Grammar and Vocabulary of the Lau Language by Ivens, Walter G.

4. With verbs when the object is separated from the verb: _nia bubu tete adalu_ he regarded them fixedly, _ka lugatai saufini ana_ let him go secretly, _da bae aisile ana_ they spoke scornfully of him: _ala meme gamu_ to bite and rend you, is a variant.

5. To express, of, from, among: _ati mwane agamu_ what man of you?

6. The forms ending in _lu_ denote a restriction in the number of the people concerned.

7. The adverb _afoa_ apart is also followed by the possessive: _afoa ana_ apart from him.

8. It will be seen that the one possessive in Lau does the work of the three that are used in Sa'a. A Port Adam man asking for a wife at Sa'a and saying _geni ana_ (as has happened at times) would be asked whether he wanted to eat her--the Sa'a use being _keni nana_, _'ana_ being reserved of things to eat.

ADJECTIVES.

1. Words which are qualifying terms may also be used in the form of verbs, but some may be used without verbal particles and follow the qualified word. _Mwane baita_ a big man, _mwela tou_ a little child.

2. Some words have a form which is used only of adjectives, either of termination or of prefix.

a. Adjectival terminations are: _a_, _la_.

The termination _a_ is suffixed to substantives and verbs: _rodo_ night, _rorodoa_ dark, darkness, cloud; _bulu_ to be black, _bubulua_ black.

_La_ is suffixed to substantives and verbs: _mwai_ a bag, _mwaila_ rich, _kobu_ to be fat, _kobukobula_ fat, whole, big; _tagalo_ to be wandering, _tagalola_ matted, thick, of forest.

b. Adjectival prefixes are _a_, _ma_, _tata_, _m_. These are all prefixed to verbs.

The _a_ is prefixed to verbs to form participles: _luga_ to loose, _aluga_ loose; _la_ to lift up, _alaa_ upwards, up.

_Ma_ denotes condition: _lingi_ to pour, _malingi_ spilled, _ngi_ to divide, _mangisingisi_ broken, divided, _matala_ only, merely; _tefe mwela matala_ an only child.

_Tata_ denotes spontaneity: _tatagwelu_ headlong.

_M_ as a prefix appears to be used in the word _moi_ broken, (Sa'a _'o'i_ to break, _ma'o'i_ broken).

3. Comparison: Degrees of comparison are shown by the use of prepositions or adverbs, or by a simple positive statement. The prepositions used are _fasi_ from, _tasa_ beyond, in excess. The suffixed pronoun is used with _fasi_, but the possessive is used with _tasa_: _na boso nia baita fasia na asufe_ a pig is larger than a rat; _gera baita tasa agera_ these are much larger than those.

The adverbs employed are _gele_ little, somewhat, _asia_ very, too much: _nia baita asia_ it is very (too) large.

A positive statement carries comparison by implication: _doo ne nia baita_ that is biggest, _sai ai ne ni diena, sai ai nena ni taa na_ this is good, that is bad; i.e., this is better than that.

VERBS.

Almost any word may be used as a verb by prefixing the verbal particles, but some words are naturally verbs as being the names of actions and not of things. There are also verbs which have special forms as such by means of a prefix or termination. Verbal particles precede the verb; they have a temporal force.

1. The verbal particles are _ka_, _ko_. The particles are written apart from the verb, but the speakers like to join them to the governing pronouns of the first and second persons singular, _gu_, _o_.