N. B. After the three personal pronouns, these particles are omitted. Thus, igak alid—I am dirty; igur matsalabok—thou art clean; tsanem fel—he is good. They are also omitted in negative sentences when dagathi, not, is used. Thus, dagathi alid—it [is] not dirty; dagathi Tomak—it [is] not Tomak; faré abetir dagathi fel—the child [is] not good; faré gatu dagathi baga—the cat [is] not large. When, however, for the sake of emphasis, the predicate precedes the subject, then these particles are used. Thus, dagathi fel e abetir—it is not a good child; dagathi baga e gatu—it is not a large cat.

“It is,” “there is,” “there are,” are sometimes expressed by kabai. Thus, kabai u nifi—it is in the fire; kabai bȯȯr wu—there are many betel nuts.

When kabai is used in the sense of “to have,” it is followed by the genitive of the possessor. Thus, kabai debdeb rak—I have a box; kabai piri olum rok—he is very cold.

“Not to be,” and “not to have,” when referring to inanimate objects, or to the dead, are expressed by dari. Thus, dari e lugud rok—I have no cigarette; dari e morau—there is no [ripe] coconut.

When they refer, however, to animate objects, dari may be also used, but likewise demoi (sing.), darmei (dual), and darmed (plural). Thus, pumawn demoi u mu—the man is not in the canoe; fouap darmei fakam ni fel—yesterday your two children were not good; darmed fapi abetir u naun—the boys are not in the house.

In the little Spanish and Uap Grammar, of which I have already spoken, and to which I wish always to express my obligation, though I have by no means followed it, verbs are divided into six conjugations, and paradigms of all are given. For reasons which are to me sufficient, this division appears too elaborate, and a little arbitrary in dealing with an unwritten language, which varies from generation to generation. Inasmuch as there is no Uap literature and the only object in learning the language is for the purpose of conversation, I think it better, to judge by my own experience, to learn these various inflections from phrases and a vocabulary, rather than to memorize page after page of paradigms. Accordingly, the conjugation of only one verb is here given, merely to show the general inflection,—premising that there are, what we might naturally expect, only three tenses: the present, past and future. Thus, we may conjugate non, to speak, where non is not an infinitive, but merely a root:

Present Tense

Singular gu-non I speak
mu-non thou speakest
be-non he speaks
Plural absolute da-non-ad we all speak
da-non-ed you all speak
da-non-od they all speak
Plural restrictive gu-non-ad we alone speak
mu-non-ad you alone speak
ra-non-ad they alone speak
Dual absolute da-non-ou we two speak
Dual restrictive gu-non-ou we two alone speak
mu-non-ou you two alone speak
ra-non-ou they two alone speak

Perfect Tenses

Singular kogu-non I spoke, I have spoken
komu-non thou hast spoken
i-non, or ke-non he spoke, he has spoken
Plural absolute kada-non-ad, -ed, -od we, you, they, all spoke
Plural restrictive kogu-non-ad we alone spoke
komu-non-ad you alone spoke
kara-non-ad they alone spoke
Dual absolute kada-non-ou we two spoke
Dual restrictive kogu-non-ou we two alone spoke
komu-non-ou you two alone spoke
kara-non-ou they two alone spoke