These, it is presumed, will be found sufficient to give the reader a just idea of the nature and genius of the Tonga language; and will sufficiently enable him to compare it with others, to which it may be supposed to have some affinity ; as the Malay, for instance, or bereafter, perhaps, with those of the Fiji, the Sandwich, and the Society Islands ; of each of which places we ought, in a few years, to have some better account than we have bitherto had; for there are English and American people who have been resident at those several clusters of islands for a number of years, and, of course, ought to be perfectly acquainted with the customs, and tolerably well versed in their language. There is no doubt but the farther inquiry is carried into the history of the South Seas, the more clearly it will appear that a very strong relationship exists between the natives of the different islands, notwithstanding the distance of their geographical situations. Affinities between their several languages have been already shown by Cook and other navigators, but under a very disadvantageous circumstance, the want of a free communication of ideas; in consequence of which many wrong words have been given ; thus, lille is the Tonga word for good, but. Cook gives my fogge (my foki), which means, give it me if you please : for a bead he gives, attahoa, which should be cahooa: he gives koooma (co-ooma) for the burnt circular marks in the skin; but this word means why? for what ? whilst the proper word for those marks is lafa. For to sneeze, he gives efango (fafango), signifying, to blow the nose ; the word for sneezing being mafatooa : for the head, ooloo pokko (oolooboco), which means the skull: for the number 100,000 he gives laoo noa (low-noa), which literally means nonsense, or foolish discourse ! From at least fifty to a hundred other iostances of this, out of the same Vocabulary might be quoted, and the same with Labillardiere's Vocabulary, of which, indeed, we have already noticed a few remarkable instances. With respect to the Malayan language, Mr Mariner has, with great diligence and attention, looked over the whole of the English part of Marsden's Malayan Dictionary, and has selected the following list of above sixty words, which bear a considerable resemblance to the corresponding Tonga words. It is here very worthy of remark, that those Tonga words which contain the sound of the letter f, have in its pace the letter p or b in the Malayan : and the above author notices, in his Preface to the same excellent work, that the Malays pot having the sound f in their own language, generally substitute p for it in those adopted Arabic words where it occurs. * The transition from the f to the p, is perhaps more natural TONGA, ENGLISH fish nima lima five lango langau a fly, (the insect) lae dahi forehead fooa buah fruit matangi angin wind matta kikila mata bilas goggle-eyed fooloo bulu hair of the body ;-down ooloo ulu the head toonga tangga ladder ate ati liver gootoo kutu louse hoohoo susu milk; also the breast mara misfortune paloo palu to mix namoo niamok mosquito matta he hooho mata susu the nipple of the breast motooa tuah old tae tai ordure fili pilih to choose oofi ubi yams tooboo tumbuh to spring or grow up, as plants fooloo-fooloo ber bulu shaggy, hairy malu shame-faced mala ma the p. V than may at first sight appear. Some nations confound the fi with the v; others the v with the b, and others again the b with The Germans make little or no distinction between the sounds of f and v: the Spaniards have an intermediate sound of and b, and the Tonga people of b and p. The word for land or country, is sounded by the Tonga people fonnooa ; the word for the same idea among some of the Fiji people is vonnooa, whilst others of the same nation pronounce the first letter like the Spanish sound between v and b, and others again distinctly call it bonnooa, from which the transition to ponnooa would evi, dently be very easy. In searching for analogies between the Janguages of the South Pacific Ocean, as they regard each other, and as they may have a relation to those of the Asiatic nations, it seems necessary to pay particular attention' not only to the mutations of sound above noticed, but also to those between the l and 1, the h and s, the hard g, k, and t, and probably some others: without such attention the eye and ear may be easily deceived, and overlook some very strong coincidences. My authority for the Fiji pronunciation above given, is Jeremiah Higgins, who was at those islands thirteen weeks. TONGA. MALAYAN lari ENGLISH. to