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The language of the Papuan tribes in the Western Pacific is entirely distinct, both in vocables and structure, from the language of the Malay race in the Eastern Pacific. With the exception of the dialects spoken on Aneiteum and Tana, so very little is yet known of the Papuan language or languages, that it would be unsafe to speak much dogmatically on any point. There are a few points, however, on which the languages of the two races may be compared, or rather contrasted. From the Sandwich Islands to New Zealand, and from Tahiti to the borders of the New Hebrides, the language spoken by the Malay races is essentially one; but among the Papuans, in every island, and almost in every tribe, the language appears to be perfectly different from all the others. So great is the diversity of language among the Papuans, that the Western Pacific might with propriety be called Polyglottia, or the Polyglot Islands. It appears as if the progenitors of the present inhabitants had come direct from Babel, and that, having lived as Ishmaelites through all the intervening generations, their languages had never in any degree amalgamated.

In the Malay language, every syllable, and consequently every word, ends in a vowel, and double consonants are few, in some dialects none at all; in the Papuan dialects, both syllables and words often end in consonants, and double consonants are not unfrequent. In Malay, the numeration, as in most languages, is decimal; in Papuan it is invariably quintal; after five, the series of numbers begin anew, something like five and one, five and two, &c. In Malay, the nominative generally follows the verb; in Papuan, it seems to precede the verb. In the Malay, at least in the New Zealand dialect, the passive form of the verb is by far the most common; so strongly does the passive form prevail, that in regimen the adverb often assumes a passive termination. In Papuan, at least in the dialect of Aneiteum, the best known of any of them, the missionaries have not been able to discover a single passive form in any of the verbs; every verb is used in the active form only. In Aneiteum, there is a dual, if not also a trial number in the pronouns.

It is probable that the Papuan race in the Western Pacific were a much earlier migration than the Malay race in the Eastern Pacific, and that the language of all the Papuan tribes was originally the same; but, migrating so early, as well as so far, from the original seats of civilization and true religion, they would bring but little of those conservative principles with them, and that little would soon in their circumstances be lost; and hence, living in their present scattered and hostile condition for hundreds, if not thousands of years, their language, with no literature, and no intercourse to preserve its unity, and exposed so long and so continuously to all the causes of change, would undergo endless mutations, and thus its present diversities of form may be easily accounted for, even supposing that they all spoke originally the same language. The Malay race, migrating at a much later period, would bring more civilization with them; and, having had less time to lose what they brought, and to undergo the changes in language which time and separation invariably effect, are found everywhere speaking a language greatly changed in many of its details but still essentially one in its great outlines.

In the New Hebrides, no intercourse could have taken place among the inhabitants of the different islands, since they possess no canoes that could sail from one island to another, or only very rarely. In Erumanga, it is doubtful if they had any canoes at all: recently, since foreigners have been visiting them, a trade in canoes and other articles is springing up between them and the natives of Tana. On the other hand, there was always among the Malays a constant intercourse kept up, at least among the natives of the same group, which would preserve a similarity of language.

The Papuan language has also in itself more elements for producing variation than the Malay. It has more letters, both simple and compound; and it allows syllables to end either in vowels or consonants; whereas the Malay confines all its syllables to a vowel termination. It is difficult even yet to ascertain the precise number of sounds in the Malay dialects, and quite impossible to do so at present in the Papuan; but this is not necessary for our present argument. It is quite certain that the Papuan has many more sounds than the Malay; and thus, from its containing more primary elements, and from its containing a double principle of syllabic termination, of combining vowels and consonants, the chances of change and variation, according to the established laws of combination and permutation, are vastly greater in the Papuan language than in the Malay.

If we consider the numerous elements of mutation in the Papuan tongue, the great isolation of the tribes, the few conservative influences, and the length of time these causes of change have been in operation, we need not marvel at the thoroughly Polyglot character of the Papuan race. Although it is still highly probable that a farther investigation and a fuller knowledge of the various dialects, would discover more numerous affinities and closer resemblances than a superficial examination has as yet been able to discover.

There is, however, one most important advantage that the Papuans have over the Malays; that is, the ease with which they can pronounce if not also acquire English. From the sounds in their language being so much the same as in English, the Papuans can pronounce English words and even sentences with great ease and correctness; whereas all the Malays have to liquefy the English words so much with vowels, that the original form and sound is nearly lost before they can enunciate them. At Tana, we found a native who had been on board a Sydney vessel for a few years, and who spoke very understandable English, much more so than any New Zealanders I