The Polynesian language is soft and musical; there are few harsh sounds. It contains more than 20,000 words and the number in everyday use was remarkably large for a people whose language had not been reduced to writing. These words and their combinations are capable of expressing a great variety of fine shades of meaning.
How language was preserved. It is surprising that without writing to preserve their language the widely separated groups of Polynesians should have retained a common language for some thousands of years. But their language was preserved with great fidelity. Much attention was given to the use of words and to pronunciation.
Children were trained to apply the right words to objects and to ideas, and young men who had not learned to use the language correctly were usually not permitted to speak in public. The best trained chiefs, generals, and priests were truly great orators, and eloquence was so highly prized and considered so necessary for a leader that one who did not have it might not be chosen as a chief.
Poetry
Poetry also was highly prized and was used at all festivals and rites. The poet was highly honored.
Story-telling
Story-telling was an interesting feature of Polynesian life. Daytime and evenings groups of men, women, and children might be seen listening to tales of gods and heroes and distant lands. These tales were told by a special class of story-tellers who did little or nothing else but make up stories and recite them. Besides the tales which were widely known and related by the common people, there were tales told in a special language understood only by the alii, or chiefs. Much time also was given to telling riddles and conundrums and to playing games based on some form of old fairy tale or mystery story.
Kinds of stories
Most Polynesian stories are unlike those in other parts of the world. There are almost no animal stories except those about the shark, the whale, the turtle, and birds. There are stories about places to which it is forbidden to go and about maidens who were carefully guarded. The commonest stories are about demigods, beings like Maui, who could do what men do but who also had some supernatural power. Many of the stories express the beauty of nature, the color of flowers, the form of clouds, the strength of mountains, and the look of the sea. Hawaiian stories have much about the waterfall, the forest, the rainbow, the volcano, and the surf breaking on the coral reefs.
Chanting and dancing
Out of the story-telling grew the chant. The Hawaiian oli is merely a story recited like a chant, the mele is also a chanted story, and the hula is a story in which a musical chant is accompanied by gestures. Chanting and dancing went together. Some dances and chants were known to nearly all Polynesians, but each island group had also its own kinds. The Hawaiians and the Samoans paid special attention to dancing, the Marquesans and Tahitians to chanting. Music such as is heard to-day was not known in Polynesia before the coming of the white man.
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