of grammatical structure. 
This would be very well if the Oc. words were "roots," 
as are the Chinese, but as there are no roots, but only 
formed words, in the Oc, it is a method childishly 
inapt. It has seemed best to give the above few 
examples immediately after the discussion of the par- 
ticles. It clearly appears, then, that an Oc. stem-word 
is a formed word, and that it often bears legibly upon 
it the mark, which the wear and tear of thousands of 
years have not effaced, of the Anc. Se. inflection by 
externally added particles, or internal vowel changes, 
or both. 

The passive is sometimes expressed, as in the Anc. 
languages, by the reflexive form, and sometimes the 
Oc. primitive is an Anc. passive participle. When the 
Oc. primitive is an Anc. infinitive (as it is very often), 
like it it is either active or passive, as used. Thus 
in My. the article Qcd) alone prefixed to such an infi- 
nitive often, not forms, but points it out as used in its 
passive sense, and so with the preposition di (compare 
F. Muller on this latter). The Mod. verbal substan- 
tive also is active and passive, as used, but prevailingly 
used in the passive sense. The Mod. verbal adjective 
also is prevailingly used in the passive sense, but often 
in the active. The usage varies in different dialects. 

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^ 3* 

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The Numerals. 

One. The Mg. isa, My. asa, sa, compares with New 
Guinea oaaay Savu aisa, Timor eiduy Sumatra do, Epi 
ta, Marata eta, Assy, ahadu, edu, Mod-Syr. ha, hda, 
Eth. ahadu, Tigre ade, Arb. ahad\ wahid' ; and the 
Mg. iray {irais', iraika) with Sam. tad, Paama tas, 
tai (and rais), Epi. saka (and raka), Ef. siki, and sikei 
(and teaa). Mg. iray or rai^ (for irais') is isa with 
the article, as r (c/. ra-yio, ^'a^/, reny, above), and in 
iraika the original d {t, s) of the numeral is changed 
to k. In Sam. this article appears as t\ in Epi and 
Paama as r, t, and s, and in Ef. as t and s. The same 
article appears in the first consonant of Tanna (dialects) 
liti, riti, kv:ati, kadi; "New Guinea dik, tika; New 
Caledonia (dd.) tat, tedja, tchika. This article appears 
as r also in My. barsa, Mg. miray, form 3, to be one, 
oned, united, and the elided s reappears, under the in- 
fluence of the ending, in the verbal nouns iraiaana, 
ampiraisina (mampiray, form 5, to cause to be 
one, to unite, tafaray, form 4, made one, made itself, 
or themselves, one). Ef., form 3, masiki, or miaiki (My. 
barsa, Mg. mirat) to be one, alone (by himself) ; 
as to this r in Mg. being 8 in Ef. another example 
is seen above in the word Mg. firy, My. barapa, 
Ef. bUa, JUa," how meLuy V In the Anc. languages 

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(Arb.) the refleanve, the causative, and the reflexive- 
cauBotive forms were used also. The caus. in the 
Mod, languages is in Mg. /atiaraika, Ef. bakasikei, 
Sam. faatasi. 

This numeral has in Ef . also the form sera (for siki) 
one only, each one, every, Sumatra soda, sara, 1. In 
Ef. as in Arb, siki takes the suffixed pronouns, and 
with the same signification as sikina or sikinia he alone, 
sikimu you alone. 

Two. Arb. ithna (the a is the dual ending) for thina 
(Heb. sMna\ shine, Arm. tira\ tire) Mod. Arb. itna, 
Una, Mod. Syr. iP,ra\ tire, Arb. (f .) thinta, Mg. roa (w 
elided as often), My. dua, Celebes dia, Ef. rua, Sam. 
Zua (the a is the Ane. dual ending, compare the pro- 
nouns above), Mangarai sua, Epi tshua. In Ef. this 
word is often pronounced trua, and is sometimes 
shortened to rd or re, and sometimes pronounced tua. 
The termination ia (in thinta, Heb. sAiV^, Himy. ^cr^6 
or tita) appears as k in Mg. d. rica, Florida ruka, and 
as V (see above) in Tag. daluva, dalava, dalova {da 

Three. Heb. shalosh, Arb. thaldth, Syr. toU (tholth), 
Ch. tildth, Mod. Syr. t^ld, Mg. ^eZo, My. ri^a (Z or r to 
g), Ef. and Sam. tolu, Java ^aZw, Atshin rfw, Epi selu, 
tolu, tou, Ambrym suC, si, Mallicolo tolu, ndila, tir, roi, 
ret, Aneityum eseij, eseik. 

Four. Arb. drha'at, Heb. iXrba'ah, drba'ath, Mod. 
Syr. arbd\ Mg. efatra {tra, Arb. t, see this termination 
above). My. ampat (am for ar, as often, e.g., pam- 
buwat, parbmuat, &c.), Ef . bat, or &aa/^, Sam. fa. 

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Five. Arb. khamd (Newman spells the Mod. Arb. 
kam8\ Mg. dimy (k to t), My., Ef., and Sam. lima. 
In one Ef. dialect, with the article this word 
signifies " the hand," that is " the five fingers : " so 
in Arb. with the same article it signifies " the 
five fingers" cUkams (digit i, Freytag), Ef. nalimana 
the five of him, his five fingers, Aneityum nikman and 
nijman, his five fingers, that is, " his hand " (note the 
change of k and^') ; the final n in nalimana, nikman is 
the suffixed pronoun "his." The word "five" has 
thus in many Oc. dialects become the word for " hand." 
My. (article as ta) tangan, Mg. tanana, Fiji nalinga, is 
the same as Ef. nalima, Sam. le lima, the five fingers, 
the hand. See " hand" below. See also the word 
" house " for similar phonetic changes in Oc. of Anc. 
initial kh. 

The causative of this word in Arb. signifies " to do 
five times," so Ef . hakalima, Sam. faxiUma, and with all 
the numerals this is the force of the Ef. and Sam. 

Six. Mg. enina (dd. one, ene). My., Java Tianam 
anam, Sam. ono, Fiji ono, Arb. sitf, Mod. Syr. ishta, 
Himy. (with mimation) sadtam; as to the phonetic 
changes between the Mod. and the Anc, compare the 
similar changes in the word " to drink," above, Anc. 
ahSthi, mishteh, Mod. inu, minn; and My. suau with 
Mg. nono there cited. 

Seven. Mg. fito, Ja. pitv,, Sam. fitu, Fiji vitn, Arb. 
aab'ak (compare Eth. saWatn, Amh. sabat) ; if this is 
correct, the final t is retained in the Mod. dialects, as 

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it is in the word four, Arb. arba'at' My. ampat, Mg. 
efatra, Ef. bdti, the initial 8 being elided. My. 
tujuh, perhaps, changes the b or v to t; or elides 
the V or 5 after t (s), like Harar sate, Mg. (dd.) 
sidda, titu, 7. 

Eight. Mg. valo, Atshin lapan, My. (with article) 
dalapan, Savu panu, Java wolu, Sam. valu,F jii walu, 
Heb. sheTTioneliy Arb. thar)iania, Mod. Arb. tmdn, Syr. 
<Ar>ion«, Mod. Syr. tTnania : Atshin and My. lapan, 
Arb. thamania, Savu panu, Mg. valu elides the 
initial consonant, as in^^o, 7. 

Nine. Mg. sivy, Sam. ira, Java sanga, Fiji thiwa, 
Tagala siyam, Bisaya aiam, Santo tshiwa, Bouru r^Aia, 
Heb. t€8ha\ Arb. fis'a, Syr. thsha^ Mod. Syr. i^s/ia, 
Himyaritic (with mimation) tisam (i.€., tea'am) : the 
initial is elided in Mg. sivy, Tagala biam, and the 8 
also in Sam. iva. 

Ten. Mg.folo, My. pulu, Sam./uZu, Kisa wali, Timor 
7iulu, Mg. (d.) nel, Rotti AwZw, Santo wZa, Mangarei 
(Gabelentz) <wrw, Mg. (d.) turn, Tagala (Forster) polo 
and pobo, (Crauf urd) pulu and puvu, Mysol la/u, Arb. 
'asharu, 'ashara; Heb. '€«6r, 'asar; Syr. *«ar, Eth. 
'SshSru, 'ashartu. We are already familiar with the 
change th or ^ to / (see above), and of I to b, as in Java 
lintangy My. bintang " star," so Tagala ^fo, jt?o6o, puZu, 
/>wvw ; Mysol la/u, lu/u ; Java pula, Philippine 
(Forster) apah. Apparently the Anc. "shar" be- 
came thar* or tar\ and this changed to fulu, pulu, 
puvu. It is easier to recognize the identity of Tam- 
bora saroni, Matabello ter, 10, with the Anc. As to 

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the n in saroni compare, perhaps, Himyaritic curam 

One hundred. Mg. zato, My. rattAs, Java atiia, Bauton 
saatu^ Sula ota^ Caroline tiapugu, Tambora simari, Ef . 
tifili^ Santo lifilij d. Id; Bouru botha, utun; Arb. 
midlun, miat* ; Amh. mato: Mg. zato (My. ratvs) is the 
article z (as in zanaka)^ and ato (for ma^u, m initial 
elided as often), and in simari, si is 1, as sia in 
siapugvj (g for ^j, and perhaps ti in tifili. The « in 
My. ratus may be the same as the n in ii^uti, Himy- 
aritic miatura {matum the final m is the mimation), 
or the numeral 1, as in balas, literally " one — ten," see 

One thousand. Mg. arivo, My. ribit, Java ewu, 
Tagala libu, Bisaya livu, Sam. and Tonga dfe, 
Arb. alSfw, alf* (Heb. elef, Ehkili o/), Himyaritic 
alefum, ahfun (olfTn, alfm), Santo riwun, d. rima, 

There are many dialects of Oc, especially among 
those spoken by the more isolated islanders, in which 
the Anc. words from 6 to 10, or some of them, have 
been lost, and their place supplied by combinations of 
the first five numerals. Thus, for 6, Ende IcTna-sa, Ef . 
la-tesa, 5 and 1 ; for 7, Ende lema-rua, Ef. la-ma, 6 
and 2 ; for 8, Ende ma-butu, 2 of 4 (two foura), Ef. 
la-tolu, Yengen nimweyen, 5 and 3 ; for 9, Ef. li-JUi, 
Yengen nimpobits, 5 and 4 ; and for 10, Ef. i^ua-lima, 
2 of 5 (two fives), Aneityum nikman ero his two 
hands, Tanna karilum karilum Qcari for kadi, 1) 5 
and 5, literally " one-five one-five." 

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The "numbers are expressed distributively by 
repetition of the cardinals " in Ef. as in Arb, and 

The ordinals are expressed by prefixing to the 
cardinals the article, as ka, Mg., ka and ke, Ef., and as 
Uf Sam., te Ma. They are also expressed by attach- 
ing to the cardinals the adj. endings (see above) in 
Amh. -ngra, Eromanga -"ngiy Mg. -ny ; and Eth. -i, 
-awi, -ai, Maewo -ai, Mota -ei, -i. The ordinal " first " 
is in Mg. voalohani, lohani the word for "head," 
loha, that is, first beginning, with the adj. ending m, 
Heb. rishoni (and rishon), Sam. ulua'i and Itba'i : 
see the word "head" (below). Voalohani is a 
denominative, form 3. 

The denominative verbs formed from the numerals 
in Oc. are the causative and the reflexive. The 
causative (baka-) in Ef, and Sam. denotes to do so 
many times as the numeral expresses, and corresponds 
to the force of the Anc. causative of the same numerals 
which in Arb. and Heb. (Arb. ii. and iv., Heb., Piel, 
causative) denoted the same. Mg. causative manin- 
telo, manindroa to make or do the third, second time, 
are denominatives, form 1, of indroa, intelo, in time, 
and roa^ telo, 2, 3. 

The reflexive signifies to be or be- divided into as 
many parts as the numeral expresses, as Mg. raitelo^ 
midimyy to be or be divided into 3 or 5 parts, to 
be threed, fived ; miray, My. haraa, Ef . masiki, to be 
oned, one, Arb. viii. (reflexive), see numeral 1. 

The verbal noun of the reflexive in My. denotes a 

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fraction, as partiga a third, parlima a fifth. The 
verbal noun of the causative in Mg. with the adj. end- 
ing expresses the ordinal as faharoa " two fathoms," 
faharoany second, Santo vakaruana second. In the 
Anc. languages the numerals in various verbal noun- 
forms had various uses. 

In all the Oc. languages the numerals 20 to 90 of 
the Anc. languages have been lost — that is, the plurals 
of the digits, and the analytic equivalent in use is the 
numeral 10 combined with the digits — thus, Mg. roa- 
polo, My. dwa-pulu, Sam. lua fulu, 20, literally 2 of 
10, that is, two-tens, Ef . i^alima 7*ua ; so with the 
other tens, as Mg. telo-polo, 30, &c. In counting from 
11 to 19, My. prefixes the digit to 10, thus dwi bias, Ja. 
rola8 12, My. sahlas, Ja. swalas 11 ; bias is another 
form of pulu 10, with the numeral 8 (asa, or sa, 1) 
suffixed. Compare Kisa wali 10, ita 1, itawali ita 11. 
In Bugis the order is reversed; thus, for My. dua bias 
there is sopulo diia, 12 ; and so for My. dua pulu, 
Kisa waroh 20, My. tiga bias, Kisa lualikal 30 (kal for 
tal 3). In Mg. and Sam. and Ef. a conjunction is used 
between the digit and 10, as Mg. roa amby ny folo^ 
Sam. sefulii ma le lua 12. This Sam. Toa le (for ma 
conjunction or preposition "with/* see above), Mg. 
amby ny, is in Fiji mani, Ef. mAte in temdte as 
malima sikei temati rua one ten and two, 12. This 
tem/ite in one dialect is atmate and the initial te is the 
article, probably, and temd or atm/i like Arb. alm^ 
" the with,'' or "that which with," "that with," temxi 
te rua that with the two, Sam. ma le lua with the 

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two, Mg. amby ny roa (perhaps for an ma ny roa 
that with the two). With Ef. fema, compare Mysol 
and Massaratty f«m, Ureparapara deme, Volow neme, 
Amblaw lani, and with Ef. temate, Savo nipiti, Fiji 
kamani^ Mota numei ; all these words being used alike 
with the numerals. Perhaps Java Ian, My. dan 
" and," is the same as Amblaw Ian. 

The article, often the " unconscious " article, is fre- 
quently used with the numerals, especially with "ten,'' 
thus Mg. nyfolo, Santo novulu: to this the numeml 
"one" prefixed gives Santo 8itnuvulu, dialects 
sinafuXu, aabulu. In My. sapidu, Sam sefulu, Pente- 
cost aiamnoh, the sa or ae is " one." What in Santo 
is sunuvvZu is Oba hangafulu (and novulu is 
ngahuka) ; Mallicolo hangafulu, sangafuTy sangafuly 
singab; Amb. sanghul, savgul, sangula, songapi; 
Easter Island anahui^, Savu singuru, Ma. anga- 
hum, Waigyu aamfur. What in these is ngapuki, 
novulu is in Celebes mopui^ (article as m), Sauguir 
kapuroh. The r or I of this numeral is sometimes 
changed to k or g, as Oba ngabuka, Gilolo negio, 
Tidore nigimoi (moi " one "), Caroline sik, sig, Pelew 
ok; changed to / (as already seen), and elided, as 
Mysol yah 10. 

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Some Fundamental Words. 

The following words are of interest, as being nouns 
used as prepositions or adverbs : — 

Above, over. Mg. ambony {ny, adj. ending, as in 
Arb. fa!kani), {amho, avo), Motlav vawo, wo, Mosin 
vogo, Arb. fa'ku — supra, 

Oba and Pentecost lu, Arb. 'alu, upper part ; Ef. 
dialects balo, mahil, Amh. balai above (V the pre- 

Sam. and Ha. lalo, Ma. raro, Arb. tahto, Eth. tahta 
the lower part or side, under, below. 

Outside, without. Mg. ivelany, Tag. vala, Mota 
varea, Arb. barra, Syr. bar or var f oris, extra ; ny in 
ivelany is the adj. ending, as in ambony. 

Fa. taku, tak, Sam. tua, Sunda tukang, My. balakang,. 
Arb. thahru, thahr', back, behind, outside. In Ef. 
and Sam. "back," "outside." 

Sam. fafoy Ma. and Ha. waho, Eth. baafa or vdfa 
foris, extra (prep. 6a, as in bdlo, and afa foras, Lud. 

Fa. katem, outside of house (er}i house, see below) ; 
kat compares with Heb, huts outside (of a house). 

Inside, within. Mg. aty (properly " the liver," My. 
ati, Fa. and Sam. ate, Arb. ha'tha, the liver and parts 

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near it), with the simple preposition an (ani) anaty, 
Tag. ati, the middle. Analogously Arb. kabid " the 
liver " is used also to denote " the middle of a thing." 

My. dalam {da, the article), Lampung lom, Fiji 
loma, Arb. lobb cor et medulla rei, Heb. leb middle 
part, interior, midst, the heart, mind. 

Sam. loto, Ma. roto. The Ma. roto denoies a " lake," 
Arb. ra'do a " pool," " lake," a " garden," Sam. lotoa 
an " inclosure," Ha. loko pond, lake, Ef. lol a garden, 
inclosure, Ef . dialect ro*ra, rodra inclosure, Ef. dialect 
lalo the inside, mind (Sam. loto) : the Arb. verb is 
raada — bene constitulus fuit animus. 

