vowels, a, e, i, o, u, and the twelve consonants, b, d, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, w. The missionaries add, moreover, that five of these might very well be dispensed with, namely, b, d, r, t, v. The sounds of these letters are sometimes heard, but yet so indistinctly, that they may be supplied by others, that is, p may be used for b, l for d and r, k for t, and w for v.* From these facts is seen what exceeding simplicity prevails in the sounds of the language. To exemplify this statement, in regard to the use of one letter for another, it is mentioned, that when the name of the late king was first printed, it was shown to him in two forms of orthography, expressing the two modes in which it was pronounced, that is, Rihoriho and Liholiho. When desiredto determine, which should be the uniform mode, he decided on the former. The language abounds so much in vowels and liquids, and one sound slides so imperceptibly into another, that it is often difficult to mark the precise shade of difference. In the name of the king, for instance, it would frequently not be easy to tell whether it was pronounced after the first or second mode of spelling. It may be remarked, however, that this indistinctness will gradually disappear, as a written language becomes known, for as each letter has a definite sound, the ear will become accustomed to it, and the organs of speech familiarized to its use.

It is remarkable, that in the Tahitian and Hawaiian languages, every syllable, and consequently every word, ends with a vowel. Whether the same rule is applicable in so great a latitude to the other Polynesian dialects, has not been fully ascertained. No Tahitian can pronounce a word accurately, which ends in a consonant; his voice slides irresistibly into a vowel sound. Thus the names of the Missionaries, Nott and Ellis, were pronounced Notti and Eliki, the k in the latter being substituted for s, which the natives cannot sound. Hence, as syllables often begin and always end with a vowel, it is obvious that there must be a perpetual concurrence of vowel sounds, which renders the pronunciation of words hard to be acquired, although each sound is extremely simple in itself. The difficulty consists in making new combinations of sounds already familiar; which is much less, after all, than that of first moulding the organs to new sounds, and then to strange combinations, as must be the case with every Polynesian, who attempts to learn English.

* See Missionary Herald, vol. xix, p. 42.

But we have no space here, to enter into an investigation of the grammatical or philosophical principles of these dialects, even if we were adequate to such a task. From a superficial examination, however, it may safely be affirmed, that, compared with other languages, whether ancient or modern, the Polynesian exhibits features novel, curious, and peculiar, distinguishing it by strong marks of difference from every other known tongue. It is not likely, that any other unwritten language exists, which is so widely diffused; and certainly none, spoken by so many distinct tribes of men, and at the same time with so little variation of dialect. The subject is yet in the dark. When its intricacies shall be fully developed, the result will possibly lead to a discovery of the origin of the Polynesian race, and its affinity with the other branches of the human family; and, still further, to the solution of the long agitated problem, the first peopling of the American continent.

Ás an illustration of the general principles of orthography, which have been introduced, and as an example of the striking resemblance of the different dialects, we quote the following translations. They embrace three of the primary dialects, of which grammars have been formed, namely, the Hawaiian, the Tahitian, and that of New Zealand. The first extract is from the Appendix to the volume we have been reviewing; and the Hymn that follows is taken from a little collection, published three years ago at Oahu, one of the Sandwich Islands. It is a metrical paraphrase, as we understand it, of the closing verses of the one hundred and eighteenth Psalm, from the twentyfourth verse to the end.

Makou iho olelo maitai a Jeho

va.

We have recently heard the good word of Jehovah.

Uu ike au a pau roa i ko palapala. I understood even all your letter.

Hymn.

Ua hiti mai ka la maitai,

Ua hele hou mai kakou nei,
Hoorea ke Arii o ke ao,

Ke Akua nui o kakou.

No ke Akua keia la,
I tabu roa no Kela,
Ko kakou hana waiho nae,
Pela IEHOVA 'papa mai.

E oluolu pu kakou,
Hauoli ko kakou naau,
'Kona hoavi ana mai
Na kakou nei ka Sabati.

Himeni pono 'ku kakou,
Pule me ko kakou naau;
Hoolono 'Kona kanawai,
Ke olelo a Iesu Kraist.

TAHITIAN DIALECT.

The example heré selected is from a translation of the Acts of the Apostles, printed at Tahaa, one of the Society Islands, in the year 1823. It is part of the exordium to St Paul's speech before Agrippa. Acts xxvi. 6, 7, 8, 9.

E teie nei no te tiaturi i ta te Atua i parau mai i to tatou hui tubuna ra, i tia'i au nei ma te haavahia mai.

Ta to matou ïa mau obu tino ahuru mapiti i hinaaro ia noaa, i haamori noa'i i te Atua i te rui e te ao no taua tiaturi ra, e te arii e Ageripa, i parihia mai ai au e te ati Iuda nei.

Eaha i manao ai outou e, e mea tia ore ia faaroo e, e faatia faahou te Atua i tei pohe?

E manao mau hoi to'u i roto ia'uiho i mutaaiho ra,e ia rahi to'u patoi adu i te ioa o Iesu o Nazareta ra e tia'i.

