ject 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 question, 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.

The personal pronouns, as Those governed by verbs or agents to verbs, prepositions, or used in answer to questions, &c.

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

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, goo'a te áloo, I go; goo'a te o'fa, I love or esteem. Oo is used only in the past and future tenses, and

is then usually joined in one word with the sign of the tense: as, néoo * áloo, I went; téoo* áloo, I shall go; néco o'fa, I loved or esteemed; téov olfa, 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, goo'a is changed into goo: as, goo ger mo'he, thou sleepest; na ger mo'he, thou didst sleep; te ger mo'he, thou shalt sleep.

4. Ia, he: this pronoun follows the verb in all the tenses: as, goo'amo' he ia, he sleeps; na mo'he ia, he slept; et mo'he ia, he shall sleep though sometimes ia is changed for ne, and which is then joined to the future tense: thus, ténne mohe, he shall sleep; ténne a'loo, he shall go; and in the past tense ia is sometimes omitted, and the sign na changed into nai: as, nai mo1he, he slept; instead of na mo'he ia.

5. Mow, we this pronoun comes between the sign of the tense and the verb: as, goo'a mow a'loo, 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

* The proper sign of the past tense is na, but in the first person 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 tété means almost, and tété áloo would mean almost gone.

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

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 alloo, 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, aco'y, and ai'a; as, teoo aloo gita, I will go myself; te ger a'loo coy, thou shalt go thyself; ténne a'loo ia*, he shall go himself (for this last, see rule 4); so much for the singular number: in respect to the following, attention must be paid to the circumstances of dual and plural numbers; if dual, those ending in oola 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

• If it were the past tense, as, he went himself, it would be ndi d'loo ie, for it would sound awkward to say, na dloe ia ia therefore one of the pronouns is dropped, and the sign na changed into na'i and it has already been mentioned that ndi may be adopted instead of na ia. See rule 4.

VOL. II.

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between mow and tow (see rules 5 and 6); as, te mow a'loo gimolwood, we will go our (two) selves, (i. e. without you); te mow aloo gimowto'loo, we will go our (three or more) selves, (i. e. without you); te tow a'loo gito'wooa, we will go our two selves (i. e. you and I); te tow a'loo gitorto'loo, 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 a'loo gimoooa, ye shall go ye (two) selves; te mo aloo gimotoloo, ye shall go, ye (three or more) selves; te now aloo gino'wooa, they shall go, them (two) selves; te now a'loo ginowtoloo, 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, acoly, and aia; while those which must have it are, au, co'y, and ia: as, who did it? co au, I; co coy, thou; co ia, he or gita, I; acoy, thou; aía, 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 giate (to, towards), occurs before a personal pronoun in the singular number, it must be rendered into Tonga by those which, in the above rul:,

♦ 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 an indefinite number of persons.

had the particle co before them, though in this that particle will be omitted; as giate au, towards me; giate coy, towards thee; giate ia, towards him. In the dual and plural numbers they are all used in like manuer; as, gi'ate gimo'wooa; gi'ate ginowto'loo, &c.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.

These, in the singular number, do not seem to have much reference to the personal pronouns, except ai'a, his, which appears to be derived from ia, he. In the dual and plural numbers they are exactly the same as the personal pronouns of both classes; as,

Indefinite plural, i. e. either dual or plural.

Our (not thy or your)

Mow.