Behind, after. Ef. taku, Sam. tv/i, My. balakang : 
see above, under " outside." The simple prepositions 
are attached to these forming compound prepositions. 

The words " man " and ** woman," and " male " and 
" female " (by which gender is analytically denoted), 
and such words as "father," "mother," "child," are 
important, especially the former, as being much used. 

Man, male, husband (homo and vir). Mg. olona. My. 
orang, Ef. dtd, at, dialect ita, eta, and Sam. ta or tang 
in tangata, Fiji atamata; this last corresponds to Ef. 
atamole {mole living), Mg. olombelona^ My. orang- 
idv/p " living man." In Ef. opposed to this is atemate 
{mate dead), for which see below. Mg. olon^i, My. 
orang, Arb. *l8dn, Heb. Ishon, IsL Another form of 
this word is in Ef. ano^, or anu^, My. inu, Heb. anash, 
enash, anosh, Arm, anasha, and anosha anash. The 
s or sh is often changed into th in this word in the 
Anc. languages (compare Arb. nat for nas men). 

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Thus, in the Mod. as in the Anc. languages this word 
occurs with the radical n and with* the radical n 
elided, and also with the formative ending n. 

Another word for " man " is in Battak morah, Ef. ' 
nier, or mera, Arh. mar\ 7nir\ mor\ Mod, Arb. mira, 
homOj " mankind in general." 

These two words are often combined — thus, Bugis 
oroane {bm^oane), and, the r being elided, Bali muwani, 
Mysol and Epi man,. This compound word is some- 
times reduplicated, and appears in Oc. dialects as 
mamoan, monemone, &c., Mallicolo banman. This 
compound has sometimes the first word used with it, 
thus Ef. d. ata-ma'an, or ata-mo'an ; Epi suman, 
Tanna yeruman, Aneityum atamaingy Fiji tangane, 
To. taanCy Sam. tane. 

Another word is in Mg. lahy, and dahy ; My. Idki 
"male," Baju Tidako, Arb. dakar, Arm. dekar, Heb. 
zakar, zakur, " male." 

Woman, female, wife. My. bini, Bugis baine, 
Tanna b^raUy bran, with the above word for " man," 
Eromanga aaiven, dialect yarevin, New Caledonia 
tabuan, Fotuna tajlne, Aneityum atahaing, redupli- 
cate My. perampuan (for peranperan), Ef. dialect 
fa fine, Sam. fa five, Mg. vavy, Mallicolo bdbin, Amb. 
vihin (as to this reduplication compare My, lahilaki, 
lalaki). Compare with bini, fafini, tafine, tabuan, 
yeruman, ataTtming, the above words for "man,'* 
" vir," man, banman, and mamoan, suman, yai'uman, 
atahaing. Thus fine, buan, beran, is a compound 
word which has the same two words as Tnan, viuwani 

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boroane, but the Anc. f eminines of them. These two 
words in the feminine form were actually thus used 
for " woman " in Arb. both separately and combined 
as 7)iara, or imra, and *u7itha\ and as imraa-untha', 
Tanna bran, My. perampuan, Papua Kowiay mer- 
wi/ne, other Oc. dialects wawlen, maivina, babayi, 
mawina, faijid, mavek, &c. Ef. dialect nguruni 
seems to compare with merwiTie, beran, as if for 

Thus these words, which as denoting " male " and 
"female" express analytically the masculine and 
feminine genders in Oc, bear in themselves the marks 
of the Anc. inflection of gender. 

Father. Mg. ray, My. rama, ' Ef . teina or tama, 
Sam. tama (in these r or f is the article), My. bapa, 
Ef. abu, ava, Arb. abn, Heb. ab, Mod. Syr. baba 
Ef. mama, abab. 

Mother. Mg. reny, Sam. Una (in these r or Hs the 
article), My. ibu, Arb. imu, Tigre eno. Ef. reit\ 
Celebes leyto. Mod. Arb. walidah, An. Hs', Ef. d. eri, 
Ef. d. pde mother (womb), Arb. beten mother (womb). 
Child. Mg. aavaka. My. anak, and with article Ef. 
nani, Sam. tama, Mg. zanxika. My. kanak, Heb. yonek 
infant, suckling. Mg. ankizy (an, article), Eth. Amh. 
hetsan infant. Ef. tan, tu, totau, tetea, tetau, titu, 
Eth. tsataa', Heb. taetsae*, embryo, young infant. Mg. 
fara, Ef. wora, Chaldee bar, offspring. Ef. nasnli, 
svli, aili, Arb. naaSV. Ef. rik a child or youth (literally, 
small), Eth. dak, the same. 

Brother, or sister. Mg. raha (r' article). My. kaka 

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Qc' article), Sam. 'a in tvxi'a (see tua below) ; in Ef. 
brother h tai (My. with article andai companion, 
friend), Arb. tahir companion, helper, and baZu (liter- 
ally " a helper"), Arb. wala* (n. ag. 'ina'lu), to be 
nearly related, friend, helper, ally, ma!la brother, &c., 
"iiiuwcdi helper. 

Father, mother, brother-in-law. Ef. tauien (ending 
en) Mg. zaotra (ending tra), and zoo, Arb. sihm, pi. 
ashjami, svJvaray brother-in-law, father-in-law, &c., Ef. 
txia sister-in-law, wife's mother-in-law, husband's 
mother, Arb. sehrat My. maratuvM, mantuwa, 
father or mother-in-law, seems to have this tmva (Ef. 
iua), Ef. 'mwo, mo father or mother-in-law, Arb. hami, 
hamo, hamaat, husband's, wife's mother, Heb. /tarn, 
Iiainoth, father, mother-in-law ; Mg. rafozana (ra the 
article, and ending ana) father, or mother-in-law, Ef . 
naburuma (article na, and ending ma for na). In 
the Mod. languages, the inflection of gender having 
been lost, such words as these are in use, whatever 
they may be in origin common.. 

Husband, wife. Ef. wota, wot, husband, lord, chief ; 
Fiji t«;afi husband, or wife; Mg. vady, or valy husband, 
or wife ; Arb. va'V husband, or wife, also lord, chief. 
This Se. word is familiar to readers of the Bible in 
the name of Baal. See below on the word Wota, 
Ef . idol or deity. 

Senior, chief, aged. Ef . kdbuSr (husband, old man 
or woman, grey-haired with age), Heb. and Arb. 
kahiyr aged, old. Eth. lih aged, senior, chief, Ef. ma 
rik old man, chief, bite rik old lady. Sam. alii (article 

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a), Ma. aHki chief, Mg. and'inana (article and ending 
ana), Eth. likna UhXhna dignity of seniority, chief- 
ship, lordship. Mg. zoky elder, senior, Arb. sheikh* 
senior, a chief. 

Body. Mg. va^ana, My. badan, Ef . batako (as if 
for batango), Arb. badan, Mg. tena, Sam, Utio, Arb. 

Head, a chief, beginning, first. Java andas, Arb. 
alraaSy Matabello aluda, Amboyna uo^ka and vlura, 
Mg.ioAa,My. and Sam. and Fiji ulu (Celebes obaku may 
be the same as uraka, see the word ten, the numeral, 
below, and with obaku compares An. inpek, Ef. bau, 
Savu batu, Ysabel pa*u), in all the ancient languages 
Heb. rosh, rishahy Syr. risha, head, a chief, beginning, 
source, first (Heb. rishoni, Mg, yoa,-lohani, Sam. 
ulua'iy and lua*i). 

Pillow, or high thing for the head. Mg. ondanoy Ef . 
vluma, Sam, alunga, Ha. uliina : see the foregoing 
word ulu head, Tonga alnnga high, lofty, a pillow. 
The ending has been explained above. 

Forehead, aspect. Mg. ray, My. rfae, Ja. raiy Ef. m^, 
d, re, Tonga lae, Heb. rai, Eth, rej/, aspect : see above 
the verb " to see." 

Eye, eyes. Mg. TYiasOy My. mata, Ef. Tnata, mita, 
Qiieta; Sam. matay Ja. vvoto, Anc. plural Heb, 'enayothy 
'enothy Arb. a'yundt : the '?i is changed to m, as mata 
for mi^a. According to the usual rule, the last part 
of the word being retained, the initial part is elided ; 
the practice of suffixing the pronouns to the word 
helped, in this case, still more to draw the voice 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


away from the initial part; thus, Mg. ny maaony, 
My. TncUania, Ef. na metana, the eyes of him, his 
eyes. This word, as in the Anc. languages, means also 
" fountain." 

As meaning spring water, or simply water, it has the 
singular form with the unconscious article — thus, Mg. 
rano, Ef. d. ran, "water," r article, and Heb. ain, 
Arb. ain\ aynu, fountain, eye. This word meaning 
" lake " or inland water — that is, spring water — occurs 
in My. daTiau, Ja. ranu, Fiji dranUy Sam. lanu. The 
Arb. verb 'anfui signifies "to flow" (of water). A 
denominative adjective from this word in Sam., 
namely lanua (see above for a adj. ending), signifies 
" sore eyes," literally " eyey." A denominative verb 
in Ef., form 1, namely bcmgaranu (d. bakanarium^ 
the n being changed to m), signifies to wash off* salt 
water after bathing in the sea with land or spring 
water ; Sam. lanu. As to bakanarum (for bakana- 
rwn) the na is the article Ef . d. niran " water," and 
kana double article as in Mg. nka in manka, form 1. 
The radical n is also commonly changed to m in 
mata eye (for nata). Another form of this word 
with the preformative m is in Arb. ma'inw 
(Heb. ma'yan, ma'yn) a fountain, pure water 
running through the land; Java banyu, Celebes 
nidnu water. See the common Se.-Oc. word for 
" water " below. 

Nose. Mg. orona, My. idung, Ef. ngusu, and usu ; 

Sam. isu, Karoon sum, Batchian hidom, Pelew koyum, 

Arb. kha'shum upper part of the nose. 


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Nostrils. Ef. ngore,B,nd kore; Arb. nvkhar\ Cheek, 
Arb. fukmu, Ef . bamu, hahu. 

Tooth. Mg. nify, Epi libo, Sam. nifo, ArB. nabo. Mj. 
gigi, Arb. hakai, Mod. Syr. kika. Compare Mg. kaka 
a thing sticking between the teeth. My. siyung, Arb. 

Mouth. Mg. and Santo vava, Arb. /am', and fa. 

Tongue. Mg. lela, Mj. Udah and lidah, Sam. alelo, 
Arb. liBatiy Ch. liahon, Eth. Usan, Heb. laahon, Ef. 
mena, Epi pomeno, Santo memena, Guebe mamelOy Arb. 
manmolo : Mg. m€nam^nona (ending «a) loquacity. 

Ear. Mg. tadiny, My., Ef., and Sam. talinga, Ta. 
tayinga, An. tiknga (all these have the article as ^*), - 
Heb. (dual) a^tie, Ch. 'uden, *udena, 'una, Syr. ad^Cno, 
Arb. (plural) adan\ Eth. e^eti. My. kuping, Lampung 
ehiuping, Battak dialects, tshoppinQy suping, Mg, 
sofina, Arb, ifctt/, pinnula auris, &c. 

Skin. Mg. hoditra. My. iu?i^, Ef. mii, kuli, Sam. 
tZi, Ma. fciri, Torres Islands gility Arb. griid!', galad, and 

Leg, foot. Mg. ranjo (article ra), My. svJcu, Ef. 
Tia^tto (article 7W&), An. thvA), Tanna su, Heb. shok, 
Arab, sa^^, Ch. s^afc. 

Back. Ef. taku (Sam. ^ua), Arb. thah'i'U. 

Breasts, milk of breasts, to suck the breasts. My., 
Ef ., and Sam. sttsu, Mg. noTiOy Ta. 8O8O, Favorlang zido, 
Yap and Ulea thithi, An. athi, Pelew (dud, Amh. 
tut, Arm. tad, Arb, thidyu, thadyu, thada, Heb. 
jAo^, «Aoef. A calabash in Ef. is also called siisu, from 
its resemblance to a breast, and in one dialect suduna 

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is "his mother," literally his " breast." The denomina- 
tive verb, " to suck the breast," is in My. susui, and 
manmsu 1, give suck, Mg. minono 3, to suck, mampi- 
nono 5, to give suck, Ef. ausu to suck, Sam. swniy and 
fesusui 3, 

Hand. Mg. tanana^ d. tangana. My. tangan^ Bali 
tanang, Ef. d. nalima, Sam. le lima, the hand, Arb. 
alkhams ; in all these the article is the same Se. 
article in Arb. as al, Sam. le, Ef . na, Mg. and My. ta ; 
and Mg. nana, My. ngan, Ef. and Sam. lima, Arb. 
khams, are identical. See above the word "five," Mg. 
dimi/, My., Ef., and Sam. lima, Arb. khams, the initial 
kh being changed to t (d) and I, and the final s elided. 
In tangan the radical kh is changed to ng, and the 
radical m to n, as in tanang, Fiji nalinga, Ma. teringa it 
is to ngr. The Ef. nalima is never used for " hand " 
without the article, which has become " unconscious " 
in Mg. and My. It is generally believed by Se. 
scholars that the Se. numeral "five" is a word which 
originally denoted " hand," that is, the five fingers. 

Ef. am (and, with article, nam), Arb. yadu, Ch. 
y^dd. Heb. zeroa* (Arb. diva'), Mg. sandry, forearm. 

Fingers. Rantsan (ra article), Amh. sat, taat, Tig. 
aasavetti, Eth. ataahd't (compare Amh. set, Tig. saboete 
woman), My. jari, Ja. jariji {iji, Arb. yadu hand, 
perhaps) = My. jari tangan. 

Palm of hand. My. tapak,^Qh, tepahy tobah: de- 
nominative verb Ef . tahangi (My. tapak) to slap with 
the palm of the hand. 

The right (hand or side). My. kanan, Mg, havanana 

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(article as K and h\ and ending an or ana), Arb. 
yaraan. Mg. havanana "the being on the right." 
This Se. word is connected with aman to trust ; the 
right hand is the hand relied upon. In Ef . the right 
hand is called Tnatua (Arb. verb mata'a, mati'a, 
mature clever eximius) clever, mature, and in Fotuna 
matau clever, fit, apt. 

The left (hand or side). Tonga hema, Fiji sema, 
Arb. shdmat, shuTriay, Tnashdmat; perhaps belong 
here (c/. masharaat) Fotuna mazui, Ef. mauri. Ma. 
mami, Bugis aheo, Mg. havia (ha, article). My. kiri, 
Amh. gXra. 

To expound, declare clearly, preach. Ef. fanau, 
tafanan, Arb. (Jana 1 n. a. bayan), iv. n. a. ibanaiu, 
11 n. a. tabyanu. 

To speak. Ef. bisa, basa, Fiji bosa, Tagala basa, My. 
bacha, Arb. nabasa (and nabasa) ; Ef . tahisa to speak 
with intensity, Arb. ] 1, n. a. the same. Compare Arb. 
faska and fasuha. The initial na in such words 
was often elided in the Anc. languages. 
. Heb. naba, Eth. nahaba, Arb. naba, Ef. dd. not/a, 
noa, ni, ti, to declare, tell. 

Mg. volana (na ending), My. bUang, Eth. bihil, Tonga 
volavola word. 

To dispute. Fiji leti, Ef. lea, Fiji veileti 3, Ef. bilea, 
Arb. ladda 1, n. a.&ic?<:?\ 

To know. My. tau, Ef. atae, d. <ad, Heb. yadfa', n. a. 
yado*a, da'cUh, de'ah, cf. Mg. ^aina {na ending). 

The heart, the mind. Ef. ro, Arb. ro' ; Ef . denomi- 
native miro, miroa 3, to think. 

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Mg. /o, Ef . bo or po (i,e,, pwo), Arb. bahw, bahu. In 
Arb. and Ef. it denotes the inside of the upper part of 
the body — as Frey tag says, " cavitas pectoris." In Ef . 
and Mg. the heart (mind). The radical meaning of 
this word in Arb. is empty (hence a vacant cavity), 
the verb being bahiya to be empty (as a house) ; so 
Ef. bua naked, void of anything, Mg. foana (ending 
na) empty. 

The liver, the inside, the mind. My. ati, Mg. aty^ Ef. 
ate, Sam. ate, Arb. ha'tha, the liver. In Mg. it also 
means the inside, and in My. the heart — that is, the 
mind — but its denoting " the liver " in all the four 
dialects shows that that is the original meaning. 

Mg. fanahy " the mind " is a verbal noun of form 
1, manahy to be solicitous about, careful on account 
of ; miahy 3 to be solicitous, careful, and means " the 
taking care about . . . hence, the faculty that 
thinks . . . the spirit ; " fanahy also signifies 
'* knowledge," " intelligence." With ahy compare Eth. 
*ivikS, 'eka to be heedful, careful of, to know, Amh. 
waka to know, Amb. ikia to know, Ef. mdki (prob- 
ably ma negative, and aki I know) " I don't know," An. 
mihi, and jihi I don't know (for m', arid /, the nega- 
tives, see above). 

The inner parts (of the body). My. prut, Ef. 
wxirita, Arb. inoraHa, 

Mg. kiho, Ef . kahu (kobw inside), Arb. ga'fu. 

Ef. tali-kabu, My. tali-prut: see below the word 
tali a string. 

