transferring or giving is signified, or motion towards is implied, they may be used in the present tense if the sense require it. Thus ofa means to love: but for I love you, it is not sufficient to say, gooa te ofa coy; the verb atoo must also be used: example, gooa te ofa atoo giate coy; literally, I love give to you; gooa te ofa angi giate ia, I love give to her: in which two examples, if atoo and angi be considered verbs, then ofa assumes the character of a noun; but if they be considered prepositions, then ofa remains a verb, and the literal translation will run thus: I love towards to you; I love towards to her; in which giate (to) will appear superfluous. But it is not of much consequence whether they are verbs or prepositions, provided we understand how to use them. The best rule to be given is, that when the pure simple act of giving or making a present is signified, they are used without any other verb, as teoo atoo ia giate coy, will give it to thee; and, in this case, either the past or the future tense must be used as the sense will best indicate. In respect to their junction with other verbs, it is ge nerally either with verbs neuter, expressing motion towards, as to fly, to swim, to walk, to go, &c., or with such other verbs, the Tonga words for which may be used either as nouns or verbs, and being nouns, may be conceived to be transferred, or, at least, to be directed from one object towards another; thus ofa means, to love; also love; jio means, to see, or look at; also, a look: ta means, to strike; also a stroke, or blow, &c. as, Teoo ofa angi giate ia: I shall love give to her; or, I shall love towards to her. Neoo jio atoo giate coy: He a look gave to thee, or, he looked towards at thee. Na ta my ia giate au: He a blow gave to me; or, he struck towards at me. In these instances the words my, atoo, and angi, are perhaps best translated as verbs of giving, transferring, or directing towards; but when they are joined with verbs of motion, they appear to assume more of the character of prepositions. Na boona atoo he manoo giate coy: Flew towards the bird to thee; i. e. the bird flew towards thee. Neoo lelle angi gi he falle: I ran towards to the house. Na lelle my ia giate au: Ran towards he to me; i. e. he ran towards me. In both cases, the words my, atoo, and angi, immediately follow the verb or noun to which they belong; and if the agent of rb be in the third person, whether a pronoun, a proper any thing else, it always comes after atoo, my, or two of the examples last given, he manoo (the bird) and ia (he) follows my. They also form parts of compound words: as tálamy', talatoo, and talangi, which signify to tell, say, or disclose; but the first, from tala and my, means, to inform me or us; the second, from tala and atoo, to inform thee, or you; the third, from tala and angi, to inform him, her, them. As the words my, atoo, and angi, involve the idea of the person, the personal pronoun is often not expressed; as, my means, give to me, instead of saying, my giate au. ADVERBS. Most of the adverbs are formed from adjectives by the addition of fucca (mode, or manner), or ange (like, or similar to): when the former is used, it constitutes the first part of the adverb; when the latter is adopted, it forms the latter part: for examples, In the formation of the greater part of adverbs that are thus derived, these affixes may be used indifferently; or, to speak more explicitly, any of them may be formed by ange, used as a suffix, and the greater part by fucca, used as a prefix: but as fucca is often employed to form verbs and adjectives, as may be seen in the Vocabulary by the list of words beginning with it, the adoption of it is not so safe as that of ange: for instance, lillé means good; but fucca lillé means peace, peaceful, to make a peace; we must therefore say, lillé ange, for well. As there are several adverbs, chiefly those of time and place, which are not formed according to the foregoing rules, it would be well to subjoin a list of them. Be. Only. Iký obito. Not at all. Behe; tattów be. In like man- Abé. ner. Tete. Almost. Fefe. How. Fooa-be. Universally; wholly. Together. Malíe. Well. Gi-fé; í-fe. Where; whither. Gebe; gehe-gehe. Separately. Hena. There; that place. Without. Thither; to Tow-botoo gi hena. On that