The Three Dialects of Javanese. 193 



In addition to the ordinary language used for communica- 

 tion and every-day purposes there are in Java two special 

 idioms, — Javanese in the centre and east of the island, and 

 Sunda in the west of the island. The small river Losari in 

 the province of Cheribon on the north side of the island 

 indicates the boundary -line of the two languages. Owing to 

 the circumstance that both the idioms are used in Cheribon, 

 many wiiters have deduced thence the origin of the name of 

 that province, which signifies in Javanese " mingled," or 

 mixed. The Javanese tongue, which of the two is far the 

 more highly cultivated, has been a Avritten language for 

 untold ages, and its alphabet is universally used among the 

 Sunda groups as well as in the adjoining Malay groups. Va- 

 rious inscriptions in stone and brass carry us back in the history 

 of Java to the 12th century, and it would almost seem that the 

 Javanese at that period had already attained the same 

 degree of civilization as when four centuries later the Euro- 

 peans for the first time landed on their soil. 



Of the original Javanese language there are three dialects, 

 ' — the language of the populace (Ngoko), or low Javanese, the 

 ceremonial language (Kromo), known as high Javanese, and 

 the old mystical dialect, or Kawi. 



Javanese has borrowed a number of words fi^om Sanscrit, 

 Arabic, and Telingu, especially since the introduction of 

 religion and commerce. 



One of the most important events in the history of the 

 Javanese was theii' conversion to Brahmaism, and still 



VOL. II. 