The inside, the heart. Fiji loma, Arb. lobV ; Fiji 

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denominative lomana to love. My. dalam (article 
da) inside. 

Name. Mg. anarana (article an), Ja. aran, Ef. 
ngisa (article unconscious ngr), An. itha, Paama isa, 
Amb. sa (Sam. ingoa, Ef. d. ngie, for ngiaa), Arb. i87)i\ 
8im\ Heb. sherriy Eth. sem, Ch. sum; as to the. elision of 
the final m, compare the word " blood " : in Mg. and 
Ja. it is changed to n. 

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Some Fundamental Words, Continued. — Heaven, 

Sun, &c. 

Heaven. Arb. samay pi. samawai, Eth. samay, pi. 
samayat (in Heb. used only in the plural) heavens. 
The Ethiopians believed there were seven heavens, one 
above the other, as do the Efatese. This word in Oc- 
is the Anc. plural (as in Arb. and Eth.) Mg. lanitra, 
My. langit (as to change of 8 to I see above, " to hear," 
&c., and below the word " wind "), Ef. elangi (article 
as e), Sam. Uingi, In. Heb. occurs reqi'a hashamai(m) 
" the firmament of heaven," Ef. d. rikitdangi heaven, 
i.e , riki telangi {te, article.) 

The verb in Arb. sarna 1, n. a. sumu, signifies " to 
be high " and " to raise ;" 2 to name, mention, narrate ; 
3 to be uplifted, proud ; 4 to elevate ; 5 high, Sam. 
langa to rise from a sitting posture (Ef. fena, leTig, in 
tu IsTiay stand up), to raise ; Ef. langa, to raise, also 
" to mention f My. ti/nggi high, Mg. langaianga, daTiga- 
dcvnga, diTigidingyy height ; milangalangay Tnidanga- 
dangay Ef. malanga, rrtalangaiaTiga 3, high, Ef. 6a- 
langa 1 (Sam. faalangay exalt, praise) to raise, taba- 
langa 4, raised itself, &c., &c. 

Sun, day. Mg. maso-andro, My. mata-ari, Ef. Toeta 
ni eloy meta ni alo, or simply elo or alo ; Sam. Za, Tonga 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


Idcc, Tarawan tai, Ma. ra, Amblaw laei, Cajeli leltei, 
Amh. and Tigre tsai, Eth. dahai and sahaiy Arb. dului, 
the sun. Mg. andro, My. aH, Ef. eio or cdo have the 
article (Arb. adduha), Harar eer, Tagala arao, Bisayo 
oMaOy Ceram eloh, Silong alaiy Battak arte, Rotuma 
astha, Lobo orak, and without the article are Lifu 
thu, Mar^ du, Mota lo (Arb. duha). 

The Arb. word also signifies " day " and " clearness," 
Mg. andrOy My. ari, Sam. a^o, and ao, Ef. aliati (re- 
duplicated), Aneit. athiat, Amboyna alowata ; Ef. 
aliati also signifies daylight, or clear. 

With ending n (cf, Arb. dahyan clear day) Fiji 
8inga, Aneit. s^ngra (in {n)angesenga sun, atjgre, accord- 
ing to the analogy of the cognate dialects, is " eye," 
Arb. 'an'), My. siyang, San Christoval sma, Port 
Moresby dina, Sokotra shihen (sun). 

Mg. maao-andro, My. mata-ariy Ef. meto m aZo is 
" eye of the sun," or as in Arb. " corpus et radii soils." 

Moon, lightning. Mg. volana (ending na) literally 
a " shining," My. bulan, Fiji viula ; Santo hvla, the 
moon, a light, lamp, torch; Ef. bilavlla to gleam, 
JiliJUi a shining shell ornament, buli a glistening or 
gleaming shell, also the ball of the eye,fili (Sam. uili) 

The verb in Arb. is haJvara 1, n. a. huhur\ to shine, 
be bright, " luxit, praecelluit splendore {lima) inter 
ceteras stellas ;" huhnr' illuminatio, Eth. transposed 
barha to shine, gleam, be resplendent, berhdn light, 
luminary; "the primary idea lies in vibrating, 
glancing, shining " (Gesenius). 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


Another word appears in Sam. malama (ma article) 
a light, a lamp, the moon (Ha. lama a torch), Ef. 
aMaTig {aU article, laTig for lam). The verb in Arb. 
is lavfia a, or lamxi*a to flash, gleam, glitter, as light- 
ning or a star. Ef. miramAi 3, to shine (of the moon), 
na mirama light. 

Another word appears in Sam. mOfSiTia (ma article) 
the moon, sina the woman in the moon (see further 
on the mythologic names below). Sin' was the 
Assyrian moon-god. The verb in Arb. is sana 1, to 
shine, to shine splendidly (as a fire), Ef. ain' to burn 
splendidly (as a great fire). In Sam. sina is white 
(i.e., pure, shining). 

Star. Mg. kintana (d. vaaiana), My. hintang, Java 
limtang and wintangy Ef. Tnasei (masoei), Sam. fetu 
(Id, li, hi, mxiyfe, &c., forms of the article). An. Tnoijeuv, 
Arb. nagm or najm, pi. anjum, anjdm, stella, sidus. 
The initial n is retained in Mg. and My. kintana, bin- 
tang, elided in Mg. vasiana. An. moijeuv ; the final is 
changed to n in Mg., to ng My., to v An., and elided in 
Ef. and Sam. 

Evening. Ef. dialect dariva, Mg. hariva {d* and K 
forms of the article), harivariva, Mallicolo rabrab, 
ribrib, An. araparap (sunset), Eromanga pwarap 
(evening), Arb. "araba 1, to set (of the sun), n. a. 
'*urub sunset. 

Yesterday. Mg. omaly, Heb. itmale. 

To-morrow. Maraina, morning (ending ina), An. 
imraing, Heb. mahar. 

Mg, ampitso (article am), My. besuk, Arb. fasaha 
to dawn. 

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Ef. mitintei explained to mean the same as meta ni 
aliati — that is, eye or fountain of day, md. This word 
for day occurs also in maia or masus to-day, this day — 
ma day and '«' or susa this ; ma or mei, Heb. yom, Ch. 
emphatic yoma, Arb. yaW, may possibly be the same. 

Night, evening. Ef. dialect ran melu evening, 
literally time of darkness, ran (r article, and an, Arb. 
an time) the time, and mdu dark, cloudy, shady, 
shade, Sam. malu shaded, Ef. (with ending) malingo 
dark, darkness, My, malam night, Heb. a/elah, a/el 
darkness, a/al to set (the sun). Another form of the 
word, both in the Anc. and Mod. languages, has n for 
ly Heb. pun to set (the sun), and Ef. bong (sometimes 
m<mg\ Ja. bungi, Bugis wont night, and in Ef. fanu 
for the above melu (malu). Thus in one dialect ran 
melu evening, in another kot fanu time of darkness, 
kot time, Arb. wakt time, wakat to appoint a time. 
Kot fanu is analogous to Arb. wakt almasa evening, 
" tempore vespertino." Perhaps Mg. alina night is 
the same with Heb. layil, Arb. ZaV, Syr. liliOy Eth. lilit 
night. Compare Heb. tin to pass the night, for lit 
(" I and n being interchanged.") 

Time. Ef. ran, My. dan (article as r and d), Arb. 
an. Ef. dialects rang, rak, and lang, nang. See above 
for Mg. and Sam. the word when? Ef. mala, Arb. 
mala. Ef . kot, Arb. waJct, &c. An. opan, Heb. open. 

Water. Ef. vai, wai, ai, Sam. vm, Eth. and Mod. 
Arb. mai ; My. ayer, Ef . wai eV (with article noai iV) 
" sweet water," Ef. U\ or ilo sweet, Arb. hala 1, n. a. 
Jialw, to be sweet: with My. ayer compares Gilolo 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


wayr, Ceram woMi, welo, Rejang beole, Arb. mai holu 
(or helu) sweet water. 

Running water. Ef . wai or vai sera, Arb. mai jari. 
For rano see above. 

Rain. Mg. orana (na ending), My. ujan, Ef. usa, 
Sam. wa, Arb. **aithu. 

The sea. Ef. tdd, Tonga tahi, Ceram taisin, Ja. 
tasik, Sam. tai, Arb. ta'a' {tays). My. laut, Ef. rfaw, 
oZoti, Gilolo ivolat, Mysol belot, perhaps Arb. malhai, 
abyssus maris (so called from being salt). 

A wave. Ef. ngalu, Mg. aluna, My. alu, Syr. 

Ef . beau, Sam. peau. My. ombaJc, Arb. ma'gu; Arb. 
7na*gu 1, n. a. mdgu, to be tumultuous (of the waves 
of the sea), Ef. heafeau, 

Mg. rano-masina, masina salt (-Jia ending), masi, 
Arb. masi' salt (of water) ; To., Fiji, Sam. masima 
salt {nna ending), My. Tnasin, Ja. aain, Mg. masiao, 
sour, Amh. mataitau (Eth. raadhidh), sour, acid. Mg. 
TYiasirasira saltish, brackish, Arb. madhir* acid. 

Earth, land. Mg. ^atij/. My. ^a')^a, Ef. tan, tano 
(earth, soil of any kind), Arb. tin' (Ch. tin clay), 
dialect tan*. My. utan,'Et. uta, Sam. u^a, Arb. ^'utat 

Wind. Arb. nasam', Ef. nalangi, Sam. Tnatangi, 
Fiji thangiy Epi jengi, Paama idtigr. My. angin, Mg. 
aniifia (ending tia). 

Fire. Mg. a/b. My. opi, Ef . Jbaftw., Sam. a/u, Syr. hah 
to burn (of fire), Arb. hahhabiit, heat of fire, hubahibu 
fire, also a firefly, My. apiapi a firefly. 

Smoke. Fiji. Icuvu, My. ufcwp, Arb. 'ukabu. 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


My. asap {a8\ and api fire), Ef. amia, Sam. a«te, 
Heb. 'ashan ; Mg. etona, Arb., *athan\ *uthdn\ 

Ashes. My. abu, labUy dabn (article V, d*), Sam. lifu, 
Fiji dravu, Arb. habut, haba* ; Ef. afwafu, to be dusty, 
Arb. habay n. a. hubu. 

Stone. Mg. vato, Ef . fatiu, My. 6a^t6, Sam. /o^u, Arb. 
bahtv, (Heb. bahat), a kind of stone, probably a kind 
of limestone, something like the limestone or coral, the 
prevailing stone of Oceania. 

Tree, wood, timber. My. hxizo. My. kayUy Ef. kasu, 
and kaUy Sam. laau (article la), Epi im, Maramasiki 
aiy Heb. 'efs, 'etsah, Arb. 'asa, Ch. a', so called from 
being hard (see Gesenius under the Heb. word). Mg. 
hazOj Ef. kaau and Jcau also denote " hard." The 
original guttural first radical is preserved in some of 
the Mod. dialects as ^ or A, and is a mere breathing in 
others, as in Ch. ; in some also, as in Ch., the original 
middle radical strong sibilant is softened or elided. 

Leaf, Mg. ramna, My. dawuriy Ja. ron, Fiji 
draUy Sam. lau, Ef. uZi, Arb. waraku. Arb. iv., Mg. 
mandravina 1, to put forth leaves ; Fiji vakadrau 1, 
to have leaves, literally to make leaves. Mg. changes 
the & to V, c/. Idaka, lelajina, &c. Ef. uli is used 
only with the article in the construct state, Tiauli 
nakasu leaves of trees, or nauliTia its leaf. 

Roots, fibres of a root. Sam. aa, Ma. aka, akaaka, 
Ef . akoa, My. akar, Mg. faka, Arb. *ekan, ^awa/eVf- 
Arb. iv., Mg. mamaka 1, to send forth roots. 

Fruit. Mg. voa, My. buwah, Ef. tui, dialect weti. 
Sam. fua, Heb. peri, Eth. frey plural faryat, Heb. 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


hiphily to bear fruit, Mg. mamoa 1, to bear fruit, 
amoa^ana the bearing fruit. 

The r elided, as often, in Oc. ; the Oc. word is the 
Anc. plural. 

Mg. vokatra, Arb. fakihaty fruit. 

Flower, blossom. Ef. i huTYia, Arb. fa'*ama to 
bloom, blossom, flower; Ef. bumay Mg. voni, My. 
bunga, Sara, funga, flower, blossom. 

House. My, rumah, Mg. trano, Ja. umah, Ef. 
suma, Mysol Jfcom, Arb. khaym, khaymat ; compare as 
to this initial letter Qch) in similar forms in Oc. the 
numeral ''five" (see above). Arb. khamSy Oc. Hmay 
aima, dimy, ima, and ikma (kima), &c. 

Heb. baity baJthahy Arb. bayt\ Syr. ba*tho\ Eth. bel^y 
Ef . fare, Sam. fale, Fiji vale, Ma. whare, Maclay Kiiste 
(N.G.) badiy Mahaga vadhe,'Bugi8 bolah. 

To cook. Arb. tdha 1, n. a. tahw\ tvJiu\ Ef. tao, 
and with ending taoniy Sam. tao, with endings taoay 
taoina, and tax)na'i ('i the preposition) ; compare Mg. 
tanikiay My. tanak, Mg. torn), Sam. tunu, Ef. ^unu, 
Mg. taina, tainana, tanina. 

My. 6u (to roast), Fiji (doubled) vavi-a (ending), 
Ef. beni (ending as in taoni)y Heb. apah to cook, 

A fireplace, an oven. My. dapur (da article, cf. 
Celebes puro), Arb. burat a hole or place where fire 
is put for cooking, exactly in the Oc. style. 

Arb. TndmuSy Mg. memy, Sam., To. umu, Tanna 
umio, Ef. urriy and ua, or uwa (dialect) and upu 

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142 OC'EANIA. 

Bread. E£. kabu, dialect koau (kawau), {ka article), 
Arb. Jum\ panis (turn de omni frumento, quod 
coquendo pani inservit). The Ef. kabu is made of 
anything grated (as yam, taro, banana, and cocoanut ; 
and, latterly, flour), being kneaded into a cake, and 
baked in the oven above described. Mg. mofo, My. 
pawuTig {ng for n), bread, cake. Craufurd gives My. 
apam as Sanscrit ; compare Mg. ampempa, 

A torch, lamp. My. auluh, Ef . aulu, Arb. aha'ala, 
to kindle a torch, shu'ulu flame of fire, inash'alu 
lucerna, Mg. fanilo (cf. My. paniulu v. n. of 1) torch, 
flambeau ; Ef . aulu (verb) to scorch with flame, also to 
illuminate with a torch. 

Way, path. Ef. nahua, Arb. ncMy\ My. scdeh, Ef. 
aala ; My. and Ef . to proceed, Arb. shala 1. My. jalan 
(Java dalan) to walk, proceed, a way; Arb. darag 
1, n. a. daragdn, Heb. darak, to proceed, &c., darak a 
way ; My. jalan, Ja. dalan, Mg. lalana a way. 

To go. My. laku, Fiji laku, Heb. halak. Assy. n. a. 
laku : Heb. helek, Mg. aleha, a way or road. Ef. 6a, 
Heb. ba, to go, enter. 

To reside, dwell, remain, sit. My. dvdnk, Ja. 
dodok, Ef . tok, Arm. tok. 

Ef. 710 orne,Saxn.nofo,Heh. navah, nawah, also TtaaJi, 
to sit down, rest, to dwell, navah, navath a seat, a habi- 
tation ; To., Sam. nofoa a seat. Ma. noJvoanga ; Sam., 
To., nofoanga dwelling place, habitation, sitting place. 
The r (for t, th Anc. ending) appears in Tah. nohoraxi 
for nohorana a seat, dwelling-place, time or place of 
sitting or residing; noho to sit, abide, dwell. Sam. 

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reduplicated nofonofOy nonofoy and with adj. ending 
nofoia, and nofoi, with suffixed preposition (to the 
verbal noun) nofoa'i, literally a sitting or abiding for, 
" to live in virginity, to sit and talk over news," i.e., 
to be abiding for (a future husband, or the telling of 

Large, great, wide, &c. Ef. teletde (adj. ending), 
teletelena ; Sam. tele, teletele, tetele; Heb. ddlr, Tanna 
dsore, My. (verb form) basar, basarbasar, Sam. vdteU, 
The original in Heb. according to Gesenius (adar) 
meant to be wide, who compares Arb. adira " to have 
hernia (probably to swell out)" Compare Ma. tetere 
large, swollen. 

Ef. laba, leb, Fiji hvu, Heb. rab, rabah, Ef. baram, 
barau, barav, barab, Fiji balavu, long (Heb. rov great- 
ness, length), long in time, Sam. loa and leva, Mg. 
lava, Sam. lava (Ef. leb), Heb. rab enough (much, 
enough), also Ef. malaba. My. hbar broad, wide, 
width (Heb. rabath). An. alupas great. My. luwas, 
Vanua Lava luwo, Santo Maria lava, San Christoval 
rafa. Ma. rahi, rarahi, Tah. rahi, Syr. ra*rab. 

Mg. be, Eth. 'a6^. 

Small. Ef. kal, Mg. kdi/. My. kichil (kikil), Ja. 
chili, Heb. kal. Arb. kaila 1, to be light, small. Ma, 

White. Mg. fotsi/, My. putih, Arb. bada 1 (middle y) 
to surpass in whiteness. 