side. Gehe. Differently; elsewhere; otherwise. Gi-botoo; tow-botoo. On one He aho coeni; he ahoni. To day. side. Gi-hage; gi-aloonga. Upwards. Aho-be; ahoange-be. Daily. Gi-hifo; gi-lalo. Downwards. Abongi-bongi. To-morrow. Gi-mooa; mooa-ange. For- Anibó. Last night. wards; in front; in presence Aniafi. Yesterday. of. Toki. Lately. Gi-matów. To the right hand. Tegichí. Not yet; before that. Afe. When (in a future sense). Cówcá. Whilst (only used with Lolotonga. Whilst (only used with the second and third persons). Tóë. Again; over again. PREPOSITIONS. There are but few words that, strictly speaking, come under this head; and some of those that do are often not expressed. There are many others that partake so much of the nature of adverbs, that they are classed accordingly. My My; atoo; angi. To, towards. The use of these has been already explained under the head of verbs. (See VERBS). always precedes the first personal pronoun expressed or understood: atoo, the second personal pronoun: angi, the third, or any noun. Gi; gia; giate. To, at, among. These three words have the same signification; but gi is used before nouns and proper names of places; gia before the proper names of persons; and giate before pronouns. Gi, and gia, also signify than, being used to connect the two terms of comparison: before the proper names of persons, gia must be used. Gi signifies likewise, against, opposite; and about, or concern ing. Mo. With, along with, besides: it is also the conjunction is, moreover, the pronoun you, your. Tai. Without; destitute of; not having. This particle is in very frequent use as a deprivative, joined to other words, like our particles in, un, il, less, &c.: it always precedes the word to which it is joined. Ofi. By; at hand; near to. Me. From; as, from Vavaoo to Lefooga. A. Of, or belonging to; but it is only used before proper names of persons and places; as, malanga a Toobó, the speech of Toobo: he gnatoo a Vavaoo, the gnatoo of Vavaoo. Ma. For; it is very commonly used before the possessive pronoun, when adopted instead of the personal, as, instead of saying, my ia giate au, give it to me, we may say, my ia ma acoo give it for my. INTERJECTIONS. In respect to these, we need only give a list of those that are in common use. Oiao! exclamation of surprise. (This is a word of four syllables.) Seoóke! of surprise or astonishment; the oo is dwelt long upon. Seooké! Seookéle! Oiáooé! Of pity, pain, or distress; dwelling very long upon the é. Oiáoo! the same as above; dwelling long upon the oo as well as the a. Aw-i! of pity, pain. Wói! of wonder. Wi! of disgust; fye! Isa! of anger, vexation, and rage; dwelling long upon the i. Tangi möóni! a sort of oath; solemnly declaring the truth. Fíamo-aloo! begone; out of my sight. Né-né! no wonder. Io! yes indeed; well. In respect to further combinations of these numbers, they run thus: 11 ongofooloo ma taha. 101 teaoo ma taha. 121 teaoo ma ooafooloo ma taha. 21 ooafooloo ma taha. 22 ooafooloo ma ooa. 1001 afe ma taha. 1100 afe ma tëáoo. 95,741 Hiva mano, ma nima afe, ma fitoo gnëáoo, ma fa ongoofooloo, ma taha: that is, nine ten-thousands, and five thousand, and seven hundred, and four tens, and one. * It must be observed, that there are two words for ten, viz. ongofooloo and ooloo, which may be used indifferently for that number simply; but in combinations the former only can be adopted. For twenty there are also two words, viz. ooa ongofooloo, and ooafooloo, either of which may be employed in combination with the digits. In regard to the number of a hundred, tëáoo, it is never used in the plural, gneάoo being substituted for it: thus, 200 cannot be expressed by ooa tëáoo, but ooa gnëáoo. In counting out yams and fish, they reckon by pairs, in the particular method explained in the Vocabulary under the word teców. What are called ordinal numbers they express by putting the article he immediately before the number. This indeed is one Their capability of expressing such high numbers in this decimal mode appears to be suspected by some readers; but we ought to reflect, that a people who are in the frequent habit of counting out yams, &c. to the amount of one, two, or three housand, must become tolerably good numerators, by finding some method of rendering the task of counting more easy. |