rin aged, ancient ashes bald begone! the blade or edge of a knife, &c, to blaze blear-eyed a mole in the skin a bow a board two to chew to choose, to select land or country to weep, to shed tears dead deaf TONGA. The following are nearly alike in sound, but have some little shade of difference in their meaning. MALAYAN. Toonoo; to roast. Tunu; to burn. Low papa; a board. Loh papan; a copy-book or table Fooloo he matta; the eyebrow. Bulu mata ; eyelashes. Acoo; the poss. pron. mine. Aku; 1. Mamáta; to inspect, to view. Mata-mata ; an inspector. Tacábe ; poor, friendless. Ter-chabe ; ragged. wise. Budi ; wisdom. Cata; to laugh. Kata ; to speak. Boto-boto; round. Bontar; around. Boto; (For the Rules of Pronunciation, see the Grammar.) any kind. ACO AHO A. A fence. Aców-fanna-gooma ; a sporting A. Of or belonging to, (used bow. only before proper names of Aców-vaoo. A kind of spear. persons and places), as Fi-Acóy. You: used only when now's speech, coe malanga a it is the subject of the verb, or Finow. in answer to the question who? A'a. To awake. A-éna. The relative pronoun A'anga. Pincers or forceps of that : it is more usual, how ever, to say, co-ena. A spider. A-éni. The relative pronoun Abé. Perhaps, likely. this : it is more usual, howAbi. Habitation ; home, ever, to say, co-eni. Abó. To-night. Afá. A hurricane, a storm; A'fe. A thousand. Afé. When (used only in a Achi. Through; bored through; future sense.) to pierce through. Afe-nima; see Afi-nima. Aco. To teach; also to learn. Afi. Fire. Acoo. My own; in composi- Afí. To open by separation of tion it can only follow my, to parts, as the mouth, the hand. give me, as my ia ma acoo, Afi-nima. The palm of the hand. give it me, or literally, give Afi-váë. The sole of the foot. it for my own. Ahái ? Who. Fow aców, a tree or plant. Ahi-ahi. To try, essay, endeaAców-awla. A particular kind vour; an essay or endeavour. Aho. Daylight ; a day; the Aców-fanna. A bow. daytime; he aho coéni, to-day; Aców-fanna-tangata. A war- A'hoángebé. Daily, bow. Aho-be. Daily of spear. e Ahoo. Smoke; soot. Amoochia. See Hamoochia. A'hooía. Sooted; smeared with Ana. A cavern; a ship's cabin. soot; browned with smoke. His own : it can only Ai. There, in that place, (gi. be used in composition with ai is the more proper word). angi, to give to him, as angi Aía. The pronoun he, used only ia ma ana, give it to him, or after the verb ; or in answer literally, give it for his own. to the question whọ ? also the Anga. A shark. possessive pronoun his. Place or situation of Ala. Applicable, fit, suitable. any thing. Ala. A term of appeal to draw The disposition or tem attention, mostly used by chil- per of the mind. dren ; a term of solicitation. Anga covi. Bad disposition ; Alanga. A haunch; a limb, ill-natured; disobliging. Ali. Bald. A term applied only Anga lillé. Good disposition; to the parts of generation. good-natured obliging; chaAlo. The suet of a hog ; also ritable, the circular piece cut out Anga. Habit, custom, knack. round the navel of the hog, Anga-bé. Custom, habit, pecuto embowel it. liarity: quality or property. Alo. To hunt ; to paddle. Ange. Against, leaning against Alo-alo. To fan. Alike, similar to each Alofía. A volcano. other : a frequent sign of the Aloo. To go, to depart: get adverb : also a sign of the along! begone! comparative degree. The gait or walk. Ange-bé. Like to, (one thing Alooá. To persist in motion ; being compared with another, to go on. see angeco), just like. Alooanga. The footsteps of Ange-co. As, alike, (one action man, or any animal ; the track being compared with another.) left by any thing moving. Angi. To give: used only Alooangi. To proceed, (as to when the third person follows locomotion), progression. the verb, as to give him, give Aloo-hage. To ascend. them. When the first person Aloo-hifo. To descend, alight. follows the verb, as give me, * Aloonga. High, lofty. my is used instead ; and when A pillow ; any thing the second person follows, as to rest the head on. I'll give you; atoo is used. Amo. To carry on a stick be Towards ; but like the tween two men's shoulders : above, only used when it has a the stick so used is also called relation to the third person, as, umo. If a man singly carries aloo angi, go towards him. any thing upon a stick across Aniafi . Yesterday. shoulders, it is called amo. A'nibo. Yesternight. fooa. [forcibly. Anifé. When, (used only in a To snatch, to pluck past sense). |
0 Anmeldelser Anmeldelserne verificeres ikke af Google, men Google tjekker indholdet og fjerner det, hvis det er falsk. Skriv anmeldelse |