Ef. tare clean, pure, white, shining (elo i tera the 
sun shines) ; Heb. taker to shine, be bright, pure ; Arb. 
taharay to be clean, pure. 

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Black. My. itam. Tag. itim, Bisaya maitum, Mg. 
maintt/, Ef. d. maita, Arb. ahtamu (acf'amu, adhamu, 
athama^ &c.) 

Red. Mg. menaj My. mera, Ef. miel, mimiel, Sam. 
melomelo, memelo, Arb. maHr\ 

Blood. Heb., Arb. daniy My. (article da) darah, Ja. 
rah, Mg. ra, Ef. tra, ra (m final elided, as often). To 
bleed (denominative verb, form 3, of foregoing). My. 
bardarah, Ef . mita. 

Excreta. My. tai/, My. tai, Ef. tai, Sam. tae, Heb. 
(tsoah) tseah, &c. 

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Some Fundamental Words, Continued. — Animals 
AND Plants. 

Dog. My. anjing, Java asw, Ceram wasu, yas, Arb. 
wazi'u, or wazV. 

Ef. kuri^Ha,, kuri, Sam. uli, Mg. alikia (Ma. kiriki), 
Arb. garw\ girw, gurw\ 

Mg. amboa, d. kivahy, Ceram kafuni, Arb. kalbu (?). 
Mg. amboa may be " the barker," and belong below. 

To bark. Arb. nabaha and fakfaka, Mg. vovo, Ef . 
oro ma/ci, dialect buke. Ef. oro to growl, grunt, com- 
pares with Mg. ercma growl, roar, Heb. na*ar, Syr. 
n'ar to growl, roar, Arb. nakharu grunt (nukhur pig). 
Ef . buku to cough, Tanna puka to grunt, Arb. faka, 
n. a. fwwokvb singultivit ; these are in imitation of the 
sound, as are Arb. nafata^ n. a. nafiytu, Sam. mafatua, 
Ef. w/vbtui to sneeze, and Arb. nakhara to snort, Eth. 
nehera to snore, Mg. erotra, Ef. Aoro, M.y. ngorok, Sam. 
tangulu to snore. 

Echo. My. raA;a, Arb. raA;a, Mg. ako. Ef . a^um A;oZ 
(fe)Z, Heb. kol) child of the voice, and roa leo repe- 
tition of the voice. Sam. i'w leo tail or end or after 
part of the voice, *' tail" being in Sam. i't6. My. ekor, 
iknr (Ef. ngere tail of a fish), (Mg. aoriana, ending 
anfia, back, behind, backwards, Heb. aharon), Heb. 

ahor hinder part, rear, end. 


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Pig, swine. Mg. lambo, My. babi, Ef. wak, d. wango, 
Sam. ptboa, Fiji vuaka, Amb. babara, Papua Kowiay 
ufa, Maclay Kiiste bel, bul, bo, Epi bui, Duke of York 
boro, Arb. 'efru or 'ifir\ 'ufr, plural 'i/or', a/or' ; the 
Mg. has the article as l\ My., &c., as b\ Mg. and My. 
elides the final r, Ef., Sam., and Fiji change it into k, 
Ef . also into Tig. 

Mg. kiaoa is perhaps the same as Heb. hazir, Syr. 
hXziro, Arb. kkinzlr\ 

Bird, fowl, to fly. 

Mg. vorona, My. burung, Ef. and Sam. manu, Java 
Toanok, Eromanga menok, Pelew malk, Mallicolo muro, 
Arb. farkh, farekh, Heb. eferoah, young of birds, Syr. 
parohto (to ending) bird (gen. name). To fly, Heb. 
parah, Syr. perah, My. mibar, mabur {mi formative). 

My. ayam, Sam. moa, Cocos Island u/a, Ch. and 
Heb. *o/. To fly, Heb. 'uf, Arb. *afa, n. a. *ayafdn, 
Tonga buna, My, tarbang {tar formative). 

A fly. Ceram upena, and phenem (mimation), 
Bouru bena, fena. To flutter, Heb. *€p*ep, or 'ifef, a 
butterfly, Ef . bebe, Sam. /e/fe. 

To fly. My. layang, Arb. *ara (mid. y), n. a. ^aj/r', 
^a?^i6rai5, and tayaran (My. layang) ; Ef. <iri, Sam. iete. 
Ma. rere (Arb. ^a3/r') ; a fly, My. langau, Ef. and Sam. 
Idngo, My. iaii^, Mg. lalitra (Arb. n. a. tarurat). 

To fly, clap the wings, flutter. Mg. kopaka, My. 
kapak, Sam. *apata, Ef . d. kuvanguva. To. coppcmappa, 
Arb. khafaka, and grajfa. 

Wing. Celebes A;api, Santo A:at;6, Sam. 'apaau (per- 
haps for 'apa'apd), Ch. grop, or g^a/; in Ef. Akz6e is used 

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for pigeon, man hibe bird of wing, or (with adj. end- 
ing ni) man kafini, wingy bird — that is, bird strong 
or swift of flight. 

Feather. Bf. afaru, or here, Arb. abharu, Heb. efccr, 
wing feathers. 

Nest. Mg. akany, Ef . vJcin, ikin, Arb. waken*, Heb. 

Rat. Mg. totozy (to article), My. tikus (ti article), 
Ef. kuaue, Sam. ioU, Ma. More, Arb, gurad* or 
jurad\ An. getho {eetho)* 

Deer. My. rusa, Arb. rasha! young deer, rasha 
peperit dorcas. 

Dnck. My. idiky Arb. dik. 

Sam. paio, Santo doto, Arb. 6a^^o, Mod. Arb. hoi. 

Pediculus. Mg. Aoo, Ef. and My. kutu^ Sam. *w/m, 
An. cet, Arb. hathay and hatha. 

Flea. Mg. parasy, Heb. par'os. Mosquito. Mg. mo2;<z. 
My. nyamuk, Ef. womw, Sam. namw, Ceram wmm, 
Arb. na7?it«« a mosquito (Newman, Diet) 

Worm, maggot. Arb. 'uthcti, Mg. olitra, My. ulat, 
Ef. u2a, Sam. iZo. 

.Snake. My. ular, Arb. 'aththa (see preceding word), 
Ef. ma^a (article m), Sam. ngata. 

Monkey. Ceram ked, Bouru kead, Arb. kishahat 
Arb. habbar, Mg. varikia (compare the A;ia in aZzA;2a 
dog, above). 

Buffalo, cattle. Arb. karhabu, My. karbau, Ja. 
A;o6o, Kisa arpau, Timor karau, Waigyu kobo, Ende 
kani^a, Mg. omtj/. My. sapi " bos taurus," Arb. dabb' 
" taurus silvaticus " ; My. also pronounced sampi. 

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Fish. Tagala isda, Mg. haza ndrano fish or game 
of the water, haza (article ha and final d omitted) " a 
chase, a htint," Heb. taad to hunt, Syr. to hunt, to fish* 
With Tagala isda compares, perhaps, My, ikan, Ef. ika^ 
Sara, ia. 

Crab. Arb. khukhum*, Ef. (article ra) rakum, d. 
rakuwa, Epi lakum, Paama duma. 

Banana* Arb. 7)ia*z* (mawz'), Amh. 7nuz\ Sanguir 
bitsa, Niue futi, Meli hutsh, Sam. fa'i, Eromanga 60s, 
An. ho8, Ef, dt8 (only with article ndU, or ndt\ Mg. 
ontsy. My. piaang. 

Sugarcane. Ef. parai, Eromanga poria, Mg. fai^, 
Arb. baray iv. invenit arundinem sacchari. 

The cocoanut palm. Mg. nio, nihio, My. nior, Ef., 
Sam. niu, Arb. sakiyu palm (general name). This 
Arabic word is a derivative of the verb " to drink," 
given above, Sam. inu, My. Tninumy Mg. minoTia, 
Ef. minu, in all of which the Anc. 8 of this stem 
appears (as in the word for cocoanut palm) as n. 

Rice. My, baras, Bugis boraa (article b'), Ja. wo8, 
Kayan bahas, Arb. aruz\ ruz\ urz\ uruz\ Ja. wo8, 
ttiuos (cf, uwong, wong, My. orang man). 

Mg. vari (My. padi, Ja. pari) rice, also corn, grain ; 
perhaps same as Heb. bar corn, grain, either stored 
or growing in the fields. This is a mere conjecture. 
Norris (Assyrian Dictionai^, p. 723) says : — " I find 
se — pad translated " rice "; if the attribution of this 
name have any authority beyond the resemblance of 
the My. word padi, adopted in India for " rice in the 
husk," it would be evidence of an early commercial 

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intercourse between Assyria and the East." This 
name for rice prevails also on the east coast of Africa. 
In Mg. " wheat " is called vaH mbazaha, grain (or 
rice) of Europeans. 

War, fight. Ef. arw hand (see above) is used for 
" war " as in the Anc. languages. Mg. ady, Arb. 'ada 
to attack, n. a. 'adw\ My. adu. 

My. kalahi (i ending), perhaps Bieh,' hayl, force, 
army, My. barkalahi 3, Ef. fakal, Fiji valu. 

Lance, spear. Heb. romah, Arb. rumhu, My. tum- 
bak, Mg. in voatomboka, mitomboka, speared, and 
perhaps Sam. tao. 

Club, Mod. Arb. nabbud^ nabbuty Ef. rabat 

Bow. Arb. bani, bainai, or baini, My. panah, Tag. 
pana (Sam. au/ana), Ef. in tali-tan^ra string of bow. 

Arb. ka^sUf Ef. dsu only with article ndsu or nds. 

Cord. Ef . taU, Mg. tody, My. tali, Heb. yeter, Arb. 
watar' (of bow, &c., see Ef. tali-banga, bow string). 

Arrow. Eth. nadafa to shoot with an arrow, Ef. 
tiba, ne tiba an arrow, Mg. tsipikia, 

Heb. hetSy Eth. hets, Ef. us, Sam. w. Sam. an arrow, a 
reed, Ef . a reed. The Sam. and Ef, arrows are reeds. 

Clothing. Mg. lamba, Sam. lava-lava, Ef. lufa 
(Tagala lumput), Heb. labash to put on clothes (Arb. 
labisa, Eth. labs, Syr. Ubas), lebush clothes, Arb. libs' 
(pi. lubus), labus. This is the common word for cloth- 
ing in the Anc. and Mod. languages. The above word 
in Mg., Ef., and Sam. denotes, as in Mg., " the usual 
dress or cloth worn by the natives." This was worn 
round the loins. 

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It was called in My. sarung, Fiji sulu, probably the 
same as Arb. izar' (izarun), clothing worn round the 
middle of the body — that is, just as in the sarung or 
suit*. This word occurs in Ef. also as the name of the 
dress of the Ef. women which was called miseH, Arb. 

The cloth worn in Ef, and Sam. was not woven, but 
made in ah elaborate manner out of the bark of trees 
and other substances, and called in Ef. fon, Sam. 
siapo (in Ef. siapo is the name of a tree). 

A basket, to weave. Heb. sene (sana), (Ch. serie) 
a basket, from an unused verb sana, Arb. wadhana 
to weave, plait, Ef . tonga (Sam. tango) a basket which 
is woven or plaited. My. tanun to weave with a loom, 
Mg. tenona the warp and the weft, and denominatives 
manenona 1, to weave, tenoniina woven. 

Earthen pot. Heb. parur: pahar, Arm. pahar a 
potter, Arb. fakhar, {fakhdy^un) a pot, a potter, and 
fakharat, pi. fakhar' hydria, vel vas figlinum ; Mg* 
vilany, My. balanga. In Ef. the art of making 
earthen pots has been lost, but fragments of pottery 
are strewn all over the island and called bxiro ki Li 
Maui tukStukl — that is, the pots of Li Maui tuketuki, 
or female Maui tuketuki ; and also buro noai ki Supe, 
water pots of Supe or the Ancients. In the same way 
the making of shell axes has recently fallen into disuse 
since the advent of European axes, and the old shell 
axes are found strewn about near villages, and are 
called Karau ki Supe, that is, the Karau (or axes) of 
Supe, or the Ancients. Kdrav, in other dialects of 

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Ef . is Mranfi and Mrab, Heb. hereb any sharp cutting 

Knife. Arb. musay (masa to shave) My. piaau, 
Bugis, Ja., piao, peso, Mg. antsy (see the word banana 
OTdsy, My. pisang), Ef. mash; Ef. masi to cut, or 
shave off the surface. 

A word for " pot " is in Fiji kuro, Santo khuro (both 
in these places and in New Guinea pottery is still 
made), New Guinea (Motu) uro ; this may be the 
same as Ef . buro (by change of 6 or / to k), or perhaps 
we should compare Heb. kir, which, like the Fiji kuro, 
denotes " a cooking pot" made of earthenware. 

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Some Fundamental Words, Continued. — Writing, 
Navigation, Religion. 

Writing. Mg. soratra (and soritra). My. tvZis, Ef. 
mitiri (mi formative), Sam. tusi (this word has been 
introduced to Ef. by the missionaries to denote 
** book"), Arb. surat (verb ii., to '*form, draw, trace, 
paint") form, likeness, figure, musawir sculptor, 
painter, author of a book, Eth. sa'ala to paint, to make 
figures, Heb. sv,r to form ("from the idea of cutting"). 
Mg. soratra colour, writing, soritra a mark, sculpture, 
My. tulis drawing, delineation writing, Sam. ttusi, a 
mark, a figure, Ef. mitiri a figure either cut or 
engraved, or painted, to make such figures, to write. 
The figures made by the Efatese were cut or 'painted 
on their bodies or on their idols. Denominatives 
from this stem are numerous, as Mg. manor atra 1, to 
arrange silk of different colours in the loom, also to 
write ; and manoritra to mark, engrave ; Ef . mitimi- 
tiriy Mg. TTiisoratra printed as cloth (such as we call 
"print" — that is, cloth with designs printed upon it); 
My. tulis " to draw, delineate, paint, picture, figure, 
write ;" Sam. tusi to mark cloth (siapo), write. The 
ending t of surat appears as tra and t in Mg., as 8 in 
My., and is elided in Ef. and Sam. The initial s is 

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Digitized by CjOOQ IC 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


changed in Eth. and Mg. to 8, in My., Ef., and Sam. 
to t, and the r to I in Eth. and My., to 8 in Sam. 

Story or tradition. Arb. haka dixit, naiTavit 
{traditionem), Ef. kakei a tradition, or history, of 
which there are many among the Efatese (such as 
they are), narrated on special occasions by recognized 
experts (old men), the whole audience breaking in at 
fixed points in the narration and singing part of the 
story. Compare Mg. haga "a tale, a fable," which 
seems the same word, and My. kawin, kakawin, tale, 
story, narrative. This word has been recently intro- 
duced by the Mahommedan Arabs as hakayat (My.), 
ekayak (Bu.) It is interesting to observe that in this 
and many similar cases where the Anc. Oc. word and 
the Mod. Arb. recently introduced word are both used 
in My., neither the Arabs nor Malays have the least 
idea of their identity. Another example of this is 
seen in the word " writing," in My. tulis : the Mod. 
Arabs have introduced surat, and the denominatives 
manidis 1, and manurat 1, are both used for "to 

Ship, Mg. sambo, Heb. 8^2^ina, Arb. safinat ; Ja., 
Tagala sampan, a boat. 

My. prahu, Tagala parau, Malayta bam, Arb. 
markabii, verb rakaba vectus f uit (on a ship, animal, 
or vehicle), so Ef. boravu or barau, Sam. folau, Fiji 
vodo, a being carried on a ship, and, when horses and 
vehicles became known to the Efatese and Fijians, a 
being carried on them, a riding, Ef. i barau ship, 
horse, or carriage. So in the Anc. languages. 

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Ef. 7^a7*iia {tiri, riH to fly), Gilolo deru, Tagala 
darwng, Arb. tayaratu (tara to fly). 

Mast. Arb. sariat' (sariatun), Mod. Arb. sari, Mg. 
salazana, My. tiyang, Ef. tere, Amb. turi. 

Sail. Arb. kila'at\ My. laj/ar, Fiji Za^Aa, Mg. lai 
{lainUambo), Ef. Zai (with article nilai, as if originally 
ilai), Sam. Za. 

Oar, or paddle. Arb. ''aduf ("(zdufun). My. dayung, 
Papua Kowiay otow, Marshall Islands thebwe, Sala- 
wattitoa/>; Arb. mikda/*, mi"cla/ ', and migdaf or 
Tnijdaf, Amh. makzaf, or ma'zaf, Bisaya bugsai, 
Segaar baessa, Fiji t/o/Ae, New Ireland, Mallicolo, An. 
«^M05, €6o«, qpo«, Ef . u;o«, Sam. foe, Mg. voy. 

Weeping, wailing. Mg. tanyf My. tangis, tangisi 
(transitive), Ef. tangi, in construct state tangisi 
(transitive), Sam. tangi, withadjective ending tangisia, 
fetangisi 3, Arb. dama'a (in Heb., Arm. also), n. a. 
dam*, damia*; damiat prone to tears or weeping (fern.), 
Mauvo tavgtangisa (Codrington). The Arb. and Oc. 
word denotes to weep, to wail. The wailing of the 
Oceanians, as of the Anc. Semitic world, on occasion 
of a death or burial, is loud, and, while very mournful 
and weird, not unmusically expressed. In Ef. neigh- 
bours and friends come from long distances to perform 
this duty. Tears flow copiously. When 50 or 100 
men and women are wailing in concert the sound can 
be heard long distances across the water and even 
on the land. There can be no doubt that as this 
wailing is called by the same name, so it is practised 
in the same way now in Oceania (in, for instance, the 

Digitized by VjOOQ IC 


New Hebrides) as in Arabia and the neighbouring' 
Semitic-speaking world 4,000 years ago. To wail for 
the dead is a religious duty that no one ever thinks of 
neglecting ; a person would be considered worse than 
an infidel, dehumanized, that refused to perform it. 

