Messrs. Burton and Ward's Journey into the Batak Country. 50.') 



transitive particle is uniformly /?o« ; as poda, to teach, becomes po-da-hon : but 

 when the primitive word ends with a mixed syllable, the annexed particle 

 is modified so as to coalesce with the last letter of the primitive, without 

 producing a sound in their estimation harsh or uncouth ; as pajop, to pre- 

 serve, becomes pa-jop-pon ; enel, to pull, makes e-net-ton ; dole, to order, 

 makes dok-lcon. But even this modification of the annexed particle does 

 not always succeed in producing a sound perfectly agreeable to the Batal,- 

 ear. Sometimes recourse is had in pronunciation to a change, also, of the 

 last letter of the primitive word ; as t7i-jam, to lend, becomes injam-//on, 

 but is pronounced i?i-jap-pon ,- am-bo-long, to eject, becomes am-bo-long-hon, 

 but is pronounced am-bo-lok-kon ; denggan, good, becomes deng-gan-ton, 

 but is pronounced deng-gat-ton ; ogos, to rub, is written ogos-so?2, but is 

 pronounced o-goch-chon. 



In the grammatical relation of its words, and in the construction of its 

 sentences, the Batak language, like that of the Malays, is as simple as 

 possible, admitting very rarely of the use either of conjunctions or of per- 

 sonal pronouns with perspicuity. Perhaps the instance, in which it varies 

 most in construction from the_ Malay, is the following : between two substan- 

 tives differing in meaning, where, in Malay, possession would be implied by 

 their mere position, the Bataks always introduced the particle ni, answer- 

 ing to the preposition of in English ; as " whum ni hu-ta," tlie law of the 

 village. 



The Batak language has received no accessions from the Arabic, but the 

 proportion of Sanscrit words found in it is greater, we believe, than in the 

 Malay. This may arise from the Malays having embraced the religion of 

 the prophet, in consequence of which the Sanscrit words of a relio-jous 

 nature, which they may be supposed to have possessed in common with the 

 Bataks, have become obsolete, and have given place to Arabic terms. 



In the court language of the Bataks very many Malay words occur : and 

 it is worthy of remark, that the Bataks always give them tlie full sound as 

 written and spoken to the eastward ; never the minced, but as some con- 

 sider it softened pronunciation of the Sumatran coast. Compared, however, 

 with either mode, we should think the Batak, when well spoken, would be 

 generally esteemed by Europeans the most sonorous and harmonious. 

 It may be farther observed, that the Batak organs of speech are perfectly 

 adapted to the Malay language, and capable of expressing with precision 

 all its sounds. 



3\J ^ 



