The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-03-04
Dialects of Micronesia.


readers n few facts or illustrations bearing on
the unity Of the dialects Of Micronesia. The
more ! study these the stronger does the I'M
preston arise that they are al children Of a
common parent. Some have the marks Of
this relationship more striking than Others, on
some 1t Is apparent IT the first blush. with
others It is more hidden, but the mother-like
features crop out b all along the line"
The point I have in mind Is TO show how
similar terms are used differently with diff
ferent people, yet as terms they are common
to oil.
Ra7t0 in the Gilbert islands dialect means
wuter, as dleu does in the Marshall dialect,
and ran or sr0y, in the MorlOck or Ruk dia-
lect, but in both the Marshall and Ponape
dialects irrk, evidently from the same root as
the above terms means to drink. with the
striking difference in the Ponape speech. il
IS used only 10 respect to the second class Of
chiefs. In the dialect Of Yap d means a
torch, while in the PonIpe speech uAlJ-uI
means a flame. as Of fire or a lamp Ia the
POnape tongue Daajamgj means first with one
IN honor or favor, in the zap tongue mtcHe-
maj mean one favored by the Gods. In the
MOrtlock speech Tli-fD means come here, as
J0i-La means to go away. la the Ponape
speech uDe-tO 10 come here, and uks-E to 20
away are evidently from the same roots, but
with this further distinction ODe-fo and apr
Ia are used only IN respect 10 the second
rank of chiefs. In the YGp language faHeE
means TO make, as a canoe, but DeTe in the
language Of Ponape, from the same radices
X excepted means to hew timber I'm POnape
rex, as y1H-DPeH1. means to pick up things or
gather them together, having no reference TO
the cOJttGiHer Of these things. while in the
MOrtlock, TiE or srib means the common bas-
ket made from the cOcOanut leaves TO cOHtaiu
these and other things and IN the Pinalap d.
alect six means a basket for the same pur-
pose, but Of peculiar size. EH,OH in the
Mortlock language means it IS well, or new
er mind while in the Marshall tongue eD,on
means good, or it Is good, but both these
words have their roots in the Ponape Htu,l,
which also means good. In the Yap dia lect
en-DtV meaus to hide a thing or n person.
In the Marshall dialect mi or eH-H1 means
dead or TO die, not a very distantly related
idea certainly, 20 ep-HJ. or hide one away,
while emil, to die, is to be hidden away most
surely. In Pouape Eei or Etiei means to
anoint with oil, but in the zap language Rel
att means 10 tr0sh, apply Jrdtc' to the per-
son. In the Marshall tongue, and so Pom
ape, tOL mans a hin of greater or less alti-
tude, while in the MortIock language I0I re-
fers especially to the must Of a cDJtoe or ship,
the upper or higher parts, while in the
OlIOl4 > II anu ulllGClf " HtIN ClllGlSf VI u
political or religious standing. In this
Strong's Island dialect pdpu IS the commoI
term for TdHsF, and 50 of the Heavenly Fa-
Their, but on Ponape the same term is used
only by children to address that pIrent with,
while another term Is used for father proper.
PnI in the zap language, and plLGH of the
ancient LadrOne and buLgg Of the TagaIa.
the most important dialect of the Philippine
islands. and bHIgH of the old Nal y tongue,
are the common terms for Moon, but in the
Ponape dulect DuI means the yOtglg moon,
more strictly the green moon as p,d Is the
word for green or unripe fruits In the Mar
shall dialect bd means 10 spedk, or say, in
the Strong's island tongue 1t is Jirdh, in the
Ponape tongue pJna, evidently from the same
roots as the other two, has a slightly differ
eut meaning; to suppose, to think 6d, i
said ma fjrGL, I sdid; I pUd (Ponape) i
MOught, L supposed. In tue Gilbert dialect
ka means fish in the Marshall islands it is
az. in the StTong's island it is i, in the Mort
lock it is H, but ia the Ponape dialect 1t is
man, while G means the tail of a fish. Then
while IN the other dialects M or ika Is the
general term for fish, and on Ponape II is
mann, yet there. Is one U0Tiety Of fsh here
that takes the name, H-DtOyg. In the Gil
bert tongue Noun means in the beginning Of
n thing or discourse in the Ponape dialect
moan means simply before one as to time or
DErce. In the Mortlock tongue kydkD means
small. little. while in the Ponape it means a
piece Of a thing In the Strongs island ton
Nle cot means s STONE, rock; but IN the Pom
- sling and 1rot, small stone, or pain
sPI< means a siiHg-stOEe. In the MortIock
sEsIect DI means the cOHtqiger for drinking
~ater, while IN the POnape PH means the
,cdter itself.
These are some Of the illustrations for the
point under consideration namely, words de-
rived from the same roots. have. IN various
dialects meanings Of different shades, and
vet so much resembling one another as to
force the conviction of their unity. indeed
the conviction takes a stronger hold because
Of this very shade Of difference, Take for
instance that illustration, the term for fsH.
In most dialects IL Is Is, or iBd, but in the
Ponape dialect it IS not the general term, but
the term for one variety Of fish H-mOng. Or
take that other term the word FORENOON. As
we have seen IN some Of the alects this Is
PrIat or BtIaDy, the same radices Of course.
But in the POnape dialect. the term for the
He1r moon IS D,I. The POnapeans did not
care to keep the old mother term BuHdH, for
moon. but chose rather TO take the word
DadraH1. derived from the word LigLt, as the
moon brightens up the night OF another word,
for she has two jOJteDODg, no night but then
not wishing to bretk away altogether from
the old mother tongue, she holds to PIT one
of the terms for the Hetr moon. Clrcumstan-
tial evidence Is often quite a. strong as the
positive. One hearing II cannot resist the
conclusion sought TO be established. What
other convictions can one have after looking
at the circu n%stantial evidence we have given
words derived from the same roots. used in
different dialects with shades of meaning
slightly different, but tint those diuiects
had a common origin, or bOlg IF Il Co~1-
mon WOtle:.> L. DoANE.
MorDino Star n,Il 1881