Sacred. Ef. tab, tabu (taboo), Sam. tapu, Arb. 
dabba to prohibit, n. a. dabbu ; the radical meaning 
of this word in Oc. is " prohibited," "forbidden;" thus, 
Ef. nafisuruen i tabu lying is forbidden (bisuru 3, to 
lie, suru to deceive, lie, Heb. zur, cf. Arb.) In Ef. and 
Sam. tabu (taboo) a thing, as, for instance, cocoanuts, 
to make it prohibited. 

In Ef. nata tabu, "sacred man," is a man set apart to 
the service of the gods, or as their agent, and who 
prohibits people from doing what the gods do not wish 
done, and points out the way to be pursued. 

In My. larang to prohibit, and larang sacred, Mg. 
vara to prohibit, Arb. rada'a, n. a. rad' (rad'un) to 

In Mg. Tiiasina holy, sacred, efficient, is literally 
"salt," hence pure, sincere (see the above word "salt," 
masina), Arb. mathi' salt (and cf, mothath* very salt ; 
pure and sincere). Salt is a natural symbol of purity 
or sincerity, and has always been so regarded by the 
Semitic-speaking world. 

Bury. This word occurs in Ef. mythology. Ef. ofa 
or dfa, Mg. afina, Arb. "aba to be hidden, "ayaba ii., 
to hide, to bury (hence "ayab' the grave, Ef. dfa ki to 
bury (the dead), alia dfahien place of burial. Tdfahi 
(f article) a certain mythological person, " the Burier,'' 

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Mg. ajina, voafina, and miajina 3, concealed, viaTiaJina 
1, to conceal, to bury (so Arb.) In Ef. the body was 
carefully prepared for burial, and dressed. The burial 
was accompanied with much solemnity ; great wailing ; 
animals slain in sacrifice to the dead at the grave. 
It was supposed that the spirits or essence of the 
animals slain would accompany the souls of the 
deceased to the spirit world, the entrance to which 
was the westernmost point of Efate, at a place called 
TuMtuM, Hades was below, and had seven stages, 
one below the other, each of which had a name. 
The . soul died six times, finally passing out of 
existence. At the gates of Hades the soul was exam- 
ined b}^ a personage called Seritau and his helpers 
Vaus (Question) and Maki (Don*t-Know), and if 
found wanting was handed over to Masecbsi (Cutter- 
out), who cut out its tongue by the roots,^ split its head 
open, and turned it backside foremost. SeHtau is the 
name of the ofiicial at each village who cut up the 
bodies on occasion of a cannibal feast. The Hades 
Seritau is therefore a dreaded being, the punisher with 
the extreme penalty of criminals. The extreme 
penalty of transgressors was to fall into the hands of 
Seritau — that is, to be cooked and eaten. In threaten- 
ing, instead of saying " I will kill you," " I will cook 
you," or " bake you in the oven,'* was more common. 
The Efatese criminal dreaded not being hanged or guil- 
lotined, but being eaten. Two kinds of people were 
allowed to pass into Hades unharmed by Seritau, 
those belonging to a certain tribe called Namkatu (a 

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kind of ysLin — every Efatese belonged to a tribe called 
by the name of some plant or animal), and those who 
had printed or graven or branded on their bodies cer- 
tain marks or figures (tatooed) called mitiri (see 
writing, above), and keikei {cf. Heb. ka'aka\ Lev. 19, 

Sacrifice, offering, fasting. Mg. faditra an offering 
made to avert evil, fady tribute (in fadi ntseranana 
custom-house dues), My. bda expiation, to care for, to 
aid, to requite, to sacrifice oneself on the tomb of a 
husband, sambcdih 1, to sacrifice, slaughter an animal 
with religious forms ; Mg. fady abstinence, imp. fadia 
be accursed ; Ef. hdi, or ball, to fast, and, perhaps, 
beli animal slain at a grave ; faditra, cf Arb. bala\ or 
baliyaty camels which the pagan Arabs used to tie up 
at the grave of the dead, leaving them without food 
and water, to die, in order that at the resurrection the 
dead might have camels to ride upon and be happy, 
and not have to go on foot and be miserable; or a cow, 
sheep, she-camel, or goat slaughtered at the grave in 
'* the times of ignorance ;" the Arb. and My. word also 
means '* affliction," and the same idea is in the Mg. 
fadia be afflicted, accursed, and Ef. bali perhaps 
means to afflict oneself. The Arb. verb bala' means 
to afflict, sacrifice (camels, as above), be afflicted, to 
care for, confer a benefit, recompense, swear, or take 
an oath, &c. The verb in Eth. means to be old, in 
Heb. wasted through age, care, affliction, &c., and belo 
(Chaldee) denotes a species of tribute. The word is 
also seen in Mg. alafady, voafady, and perhaps voady ; 

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voady a vow, voafady spoiled, alafady (ala remove), 
a freeing from ceremonial defilement. 

Mg. sorona a religious sacrifice, also reservedness, 
shyness, compares with Ef. sum to hide (as if to hide, 
i.e., atone for a crime or sin), Eth. sawara texit, pro- 
texit, occuluit, celavit aliquem. 

Arb. ta'umaf a sheep kept to be sacrificed (verb 
ta^ima to eat), Sam. taumafa to eat. Haw. kanmaha 
to sacrifice, Tah. taumaha " a portion of food oflfered 
to the gods or spirits of the dead," Ef . taumafa to ofier 
anything in sacrifice to the gods or spirits of the dead, 
but especially food ; when the food was cooked, and 
so to speak dinner on the table, one would say kuga 
taumafa tu natemate aningita, tuga fami (fam eat, 
Heb./(xm),that is, give an offering (a portion of the food) 
to the Natemate, and let us eat, it being considered pious 
to give the ofiering of food to the gods before eating ; 
nataumafan the sacrificing, a sacrifice or ofiering. 
The Anc. ending t is changed in this word to h, and / 
or V, as often (above). As with animals so with 
food, or any other thing oflTered, the Efatese thought 
that its essence became the property of the spirits 
or gods. 

To fast, a fast. Ja. siyam, Arb. sama 1, n. a. 
siyam\ to fast. My. and Tagala puwasa, Mod. 
Syriac mablth, " to abstain from food," is perhaps the 
same stem. 

To pray to a god. Ef . tarusa, as tarusa natemate, 
Arb. n. a. salut Dei invocatio (verb sola 11, to pray 
reverently to God on bended knees) : Sam. tatalo to 

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pray, with adj. ending talosia, to pray. The Anc» 
ending t appears as s in Ef. and Sam. in this word. 

The gods or objects of worship. These are called 
by the Efatese by the general name of natemate (so 
in the New Hebrides generally). Natemate^ or with- 
out the article atemate, is ate a spirit, and mate dead, 
and denotes literally "spirits of the dead." The word 
ate is identical with the above ata or (ite a man, a 
person, the common word for "man," as was shown, in 
the Ancient and Oceanic languages. This word, as in 
Arb., so in Ef . denotes also v/mbra he/minis the shadow 
or image of a man, and the spirit or soul. So Sam. 
ata spirit, shadow. Arb. anisu spirit (of a man), 
naav,, nat\ or natu, homines, etiam, genii, daemones, 
Mulgraves anis and aniti, Tagala anitu, My. and Ja. 
antUy Sam. aitu spirit, ghost, "demon"; the same word, 
with the adjective ending a, as atua, is used for "God" 
by the Christianized natives of the Pacific generally 
now, but originally denoted, as Mariner has given it, "an 
immaterial being, as a god, spirit, soul or phantom." 
In Ef. ata "man/' "spirit," "shadow," or image (of 
man) ; it does not denote shade or darkness, for 
which there is an entirely diflferent word. So 
Arb. The spirit or ghost of a dead man was 
supposed to resemble the living man as his image 
in water or a looking-glass. As ate- or atamate 
denotes the spirit of one deceased, so atamauri the 
spirit of a living man, supposed to have gone out of 
him during sleep. The Efatese declare that they 
sometimes see both atamate and atamauri (see m/ite 


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dead, and vnauri living, above). It may be remarked 
that in My. and An. this Se. word *' man *' (see above) 
is used as in Arb. and Heb. to denote also the '' pupil " 
or " littleman" of the eye : My. orang-mata, An. esnga 
nimte, Arb. mean or isan elayn (see " eye," above), 
imaguncula in oculi pupilla apparens, Heb. ison ayn ; 
in An. eanga is also the '* spirit " (or spiritual counter- 
part) of man. 

The ata mate or atua (Meli itu) were spirits having 
reason like men and supernatural powers like God. 
Whence did the Oceanians derive their ideas of these 
latter ? 

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SoiKS AT LiLEPA, Havannah Harboub, showiko Napeas. 
From a photograph by Captain Acland, H.M.S. ** Miranda,** 

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Some Fundamental Words, Continued. 

God, the Supreme Being. Takaro. According to 
Hale Tangaloa, called at Fakaofo Tangaloa i hinga 
i te langi, " Tangaloa above in the heavens," was pro- 
bably the Supreme Being of the Polynesians. He says : 
— " It seems likely that this was the original deity of 
the Polynesians, perhaps before they left their pristine 
seat in the East Indian Archipelago " ( United States 
Exploring Expedition, vol. vi.). In the northern 
New Hebrides this name is pronounced Takaro, and 
there, as in the central Pacific (Sam., Tonga), Takaro 
is the creator of aU. The Rev. Mr. Landels, mis- 
sionary on Malo (between Mallicolo and Santo), where 
the people go quite naked, says that Takaro is 
described as residing "above the sky." "They (the 
Malo people) say that Takaro made everything, that 
nobody ever saw him or spoke to him, and that he 
only talks to the big chiefs at night in sleep." 

TaMro is probably ta the article, and kd,ro mighty, 
Arb. kahharo mighty, with aricle alkahharo ; the 
Almighty, Deus (Freytag). For the article ta, Arb. 
al, see above. The adjective kdra strong, is much 
used in Ef., and is pronounced indiflferently Jcdra and 
ngdra, strong. 

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It is remarkable that while Taharo or Tangaloa 
{Taaroa, &c.) is thus recognized as the Supreme 
Being, no particular worship is rendered to him ; the 
worship and the oflferings are rendered to the atua or 
ata-mate. It was very much the same in the ancient 
Semitic-speaking heathen world. We see in the 
history of Israel how prone men of whom better 
things might reasonably have been expected were to 
ignore God, or merely to give Him a barren title, 
while devoting themselves with ardour to the worship 
of idols, such as Baal. " In their offerings (says 
Gibbon of the Arabs), it was a maxim to defraud God 
for the profit of the idol — not a more potent but a 
more irritable patron." The pagan Arab had more 
excuse for this than the Israelite. We cannot 
wonder, therefore, at what we see in the Pacific as 
just referred to. 

Names of God in Mg. The Malagasy call God 
Andriamanitra, probably, as Humboldt and others 
have suggested, for andria Icmitra, chief or lord of 
heaven; also Andriananahary, and ZaTtahary^ the lord 
creator, the one or he that created, nahary being form 
1 of the verb ary to exist, to be, past tense, mahary 
make to be, create, nahai^ created (Mg. Dictionary, 
s. V.) Andrlana-nahai^ " God, the Creator of the 
Universe " is more exclusively applied to the Supreme 
Being, the other two names also denoting the spirit of 
a deceased sovereign, and anything supernatural. 

In Tahiti rimaatua, hand of God, denotes " some 
sudden disease supposed to be infiicted immediately. 

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by the hand of God ; also strife and ill-will between 

The human " spirit" was called by the above name 
ata, &c ("man"), not because it was supposed to 
resemble a shadow, but because it was deemed the 
genius or essence of man, and umbra hominis cast 
by the sun or reflected in water was called by the 
same name ata (" man "), because it resembled man ; 
and this is equally true of the ancient Arab and the 
Oceanians who use this word in these senses, as shown 
^bove. A "demon" (in the ancient sense of that 
word) was called by this same name (" man ") by the 
Arabs and Oceanians, because it was supposed to be 
the spirit of a deceased man. Further, neither the 
ancient Arabs nor the Oceanians derived their ideas 
of a Creator or of Divine powers from this word for 
spirit, although the Oceanians have come to denote by 
it supernatural beings with divine powers, as all such 
from the lowest to the highest are conceived of as 
" spirits." That they have done so is manifestly not 
connected with the dawning of a knowledge of God, 
the Supreme Being, among them, but with the gradual 
disappearing, during milleniums of degradation, of that 
knowledge from among them, or its being gradually 
entombed in the ever-growing mass of ignorance and 

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Idols and Mythological Beings, &c. 

Wot. The Efatese idol WotH, or W5t See above 
under the word husband. Arb. ha'l\ husband, wife, 
lord, Baal, Tahiti fatu lord, master, chief (Arb. ba'luu), 
Mg. vady and valy husband, wife (Fiji wati), Ef. 
husband, lord or chief, Wota, i.e., Baal. This is the 
word all over Efate for. "chief* — that is, lord or 
possessor — ^and the idol Wota is the great idol wor- 
shipped by all the Efatese. The idol is a pillar-like 
rock in the sea about 15 miles from Efate, but sur- 
rounded by the islets of the Shepherd group, in all of 
which the Efatese dwell. The shape of the rock is 
that of the Anc. Baal pillars. In passing this rock in 
a ship the Efatese used to lower their heads or veil 
their faces. At each village in Efate was a group of 
wooden pillars (napea) in the public worship ground, 
where the TtateTnatea of each village were worshipped. 
On these pillars, which were erected in honour of the 
natemates — that is, their deceased relatives — and on the 
upper part of them (see the photo.), was carved a 
human face called narai nawot, the face of Wot, 
lit. "of the Lord." This, as far as the word Wot 
is concerned, might mean either the face of the 
chief (of the village), meaning the deceased chief, 
or the face of Wot — that is, the idol Wot. Most prob- 
ably it orginally meant that of the idol. The present 
natives can throw no light on the matter ; but they 
say, and no doubt rightly, that narai nawot does not 
mean the face of the village chief. Further, the same 

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W H 



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face is found carved upon the bodies, usually upon the 
shoulders, but also upon the chests, of the people, and 
called Tiarai nawot, and this was doubtless " the face of 
Wot/' the idol. The Efatese ball hi Wota, fasted for, or 
to obtain the favour of Wota, made offerings or sacrifices 
to Wot, and worshipped Wot and other idols in a 
most elaborate maimer by lectisternia. Wota was 
peculiarly the god supposed to be able to give riches 
and happiness, and hence was often called Wota an 
nidn, Wot of wealth or plenty. The name Wot 
frequently occurs in proper names as Mare-Wota man 
of Wota, which is the name of one of the teachers, or 
native pastors, in Havannah Harbour. Wota is said 
to have a wife, or rather there is a natural cave on 
the coast of Efate, opposite to the idol, which is called 
" the wife of Wota." 

The ancient idea of Baal seems to have been as of 
the male principle of nature, and connected with the 
sun as the vivifying influence of the world. There 
are distinct traces of sun and moon worship in the 
New Hebrides. Sina (see above word " moon ") was 
worshipped on Aneityum, on which island there is 
a remarkable rock, which I visited with the Rev. Mr, 
Lawrie in 1883, whose smooth faces are covered with 
engraved figures, among which are figures of the 
turtle, the sun, and the moon. The sun is represented 
by a rayed circle as in the ancient Semitic (Assyrian 
and Phoenician) monuments, and the moon by a half* 
circle. These half -circles are carved on trees all over 
Eromanga, and there are sacred stones of the same 

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shape, and also stones shaped as full circles, represent- 
ing the moon, very common on that island. A stone 
on Fotuna has the sun and moon carved upon it. 
For these facts I am indebted to the Rev. H. 
Robertson, of Eromanga, and Dr. William Gunn, of 
Fotuna. In the cave of Felles, at Lilepa, Havannah 
Harbour, there is a rayed circle easily recognized as 
the same as the sun circles on Aneityum, and it is 
called narai nawot the face of Wot — that is, the face 
of Baal, the sun god. 

Maui, Of the meaning of this and the following 
name I can only give conjectures. Hale considers 
Maui as perhaps a name, originally, of God as Pre- 
server and Sustainer of men. The Tongans, as reported 
by Mariner, described Moooi (po = u), i.e., Maui, as 
the god " that supports the earth, the earth lying on 
him, he being prostrate." Mariner gives as the Tongan 
verb " to live " vioooi " life, convalescence, fertile (as a 
field), to live, subsist;" this, with ending, is mooonoo 
** prosperous," and the latter with adj. ending ia 
inooonooia " prosperous." There can be no doubt but 
that this is the word, given above, that occurs in Mg. 
as aina (ai — na), miaina to live, be prosperous. The 
Anc. form of this word is given above. Moooi or 
Maui is probably the Anc. verbal noun Eth. 
mahyawiy Arb. Ttiohyi, Arm. mafie preserving 
alive, preserver, sustainer, literally, "causing to live." 
Hence the word might be used either as a name 
of God or of men. In Arabic it was one of the 
names of God, and is so used in the Koran. In 

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Ethiopic it occurs as the name of a man Mahyawi 
egzia, Ma/iyawi — the chief. In Oceanic it is some- 
times one, sometimes the other. Thus, as a name of 
men that figure in the ancient myths or traditions, it 
often occurs. Hale says that Maui is also at Tahiti 
and New Zealand sometimes the name of the chief 
deity, the creator of the world. Maui is sometimes 
represented as catching the sun by its beams, and, 
beneficially to men, regulating its movements. 

