Adjectives are for the most part the same as the substantives from which they have derived their signification; as lillé, good, goodness; lillé, good (the adj.); covi, evil; covi, bad, &c.

They are frequently, however, formed from the substantive, by the addition of ia, or ca: as mafanna, warmth, heat; mafannaia, warm, hot; and where the substantive ends in e, they are mostly formed by the addition of the letter a: as gele, mud, clay; gelea muddy, clayey.

They are also sometimes formed by repeating the substantive: as lolo, oil; lolololo, oily: but it will be difficult to avoid being deceived by this rule, for there are many instances where the double word is a substantive; many where it is a verb; many where the single word has no meaning at all, not being used; others where the single word has a meaning very different from the double word: sometimes the word is doubled to increase the degree of a quality, &c. as cooloo-cooloo, a species of dove; alo, to hunt; alo-alo, to fan; booi, (no meaning); booi-booi, & screen; coola, beads; coola-coola, red; hina, a bottle; hindhina, white; lillé, good; lillé-lillé, very good. The vocabulary must be often referred to, to decide this rule.

DEGREES OF COMPARISON.

What is properly called the comparative degree in this language, is formed by the addition of the word ange to the adjec tive; and the superlative mostly by the addition of the word ohito, exceedingly. As to the word ange, it is often used to signify against, leaning against: and also like, similar to: allowing a little latitude to the first meaning, it may easily be conceived to signify being opposed to, or compared with; and this is the sense in which it must be taken, in quality of a sign of the comparative degree. It is also often used as a sign of adverbs, according to its other meaning, viz. like, similar to, after the manner of. As to the word obito, it requires no farther explanation at present; for its simple signification, exceedingly, is clearly appropriated to express the superlative degree. Both these signs of degrees follow the adjective; as, lillé, good; lillé ange, bet ter; lillé obito, best, or exceedingly good.

For an example of the comparative degree we will say, this thing is better than that. To render this into Tonga, the prin cipal circumstance to be attended to is the arrangement of the words; the substantive verb, or rather the sign of the present tense, will come first, and the whole sentence will run thus:is better the thing this, than the thing that; gooa lille ange he mea coeni gi he mea coia; the word gi, which literally means to, towards, we may translate than, in conformity with our idiom of speech. This is greater than that, gooa lahi ange he mea soení

gi he mea coia, i. e. is greater the thing this to the thing that, or than the thing that.

But when the subject with which the comparison is made is a proper name, the connective gi, which joins the subjects of comparison, is changed to gia; as, Toobó is taller than Afoo, good lahi ange Toobó gia Afoo; i. e. is taller (more tall, more great) Toobó than Afoo. Finow is a greater chief than Toobó. In rendering this into Tonga, the word egi, a chief, becomes an adjective, and the word ange will follow it accordingly; as, gooa egi ange Finów gia Toobo; i. e. is chiefer Finow than Toobó.

The superlative degree is signified for the most part by the word obito, most, very, exceedingly; as, this axe is the best, coe togi coeni gooa lillé obito; i. e. the axe this is good exceedingly. But the word obito may be left out, and be (only) used in its stead, according to this form, this axe only is good, which will have exactly the same meaning as the foregoing example, for it will not imply that the others are bad, but that they are not good (or inferior) compared to it; for example, coe togi be coeni gooa lillé, this axe is the best, or, literally, the axe only this is good.

If, in reference to the last example given, it were intended to be implied that the axes with which the good one was compared were absolutely bad, this additional circumstance would likewise be expressed; as, this axe is the only good one among them, coe togi be coeni gooa lille, ca gooa covi foólibé ginówtóloo; i. e. the axe only this is good, for are bad all they; or what is a more usual form of expression, good covi foólibé he togi, coe togi be coeni gooa lille; i. e. are bad all the axes, the axe only this is good. It seems rather an inconsistency to say all the axes are bad, and in the same sentence to acknowledge one of them to be good. This, however, is the Tonga idiom.

When it is required to express the superlative degree in a very extended sense, the word obito is repeated; and if it is so exceeding as to be in a manner almost beyond comparison, it is repeated twice; as, coi togi coeni gooa lille obito obito, obito. But if the axes with which this exceeding good axe is compared are, on the other hand, exceedingly bad, this is to be expressed by the word covi, bad, with obito also attached, according to this form; coe togi foólibé coeni gooa covi obito, ca coe togi coeni gooa lillé obito, obito; which, word for word, is thus, the axes all these are bad exceedingly, but the axe only this is good exceedingly, exceedingly.

Lastly, the form of the superlative degree may be used even though there be only one more axe, or whatever subject it may be, to compare it with; but this is a matter of mere choice, for the form either of the comparative or superlative degree may be used in such a case indiscriminately.

PRONOUNS.

The Tonga language may be said to have four kinds of pronouns, viz. personal, possessive, interrogative, and demonstrative. 1. There are two kinds of personal pronouns: 1st, Those which come before verbs, or at least are agents, as, I go; we went; they love: 2dly, Those which either are the subjects of a verb, as, strike him; love her; or are used in answer to a ques tion, as, who goes? I; who sings? he; or are used more strongly to identify the agent, like the pronouns myself, thyself, &c. in English, when they are used in addition to the true personal pronouns; as, I myself will go, &c.

We shall speak of these several pronouns in their proper or. der, and first of those which are the agents to verbs.

