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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 tangála, 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.

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; coo'la, 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 meauing, 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 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, goo'a lahi ánge he mé a coe'ni gi he me'a coía; 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, goơa lahi ánge Toobo' gía A'fuo; 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 togi be coéni goo'a lillé, ca goola 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, co'ë 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 gooa co'vi obíto, ca co'ë togi coéni goo'a 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 sub

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.

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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; néoo ofa, 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, good, comes before it, goola is changed into goo: as, goo ger mo'he, thou sleepest; na ger moʻhe, 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 mo’he, 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 mothe, he slept; instead of na mo'ḥe 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 dloo would mean almost gone.

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

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