RAROTONGAN

The Rarotongan of this dictionary also includes Mangaian. No dictionary or vocabulary of the Hervey Islands dialect is procurable, but one is now in course of construction by the Rev. W. Wyall Gill, B. A., and students of Polynesian are looking forward with interest to the completed work of this devoted scholar and historian. Until the book can be obtained, any attempt to classify the irregular letter-changes would be premature. A constant difference from Maori and most other Polynesian dialects is the complete absence of the letter H in Rarotongan. Thus: Inu, oil, M hinu; ara, a sin, M. hara; maara, to think, M. mahara, &c. So strongly is this dislike of the aspirate maintained, that words spelt in Maori with wh (the Polynesian f), lose the w also in Rarotongan; e.g., a, four, M. wha, Samoan fa; anau, to be born, M. whanau, &c., &c.