(My) thanks for your love, and also fidelity towards him. Finow Fiji and the matabooles are present, they know my frequent inquiries concerning (the) good (of) our government. Do not say in your minds, "truly (do) we listen to the silly talk (of) a boy wherefore ?" Fucca-fetai mo gimótóloo he ofa, bea-mo he nofo-mow giate ia. Co Finow Fiji mo he cow-mataboole gooa nofo-my, now ilawbe ginówtóloo éoocoofa fucca-fehooi gi he lillé he tow nofóne(9). O'ooa chi na (27) mo behe he mo loto,-" io, co tow fonongo gi he lownoa he tamachí coehá ?" Momanatoo ca lea atoo leva au, Recollect ye, whilst speak to co he fucca-ongo atoo ia he loto you therefore I, it is the echoing a Toi Oomoo, mo Ooloovaloo of the mind of Toi Oomoo, and mo Afoo, mo Fotoo, mo Alo, bea Ooloovaloo and Afoo, and Fotoo mo fooli-be he cow-Ho-egi mo and Alo, also and all the chiefs he mataboole he Vavaoone (28). and the matabooles (of) Vavaoo. Mo fonogo my! cow fucca- Listen ye to me! I remind manatoo-atoo giate gimótóloo; ye, (that) if there any-one is (of) 'capów gooa ai nihi goca fon- another land, and there any-one nooa gehe, be gooa ai nihi gooa is discontented (with) remaining tai-lata ger nofo fucca-behene in this way, this is the only op(9) co lolotonga-be coeni teoo atoo giate gimótóloo ger aloo, ca, hili leva coeni, iký chi te tow felówági mo Hapai; Fili-fili leva he mo nofoanga co Fiji e, co Hamoa e, co Tonga e, co Hapai e, co Fotoona mo Lotooma e. portunity I will give to you to depart; for, let-pass accordingly this (occasion), not little (i. e. not at all) shall we communicate with Hapai; Choose then your dwellingplaces; is Fiji there, is Hamoa there, is Tonga there, is Hapai there, is Fotoona and Lotooma there. Ilonga-be mea gooa loto-fuc- In particular those having ca-taha ger manaco ho nofo he minds unanimous, that they love lillé tai-toogoo,-ginówtóloo-be remaining (in) the peace unte now nofo gi Hafooloo How. ceasing, they only, shall they remain at Hafooloo How. Iký-chi teoo behe ger lolomi he toa he taha loto-tow. Vacký-ange! he fonnooa co Tonga bea mo Fiji gooa nofo tow be, mo fili-fili he mo mana'co ger aloo gi he taha, ger fy ai he mo toa. Mo too! taggi-taha-be aloo gi enne abi, bea mo manatoo gi he aloo he vaca he bongi-bongi gi Hapai. Not at all will I suppress the bravery (of) one warlike mind, Behold! the land of Tonga and of Fiji are remaining (at) war: choose ye your wish to go to the one, to perform there your bravery. Arise! each one go to his home also and reflect upon the departure (of) the canoes to morrow to Hapai. These, it is presumed, will be found sufficient to give the reader a just idea of the nature and genius of the Tonga language; and will sufficiently enable him to compare it with others, to which it may be supposed to have some affinity; as the Malay, for instance, or hereafter, perhaps, with those of the Fiji, the Sandwich, and the Society Islands; of each of which places we ought, in a few years, to have some better account than we have hitherto had; for there are English and American people who have been resident at those several clusters of islands for a number of years, and, of course, ought to be perfectly acquainted with the customs, and tolerably well versed in their language. There is no doubt but the farther inquiry is carried into the history of the South Seas, the more clearly it will appear that a very strong relationship exists between the natives of the different islands, notwithstanding the distance of their geographical situations. Affinities between their several languages have been already shown by Cook and other navigators, but under a very disad vantageous circumstance, the want of a free communication of ideas; in conséquence of which many wrong words have been given; thus, lille is the Tonga word for good, but Cook gives my fogge (my foki), which means, give it me if you please: for a bead he gives, attahoa, which should be cahooa: he gives koooma (co-ooma) for the burnt circular marks in the skin; but this word means why? for what? whilst the proper word for those marks is lafa. For to sneeze, he gives efango (fafango), signifying, to blow the nose; the word for sneezing being mafatooa: for the head, ooloo pokko (oolooboco), which means the skull: for the number 100,000 he gives laoo noa (low-noa), which literally means nonsense, or foolish discourse! From at least fifty to a hundred other instances of this, out of the same Vocabulary might be quoted, and the same with Labillardiere's Vocabulary, of which, indeed, we have already noticed a few remarkable instances. With respect to the Malayan language, Mr Mariner has, with great diligence and attention, looked over the whole of the English part of Marsden's Malayan Dictionary, and has selected the following list of above sixty words, which bear a considerable resemblance to the corresponding Tonga words. It is here very worthy of remark, that those Tonga words which contain the sound of the letter f, have in its pace the letter p orb in the Malayan and the above author notices, in his Preface to the same excellent work, that the Malays not having the sound ƒ in their own language, generally substitute p for it in those adopted Arabic words where it occurs. • The transition from the f to the p, is perhaps more natural than may at first sight appear. ladder liver louse milk; also the breast to mix mosquito the nipple of the breast old ordure to choose yams to spring or grow up, as plants shaggy, hairy shame-faced Some nations confound the f with the v; others the v with the b, and others again the b with the p The Germans make little or no distinction between the sounds of f and v: the Spaniards have an intermediate sound of v and b, and the Tonga people of b and p. The word for land or country, is sounded by the Tonga people fonnooa; the word for the same idea among some of the Fiji people is vonnooa, whilst others of the same nation pronounce the first letter like the Spanish sound between v and b, and others again distinctly call it bonnooa, from which the transition to ponnova would evidently be very easy. In searching for analogies between the languages of the South Pacific Ocean, as they regard each other, and as they may have a relation to those of the Asiatic nations, it seems necessary to pay particular attention not only to the mutations of sound above noticed, but also to those between the land, the h and s, the hard g, k, and t, and probably some others: without such attention the eye and ear may be easily deceived, and overlook some very strong coincidences. My authority for the Fiji pronunciation above given, is Jeremiah Higgins, who was at those islands thirteen weeks. VOCABULARY, TONGA AND ENGLISH. (For the Rules of Pronunciation, see the Grammar.) Abé. Perhaps, likely. To kick; a kick. Achi. Through; bored through; to pierce through. When (used only in a Afí. To open by separation of parts, as the mouth, the hand. Who. Aco. To teach; bow. VOL II. Sandal wood. Ahi-ahi. To try, essay, endea vour; an essay or endeavour. Aho. Daylight; a day; the daytime; he aho coéni, to-day Aho-be. Daily. e |