general conclusions is a careful examination of the structure
and derivation of one hundred and thirty-one primitive words,
or roots, common to all the nine chief languages belonging'
to both branches of the Malayo-Polynesian stock. These
are, in the western branch, the Maleeassian, or the language
of the inhabitants of Madagascar, the Malayan, the Javanese,
the Bugis spoken in Celebes, and the Tagala, which is the
principal idiom of the Philippine Islands: in the eastern or
Polynesian branch, properly so termed^ the languagesj j f New
Zealand, the Tonga Isles, Tahiti and the Society Isles, and
lastly the Hawaiian, as it is now termed, or the speech of
Owhyhee and the Sandwich Islands. The author assures us
that these . one hundred and thirty-one words have not been
selected on account of greater resemblance than what is
observable in the general vocabulary of the several languages,
since such a mode of proceeding, might give an unfair result,
and an appearance of nearer affinity than ‘ really exists.
Moreover, the collection comprehends words belonging to
the following different classes of ideas, viz* I,; elements tof
nature and material objects; 2, spiritual beings; 3, heavenly
bodies and phenomena, as sun, moon, winds; i 4, earth, and
things on earth; S, parts of time; 6, of space; 7,. man and
human things, family relations, &c.; 8, parts of the body;
9, animals; 10, plants; 11, implements; 12, adjectives;
13, verbs; 14, conjunctions. Besides these, the numerals
in, these languages have been analytically compared, and
much pains have been bestowed on the comparison of grammatical
forms.*
The conclusions deduced from this laborious analysis are
that there not only exists a fundamental and close affinity
between the several languages compared, in regard to their
vocabulary or materia] of words, but also that the construction
is in so far alike, that they must all be considered
as belonging to one and the same grammatical system, and
that the varieties displayed in these respects come within the
limits of this system, and are in accordance with the same
general grammatical principles.^
* M-. de Humboldt, KawbSpraohe, i. 236. f Ibid, 283.
Section th o O r ig m o f Sanskrit Words existing m
, , the Malayo-Polynesian Dialects, and o f tkeMpposed jRela-
*; -tionship o f the Malayó*Polynesian and Indo-European
\ PwImlies o f DanguOyes* I
It has been known sinee tbetime of Sir William. Jones that
the Malayan language contains many words derived-from the
Sanskrit. Later investigation has shewn that ike. 1 number
of these words is very much greater than it was thought
probable that i i would be ifesnd to b # and that thèycon-
Stitute a more integral part of the Malayait tongue# The
nature and origin - of 'the relation which appears- to subsist
betweenidbe dialects allied: to this language, and the ancient
learned idiom: of the Indian continent, ^ has becorne a Subject
of-much discussion; and it is ©bviouily ©n© Of fgreat importance
in its bearing on the history of sthe Malayo-Polynesian
race. It Was conjectured by Mr, Marsden tliat theadmixture
of I Sfanskrit words - in the Malayan speech may merely' have
been the result of commercial intercourse! b#wefin the people
of . India and the Malays, and the trading coasfcAofGuzerat
was pointed out as the quarter whenceit was most likely to
have icri^naied. The resort of the people of; Guzemt t©
Malacca is noticed particularly by De Barros and other
authentic writers# ! Mr. Marsden adds that the Hindh language
is well known to have been? preserved^ with greater
purity in Guzerat than in any other maritime province of India.
Dr. Leyden rejected Mr. Marsden’s hypothesis, and maintained
the opinion that it was from Telmgans, or the ancient
kingdom of Kalingay on the eastern coast of the Dekhan,
that the Malayan language derived in part the Sanskrit
words which it contains, and the people who speak it a
portion o f their literature» He was nearer to the truth in
attributing a greater influence to the Javanese cölöriïsation
o f Malacca, and to intercourse between the Javanese and
the natives of the, Malayan peninsula. Öne; observation of
this writer in connection with the same inquiry* :ih he had
followed the clue, might have given him a much deeper