The Tonga nouns cannot be said to have the signs of cases, or any sort of declension; and although the particle gi has frequently a dative signification, it much more frequently is to be taken in the sense of a preposition. The genitive case, where the proper name of a person is used, is often expressed by the sign a, as, Finow's speech, Mafa'nga a Finow but in this example, viz. the name of the person, there is no sign, as, he hingo'a he jie'na, i. e. the name, the person. There is one more remark to make in regard to nouns expressing animate natures, (whether intelligent or not); but as this regards rather the personal pronouns which are used for them, we shall only mention it here by the way, and speak more fully upon the subject under the proper head. The remark to be made is, that when such pronouns are the subjects of a verb, or of a question, as (speaking of dogs for instance), give THEM to me; or in the question, what did you do with THEM? they admit either of a dual or plural number, accordingly as there are two or more: the dual number of the third personal pronoun (in the above sense) being gino'wooa, and the plural number, gino'wtoloo. But more of this hereafter.

ADJECTIVES.

The words of this class, for a general rule (not without exceptions), follow the substantives whose qualities they express: as, he tangáta lillé, a good man; he tógi machíla, a sharp axe. They have no distinction of gender or number: as, cow tangáta lillé, good men; cow fafine lillé, good women; lahi he tógi machila, several sharp axes.

In the exceptions to the rule that the adjective follows the substantive, it never comes immediately before the substantive except in one or two instances, that we can discover, and that is with the adjective (and sometimes adverb), foo,

great, very; and foe, whole, entire, single; which always comes immediately before its substantives: as foo lahi*, very many, or it may be translated, as an adverb, exceedingly great; foo ita, great anger, or as it may also be rendered, very angry. Fóe oóloo a single head, or the whole head; fóe oofi, a single yam, or an entire yam. In other instances, where the adjective precedes the substantive, some word or words always intervene: of this we have an instance in one of the examples to the former rule, viz. láhi he toʻgi machila ; where the adjective machila immediately follows its noun, serving to illustrate that rule; and the adjective la'hi comes before the noun, serving to illustrate the present rule, where it is seen that something intervenes, viz. the article he : but for another instance, we have this: viz. he has many axes, goóa láhi enne tógi, i. e. are many his axes†; here the possessive pronoun enne (his) comes between the adjective and substantive.

The adjective in this, as well as other languages, is often used for a substance: as, I regard those brave men, ginowtóloo tóa goóa te ófa ángit, i. e. (to) those brave (men) do I esteem give: here it is seen that the adjective tóa, brave, is

* Lahi may also mean great or large: in these examples we have instances of the indeterminate nature of the elements of the Tonga language.

† In this example goóa is the sign of the present tense, and as it has a plural signification, we translate it by the word are.

Here the word ginowtóloo implies that three or more persons are spoken of; had there been only two, it would have been in the dual number: thus, ginówooa, them two, those two, &c. The word úngi may admit of two meanings; it may either be the verb to give, or the preposition towards: if the first, then ófa (esteem) must be a substantive, as above translated; but if angi be the preposition, then ófa must be the verb, to esteem, to feel esteem, and the sentence may be thus translated: those brave (men) I feel esteem towards. See ángi, under VERBS.

used as a substantive, signifying brave men, tangáta being understood.

On the other hand, substances are often used as adjectives: thus, tangáta, a man, often signifies manly: as, he jïéna tangátu, a manly person, i. e. a person being such as a man ought to be; he váca Fiji, a Fiji canoe.

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

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

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They are also sometimes formed by repeating the substantive as lólo, oil; lólo-lólo, 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 coóloo-coóloo, a species of dove; a'lo, to hunt; álo-álo, to fan; boói, (no meaning); toći-boo'i, a screen; coolla, beads; coola-coola, red; hina, a bottle; hina-hina, white; lille', good; lille-lille', 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 ánge to the adjective; and the superlative mostly by the addition of the

word obito, exceedingly. As to the word ánge, 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, better; lille 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 principal 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, goo'a lille ánge he mea coe'ni gi he me'a coía: the word gi, which literally means to, towards, we may translate than, in conformity with our idiom of speech. This is greater than that, goo'a lahi ánge he mé a coe'ni gi he me'a 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, Toobo' is taller than A'foo, gooa lahi ánge Toobo' gia A'foo; i. e. is taller (more tall, more great) Toobo' than A'foo. Finow is a greater chief than Toobo' in rendering this into Tonga, the word egi, a chief, becomes an adjective, and the word ange will follow it accordingly as, goola e'gi ánge Finow gía Toobo; i. e. is chiefer Finow than Toobo.

The superlative degree is signified for the most part by

the word obito, most, very, exceedingly: as, this axe is the best, co'ë togi coe'ni 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, co'ë to'gi be coéni goo'a 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, co'ë to'gi be coéni goo'a lillé, ca goo'a co'vi foo'libe' ginowto'loo: i. e. the axe only this is good, for are bad all them or what is a more usual form of expression, goo'a co'vi foo'libe' he to'gi, co'ë to'gi be coe'ni goo'a 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, coë to'gi cöe'ni goola 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 co'vi, bad, with obito also attached, according to this form: coë to'gi foo'libé coéni god'a co'vi obíto, ca co'ë togi coéni goo'a lillé obíto, obíto; 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 sub