Tiki. Tiki is represented as the first man at 
Tahiti (his wife being Sinay who is now in the mpon), 
and at Raratonga the first man, who, after he died, 
obtained dominion over departed spirits, so that a 
person who died was said to have " gone to Tiki." I 
think that most probably tiki, Ef. tvJci and tiJd means 
old, ancient. In Ef . Maui tukituhiy or Maui tikitiki 
is the first man, who, together with his ofispring, 
TamaJcaia, hauled up the islands from the sea. Maui 
tikitiki, according to this, means Maui, the exceedingly 
ancient. The word tiki may be the same as the Arb., 
Heb., and Ch. " atlA5" old, ancient. Ef. Maui tikitiki 
occurs in Fotuna as Mo-shishiki, Tanna as Ma-tiktiki, 
and in Aneityum as Moi-tikitiki. It may be observed 
that the ancient stories of the beginnings of things, in 
which the persons denoted by these names figure, vary 

In Ef ate what we call " the man in the moon " is 
called li Maui tukituki rae atenina female Maui 
tukituki and her grandchild. In Sam. Sina is the 
woman in the moon : see the word ** moon" above. 

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It is doubtful if tiki or tuki means old, but we 
may, perJuXpa, compare Fiji tuka an old man, grand- 
father, very old, immortal, immortality, and My. 
ddtuk {dd article) an old man, a grandfather, a senior 
or chief. On Aneityum I recently inquired of the 
best-informed natives as to what moi-tikitiki meant, 
or who he was. They told me that it meant nefatimi, 
that is, "old man," and that he was nefatimi ati 
inpece, the old man who placed the land or made the 
land ; in fact, they said that he might be indifferently 
called moi'tikitiki or nefatimi ati inpece. At Anei- 
tyum Sina is the woman in the moon, and the wife of 
the sun. In Ef. li mdui tukituki is said to have been 
carrying water home when the land had just risen (at 
the beginning) from the sea — the land was unstable 
and moving about: she threw her water-jars down 
upon it, and knocked it into steadiness with the 
shock; but the water-jars were smashed to pieces, 
hence the fragments of pottery found all over the 
island are called the buro or water-vessels of li maui 
tukituki. This is a specimen of the myths of the South 
Sea Islanders. A very widespread myth is that in 
which the islands are represented as being drawn or 
fished up from the sea, which seems to be a wreck of 
some ancient account of the creation of the world. 
In another the regulation of the movements of the 
sun, so that they might not be too quick (Central 
Pacific), and on the other hand so that they might 
not be too slow (Ef ate), is spoken of ; in another the 
introduction of death into the world. An Efatese 

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bird (Manu tangisi merely the bird that bewails men) 
has red marks under its eyes to this day, which it 
acquired by weeping for men at the first introduction 
of death among them. From these and such like 
myths, taken alone, we could not learn much with 
certainty ; but, taken with the knowledge which we 
gain from the scientific investigation of the Oceanic 
languages, we have no hesitation in saying that we see 
in them, beyond all doubt, the traces of the ancient 
account of the creation, of the genesis of the world 
and man, that pervaded the ancient Semitic-speaking 
world. And, reasoning in the same way as to the ideas 
of Divine Powers, of a Supreme Being, or of God, and 
the names for the same among the Oceanians (ideas 
almost — but never, I believe, quite — obliterated, or 
distorted beyond recognition among some of the 
grosser savages), we see in these, beyond all doubt, 
what are in the circumstances the natural remnants, 
however attenuated or degenerated, of the knowledge 
of the Supreme Being — God, the Creator of the world, 
the Almighty, the Author and Sustainer of Life — that 
pervaded the ancient Semitic-speaking world, and 
that was always in danger, even in that ancient world, 
of being overgrown by, or buried beneath the rank 
growth of, superstitious doctrines of " demons." 

Among the idols of the Oceanians are many so-called 
"sacred stones." These are sometimes small round 
stones, that can be carried easily ; sometimes large 
fixed stones, or even big rocks on the land or in the 
sea. They seem in no essential way different from 

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the sacred stones that were worshipped in pagan 
Arabia ; and the same may be said of sacred trees. 
These stones in Efate are called not* tab sacred spirits, 
or fatti tab sacred stones, and represent either the 
spirits of dead men, or such beings as Wot, who, 
although sometimes described under the general name 
natemate (used in that case in the sense of Sam. atua^ 
that is, spirits, or spiritiml beings), yet is not regarded 
as a natemate in the narrow sense of being the spirit 
of a deceased human being. 

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EynuNCE of Felles Cave, Lilepa, Havannah Harbour. 
From a photograph by Captain Acland, H.M.S. Miranda^ 

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The Oceanic Family and Relationship System. 

It is with the idols, myths, religious ideas and prac- 
tices, &c., of the Oceanians, as with their dialect : they 
vary among diflferent tribes. If they do so even in a 
limited area — such as, for instance, in the New 
Hebrides, or even in one island of that group — 
how much more throughout the numberless and 
widely separated groups and islands of Oceania. 
But the variation is not such as to destroy the 
general family identity. Thus, even in the New 
Hebrides the myth of Maui tikitihi varies in every 
island, yet it is manifestly the same, or rather it is 
manifestly the same in origin. So what is found in 
one tribe yet practised or related may have completely 
disappeared from another, just as one dialect has a 
word or a form which is not to be found in another. 
And with respect to both the religious and social 
system of Oceania it is as with the dialects — the 
ancient mother system has been lost. Had we that lost 
system in its completeness before us, the task would 
be comparatively easy to piece together the modem 
isolated fragments. And if we look for the ancient 
system, religious and social, of the Semitic-speaking 
peoples we can only obtain glimpses of it : how ex- 

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tremely little, for instance, can we learn from history 
about the system of the ancient Phoenicians, and how 
it differed from that of the other ancient Semitic- 
speaking tribes. Then, again, in Madagascar, the 
modem and mediaeval Arabs, and in Malaysia the 
peoples of India, and more recently the Mahommedan 
Arabs, have exercised a great influence ; and one might 
easily regard some idea or custom there as ancient 
while in reality it might be due in whole or in part to 
these influences. This is true to a less extent of the 
Maori-Hawaiian speakers, for they have been, as is 
generally believed, cut off from all such influences for 
from 1,000 to 1,800 years. And it is least of all true 
of such people as those in the New Hebrides, whose 
position, whose comparatively greater degradation (or 
savagery), and the greater multitude and diversity of 
whose dialects all go to show that they have been 
longest of all cut off from the civilized world and 
from outside influences. No Sanscrit words, so far as 
known, are found there, as in Malay, and no ruins of 
Indian temples, as in Java. I shall, therefore, take 
the Efatese as being a more unmixed representative 
of the ancient Oceanic mother system, so far as it goes, 
than any of the others named. Baal worship was 
certainly a striking feature of that ancient system, or 
of the ancient pagan Semitic-speaking world, and I 
have not found any such traces of it in Madagascar, 
Java, or Samoa as in Efate. But, probably, such 
traces do exist in Malaysia and Madagascar. 

Another feature of the ancient world was the pre* 

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valence of the idea of ceremonial and sexual unclean- 
ness, and the practice of religious purification. In 
Ef. there is a word used to denote this uncleanness. 
MiTYh or mam (perhaps radically denoting softness or 
laxity), with article namim ; and this namim, was 
supposed to be contracted in various emergencies, and 
was especially avoided by the sacred men, as it 
destroyed their sacredness. There was the namim 
namxitien (of death), n, naUselan (of childbirth). 
Thus, if a sacred man even passed a village where a 
death had occurred, or a house where a child had 
been born, he would immediately take steps to cleanse 
himself. This he did by a religious ceremony. A 
cocoanut was split open and a prayer or incantation 
said over it, and its water then sprinkled or poured 
over him and his companions. Another mode of 
purification was to break a forked branch from a 
particular plant, and, after the necessary prayer or 
incantation, to draw the branch down the body and 
limbs, sweeping away the defilement. In Mg. occurs 
the word afana, the sprinkling with water consecrated 
by the idols to preserve from disease. 

The crime of "incest" was punished with death by 
the Efatese. Supposing the criminal a man too 
powerful, or having too many supporters to be openly 
punished, he would be led into some trap and 
destroyed. The relationship system oi the Efatese 
I have found difficult to understand ; but it is a 
thoroughly well-defined system, simple to the natives. 
The people are all divided into families or clans, each 

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of which has a distinctive name, such as naniu the 
cocoanut, namkatu (the favourite of Seiitau) a species 
of yam, Tidui the yam, &c. The woman is the mother 
of the clan — that is, every child, male and female, 
belongs to the family of the mother. It would be 
incest for any man or woman to marry a person 
belonging to his or her family or clan, as for a nomi 
to marry a nauiy though they may have no recent 
relation of consanguinity to each other, and though 
neither they nor their parents may have even seen 
each other before. Sons-in-law and fathers and 
mothers-in-law avoid and will not touch each other, 
the mother-in-law covering her head so as not to be 
seen. The people give as the reason or a reason of 
this that if they should touch each other they wiDuld 
" become poor," but this would seem to be rather as a 
punishment for the supposed wickedness of the deed. 
What can be the reason of this idea ? It is found 
among other peoples, and if we could ascertain the 
reason for it among the Efatese it might help us in 
other cases. Now, among the Efatese incest is con- 
sidered a dreadful wickedness; and a wife when 
married is purchased, and so becomes the property of 
the purchaser. She thus passes over to her husband's 
family (or clan). If her husband dies his brother 
may marry her, or his family dispose of her in 
marriage. Her father or mother would have no say 
in the matter unless, with the consent of her husband's 
family, they refunded what had been paid for her in 
the first instance to them. I cannot see, however. 

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that this could have given rise to the idea that it was 
wicked for a man to touch his father or mother-in- 
law, or how that touching could by any natural pro- 
cess lead to poverty. If we hold that the poverty 
was considered as a punishment from the gods — and 
this is certainly how the present Efatese regard it — 
then we must believe, so far as I can see, that the sup- 
posed wickedness was connected in their minds with 
those ideas which lay at the foundation of their extreme 
abhorrence of incest and of sexual uncleanness. The 
same ideas operated also, e.g., in Fiji, to keep brothers 
and sisters from even speaking to each other. These 
call each other gari^ in Fiji, gore in Ef . ; those who in 
Ef. call each other gore, brothers' sisters and sisters' 
brothers, are children of the same mother, and 
considered as very closely related on that account. 
Incest between such would be certainly punished 
with death. And I believe that the same ideas 
operate in all these cases as a barrier between sons 
and daughters of the same mother and a man and 
his wife's mother, and all males and females of the 
same family, who all called each other gore — that is, 
children of the same ancestral mother, as they, of 
course, are. That mother was the source of the 
family, and the prohibition that was just and right, 
as applied to her immediate offspring, continued to 
all generations of those descended from her, who of 
course bore her name, and hence is now in force (as 
we consider unnaturally) among those who have no 
connection with each other but that distant one in 

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the past When the Efatese are converted, so deeply 
has this system taken hold of them, it is difficult to 
get them to ignore that part of it which is not 
sanctioned by an enlightened Christianity, though it 
may be purely restrictive. All this hinges on the 
idea that children of the same mother are much more 
closely related to each other than children of the 
same father but of different mothers. The anthro- 
pologists have spent much curious ingenuity, and 
uttered with great confidence mere conjectures, on 
this subject. But it is evident that the same idea 
pervaded the ancient Semitic-speaking world. And 
it is an idea perfectly natural among a polygamous 

It is also naturally connected with this, as we find 
it among the Efatese and other Oceanians, and owing 
to the family instinct, or loyal affection to what is 
regarded as the family, that the child should look 
upon the mother's gore (maternal uncle) as the head 
of the family (called in Ef. aloa, or loa, dialect 6ai6 
— see above word head, Mg. loJia, &c.), and that 
this uncle should look upon his sister's child as 
the hope of his house or future head of his family. 
They all bear the same name, and are really all sprung 
from the same ancestress. What we fail to realize is 
that they absolutely confound the family with the 
tribe or clan, and that they apply the rules of the 
family of children of one mother to the tribe, no 
matter of how many households it consists, who are 
directly descended from that original mother. It is 

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this extension of the ideas of the family (in one sense) 
to the tribe (in the sense explained) that makes it so 
difficult for us to understand their system, and for 
them to understand our system of relationship. Yet 
their system, when thus considered, is simplicity 
itself. Thus let us take an example of a family or 
tribe — say that of Naui, and call it a. The people of 
a originally consisted of one woman, who might have 
been called Nam ; then of her and her children, all 
of whom, males and females, addressed each other 
thus — males and males, or females and females, as hcflu, 
or tai (literally, friend, helper, associate), and males 
and females as gore, a name implying the prohibition 
of, and certain laws of intercourse restrictive and 
designed to guard against, incest. As these male 
children had to marry females of another family, their 
children did not belong to the family of a, but to that 
of their wives, h; but the children of their grore, whose 
fathers were 6, belonged to a. Thus the children of 
their gore belonged to their family (a), while their own 
belonged to another family (6), and if a man wished 
to keep his honours and his wealth from passing over 
to another family or tribe, he must make his gore's 
child his successor and heir. Of course, the same law 
that led him to pass over his own child led also the 
man of h to do the same ; and thus, while he made 
another man's, the other man might make his, 
child successor and heir in the same way. Now, this 
system having been set agoing, just as all the persons 
of a in the first, second, and third generations were 

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called a, and all brothers and sisters, and their mothers 
and grandmothers, so in the fiftieth generation, no 
matter how numerous, they are all a in the same way. 
When a man of a married a woman of 6, he called her 
father and mother, and all the females of b parents- 
in-law (naburuma or tyio), and he and they all avoided 
each other; and he called all the males of b brothers- 
in-law (tauien). That is, each tribe is regarded as 
one family, united as one person. A child of a calls 
her own mother mother, and all her mother's tribe 
sisters mother ; and calls by the name of father not 
only her own father but all his tribe brothers ; and 
they all call the child their child. 

Thus the family came first, and when it extended 
into a clan, the clan was still considered as only a 
family. The mother was considered the link which 
bound the family together, or rather as the source 
from which the family sprang. There is not the 
slightest ground for imagining any previous state of 
brutish barbarism or "communal" marriage as 
necessary to account for the Oceanic system just 
described. The marrying of a widow by her brother- 
in-law was consonant with this system, as it was with 
the system that prevailed in the ancient Semitic- 
speaking wcrld. The Oceanic abhorrence of incest 
above described is paralleled by what prevailed in 
the ancient world ; and we may believe that in the 
Oceanic system that prevailed in the earliest times 
there was the utmost horror of incest as between 
children of the same mother or family, while 

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different ideas prevailed as to children of the same 
father but of different mothers ; and that it was the 
recognized right and duty of a brother to marry his 
deceased brother's widow. Among the Efatese the 
above system certainly tended to loosen the tie 
between a father and his children, but did not 
necessarily do so ; and it is remarkable that while all 
children belonged, by the family name, to the mother's 
family, each child had its own name, and any one 
hearing the name at once knew the father's family 
thereby. Thus, for instance, all children whose 
fathers were of the family of a had kom prefixed to 
their names, all whose fathers belonged to 6 had turi 
prefixed, and whenever you know the prefix to any 
one's individual name you know to what family his 
father belongs. Tamate — '•' peace," and Naru — " war," 
are common names among the Efatese, and when you 
hear people called Turi tamate, or Twri naru (born 
in peace or during war), you know that their fathers 
belong to the family or clan called Naui ; while 
Kom tamate, or Kom nam, are people whose fathers 
belong to the family or clan called Karau, and so the 
name of every child bom in Efate is significant. 
While the child belongs to the mother's family, its 
name does not show this. 