And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers;

Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come: for which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.

Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?

I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

NEW ZEALAND DIALECT.

This extract is part of a prayer, as contained in Lee's Grammar of the New Zealand Language.

E Jihóva! e Atúa núi koe. Nếu te máhinga katóa tánga ki dúnga ki te rángi ki ráro ki te wenúa.

Pai ráwa tóu e ánga ki te tángata. Náu ra óki te tángata; tóna áha óki, me tóna waidúa óki.

E e ára ra óki tátu; waka matára mai koe ta tátu nei e ára! Ko Jízus Kraist ra óki te matára tánga. I te útu ra óki ía mo tátu. I madíngi ai ía tóna tóto e wakára ra óki ki te Atúa, e méa waka 'róha ki a tátu.

Ka waka pai átu tátu ki á koe; ka ánga átu. To tátu Atúa ra óki koe; é ara te Atúa átu mo tátu. Náu ra ókii tóno mai ai táu Tamaiti ki te A'o nei ki a óra ai tátu.

O Jehovah! thou art a great God. Thou hast made all things in heaven above and in the earth beneath.

Good indeed is thy work as to man. Man sprung from thee; from thee are his soul and spirit.

We are sinners; do thou put away our sins! Jesus Christ is our Surety. He became a ransom for us. He spilt his blood as a satisfaction to God, and out of love

to us.

We praise thee; we cleave to thee. Thou art our God; we will have no other God. Thou didst send thy Son into the world to

save us.

Upon a first examination of the above examples, it would seem that, in the New Zealand dialect, there is an exception to the general rule, which makes every syllable end with a vowel. We have, for instance, tangata, 'man,' and madingi, the syllabic division of which words appears to take place between consonants. But this may be in appearance only. The letters ng, coming before a vowel, prevail in large classes of New Zealand words, where they probably express nothing more than a simple sound partaking of the two letters, and not to be conveyed by any single character in the English alphabet. The above words may then be divided ta-gna-ta, ma-di-gni; and the same also of ngo-ngi, 'pure water,' ngu-ngu,' stooping,' and numerous others. Nga is used to denote the plural of nouns; as, matua, 'a parent,' nga matua, 'parents.' We have seen no instance of this combination of letters in the Tahitian or Hawaiian dialects, but it exists in the Tongatabuan, as the word itself indicates.*

*The Polynesian words are commonly short, seldom extending to more than three syllables. Nor does the tendency to verbal combinations prevail, which our philologists have discovered in the languages of the North American Indians. An exception must be made, however, as to the names of some of the gods, which partake strongly of the

The Missionaries are now engaged in translating the New Testament into Hawaiian, but they complain of the difficulty of the task by reason of the multitude of words in the Greek, for which there are no corresponding terms in Hawaiian, and representing things of which no native has any ideas. They instance faith, holiness, throne, dominion, angel, demoniac, as words of this sort, and add, that the natives call an angel either an akua, a god, or a kanaka lele, flying man.'* One thing has struck us with a good deal of force, in looking over the translations that have come into our hands, which is, that the word God is rendered by atua, as it is pronounced in New Zealand and the Society Islands, or akua, as heard in the Hawaiian dialect. This will be seen in all the examples quoted above. Now this word is used, as far as we can learn, throughout Polynesia, to express imaginary heathen deities, without any definite application to deities of a particular character, dignity, or influence, but to every species of imaginary beings, whether good or bad, and much more commonly the latter. Indeed, from such accounts as have come to us, the impression is strongly left on our minds, that the atuas are almost universally considered as ministers of evil, the objects

character of Indian proper names. The following are appellations of deities. Hiatataaravamata, quick glancing eyed cloud holder; Hiatawawahilani, heaven rending cloud holder; Kaneruruhonua, earth shaking Kane; Makorewawahiwaa, fiery eyed canoe breaker. These words will remind our readers of the long catalogues of Indian names, similarly compounded, which constitute the signatures to Indian treaties. For example, Ootaujeaugenh, broken are; Tioohquottakauna, woods on fire; Soggooyawauthau, red jacket; Kaujeagaonh, heap of dogs; Hombahagren, fine day; Cageaga, dogs round the fire; Tekakisskee, taken out of the water.

But yet they do not reach to such a length as certain Indian words, which came under the notice of Cotton Mather, and which that author somewhat facetiously observes, 'one would think had been growing ever since Babel unto the dimensions to which they are now extended.' He adds, for instance, if my reader will count how many letters there are in this one word, Nummatchekodtantamooonganunnonash, when he has done, I, for his reward, will tell him, it signifies no more in English, than our lusts; and if I were to translate our loves, it must be nothing shorter than Noowomantammooonkanunonnash; or, to give my reader a longer word than either of these, Kummogkodonattoottummooetiteaongannunnonash, is, in English, our question.' Magnalia, Book 111. At this point the author abruptly leaves the subject, and the separating of these words into their component elements, must be the task of profounder philologists than ourselves.

* Missionary Herald for September, 1825, p. 275.