S ection the Characteristics o f the Malaych
Polynesian Languages.
The Malayo-Polynesian languages consist of roots, which,
after the separation of particles and the reduction to their
most simple grammatical form, are frequently and, it may
even be said, for the most part dissyllables* Evenwhen the
word is a monosyllable, it is, especially in the Tagala, the most
perfectly developed of these languages, generally doubled, and
thus assumes the character of a dissyllabic root.|
Mi de Humboldt was the first who attempted to penetrate
into the original construction of .theseifipisots* and the fully
convinced himself that both of the syllables comprised in one
word can be found in many instances existlng-aSo-monosyllabic
roots in these same languages, and that the fact of their juxtaposition
and combination may easily be: explained. rM. de
Humboldt has proved this by many examples in the various
dialects belonging to both branches of the Malayo* Polynesian
stock, and he concludes that the original form of these languages
was monosyllabic. The second syllables are as truly
distinct words as the first, and theyrilplnfi»stand to thé
former in the relation of suffixes or inflecting? j»tieiiis& It
must be admitted that M. de Humboldt has ‘generalised
much on these facts, but they are facts which require explanation,
and it does not appear that any other can be found'.
The very tendency to reduplication of simple monosyllabic
roots is in itself a proof of very great proneness to the dissyllabic
form.#
The most striking grammatical peculiarities of all these
languages are the following.
Nouns are indeclinable words, and have neither genders nor
cases: verbs have no personal inflexions: these languages
have neither inflexion, which is a principal character of the
* Humboldt op the “ Kawi-Sprache.^ . Einleitung .406, and B. 2. 285,.
He says in the last place: “ Die grösste Zahl der, Malayischen einfachen und
nicht zusammengetögenen Gründwörter ist zweisylbig, und besteht daher auS
der sich selbst wiederholenden, oder sich mit einer verschiedenen Endslylbé
verbindenden Wurzel/'
S K l a a K ' . Jmm. : 1
Indo-European and Syro-Arabian languages, nor have they
that :&ort of combination of particles with nouns and verbs,
oi‘ absorption of other words into verbs, which is regarded as
characteristic' 6f the American languages, and is termed by
Hhmboldt1“ agglutinatio.n.” All the relations of words to each
oth&r • are indicated in sentences by numerous separate syllables
or particles, which never'coalesce with the words
representing; ideas'. In this respect the Malayo-Polynesian
languages approach the Chinese* \ But the Malayo-Polynesian
idioms have a capability of expressing by prefixed, suffixed,
and infixed particles, shades of meaning partly grammatieab
bkribp' beyond the sphere- :6f grammatical relations^ They
sacrifice also much to euphony, and prefix certain letters, and
remove the accent, and' thus present a singular appearance
of most involved grammatical forms, with very scanty declension
arid conjugation. The pronouns in these idioms are never
Connected; with the verbs except in the loosest manner, and
they are ribt replaced by personal signs. In this instance
there is a striking contrast between the Malayo-Polynesiair
languages and the American, in which not only verbs but
nouns form the cldsest connection with' pronouns-.
•' The general c h a ra c te rs th e Malayor Polynesian languages
are comprised by M. de Humboldt under the • • following
heads.
1. The alphabet, or rather the number of- elements usually
represented byrietters, is^ in the languages of this family, very
limited. The series of lingual tconsonants and that , of
aspirate letters are wholly wanting, ' if we may judge from
existing characters, and from the languages reduced-h> writing.
, If some dialects have ar Simple aspirate, they all want
the distinction between aspirated and unaspirated consonants.
On the other hand, these idioms have 'a preference for nasal
sounds, chiefly at the terminations, but also at the beginnings
of words.
• 2. The syllables, with a few exceptions, consist merely of
a simple consonant and a vowel. Two consonants seldom
occur together, an;d then only as a result of combination of
words under peculiar circuhistances.
' 3. Monosyllabic words are the least frequfent, if we con-
VOL, V. C