Page:A Sketch of Mota Grammar.djvu/14

(10) (4) nivat, (5) tavelima, (6) laveatea, (7) lavearua, (8) laveatol, (9) laveavat, (10) san̈avul. There are evidently two sets of five: rua, tol, vat, being 2, 3 and 4, on the first hand, with ni prefixed; on the second hand, with lavea.

Ni is a verbal form, sometimes prefixed also to tuwale. The verbal particles (hereafter to be mentioned) are freely applied to all the cardinals, taking the place of ni in 2, 3 and 4. All the cardinals, used as adjectives, come after the noun: One man, O tanun tuwale; Ten men, o tanun san̈avul. San̈avul, ten, used as a substantive, comes first, followed by other cardinals used as adjectives: san̈avul tol, 'tens three'=30. San̈avul, 'ten,' melnol, '100,' tar, '1000,' as substantives take, the two latter require, multiplicatives: san̈avul vagatol, 'ten three times'=30; melnol vagavat, 'hundred four times'=400; tar vagatuwale, 'thousand once'=1000. But it may be san̈avul tol.

2. Multiplicatives are the cardinals with vaga or va prefixed: vagavatuwale, 'once;' vagavatalima, 'five times.'

3. Ordinals are formed from cardinals by the addition of various terminations, with, in the case of 2, 3 and 4, the prefix vaga or va:—2nd, 3rd and 4th, vagaruei or varuei, vaga or va-toliu, vaga or va; 5th, 6th and 7th, tavelima, lavetea, laverua; 8th, 9th and 10th, lavetoli, lavevati, san̈avuli; 100th, melnol. There is no ordinal to the cardinal tuwale; moai is 'first.'

Obs.: — Ni, not properly part of the ordinal, is dropped from 2nd, 3rd and 4th; and a from lavea in 6th, 7th 8th and 9th.

4. Numeration in Mota is clear, if lengthy. There is a word to express the units above tens, the substantive o numei; and another to express units or tens above hundreds, o avaviu. 1876 is thus expressed: tar vatuwale, melnol vagalaveatol, o avaviu san̈navul lavearua (or vagalavearua), o numei laveatea; i. e. thousand once,