1890.] 81 



The Asiatic Affinities of the 



By C. Staniland Wake. 

 (Read before the American PhilosopJiical Society, April 18, 1890.) 



The existence of a connection between the language of the Malagasy 

 and that of the Malays is so evident that all matters relating to the latter 

 people are of importance, as bearing on the question of the origin of the 

 natives of Madagascar. 



The Malays would seem to be first mentioned in the Chinese annals, 

 which refer to the existence, between the years 618 and 939 of our era, of 

 eighteen small States, probably Shan, in Further India, north oftJie coun- 

 try of the Malays. The Shans, to whom the Siamese are closely allied, 

 were therefore preceded in that region by not only the Burmese, who are 

 probably related to the Naga tribes, but also the allied Chams and Malays, 

 whose affinities would be rather with the Mongolian peoples of India, 

 now represented by the Kolarian tribes. This view is evidently supported 

 by the statement of M. Vivien cle Saint-Martin that there is a general and 

 primitive relationship between the "innumerable ramifications of the non- 

 Aryan race of India and Indo-China." The Rev. Dr. Mason and other 

 writers have found a similarity between the language of the MSn of 

 Tegu and that of the Mundakolsof Chutia Nagpur, and Dr. Latham states 

 that the Malay language is connected with the M6n, and therefore also 

 with the Kolarian dialects of India. He associates with them, as belong- 

 ing to the same group, the language of Cambodia. Mr. Gust agrees in 

 allowing a relationship between M6n and Cambodian, but he classes the 

 Malay language as a distinct family. Prof. A. H. Keane affirms, on the 

 other hand, that the Khmer of Cambodia has nothing in common with 

 the Kolarian except a few verbal resemblances through the Talaing, and 

 that the Malay is " unmixed in structure and fundamentally related to the 

 Cambodian." If we test these statements by reference to the numerals 

 of those languages, we find that the Khmer differs from Malay and 

 agrees with the Kolarian dialects. This is shown by the following 

 table : 



PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XXVIII. 133. K. PRINTED MAY 27, 1890. 