In Efate, people usually address each ofcher, not by 
their proper names, but by names indicating relation- 
ship, as father, brother, sister, brother-in-law, &c. ; 
and as, according to the system explained, the whole 
of a clan is considered as one family, or almost as one 

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person, a man may call 50 or 100 persons — some of 
whom are mere children — " father," and by the name 
of "parent-in-law" not only his wife's mother, but 
all the women of her tribe, and not only his wife's 
father, but his wife, and all the men of the father's 
clan and their wives. To ascertain whether a man 
called " father" is really the man s father, you have 
to ask if this is the father who begot him ; and in 
the same way to ascertain if the woman called 
mother is really his mother, you have to ask if this 
is the mother that bore him: so with those called 
brothers or sisters and children. Now, I submit that 
the explanation given above is satisfactory, and 
accounts for all the facts, and that it is altogether 
gratuitous to assume or conjecture the existence of a 
disgusting primaeval state of "communal marriage" 
or beastliness as the explanation of it. By that 
hypothesis the abhorrence of incest, which is so 
fundamental a feature of the Efatese system, cannot 
be accounted for. Another hypothesis which imagines 
that a child calls all the males of his father's clan 
" father " because in the supposed brute-human epoch 
he did not know which of the communal herd was 
his father, breaks down at once when applied to the 
other, the mother's side : for the child equally called 
all the females of his mother's clan " mother," and 
this certainly could not have arisen from any doubt 
as to the actual mother that bore him. Sir John 
Lubbock imagines that after this supposed brutal 
herding system arose marriage by capture, and that 

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this system of capture accounts for the restriction of 
intercourse between a mother-in-law and her son- 
in-law. Now, in the first place, the "capture" 
hypothesis, like the human-brute communal hjrpo- 
thesis, is a mere imagination ; that such systems 
prevailed in the early stages of the history of man- 
kind is no more capable of proof than that the first 
ancestors, or fathers and mothers, of men were 
Darwin's " hairy quadrupeds" of " arboreal habits." 
But among the Efatese the ancient ideas of sexual 
impurity, as a thing abhorred and punished by the 
gods, and ceremonially contracted even by mere 
contact with a prohibited or unclean person or thing, 
and of incest as undoubtedly worthy of death, jet 
prevail, and sufficiently account for tl^is practice, 
which is similar to that of the Fiji gane (Ef. gore) — 
restriction of intercourse. Now, Sir J. Lubbock's 
explanation entirely breaks down when applied to 
this latter, for here the persons on whom the 
law of restriction operates are endeared to each 
other by the closest ties of family affection and 
relationship, being children of the same mother. 
Moreover, the idea that there is any ill-will between 
the persons, whether gore or sons and parents-in- 
law, is entirely erroneous ; on the contrary, in Efate 
there is the utmost friendliness and good-will. The 
restrictive system was in its origin a barrier erected 
to prevent pollution or incest, by which Divine judg- 
ment would be brought upon the land ; and this, also, 
is why a man is put to death for incest. The prac- 

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tice remains when the savages who practise it, as 
handed down from their forefathers, can no longer give 
a rational explanation of it. But I believe the Efatese 
know in general that the meaning here given is the 
real meaning of these restrictions and practices. Sir 
John Lubbock has devoted a large part of his work 
(" Origin of Civilization and Primitive Condition of 
Man ") — in fact, about one-third of it — to this subject. 
It is true that most of his book is merely quotations 
from all and sundry. The following passage is of 
interest : — "In Australia (he says) among the 
aborigines of Victoria it is compulsory on the mothers- 
in-law to avoid the sight of their sons-in-law, by 
making the mothers-in-law take a very circuitous 
route on all. occasions to avoid being seen, and they 
hide the face and figure with the rug which the 
female carries about her. So strict is this rule 
that if married men are jealous of anyone they 
sometimes promise to give him a daughter in 
marriage. This places the wife, according to custom, 
in the position of a mother-in-law, and renders 
any communication between her and her future son- 
in-law a capital crime." Now, although I cannot 
speak with the same confidence of the Victorian 
aborigines as of the Efatese, much less jump from 
Africa to Kamschatka, thence bounding to Peru 
and Fiji or Teheran, after the fashion of some of 
our modem anthropologists, in search (from their 
studies in London) of quotations in support of their 
theories, yet I think it plain that the facts as stated 

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in the above passage are certainly not explicable on 
Sir John Lubbock's theory, and entirely explicable in 
the manner I have indicated. 

As to the prohibition of intermarriage between 
males and females of the same clan in Efate, the 
reason I have given is certainly the correct one. The 
reason is that such marriage would be considered, and 
at first when the institution was founded rightly 
considered, incestuous ; these males and females being 
children of the same mother. Hence the explanation 
attempted by Sir John Lubbock that this so-called 
" exogamous " system (in the case of vague ideas, 
ignorance, or doubt, nothing is more frequent than the 
use of resounding words) arose from the supposed 
more primitive system of marriage by capture that 
created the imaginary hostility (which is not a hostility 
at all, in Efate at least, but a restriction of intercourse 
between persons united by the closest bonds of affection 
and kindred) between sons-in-law and mothers-in-law, 
is altogether unnecessary and inept. I am happy to 
agree with Sir John Lubbock, however, in the opinion 
which he thus expresses : — " The system of Levirate, 
under which, at a man's death, his wife or his wives 
pass to his .brother is, I think, more intimately 
connected with the rights of property than with 
polyandry." He further says : — " Among the ancient 
Jews Abraham married his half-sister, Nahor married 
Tiis brother's daughter, and Amram his father's sister. 
This was permitted, because they were not regarded 
as relations. Tamar, also, evidentl}'^ might have 

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married Amnon, though they were both children of 
David. * Speak unto the king/ she said, * for he will 
not withhold me from thee ;' for, as their mothers 
were not the same, they were no relations in the eye 
of the law." I give this latter passage merely to show 
that there is reason to believe, apart from and along 
with what we find in Oceania, that in the ancient 
Semitic-speaking world (as, probably, in the ancient 
world very generally) children of the same mother 
were considered as more closely related than children 
of the same father but of different mothers. 

What was the pi^imitive relationship, or family 
system, among mankind ? Was it more like our 
system, in which children are considered equally 
related to the father and mother, or to the system 
described, in which they are considered as more closely 
related to the mother? Sir John Lubbock thinks 
that our system is comparatively modem, and a 
development from the other ; but then his opinion is 
founded on the ideas above shown to be erroneous. 
On the contrary, I think that the system in which 
children are considered as more closely related to the 
mother, so that she, with her children, constitute the 
family or clan, to the exclusion of the father, is a 
modification, by degradation, however slight, of the 
primitive family system, in which, I suppose, the 
father and mother and their children constituted the 
family very much as with us ; and that what broke 
up the primitive family system (which was mono- 
gamous) was polygamy, which weakened the tie 

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between husband and wife, and broke up the one 
family into as many families as there were wives who 
had children. It was no longer possible for the father 
to be a member of each of these families in the sense 
in which he was a member of the primitive family, or 
for children of these separate families, or of different 
mothers, to be regarded as so closely related to each 
other as those who were children of the primitive 
family or of the same mother. Our system — ^the 
monogamous system of Christendom — is not a develop- 
ment from the polygamous system, but a continuation 
of, or, under the light of divine truth and law and 
enlightened reason, a reverting to the primitive 
system ; and, therefore, more ancient than the poly- 
gamous system. Of course, the corrupt system, though 
it had a polygamous origin, might exist afterwards in 
a particular tribe in which monogamy prevailed, just 
as in particular monogamous households in a poly- 
gamous country. A statement like this may come 
like a cold douche upon the fiery enthusiasm of . the 
advocates of the theory of the ancestral ''hairy 
quadruped/' and one may expect them to cry out 
against it ; but I cannot but say that it is in accord, 
and that their theory is not in accord, as I have 
endeavoured, as I believe successfully, to show, with 
the available facts of existing human life and human 

The family lies at the very foundation of human 
society and civilization, and a corrupt family system 

s one of the greatest obstacles to the progress of 


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Christianity in the world — ^that is, to the ppogi*ess and 
well-being of mankind. It is a distinguishing glory 
of the Christian religion that it seeks to set the 
family on a sound basis, and that it sternly opposes 
the great corruption of the family — polygamy, and 
every other corruption that tends to weaken the tie 
between husband and wife, or both, and their children. 
It is a part of the corrupt system that women are 
degraded, and that they bxq purdiased, and so regarded 
as a kind of slaves, or as representing so much pro- 
perty. This system of wife purchase prevailed in the 
ancient Semitic-speaking world and among the modem 
Arabs, as well as among the Oceanians. Marriage 
being thus, in part, a commercial transaction, divorce 
is easy and frequent, and affection or love often 
altogether absent. I will venture to say that the base 
and corrupting system of polygamy is as prevalent 
to-day among the Arabic tribes as in Oceania, that 
woman is as degraded, that divorce is as frequent, and 
that, in many respects, the Oceanian system will 
compare not unfavourably with that of some Arab 
tribes, though the latter live in the immediate vicinity 
of the civilized world. 'One of the most striking 
proofs of the supposed licentiousness of some Oceanic 
tribes is the practice of lending guests the wives of 
the hosts, but even this practice is in vogue among 
more than one Arab tribe ; and it must be remem- 
bered that this practice is not universal or common 
among the Oceanians, and that, generally, they are 
jealous of the chastity of their wives and the honour 

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of their daughters, and treat women respectfully an'd 
kindly. They do not cage up their wives in the 
brutal manner of the Arabian system, and they do 
not speak of them in the brutally contemptuous 
manner common among the Arabs, even in the 
renowned, but unhappy, land of Palestine, 

Travellers and writers often speak of savages, their 
manners, and customs in a very misleading way, and 
erroneous views, therefore, are apt to prevail among 
Europeans. The very name "savage" is apt to mis- 
lead. What is a "savage?" The Efatese are 
"savages." What does this imply? Now, it does 
not imply that they are ferocious in their manners. 
They are mild and gentle in speech and manner. 
They are most polite in their intercourse with each 
other. They are hospitable and generous. They live 
according to strict laws and customs handed down 
to them from their forefathers. In their way, or 
according to their lights, they are pious and religious. 
They live in the presence of the supernatural. They 
are a sensible people. They treat their children 
kindly, and are shocked to see Europeans correcting 
their children; I never saw an Efatese beating a 
child. But, on the other hand, they are cannibals, 
addicted to witchcraft, and infanticide, and licentious- 
ness, and to treachery in war, and apt, or used to be 
apt, to kill castaways from ships or canoes. Now, 
when a European, in giving an account of such 
savages, merely dwells upon such practices as canni- 
balism, infanticide, the burying alive in certain 

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196 OCEANU. 

circumstances of the aged, the hopelessly sick, or the 
insane — the picture is true, it may be, so far as it 
goes, but it is one-sided. It is horrid, and there is no 
excuse for such practices. But it has to be remem* 
bered that there were " wreckers" not so long ago in 
Cornwall, and that people were burned alive not so 
long ago for witchcraft in England and America, and 
that infanticide and licentiousness can be found 
nearer home than the South Sea Islands ; and that in 
England, in the present day, there are advocates of 
the practice of putting to death the aged and the 
hopelessly diseased. The degradation of some of the 
back slums of the great cities of Christendom, and 
the brutality and licentiousness of them, are more 
shocking than that of the savages. Of course there 
are wicked men among the savages, according to 
their own standard, just as among us according to 
ours. But wickedness of this kind is different from 
the wickedness that is sanctioned by public opinion, 
and not considered as blameworthy — such, for 
instance, as the worship of idols, and cannibalism, or 
polygamy. Even cannibalism is sometimes practised 
by Europeans, as by castaways at sea; and it is 
not improbable that the practice arose among the 
Oceanians in this way, or in times of great famine. 
We read of an ancient Jewish mother eating her own 
child in the extremity of famine; and I am well 
assured that in Oceania the practice has often 
arisen from a similar cause. And many, by far the 
majority, of the Oceanians are as free from this prac- 

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iice as we are. On the other hand, though the 
horrid practice may have originated in this way, it 
would seem that some tribes became habituated to it, 
and acquired a taste for human flesh, and that among 
some it became a regular practice to eat the bodies of 
enemies killed in war, or of criminals put to death 
for crime. Taking a general view of Oceania, one 
cannot hesitate to conclude that cannibalism is not a 
practice which universally prevailed in ancient times, 
and which the majority of the race in the coui*se of 
development have left behind, but one, on the 
contrary, into which the minority of the race have by 
degradation sunk in comparatively recent times. 

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Religion, Mokality, and Law Among the 

The religion of a people takes its character from the 
nature of the object or objects of worship, or from the 
character of the conception of deity which is enter- 
tained. The Efatese are among the lowest of the 
Oceanians, and it may be of interest from more than one 
point of view to carefully consider what their religion 
really was. Their deities were spiritual beings, and if 
they worshipped stones or other objects it was not the 
stones, &c., that they worshipped, but the spiritual 
beings residing in or supposed to be connected in 
some way with them. Thus, even these mere stones, 
as we see them to be, were called by the Efatese 
" sacred stones," or " sacred spirits." The gods of the 
Efatese were called by the general name of ifiatemate, 
spirits of the dead — that is, of dead men ; yet these 
spirits were supposed to have and to exercise super- 
natural and divine powers, as giving plentiful seasons 
and years of famine, as delivering from death or 
causing to die, as giving prosperity or the reverse, as 
giving victory in war or defeat, as acting, indeed, at 
every point along the whole course of human experi- 
ence from the cradle to the grave. Prayers were 

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offered to them, and thanksgivings. Sacrifices were 
rendered to them. Vows were made to them. Almost 
every calamity that came upon a man was supposed 
to come from them as a punishment for some offence. 
When the Efatese become Christian they continue the 
same way of thinking, and have constantly to be 
corrected for attributing every calamity of a man to 
some particular sin, like those Jews who supposed 
the tower of Siloam fell upon certain persons and 
killed them because they were the greatest sinners in 
Jerusalem. Here are a people among the lowest 
cannibal savages in the world who are nevertheless a 
very 'religious people, for whom the whole world is 
filled with innumerable spiritual beings that walk 
unseen, to offend whom is calamity and death, to 
please whom is life ; to expiate their offences to whom 
they habitually sacrifice without a murmur the most 
valuable property they possess, and in the effort to 
please whom they sometimes abstain for long periods 
from the things they most desire, and in the worship 
of whom they exercise more forethought, and do more 
work, and spend more property (or what is equivalent 
to our money) than in any other matter whatever. 
There is no people under the sun more obedient to 
what they regard as the mandates of deity than 
these " savages.'' 

It is often said that the Oceanian savage has no 
idea of a good deity, but this is entirely erroneous, in 
the sense in which it is intended. There are, indeed, 
among the spirits feared by the Efatese, some who, 

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202 OCEANU. 

perhaps, are purely destructive ; but the prevailing 
notion of a natemate is that of a being who, in respect 
to moral character, is in no way diflTerent from a man, 
and who is, therefore, an object of love as well as of 
fear. Most of the natemate who ar6' worshipped by 
the people of each village are the deified spirits of 
their recently deceased relatives. That they should 
clothe these beings with the attributes of divine 
power is fully accounted for in the way above indi- 
cated, and can be accounted for rationally, so far as I 
can see, in no other way. The people have practically 
lost the knowledge of the Supreme Being which their 
ancestors — the Oceanic fathers — possessed, along with 
a superstitious reverence for, amounting to worship 
of, the dead. As the knowledge and the name of God 
gradually disappeared, the ideas associated with that 
name became gradually transferred to the prevailing 
objects of worship. Hence these objects of worship, 
while considered as, in some respects, in a worse con- 
dition than men, living in a hades or sheol that, in 
true ancient Semitic fashion, is regarded as a poor 
place as compared with this world, and being, accord- 
ing to the ideas of the ancient heathen world, mere 
shades, and therefore objects of pity to their surviving 
relatives, and depending upon their piety for the 
supply of their wants, in other respects, and with an 
inconsistency natural only according to the explanation 
given, they are regarded as clothed with all the divine 
powers in existence, and regulating, according to their 
will, the operations of nature and the events of human 

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experience, and as, in fact, omniscient and omnipotent, 
according to the current ideas of such attributes. 
Practically, no higher beings are known than the 
natemate ; for even such of their deities as Wot and 
the mythological beings who figure in the story of 
the creation of the world, as Maui tikitiki, are called 
natemate, although, perhaps, originally they were not 
considered as the spirits of dead men. There was 
among the Bomans and Greeks, and perhaps generally 
in the ancient heathen world, a similar confounding 
of the divine with the human ; and some have thought 
that the divinities of the Romans — including Jupiter 
— were the spirits of dead men. But if they were 
they had been turned into gods by having the attri- 
butes of divinity given to them by the ignorance 
and blindness of heathenism. With respect to the 
Oceanian or Efatese savage, the transition from the 
ancient state to the present was easy. In the ancient 
state the name and attributes of the Supreme Beiog 
were known, but nearly the whole of the religious 
activity of the people was absorbed in the worship of 
idols and at the tombs of dead men. Gradually the 
latter increased at the expense of the former, until 
the present state was reached in such places as Efate. 
How natural such a lapse is to Semitic-speakiDg 
heathen is plain from their history. In ancient times 
their tendency was constant to forget God for the 
worship of idols. There is really no great difference, 
or only such difference as is perfectly natural, between 
the heathenism of Oceania and that of the ancient 

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world. The Oceanic temple is ihe tomb, the Oceanic 
deity is the spirit of the man whose body lies within 
that tomb. In Madagascar, where they have a name 
for the Supreme Being that literally signifies 
" the Lord that caused to exist," or " created," *' the 
veneration they have for the memory of their ances- 
tors, and the assurance they have of their spirits 
always existing, are apparent in almost every circum- 
stance of the few religious ceremonies they perform ; " 
and ''frightful consequences, in the opinion of the 
heathen part of the population, would follow any 
desecration or disrespect shown to their graves" (Sibree 
and Drury). "Among many customs," says Crau- 
furd, in his History of the Eastern Archipelago, 
" common to the Indian islanders, there is none more 
universal than the veneration for the tombs of ances- 
tors." Burckhardt mentions that every Arab village 
has its sacred tomb, which is venerated, and where 
worship is preferred. The greatest sin of Israel, and 
of the world, wa^ and is" says Dr. Thomson, " apostasy 
from the true God and His worship by idolatry ; and 
the most prevalent mode of this apostasy is sacrilegious 
reverence for dead men's tombs and bones. Every 
village (in Palestine) has its saints' tombs, every hill- 
top is crowned with the white dome of some neby or 
prophet. Thither all resort to garnish the sepulchre, 
bum incense and consecrated candles, fulfil vows, 
make offerings, and pray. So fanatical are they in 
their zeal that they would tear any man to pieces 
who should put dishonour upon these sacred shrines. 