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2. Te and oo. Te is only used as the agent of a verb in the present tense, and comes between the sign of the tense and the verb; as, gooa te aloo, I go; gooa te ofa, I love or esteem. is used only in the past and future tenses, and is then usually joined in one word with the sign of the tense; as, neoo * aloo, I went; teoo aloo, I shall go; neoo ofa, I loved or esteemed; teoo ofa, I shall love or esteem.

3. Ger, thou. This pronoun is used in all the tenses, and comes between the sign of the tense and the verb. The principal thing to be observed respecting it is, that when the sign of the present tense, gooa, comes before it, gooa is changed into goo; as, goo ger mohe, thou sleepest; na ger mohe, thou didst sleep; te ger mohe, thou shalt sleep.

* The proper sign of the past tense is na, but in the first per son where oo is joined with it, it is changed into ne. The pronoun te is changed into oo in the future tense, probably because te is also the sign of that tense; and a repetition of the word te would be ambiguous, as tete means almost, and tete aloo would mean almost gone.

4. Ia, he. This pronoun follows the verb in all the tenses; as, gooa mohe ia, he sleeps; na mohe ia, he slept; e* mohe ia, he shall sleep; though sometimes ia is changed for ne, and which is then joined to the sign of the future tense; thus, tenne mohe, he shall sleep; tenne aloo, he shall go; and in the past tense ia is sometimes omitted, and the sign na changed into nai; as, nai mohe, he slept, instead of na mohe ia.

5. Mow, we. This pronoun comes between the sign of the tense and the verb; as, gooa mow aloo, we are going, &c.; but the use of it is limited to those instances in which the person spoken to is not included; as, when one person tells another that himself and others owe him much respect, saying, we greatly esteem you, the pronoun mow must be used, because the person spoken to is not involved in the sense of the word we. (See the following.)

6. Tow, we.

This comes also between the sign and the verb; its use is, however, restricted to those instances where the person addressed is meant to be included; as when one person reminds another that both of them are to go somewhere, to do something, &c.; as, we (i. e. thou and I) are going the wrong way; or, we (i. e. thou and I) are sitting here idle. In short, mow is always used in this sense, viz. I and he, or I and they; and tow is always used in this, viz. I and thou, or I and you, or I, thou, and they, or I, you, and they, &c.

7. Mo, ye; now, they. There are no particular observations to make respecting these pronouns; for examples of their use, te mo aloo, ye shall go; na now nofo, they remained, where it is seen they are placed between the sign of the tense and the verb.

In regard to the second column of pronouns, they are used either in addition to the first, the better to identify the person, by laying a greater stress; or to distinguish the dual from the plural number; or in answer to the question who? or as the subjects of a preposition.

When a particular stress is intended to be laid, as I myself, thou thyself, &c. any of these pronouns may be used in addition to the corresponding ones in the first column, with the exceptions of au, acóy, and äía; as, teoo aloo gita, I will go myself; te ger aloo coy, thou shalt go thyself; tenne aloo ia, † he

Te, the sign of the future tense, makes e in the third person singular.

If it were the past tense, as, he went himself, it would be nai aloo ia, for it would sound awkward to say, na aloo ia ia; therefore one of the pronouns is dropped, and the sign na changed

shall go himself (for this last see rule 4), so much for the sîngular number. In respect to the following, attention must be paid to the circumstances of dual and plural numbers; if dual, those ending in ooa are to be used; if three or more individuals are included, those ending in toloo must be adopted. In the first person dual and plural, attention must also be paid to the differences of signification between mow and tow (see rules 5 and 6); as, te mow aloo gimówooa, we will go our (two) selves, (i. e. without you); te mow aloo gimówtóloo, we will go our (three or more) selves, (i. e. without you); te tow aloo gitówooa, we will go our two selves (i. e. you and I); te tow aloo gitówtóloo, we will go our (three or more) selves, (i. e. including the person spoken to, and others, so as to make at least the number three); te mo aloo gimóooa, ye shall go ye (two) selves; te mo aloo gimótoloo, ye shall go ye (three or more) selves; te now aloo ginówooa, they shall go them (two) selves; te now aloo ginówtóloo, they shall go them (three or more) selves. * This rule, therefore, not only serves to strengthen the sense, but also to mark the dual and plural numbers where it is necessary to do so.

In regard to these pronouns, as being used in answer to the question who? it must be observed, that some of them in the singular number must have the particle co before them, others must not; and those in the dual and plural numbers may either have it or not, according to the option of the speaker. Those which cannot have the particle co are gita, acoy, and aia, while those which must have it are au, coy, and ia; as, who did it? co au, I; co coy, thou; co ia, he; or gita, I; acóy, thou; äía, he, without the co. Gita is seldom used but in very familiar conversation, and is rather to be considered a vulgarism. Any of those in the dual and plural numbers may be used either with or without co, care being paid to the circumstance of two or more, and to the habits of mow and tow.

Whenever the preposition gíate (to, towards) occurs before a personal pronoun in the singular number, the pronoun must be rendered into Tonga by those which, in the above rule, had the particle co before them, though in this that particle will be omitted; as giate au, towards me; giate coy, towards thee; gíate ia, towards him. In the dual and plural numbers they are all used in like manner; as, gíate gimówooa; gíate ginowtóloo, &c.

into nai; and it has already been mentioned that nai may be adopted instead of na ia. See rule 4.

It may here be remarked, that ooa, in these compound words, is the numeral two, and toloo the numeral three; but the pronouns compounded of the latter are used for any number of persons above two.