t2 A GRAMMAR OP THE

Hanitah {*)f the niost used by the Mabys of all the oythographicat marks, is either an appoodage of the moveable t, usually accompanyiiig its supplementary vowel, and consequmtly placed either above or bekm that letter, or else it is the representative of or substitute for it, and in its absenceis placed in front of the preceding letter. So intimate indeed 18 the connexion, in the opinion of grammarians, between the moveable \ and this mark, that the former, being present, is made to assume the name of hamMh, leses its proper efficiency, and, like a mere aspirate, adapts its sound to that of the vowel with which the mark is accompanied» as i^\ ab, i^\ ibj i^Vub or ob. This adapticm, it is true, might take . place although the ham%ah were omitted, and its use, when so applied» seems to be no other Uian that of d^ioting the quality of this letter» I9 this lai^uage, however, where the vowels are »psuli^ly employed, the chief use of the hanizah is to express (like our comma or apostrophe) the ciision of the \ moveable at the commencement of a syllable followii^ one of the three weak letters, 1, j, or ^ quiescent ; and also, but not uniformly, following a consonant rendered mute by^^m; which two circumstances occur most commonly in derivative words formed by an* nexing particles (to be hereafter explained), as ^J\jju^ ka^semporna-an perfection, ^^'U/j pe-^karjor^n performance, ^^ 'y^s^ ia-tatUu-an certainty^ \piJ ka-jianti'dn expectation, Jt\xj& peng^ad^han presence, ^j^JiJ/^en^, ibur comforter, CJi^yJU meng^usik to tease. It alsa supplies the elision^ #f \ before J or 4^ at the commencement of a word to which the particlq. ya sa (a contraction of cA- salu one) is prefixed, as gjj— s'orang a man» for %jjC sa-orang ; as well as in the instances of >>jJU. mak'ujar for j^ CS^ maka ujar and he said, and (^Jj j ^ martkltu for u-^t C^j^ marika tlu those people ; and, generally, wherever such elisions occur*

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MALAYAN LANGUAGE. 23

Sometinies the hamxah instead of being a sob^tituto for t» represents the jr or ib| which soft as}>irate has nearly a similar sound, as^^^^JU mmg* ambur to scatter, from j^ ambur or hambur ; ^j^y^ meng-unus to unsheath, from ^^ unus or kunus ; and thus also when the primiiive begins with U Aa, the \ being then qiiiescait or vowel, preserres its place in the derivative, and the jb ooly is represented by hamxah^ as in ^UU meng-dbis to consume, from ^U^^ii^ or habis\ jUio meng-dlau to drive out, from j\tb dlau. or hdlau. It will not escape remark that hamzah^ accordii^ to the foregoing account of it, partakes much of the nature of the Greek (') or spiritus lenis, and that in respect to form it is the Arabic s.. am diminished in siae.

J-^ xjoesl ("*), by the Malays written and pronounced aI^ weslah^ signifies. ^^ union,'" and is applied only to the initial !, which then becomes entirely mute, and a junction takes place between the sound of the last . vowel of the jHreceding word and the next following ccmsonant, whereby the two words are made to coalesce. Its u6e is confined to Arabic phrases, and chiefly, if not entirely (excepting in quotations), to the \ of the definitive particle J\ a/, which under certain circumstances is modified in pronunciation, as ^t c^ kitdbi *lnabi the book of the prophet, ^\ ^ bismi *llahi in the name of God. For the rules by which the applica* ttcm of this mark is governed, and particularly for those affecting the letter J also, of the particle, accordii^ to which it is extinguished and its place supplied by doubling what is termed the sdar letter which follows it, as m the sequel of the phrase last quoted, f*t^^ cf^^J' Urahmani Urafumi the merciful and compassionate, the Arabic grammar must be consulted. To the Malayan they may be considered as extras neous.

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26 A CRAMMAR OF THE

and pronocince iJU «-JUJ per^apa-rTgapa^ for XjJu to cogitate, jJ^jJU mengira-ngira^ and for fjJlto to contmue flowing, to write JU^U* mcng-^ alir-ngalir.

Thus much it has been thought necessary to say on the subject of the elements of which words are composed, and of the characters and signs by which they are expressed in writing. The words themselves, their distinctimis, qualities, and uses in servii^ to convey, either by themselves or by th^ir combination, intelligible and correct meanings (the proper object of Grammar) must now be considered.

Division of TVonns.

The most obvious and general division of the lai^age is into primitive and derivative words. By primitive or simple words are to be understood all words, of whatever part of speech, in their original and unmodified state, whether indigenous or adopted from other languages, as c^^t drang man, ii\i tamh earth, 4^jj budi understanding, ^ besdr great, \A^ takut afraid, cil aku I, J^jalan to walk, jjj liiar out, ^ akan unto, ^ weh alas ! By much the greater proportion of primitive Malayan words are dissyllables, pronounced with a slight stress or accent on the former of the two, as ^J\^ niakan to eat, Jf^^S piikul to strike, ^U padang a plain, ^;J pinang betel-nut ; whilst monosyllables, as i^jj brat heavy, ^j^jauh far, 2f\^ gah renown ; and trisyllables and polysyllables (not composed), as ^b benatang a beast, ^ bettna female, ^^]^ seraya at once, j<^ kalariggdra inquisitive, are very rare»

Derivative words are formed from the primitives, by prefixing or annexing certain inseparable and otherwise non-significant particles, which will be enumerated and explained in their proper place, it being

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MALAYAN LANGUAGE. 27

sufficient to notice here, that prosodial and other changes ia the ortho* graphy of the primitives frequently attend their application, as Ji^ ka^add^n existence, from jt ada to be, ^U!^ ka-lapdr^n famine, from ^i lapar hungry, ^^j turun-kan to lower, from ^^y turun to descend, ^USu, mengampong to collect, from ^^JU^ kampong an inclosure, J^^ memukul to beat, from J(^ pukul strike.

What are properly named compound words, formed by the junction of two or more significant terms, are not frequent in this language, and the few that occur consist either of such as convey nearly a repetition of the same idea (often .borrowed from different languages), as (,£..^0^ suka^ chita joy, ^^ jj JJLe akal'4)udt understanding, ^jb! ^ lelah-leteh languid ; or else of words which have become connected in their signification by familiar use, and made to coalesce in sound by the elision of a vowel, as 4^jtf «3 din 'art break of day, l::^^^ marik ^itu those persoivs they ; to which may be added u^'b iya-itu that is to say, uJL^ barang'-stdpa whosoever, ^l7 J^ sapu^tdngan a handkerchief. There are also a lew' words of three as well as of two syllables, which occasionally drop the first, especially in conversation, as y^^j rJmau for ^4^^ arimau a tiger, ^^ ttmun for ^^%:>» antimun a species of cucumis, jr^U mdrah for j^U amdrah angry, Jbj ringan for ^Joj^ aririgan light in weight, ^jj punia for ^^\ ampunia own, ^j^ mas for ^j^\ amas gold, ^ nam for Jt anam six.

PjiRTs of Speech.

The usual division of speech, in the oriental languages, is into three parts only, viz* the noun, the verb, and the particle ; the first including the adjective, and the last all other words ; but this seems much too

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