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. . . Now, here, in Jerusalem, should the Saviour 
re-appear, and condemn with the same severity our 
modem Pharisees, they would hill Him upon His own 
reputed tomb, . . . You may blaspheme the 
Godhead, through all the Divine Persons, offices, 
and attributes in safety ; but insult these dead men's 
shrines, and woe be to you." The ideas that are thus 
manifested are substantially the same as are mani- 
fested in the Efatese natemate worship, in the Maraea 
of the central Pacific, and in the mysterious structures 
of Easter Island, The ancient pagan Arabs sacrificed 
some animal at a grave on occasion of a burial, as a 
cow, camel, sheep, or goat. The Arabs of Socotra, 
now, slay cattle at a death exactly as the Efatese slay 
pigs (which are their cattle), and the Malagasy cattle. 
The Arabs believed, as the Efatese do, that the spirit 
of the animal accompanied the spirit of the deceased 
to the spiritual world; by sacrificing these animals, 
they showed their affectionate care for the welfare of 
the dead in the future world. " On the day of the 
Korban, the great sacrifice on Mount Arafat, each 
Arab family kills as many camels as there have been 
deaths of adult persons during the last year in that 
family, whether the deceased were males or females. 
Though a dead person should have bequeathed but 
one camel to his heir, that camel is sacrificed ; and if 
he did not leave one, his relations kill one of their 
own camels. Seven sheep may be substituted for a 
camel, and if the whole number cannot be procured 
for the Korban of the death-year, the deficiency may 

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be supplied by killing some on the next or subsequent 
year. The Korban is, therefore, always a day of 
great feasting among the tribes." At every village of 
the Efatese there is a periodical festival of a similar 
kind held, and animals slain for every person who 
has died since the preceding festival. 

An Efatese is bound, above all things, to see to this 
matter. A family will labour patiently for one or 
two years preparing for these festivals. The animals 
slain, and all the accompanying rites, are supposed to 
be necessary to the well-being of the spirits of the 
deceased relatives, and a man who should refuse or 
neglect to perform the rites and slay the animals 
would be branded as infamous, as irreligious, as 
atheistical, and as wanting in gratitude and natural 
affection. He would be punished by social ostracism, 
and his life would be made miserable by his fellow 
men. And he would be in imminent danger of 
destruction from the gods — that is, the natemate. 
When any particular neglect is, perhaps, inadvertently 
perpetrated, and the perpetrator falls sick, or his 
house is burned, or some other calamity overtakes 
him, the " sacred man " is called in, and inquires of 
the natemate what the cause is ; any neglect of the 
kind mentioned, if it exists, is sure to be pointed out 
as the cause, and the neglector is instructed to make 
expiation (by sacrifice), and to at once set about doing 
what he had neglected to do. There are, of course, 
other causes of sickness and calamity. The windings 
of superstition are many. Sometimes the evil demons 

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afflict a man just because they are evil ; they are con- 
X5eived of as lurking in the woods and streams, and 
are feared as we would fear wild beasts. And some- 
times a man is the victim of witchcraft or sorcery. 
But generally the causes are considered to be some 
failure of duty with respect to the natemate. A very 
curious question has been much discussed, as to what 
bearing the religion of savages has upon morals. 
Now the religion of savages, as seen in Efate, has 
apparently little or no bearing upon morals in our 
sense of the expression; but it has a tremendous 
bearing upon the lives of the people in accordance 
with its character, just as Christianity has upon our 
lives in accordance with its character. The duties 
imposed upon them by their religion are sacred duties, 
and the performance of these duties is the condition 
on which they hold the right to prosperity, to pro- 
perty, and to life. When a man fails in his duty by 
omission or commission, and some punishment over- 
takes him, he and all his neighbours at once acquiesce 
in the justice of the punishment. The idea of duty 
depends upon the idea of deity. In case of doubt as 
to the path of duty the " sacred man" (and there is one 
or more " sacred men " at each village) makes inquiry 
of the natemate. But the natemate, being as to moral 
character exactly like themselves, can, of course, 
require no higher morality from their worshippers 
than they themselves possess. Hence the worship 
of these natemate cannot elevate, morally, the 
worshipper. Thus it in no way condemns canni- 

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balism, or infanticide, or the burying alive of the 
extremely aged, who often ask to be buried alive — a 
practice in vogue also among the Arabs of Socotra. 
But it certainly has some moral effect. Thus 
if a man is tempted to commit murder secretly^ or 
theft, he has the fear that when the friends of the 
murdered man, or the person from whom he has 
stolen, ask the "sacred man" to inquire of the nate* 
mate to discover the criminal, they may reveal his 
wickedness, or they may directly punish him ; or, if 
he be guilty of adultery, he is ever in danger of being* 
found out — these, and such like things, being con- 
demned both by gods and men. Sickness, coming' 
after such crimes, is usually regarded as a punish- 
ment, and often the guilty confesses, when sick, to a 
crime which would not otherwise be discovered. But 
the natemate are regarded as being more ready to punish 
for failure in duties that have respect to themselves,, 
and that are more religious than moral, though even 
in these there is a moral and humanizing element. 
Thus, if cocoanuts are tabooed, or consecrated to the 
worship of the natemate at some forthcoming 
festival, to steal these would be regarded as a much 
greater offence than common stealing. The great nate- 
mate festivals were called by the Efatese "Peace,'* 
and villages at war with each other used to meet 
together at these festivals. Hence the common saying 
among those at war — " Such a festival is abokas (i,e., 
hades) ; let us assemble together at it." For all people, 
no matter how hostile to each other in this world. 

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were supposed to assemble and dwell together in the 
future world. All rewards and punishments were 
supposed to be received in this world. Hades, or 
sheol, was one and undivided ; but yet a man's con- 
J dition in the future would be, to some extent, happy 

^' or miserable according to his life here. Supposing 
^ he were a worthless fellow, very scanty worship 
*^ would be rendered to him at his death and few 

animals slain to accompany him to the spirit world ; 
and thus he would occupy an inferior position there 
corresponding to his social worthlessness here. This 
belief had undoubtedly great influence in making 
men strive to live so as to obtain the good opinion of 
their fellows, and leave an honourable memory behind 
them at death ; but the stream cannot rise above the 
source, and if the moral influence of the religion of 
the Ef atese savages was not great, it is simply because 
their religion was of the low character described---very 
different, indeed, from the Christian religion, but not 
so very different from that of the ancient (and modem) 
Semitic-speaking pagans, whether we look at the 
character of the object of worship or the influence of 
that worship upon the moral character of the wor- 
shipper. The abhorrence of incest — formerly referred 
to — is certainly of religious origin, its origin dating 
back to a time when a better state of things prevailed. 
The Oceanian account of the drawing up of the islands 
from the sea is, I believe, a fragment of the account 
of the creation of the world current among the fore- 
fa'thers of the Oceanic race before they passed from 


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210 OCEANU. 

Asia to the islands. The Efatese belief that the soul 
is examined at the entrance of hades by the dreadful 
Seritau, and, failing to give satisfaction, h&s its tongue 
cut out and its head split open, and its head twisted 
backside foremost, is, I believe, a version of the story 
current among the Arabs of the soul being examined 
by angels at the entrance of hades, and its being 
beaten on the temples by them when dissatisfied with 
its answers. The Efatese ideas that the sky was 
solid, that there were seven heavens, one above the 
other, and six or seven hades, one below the other, are 
paralleled by the similar ancient Semitic ideas. 
According to Mahomet, the seventh, or lowest depart- 
ment of hades, was reserved for the hypocrites. 
According to Hale, in the Tarawan gi*oup, only those 
tattooed can reach *' paradise ;'' and in the Sandwich 
Islands, '' in former times, persons frequently had 
themselves tattooed as a token of mourning at the 
death of a friend or chief." A fragment of the former 
is found among the Efatese, in the belief that one can 
pass Seritau unharmed into hades by presenting to 
him some tattoo marks ; and the latter was practised 
among a part of the Efatese till quite recently, when 
they embraced Christianity. It is known that such 
tattooing for the dead was a practice among the ancient 
Semitic-speaking heathen. 

A fair consideration of the facts that meet us in 
examining the religious system of the Oceanic 
speakers leads to the conclusion that it is a corruption 
of the system of their forefathers, whose system 

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itself was a corruption of the primitive religion in 
which there was but one object of worship, the 
Supreme Being, Creator of the world and of man. 
According to that primitive religion, man was made 
in the image of God. According to this corruption 
of a corruption of that religion, man — or rather 
the spirit of a dead man alone — is God, and there 
are as many gods as there are spirits of dead 
men. So tremendous a revolution as this could 
not have been brought about suddenly, or as a 
solitary phenomenon ; it was gradually accomplished 
during thousands of years, and accompanied at 
every step by corresponding changes at every 
point along the whole line of human thought 
and activity. It is only in certain atmospheres 
that certain plants will take root and flourish: 
only in such a poisoned atmosphere as this could such 
monstrous insanity as the putting of these ghosts in 
the seat of the Supreme prevail. In such an atmos- 
phere of darkness such horrors as cannibalism were 
unblushingly perpetrated. Yet even among these 
savages, after all these ages of isolation from the 
civilized world and from all outside influences of 
an elevating tendency, there were found abundant 
proofs of that primitive truth that man had been 
created in the image of God ; and when the primitive 
religion of the human race came to them in the shape 
of Christianity, the Sun of Kighteousness rising and 
shining with healing in His wings upon them in their 
dark prison-house of ghost worship and cannibalism. 

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how truly was once more that ancient prophecy 

'< The people which sat in darkness 
Saw a great light, 

And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, 
To them did light spring up." 

And how truly may it be said of such of them as 
have embraced Christianity, that they are "now," 
after millenniums of unparalleled wanderings over 
trackless seas, the world's great ocean wildernesses, 
"RETURNED unto the Shepherd and Bishop of 
their souls." 

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Ancient History and Oceanic Tradition. 

There is not much to be obtained from these sources, 
but what little there is is entirely in accord with the 
evidence already adduced to show that the fathers of 
the Oceanic-speaking race came in ships into the islands 
from Arabia or neighbourhood from three to four 
thousand years ago. I believe that there is not very 
much difference in the state of society among the 
better part of the Oceanians in the present day after 
all that lapse of time, and that they are very much 
in the same stage of civilization as their fathers were 
4,000 years ago. If anything, they are on the whole 
slightly lower. But they are, and always have been, 
a part of the " unchanging East." No doubt many 
portions of the race in the more outlying parts have 
sunk considerably, though even they have not sunk 
so much as we might have expected. If some of the 
Oceanians have lost such arts as pottery-making, 
cloth-weaving, and writing, others seem to have 
invented the outrigger canoe, and the making of a 
kind of cloth out of the bark of trees. The cultiva- 
tion of the soil or of plants, and keeping of domestic 
animals, extend throughout the history and the 
branches of the race, while we cannot wonder at the 

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absence of cattle in the more outlying islands. The 
race is fundamentally possessed with the trading and 
navigating instinct, and I have no doubt that it was 
that instinct that led their fathers into the island 
world. According to the earliest intimations of 
history the Semitic-speaking race were distinguished 
by the possession of that instinct from the most 
ancient times, and it led them to operate ^r«^ in the 
Persian Qulf and Indian Ocean (African and Asiatic 
coast), and afterwards in the Mediterranean. 

The Phoenicians are sufficiently renowned. The 
first ocean-going voyage recorded by history was the 
trading voyage in the Indian Ocean of Solomon and 
Hiram. Not less renowned than the Phoenicians in 
the Mediterranean were the Chaldeans and Sabseans, 
or South Arabians, or Himyarites, in the Indian 
Ocean. The home of these latter was the part of the 
Semitic mainland bordering on Oceania, and most 
favourably or centrally situated as to the two branches 
of it, the west and the east, Madagascar and Malaysia. 
Even up to modern times, the main part of the trade 
of the east coast of Africa, as far as Madagascar, was 
in the hands of the Arabs of Oman, and the Imam of 
Muscat had quite a fleet. From the time of Solomon, 
at least, till the present day, there has been unbroken 
trading intercourse between Arabia and India. So 
far as we know, the whole trade of the Indian Ocean, 
from the very first, and for ages, was in the hands of 
the Semites. " The Southern Arabians carried on all 
the commerce of Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia with 

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India until shortly before our era. . . , The 
Bed Sea, therefore, was most probably the sea of the 
red men." Himyer, Ophir, Seba or Saba, and Phoeni- 
cian, all mean the ".red man,*' or Semite. Hence the 
Indian Ocean was called the Red Sea, Bar Ophir, Mare 
Rubrum, the Erythraean Sea. This "Red Sea" 
(Indian Ocean) was the naval school of the Semitic- 
speaking race, for from it (Herodotus) " the Phoeni- 
cians emigrated to the Mediterranean." "It adds a 
link to the curious chain of emigration of the Phceni- 
cians from the Yemen to Syria, Tyre, and Sidon, the 
shores and islands of the Mediterranean, especially 
the African coasts of that sea, and to Spain and the 
far distant northerly ports of their commerce ; as 
distant and across oceans as terrible by their Himyarite 
brethren in the Indian and Chinese Seas. . . . 
All testimony goes to show that, from the earliest 
ages, the peoples of Arabia formed colonies in distant 
lands, and have not been actuated only by either the 
desire of conquest or by religious impulse in their 
foreign expeditions; but rather by restlessness and 
commercial activity. . . . The Joktanite people of 
Southern Arabia have always been, in contradistinction 
to the Ismaelite tribes, addicted to a seafaring life. 
The latter were caravan merchants ; the former the 
chief traders of the Red Sea (Indian Ocean), carry- 
ing their commerce to the shores of India, as well 
as to the nearer coasts of Africa" {Smith's Bible 

We know that there has always been a trade 

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216 > x-ANIA^ 

between Malacca or Malaysia and India. But was 
the Eastern Archipelago known to the Semitic-speak- 
ing race ? How could it be unknown to them, even 
if they went no further than India ? But they went 
further. According to Gesenius, in the description of 
Semitic commerce in Ezekiel xxvii., " the Indian 
Archipelago is to be understood" by the "isles" in 
verse 15. I am aware of the nonsense that has been 
hazarded as to the situation of Ophir, to which the 
fleets of Solomon went in eighteen months* voyages 
close on 3,000 years ago. But Raleigh (Histoid of 
the Wmid), who exposes to ridicule the idea of Arias 
Montanus of Ophir being Peru, by observing that 
" Peru" is not the name of any American land at all, 
but the native American word for " water," a stream 
of which the Spaniards happened to point across 
when asking the aboriginals the name of the country 
— (so Yucatan, he adds, which Montanus says is from 
Yoctan, means, in the language of the savages, 
" What say you ?" and is not the name of any coun- 
try) — believed Ophir to be the Moluccas. Joseph us, 
the Jewish historian, declares for Malacca, which he 
calls the Aurea Chersonesus, and his testimony is of 
the highest value. The Malays are the Arabs or 
Sabaeans of the Eastern Seas. The name of Java, 
anciently, it seems, also called Saba, a name carried 
perhaps still farther to the east, and found in the 
Pacific in Savaii (perhaps Sava-ii — little Sava), is not 
at all improbably a monument of the fact that the 
first colonists of that queen of the Eastern Archipelago 

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were Sabseans — that is^ adventurers from the South 
Arabian renowned sea-going commercial kingdom of 

We listen with interest to the words of Sir J. 
Emerson Tennent, as given in the second edition 
of his valuable work on Ceylon. "In an age," he 
says, "before the birth of history, the adventurous 
Phoenicians, issuing from the Bed Sea in their ships, 
bad reached the shores of India, and centuries after- 
wards their experienced seamen piloted the fleets of 
Solomon in search of the luxuries of the East. 
. . . Qalle is by far the most venerable emporium 
of foreign trade now existing in the universe . . . 
it seems more than probable that the long sought 
locality of Tarshish may be found to be identical 
with that of Point de Oalle. Bochart first suggested, 
in addition to a western Tarshish, an eastern, near 
Ceylon, at Cape Comorin. But subsequent investiga- 
tion has served to establish the claim of Malacca to 
be the golden land of Solomon. Malacca is the Aurea 
Chersonesus of the later Greek geographers; and 
Tarshish, which lay in the track between the Arabian 
Gulf and Ophir, is recognizable in the great emporium 
of Ceylon." 

Sir Stamford Baffles, in an appendix to his History 
of- Java, quotes from the Manuk Maya of Java (a 
book containing their oldest traditions) to show that, 
according to their ideas, Java and the eastern islands 
obtained their original inhabitants from the "Bed 
Sea " in ships. The Portuguese on rounding the Cape 


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of Good Hope found the ships of the Malays by no 
means despicable, and Crauf urd remarks of the aver- 
age size of the vessels (from 50 to 100 tons) of a 
certain Malay fleet said to have voyaged to Arabia, 
that " our own shipping that made the circumnaviga- 
tion of the globe seventy years later, under Drake, 
did not, it should not be forgotten, even equal this 
burthen." See above under the word " ship/* 

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